Herpetofauna of the Meghamalai wildlife sanctuary, southern western Ghats, India: An updated checklist with annotations on taxonomy and nomenclature

Chaitanya, R and Khandekar, A and Caleb, DG and Mukherjee, N and Ghosh, A and Giri, V (2018) Herpetofauna of the Meghamalai wildlife sanctuary, southern western Ghats, India: An updated checklist with annotations on taxonomy and nomenclature. In: Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 115 . pp. 21-37.

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Abstract

Herpetofaunal surveys were conducted in the Meghamalai Wildlife Sanctuary in southern Tamil Nadu, India, over a period of two years, to assess species richness in this landscape. Sixty-four species of reptiles from 15 families and 31 species of amphibians from nine families were recorded. Eight species of reptiles and five species of amphibians are reported here for the first time, including the first record of a caecilian (Uraeotyphlus sp.) from this landscape. The rediscovery of a potentially divergent population of wood snake, bearing the now defunct nomen Xylophis indicus (presently in the synonymy of X. stenorhynchus), is reported c.140 years after its original description. A revised, collated checklist, accommodating taxonomic revisions from the recent past, is presented based on our surveys and prior literature. It constitutes 99 species of reptiles and 41 species of amphibians-a remarkable diversity that beseeches concerted conservation action in the region. © 2018 Bombay Natural History Society. All rights reserved.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society
Publisher:	Bombay Natural History Society
Additional Information:	The copyright for this article belongs to the Bombay Natural History Society.
Keywords:	Amphibians; High wavys; Ichthyophiidae; Pareidae; Reptiles; Western Ghats
Department/Centre:	Division of Biological Sciences > Centre for Ecological Sciences
Date Deposited:	18 Aug 2022 05:23
Last Modified:	18 Aug 2022 05:23
URI:	https://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/75929

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