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Introduction
A student with a background in ecology and evolution interested in Developmental biology
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January 2010 - present
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Education
November 2019 - May 2022
August 2012
Publications
Publications (111)
The Western Ghats are a biodiversity hotspot known for its high degree of endemism. The tarantula subfamily Thrigmopoeinae, with two genera and seven species, is endemic to the Western Ghats. A taxonomic account of the Western Ghats endemic tarantula subfamily Thrigmopoeinae is presented. The study is based on a re-examination of existing museum ma...
The colubrid snakes of the genera Gongylosoma Fitzinger, 1843 and Liopeltis Fitzinger, 1843 are distributed across south and southeast Asia with five and eight nominate species, respectively. Despite their wide distribution, members of these genera are among some of the least-known colubrids. The two genera were considered synonymous in the past on...
The gekkonid lizard genus Hemidactylus Oken is the second most species-rich genus of geckos with greatest diversity in the tropical regions of the world. Some species of the genus are commensal and widespread; however, there are several endemic lineages with restricted distribution. India is home to at least 35 species, with 20 endemic species and...
Calotes versicolor Daudin, 1802 is one of the most widespread agamid lizard species which was described without a locality. The type specimen of the species has long been considered lost; however most workers considered Pondicherry as the type locality for the species. Studies by Zug et al. 2006 confirmed that C. versicolor is a complex of multiple...
A distinctive early Miocene-divergent lineage of Old world racer snakes is described as a new genus and species based on three specimens collected from the western Indian state of Gujarat. Wallaceophis gen. et. gujaratenesis sp. nov. is a members of a clade of old world racers. The monotypic genus represents a distinct lineage among old world racer...
Colubrid snakes of the genus Oligodon Fitzinger, 1826, are an integral part of the snake fauna of the Oriental region, with at least ninety species. Despite the speciose nature of the genus, most members are elusive and poorly studied. One such member of the genus is O. juglandifer (Wall, 1909), which is known to science from a handful of specimens...
Snake-eyed, or ablepharine skinks, are common residents of the highest mountain ranges on Earth, including the Himalayas, the Tibetan Plateau, Karakoram, Pamir, and Tian Shan, colloquially known as the Roof of the World. Historically, these skinks were alternatively assigned to the genera Scincella, Ablepharus, Asymblepharus, and Hi-malblepharus, b...
The lacertid Ophisops beddomei was considered to be widely distributed in the northern and central Western Ghats, and some parts of western India. Recent studies, however, provide evidence of it being a species complex that harbours several morphologically cryptic species. In an attempt to resolve this species complex, we provide a re-description o...
The natricine snake genus Smithophis Giri, Gower, Das, Lalremsanga, Lalronunga, Captain, and Deepak, 2019, is represented by four species, three of which are distributed in northeast India and Bangladesh, and a single species in Yunnan and Myanmar. In the past, S. bicolor (Blyth, 1855) was said to be widespread across northeast India and Myanmar; h...
The montane agamid lizard Japalura austeniana (Annandale, 1908), is rare and is distributed across parts of the eastern Himalayas of India and China. Support from molecular and morphological data provides evidence for the existence of a species complex in the populations referred to that binomen, and we here describe a morphologically cryptic allie...
A recent phylogenetic study identified the population of Eublepharis Gray, 1827, from Rajasthan (India) as a distinct taxon from E. macularius (Blyth, 1854). A taxonomic reassessment of the population based on literature, existing museum material, and molecular data allowed me to assign the name E. madarensis (Sharma, 1980) to this population. A re...
Despite recent progress in our understanding of diversity within the genus Trimeresurus Lacépède, 1804, the subgenus Popeia Malhotra & Thorpe, 2004, distributed across most parts of East and Southeast Asia, remains taxonomically challenging. We applied an integrative taxonomic approach including analyses of morphological data and four mitochondrial...
The monotypic genus Epithemis Laidlaw, 1955, is endemic to the Western Ghats and is represented by thenominate species Epithemis mariae (Laidlaw, 1915). Epithemis mariae is distributed across the WesternGhats, and as part of an ongoing study, we identified a distinct population from Wayanad. Morphologicaland molecular data for E. mariae and the pop...
