Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 September 2021 | 13(11): 19603–19610
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893
(Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.7318.13.11.19603-19610
#7318 | Received 06 April 2021 | Final
received 12 July 2021 | Finally accepted 04 September 2021
Catalogue of
herpetological specimens from Meghalaya, India at the Salim Ali Centre for
Ornithology and Natural History
S.R. Chandramouli
1, R.S. Naveen 2, S. Sureshmarimuthu
3, S. Babu 4, P.V. Karunakaran 5 &
Honnavalli N. Kumara
6
1 Department of Ecology and
Environmental Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Pondicherry University,
Puducherry 605014, India.
2–6 Sálim
Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Anaikatty,
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641108, India.
1 findthesnakeman@gmail.com
(corresponding author), 2 naveen89240@gmail.com, 3 mailme.sureshmarimuthu@gmail.com,
4 sanbabs@gmail.com (corresponding author), 5 karunakaran.pv@gmail.com,
6 honnavallik@gmail.com
Editor: Raju Vyas,
Vadodara, Gujarat, India. Date of
publication: 26 Septtember 2021 (online &
print)
Citation: Chandramouli,
S.R., R.S. Naveen, S. Sureshmarimuthu, S. Babu, P.V. Karunakaran & H.N.
Kumara (2021). Catalogue of herpetological specimens from Meghalaya, India at
the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History. Journal of Threatened Taxa 13(11): 19603–19610. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.7318.13.11.19603-19610
Copyright: © Chandramouli
et al. 2021. Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution
of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and
the source of publication.
Funding: National Mission on Himalayan Studies (GBPNI/NMHS-2017-18/MG 32, dated: 28.03.2018).
Competing interests: The authors
declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: This publication is an offshoot
of the project entitled ‘Characterization of Community Reserves and Assessment
of their Conservation Values in Meghalaya’ funded by the National Mission on
Himalayan Studies (GBPNI/NMHS-2017-18/MG 32, dated: 28.03.2018). Our sincere
thanks are due to the additional principal chief conservator of forests
(wildlife) and chief wildlife warden (CWLW), Meghalaya, and officers of the
Forest and Environment Department, Government of Meghalaya for facilitating
permission from the Community Reserve Management Committees to carry out the
field study. We thank Mr. P. Karthik for conducting field work and collecting
herpetological specimens from community reserves of Meghalaya. We are indebted
to the management committees of each community reserve who gave us permission
for this work.
Abstract: We present a catalogue of herpetological specimens
collected from select community reserves of Meghalaya, northeastern India. The
collection comprises a total of 75 species of the herpetofauna, including 29
species of amphibians from 20 genera in seven families and 46 species of
reptiles from 30 genera, in 10 families. We provide the details on number of
examples, sex, museum numbers, and collection details including location and
collector along with the relevant remarks where applicable. A total of five species
of amphibians and four species of reptiles remain to be resolved systematically
since no precise name could be attributed to them.
Keywords: Amphibia, Coimbatore, community
reserves, museum collection, northeastern India, Reptilia,
voucher specimens
The importance of natural history
collections in enriching our knowledge on various aspects of organisms such as
taxonomic, morphological, ontogenetic, genetic, phylogenetic, ecological, and
biogeographic facets have been highlighted since the past (Lane 1996). Apart
from serving as the basis for taxonomic entities, such collections of specimens
serve as an important repository of historic information on species
distribution patterns as well (Shaffer et al. 1998; Rocha et al. 2014; Turney
et al. 2015; Yeates et al. 2016; Da Silva et al.