Hebius beddomei (Günther, 1864) is an endemic natricine colubrid snake species from the biodiverse Western Ghats, India. A recent molecular phylogeny provided evidence for the paraphyly of the genus Hebius, with Hebius beddomei recovered as sister to a clade containing Fowlea and Atretium. Freshly collected specimens and existing museum material al...
The Parachute Gecko Gekko lionotum (Annandale, 1905) has been reported to be distributed across parts of Mizoram state (India), Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia. A phylogeographic study revealed that the species is paraphyletic and comprises multiple cryptic species. Earlier studies included samples from most parts of the species range ex...
We describe a new species of naked-toed gecko of the genus Cyrtopodion Fitzinger, 1843, from the Dahod and Panchmahal districts of Gujarat state, India. The new species is diagnosable by the following suite of characters: a medium-sized Cyrtopodion (adult, snout to vent length up to 50 mm); dorsal scalation on trunk granular, intermixed with enlarg...
Three new species of brush-footed spiders of the genus Tigidia are described: T. jalgaonensis sp. nov. (♀, northern Maharashtra), T. tangerina sp. nov. (♀, eastern Karnataka), and T. fasciata sp. nov. (♀, southern Kerala). The present descriptions constitute the first record of the genus outside the Western Ghats, indicating its wider distribution...
The pit viper snake genus Trimeresurus Lacépède, 1804 sensu lato, is a diverse group of nocturnal serpents comprising over 61 species. The genus is morphologically heterogeneous and has been divided into several subgenera. We present an updated phylogeny of Asian pitvipers and propose a revised classification. Additionally, we revise the taxonomy o...
A recent molecular phylogenetic study of the genus Eublepharis Gray, 1827 revealed the presence of a genetically divergent lineage sister to Eublepharis hardwickii Gray, 1827. We reassessed the taxonomy of Eublepharis hardwickii based on museum material in light of the molecular phylogenetic study and the results support the recognization of two sp...
A new cryptic species of green pit viper is described from northeast India, based on specimens collected from the state of Mizoram and Meghalaya. The new species is a member of the subgenus Viridovipera and is sister to Trimeresurus medoensis based on molecular data for mitochondrial cytochrome b gene, whereas resembles Trimeresurus gumprechti morp...
A new species of Conothele Thorell, 1878 is described from the Eastern Ghats based on two male specimens collected from Kanger Valley National Park, Chhattisgarh. This is the second species of the genus from India to be described on the basis of male specimens. The new species is similar to Conothele oglaei Sanap, Pawar, Joglekar & Khandekar, 2022...
A new species of large-bodied Hemidactylus is described from the southern Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India. The species is a member of the prashadi group of Indian Hemidactylus and can be distinguished from all other members of the group by a combination of several morphological diagnostic characters. Based on preliminary phylogeny, using a parti...
The genus Cyrtodactylus has recently been classified phylogenetically into several clades, subclades, groups, and some into Sri Lankan Cyrtodactylus. Certain complexes from the Indian subcontinent have been assigned to the “C. triedrus group”. This group is comprised of medium-sized species (SVL 50.6–105.7 mm) and are composed of five major species...
A new species of bent-toed geckos of the genus Cyrtodactylus is described from western Arunachal Pradesh. The new species is a member of the Indo-Burma clade and is embedded within the "peguensis" group, a relationship deduced contingent on a partial fragment of mitochondrial NADH subunit 2 gene. Cyrtodactylus kamengensis sp. nov. is morphologicall...
The Himalayas represent a renowned biodiversity hotspot and an important biogeographic realm that has influenced origin and diversification of multiple taxa. A recent herpetological investigation of the eastern Himalayas of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh led to the discovery of a unique lineage of ablepharine skink, which is herein described...
We re-evaluate the taxonomic identities of five-lined skinks of the genus Eutropis (E. trivittata, E. beddomei, E. nagarjunensis, and E. bibronii) inhabiting the Indian subcontinent. Previously it has been considered that E. trivittata is distributed in the western India and E. dissimilis in the northern India (from north-eastern India up to Pakist...
Narayanan et al. (2021) make extremely grave allegations of ‘misrepresentation of data’ by Gowande et al. (2020). Narayanan et al. (2021) found serious flaws in the publication dealing with the description of Raorchestes kollimalai by Gowande, Ganesh & Mirza (2020). The authors state that Gowande et al. (2020) overlooked many errors, which conseque...
The highly speciose gekkonid genus Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 is polyphyletic, with three distantly related and geographically isolated clades from Africa, South Asia (SA), and Southeast Asia. At present, there are 85 known species within SA Cnemaspis, although the number continues to increase rapidly with focused surveys and rigorous taxonomic work....
A new species of Oligodon Fitzinger, 1826 is described based on specimens collected from Churah Valley of Himachal Pradesh. The new species is related to O. arnensis based on molecular as well as morphological data, however differs from it in several aspects. The new species shows a pairwise sequence divergence of 6-20% from congeners for mitochond...
The montane agamid species Pseudocalotes austeniana has had a complicated taxonomic history, as the species was initially described as a member of the genus Salea Gray, 1845. Later, the species was placed in a monotypic genus Mictopholis Smith, 1935, which was erected only to include this species; however, the species was later on transferred to th...
We here describe a new species of bent-toed geckos from the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, which is widespread across the Dafla and Mishmi hills, occurring at elevations ranging from 179 m to 1400 m. The new species is recovered as sister to the Cyrtodactylus khasiensis clade based on a molecular phylogeny inferred from mitochondri...
A new species of snail-eating snakes of the genus Pareas Wagler, 1830 is described from the eastern Himalayas. The species Pareas kaduri sp. nov. differs from all known species of the genus in bearing the following suite of characters: SVL 455-550 mm, TaL/TL 0.184-0.207, brown dorsum with black transverse bands throughout the body, 15 dorsal scale...
Lycodon deccanensis Ganesh, Deuti, Punith, Achyuthan, Mallik, Adhikari, Vogel, 2020 was recently described from the Mysore plateau of Karnataka based solely on morphology but lacking in-depth descriptions and comparisons. A scrutiny of the description reveals that the type series, of two specimens, comprise specimens of two different species along...
A new cryptic lineage of bush frogs of the genus Raorchestes from the understudied Eastern Ghats of India is described. Molecular phylogenetic reconstructions using mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene sequences suggest that the new species belongs to the Raorchestes charius clade, is sister to the allopatric R. charius of the Western Ghats and support the...
Sinomicrurus macclellandi (Reinhardt, 1844) is a species of coral snakes distributed across the forests of Southeast Asia and the Himalayas. The species exhibits distinct forms across its range, and it has been classified into four subspecies. Calliophis macclellandi nigriventer Wall, 1908 a population from Western Himalayas, which was described as...
A new species of fan-throated lizard of the genus Sitana Cuvier, 1829 is described from northern Karnataka, India. The new species is similar to members of the clade of Sitana spinaecephalus Deepak et al., 2016, however, can be distinguished based on morphological as well as molecular data. Sitana dharwarensis sp. nov. differs from its sister speci...
A new species of green pit vipers of the genus Trimeresurus Lacépède, 1804 is described from the lowlands of western Arunachal Pradesh state of India. The new species, Trimeresurus salazar , is a member of the subgenus Trimeresurus, a relationship deduced contingent on two mitochondrial genes, 16S and ND4 , and recovered as sister to Trimeresurus s...
The buthid scorpion Janalychas tricarinatus Simon, 1884 is a species distributed in most parts of the Indian peninsula. I assessed morphological and molecular data for representatives of this species from peninsular India, which hints at the presence of multiple species within the broadly distributed J. tricarinatus sensu lato. Conjugation of morph...
A new species of natricid snakes, Trachischium apteii sp. nov. is described from the northeastern Indian State of Arunachal Pradesh. The new species differs from its congeners in the following suite of characters: dorsal scales in 15:15:15 rows, SVL 293-299mm, higher ventral count 143-150, very faint dorsal longitudinal lines, absence of yellow pat...
We investigated the phylogenetic relationship of the Critically Endangered bush frog Philautus sanctisilvaticus Das and Chanda, 1997 and other species distributed across the fragmented forests of Deccan Peninsula and the northern Eastern Ghats. A short fragment of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene was employed to assess phylogenetic relationships acr...
A new species, Hottentotta vinchu sp. n., is described from the Western Ghats of India. The new species morphologically resembles to Hottentotta rugiscutis (Pocock, 1897) from which it differs in having metasomal segment II wider than long in both sexes. The new species, however, is sister to Hottentotta pachyurus (Pocock, 1897) based on cytochrome...
A new cryptic species of ground-dwelling Hemidactylus (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from southern India. Recently collected specimens of a gecko resembling Hemidactylus reticulatus from northern Karnataka State in southwestern India led me to investigate variation in the species with regards to its morphology and molecular divergence. Results based on exi...
Fig. S3. ML tree for selected Hemidactylus spp. based on fragment of cyt b gene. Sequence substitution model GTR+G.
Table S4. Morphological and meristic data for specimens of Hemidactylus sahgali sp. nov. ‘*’ indicates broken or regenerated tail.
Fig. S1. ML based result from bPTP.
Numbers at nodes and tips signify support to species.
Table S5. Result of bPTP for ML support value for each species.
Table S8. Comparison of taxonomy of H. triedrus group since 2010.
Table S3. Morphological and meristic data for specimens of Hemidactylus triedrus. ‘*’ indicates broken or regenerated tail.
Table S6. Un-corrected p-distance for selected Hemidactylus spp. for the gene cyt b.
Table S7. Un-corrected p-distance for selected Hemidactylus spp. for the gene ND2.
Fig. S2. Nucleotide sequence alignment for the gene cyt b.
Note the 9bp indel from 281bp to 280bp. Alligned with a reference sequence of Gekko gekko.
Table S1. Accession numbers for sequences used in the present study.
Numbers in bold show sequences generated in the present work. Names within brackets refers to the old taxonomy.
Table S2. Best fit model for sequence evolution and partitioning scheme selected in PartitionFInder for assessing phylogenetic relationships using maximum likelihood in RAxML and Bayesian inference in MrBayes.
Re-examination of the syntypes of Damarchus excavatus Gravely 1921 raised doubts on its generic allocation. A new genus Gravelyia gen. nov. is proposed to accommodate the species. A new combination Gravelyia excavatus (Gravely 1921) comb. nov. is proposed, and a lectotype is designated for the species. Furthermore, a new species Gravelyia striatus...
We here describe Sitana attenboroughii sp. nov., a new species of fan-throated lizard of the genus Sitana Cuvier, 1829 from coastal Kerala in southern India. The new species morphologically is closer to Sitana visiri Deepak, 2016 (in Deepak et al. 2016a), however, differs in having higher numbers of ventral scales and a comparatively short but rich...
Scorpions of the genus Liocheles Sundevall, 1833 are widespread in forests of the Indo-Pacific region; however, its species diversity is poorly resolved. A new species of the genus Liocheles is herein described from northeast India after examination of freshly collected specimens and available museum material. The new species, Liocheles schalleri s...
A new large species of gecko superficially resembling Hemidactylus maculatus Duméril & Bibron and its allied large Hemidactylus is described from Eastern Ghats. The new species, Hemidactylus kangerensis sp. nov. can be easily distinguished from members of the H. maculatus complex based on the number of femoral pores, i.e. 18-21 on each side, separa...
We here describe a new species of rupicolous gecko from the Satpura Hills of central India. The new species is a member of the Hemidactylus brookii complex, and can be distinguished based on the following suite of characters: moderate sized species (SVL 54.3–74.2 mm); anterior postmental width equal to first infralabial; posterior postmental width...
The monotypic colubrid snake genus Wallophis is revalidated and rediagnosed. Partial sequence for nuclear gene Oocyte maturation factor Mos (c-mos), mitochondrial Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase subunit 4 (ND4) and cytochrome b (cyt b) were used to assess phylogenetic relationship. Wallophis brachyura type species for the genus was...
A new species of Cyrtodactylus (Geckoella) from the C. collegalensis complex is described based on a series of specimens from western and central India. Morphological and molecular data support the distinctiveness of the new form, which can be diagnosed from other Cyrtodactylus (including other Geckoella) species by its small body size (snout to ve...
A new diplurid genus and species is described from northeast India based on a single female specimen from Jampui hills. Orientothele gen. nov. is placed in the subfamily Diplurinae based on presence of one row of teeth on chelicerae. The new genus and species can be diagnosed from most diplurid genera in lacking lyra on prolateral face of maxilla,...
A new species Thaicharmus guptai sp. nov. is described from the northeast Indian state of Tripura. The new species differs from the known members of the genus in the following set of morphological characters: large size (total length 45.6 mm); trichobothrium d2 is distal to i1 on femur; trichobothria est, em and et on the external surface of the pa...
A new species of trapdoor spider, Heligmomerus maximus sp. nov. is described from southern Western Ghats of Kerala state, India. The new species differs from known species of the genus from India and Sri Lanka in possessing a band of thorn-like spinules on coxa IV. Moreover it is the largest species of the genus with adult females reaching a length...
We describe here a new species of the genus Eublepharis from the Satpura Hills in central India. The new species closely resembles E. fuscus, but can be differentiated from it by the following suite of characters: SVL 125–130 mm; dome shaped tubercles lacking keels arranged in ~20 rows on dorsum, inter-tubercular space greater than width of a tuber...
A distinctive new species of ground burrowing tarantula from Western Ghats endemic genus Thrigmopoeus is described from Kerala State, India. Thrigmopoeus psychedelicus sp. nov. differs from putative species of the genus in the adults being black overall with a metallic blue lustre on the carapace and abdomen. Females of Thrigmopoeus psychedelicus s...
A new species of gecko superficially resembling Hemidactylus maculatus is described from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Hemidactylus acanthopholis sp. nov. is a large sized Hemidactylus, SVL at least 91.7mm. Dorsal scalation on trunk granular, intermixed with enlarged, fairly regularly arranged longitudinal rows of 18–20 trihedral, modera...
A new species of the gekkonid genus Cnemaspis is described from the lateritic plateau of the northern Western Ghats of Maharashtra, western India. The new species is diagnosed by the following suite of characters: small sized Cnemaspis, SVL less than 35 mm (21.52-33.65). Dorsal scales on trunk heterogeneous, granular scales intermixed with large sm...
A new high-elevation scorpion species of the genus Scorpiops is described from the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Scorpiops spitiensis sp. nov. is the second highest-elevation scorpion species in Asia and the first one from India occurring at elevations above 4200 m. The new species closely resembles Scorpiops petersii, but it can be distinguishe...
A new species of gecko superficially resembling Hemidactylus maculatus is described from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Hemidactylus acanthopholis sp. nov. is a large sized Hemidactylus, SVL at least 91.7mm. Dorsal scalation on trunk granular, intermixed with enlarged, fairly regularly arranged longitudinal rows of 18–20 trihedral, modera...
The theraphosid spider genera Heterophrictus Pocock, 1900 and Neoheterophrictus Siliwal & Raven, 2012 are rediagnosed in this paper and a new genus, Sahydroaraneus
gen. nov. is described from Southern Western Ghats. Four new species (two each of Heterophrictus and Neoheterophrictus) and one of Sahydroaraneus
gen. nov. are described from the Western...
A new species of scorpion of the genus Neoscorpiops Vachon, 1980 is described from Northern Maharashtra. Neoscorpiops maharashtraensis sp. nov. is a medium-sized scorpion species ranging from 36 to 42 mm. Carapace, mesosoma and metasoma brown, legs and telson yellow; pedipalp in a shade of brown with carinae dark drown to black. Granulation on cara...
A new species of arboreal tarantula of the genus Poecilotheria is described from Central India, The new species Poecilotheria chaojii sp. nov. is most similar to P. tigrinawesseli and P. formosa. However, it can be distinguished from P. formosa by possessing a band on the venter of leg IV (absent in P. formosa) and from P. tigrinawesseli in bearing...
The tarantula genus Phlogiodes Pocock 1899 is revalidated and re-diagnosed in light of the present knowledge gathered from type material and fresh collection of Phlogiodes validus Pocock, 1899 new combination, from type locality as well as other known localities. Based on description, Haploclastus satyanus Barman 1978 is treated as incertae sedis w...
The genus Plesiophrictus Pocock (1899) was described when found in Matheran to embody P. millardi. This species was described based on a male specimen, but the female remained unknown for more than a century. Recent surveys conducted in the known range of the species resulted in the discovery of the female, which is herein described for the first t...
The genus Plesiophrictus Pocock (1899) was described when found in Matheran to embody P. millardi. This species was described based on a male specimen, but the female remained unknown for more than a century. Recent surveys conducted in the known range of the species resulted in the discovery of the female, which is herein described for the first t...
The poorly-known gecko Eublepharis fuscus is reported from some new localities in India and an updated outline of its distribution range is produced. Its morphology is described from new finds and its natural habitat characterized from field observations. Its data-deficient conservation status is discussed.
A new species of scorpion belonging to the genus Heterometrus Ehrenberg, 1828 is described from the Southern Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India. Heterometrus atrascorpius sp. nov. differs from all other known species of the genus reported from India, in particularly from Heterometrus beccaloniae Kovaøík, 2004 by bearing the following set of charact...
A new species of the trapdoor spider genus Idiops Perty, Idiops kaasensis sp. n., is described from Kaas Plateau in the Satara District (Western Ghats, Maharashtra, India). A key to the known Indian species of the genus is presented. Una especie nueva de araña del género Idiops Perty, 1833 (Araneae: Idiopidae) de los Ghats Occidentales, con una cla...
A new species of trapdoor spider, Idiops rubrolimbatus sp. nov., is described from the northern part of the Western Ghats of Maharashtra. Idiops bombayensis Siliwal et al. 2005 was originally described based on only a female specimen. Here, a description of the male is provided for the first time, along with a female description based on fresh coll...
Prior to this study the genus Tigidia Simon, 1892 of the Brush-footed Spider family Barychelidae was represented by eight species endemic to Madagascar and Mauritius Islands. The first occurrence of Tigidia in India is reported here with the description of three new species from the Western Ghats, T. sahyadri sp. nov. from Uttara Kannada District,...
The genus Haploclastus is endemic to India and is represented by six species. One of the species H. validus Pocock, 1899 was described from Matheran and has remained poorly known in terms of its natural history and distribution. During recent surveys the species was for the first time found again since its description nearly 110 years ago. Based on...
. The trapdoor spider genus Scalidognathus Karsch, 1891 is represented in India by a single species, S. montanus Pocock, 1900 from Shevaroy hills in Tamil Nadu. The specimens collected during a recent survey conducted in the southern Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu enable us to describe two new species of the genus Scalidognathus. Natural history notes...
Prior to this study the genus Tigidia Simon, 1892 of the Brush-footed Spider family Barychelidae was represented by eight species endemic to Madagascar and Mauritius Islands. The first occurrence of Tigidia in India is reported here with the description of three new species from the Western Ghats, T. sahyadri sp. nov. from Uttara Kannada District,...
Recent herpetological investigation in the northern Eastern Ghats revealed the occurrence of a divergent popula-tion of Hemidactylus maculatus maculatus Duméril et Bibron, 1836. The Hemidactylus cf. maculatus population differs from other populations of H. m. maculatus morphologically. The present communication, deals with the description of a Hemi...
Questions
Question (1)
Erdelen, W. and Preu, C. 1990. Quaternary coastal and vegetation dynamics in the Palk Strait region, South Asia—the evidence and hypotheses. In (J. B. Thornes, Ed.) Vegetation and Erosion. London: John Wiley and Sons Ltd, pp. 491-520.
Tried looking for the book but could not find in any of the libraries near me.
Would appreciate if someone can help.
Thanking you,