2017; Hill 2017; Ceríaco et al. 2019). Most of the herpetofaunal type collections within India are deposited
in two museums, namely, the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI, Kolkata), and the
Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS, Mumbai). Although the collections in such
major museums have been catalogued at some point (Das & Chaturvedi 1998;
Das et al. 1998; Chanda et al. 2000), there are several other institutions that
house a sizable collection of specimens that often remain understudied. One
such collection is in the Sálim Ali Centre for
Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), Coimbatore, India. SACON is an
institution under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change,
Government of India. A part of the herpetological collections at SACON from
peninsular India has recently been catalogued (Ganesh et al. 2020). As a part
of an ongoing study in select community reserves of Meghalaya, herpetofaunal specimens were collected by P. Karthik
(research fellow of the project entitled ‘Characterization of Community Reserves and Assessment of their
Conservation Values in Meghalaya’ funded by the National Mission on Himalayan
Studies) and RSN and
are deposited at SACON as vouchers. Herein, we present a catalogue of those
herpetological specimens collected from Meghalaya that are maintained at SACON.
Materials and Methods
The herpetological specimens
collected between the period 2018 to 2021 as a part of the ongoing surveys in
community reserves of Meghalaya were preserved in ethanol and deposited in the
collection of the SACON. Here, we list the collected specimens (only whole
body, only non-larval) along with their voucher collection numbers.
Institutional acronyms follow that of Ganesh et al (2020). Higher
classification of amphibians and reptiles follow Frost (2021) and Uetz et al. (2021), respectively. Authorities are not
mentioned for species with tentative identities indicated by ‘cf.’ Exceptional
cases of more than one specimens catalogued under the same voucher number are
distinguished by adding to their collection number the alphabets a, b, c etc.
In cases where the specimens could not be identified precisely to the species
level, the generic name only is mentioned followed by sp.
Relevant discussions based on
recently published information is presented under such species to clarify their
identification. Details of the collection localities mentioned below are
presented in Table 1.
Catalogue of the herpetofaunal specimens from Meghalaya deposited at SACON
Amphibia Gray, 1825
Gymnophiona Müller, 1832
Ichthyophiidae Taylor, 1968
Ichthyophis
garoensis Pillai & Ravichandran, 1999 (n= 3)
SACON VA 79 and VA 87 - two
unsexed adult specimens from Dumitdigre and Sasatgre respectively (coll: P.
Karthik), VA 169 – an unsexed adult from Dharibokgre
(coll. R.S. Naveen).
Remark: Another putative species,
Ichthyophis hussaini
Pillai & Ravichandran, 1999 from Garo Hills, Meghalaya was synonymized with
I. garoensis by Kamei & Biju (2016).
Anura Fischer von Waldheim, 1813
Bufonidae Gray, 1825
Duttaphrynus
melanostictus (Schneider, 1799) (n= 3)
SACON VA 55 - one adult female
and VA 56 and VA 66, two unsexed individuals, of which the former is a
subadult, collected from Mongalgre (coll. P. Karthik).
Duttaphrynus
sp. (n= 4)
SACON VA 103 a, b - two unsexed
subadults, and VA 123 and VA 124 - two adult females, from Jirang
(coll. P. Karthik).
Remark: The identity of these
specimens still needs resolution. Agarwal & Mistry (2008) reported D. stuarti (Smith, 1929) from Arunachal Pradesh, and Das
et al. (2013) described D. chandai from the
Nagaland-Manipur border.
Microhylidae Günther, 1858
Microhyla berdmorei (Blyth, 1856) (n= 1)
SACON VA 102, an adult female
from Meghalaya (precise location unknown) (coll. P. Karthik).
Microhyla cf.
mymensinghensis (n= 4)
SACON VA 81 a, b, c - three adult
females from Dumitdigre (coll. P. Karthik). VA 155 -
an unsexed adult from Chimanpara (coll. R.S. Naveen).
Remark: A species described
recently from the M. ornata complex (Hasan et
al. 2014). The precise identity of these samples requires further study.
Megophryidae Bonaparte, 1850
Leptobrachium
cf. sylheticum (n= 6)
SACON VA 57, VA 61 - two adult
females from Mongalgre; VA 58, VA 59, VA 60 - three
unsexed adult specimens and VA 151 - an unsexed adult from Eman
Asakgre (coll. R.S. Naveen).
Remarks: The reports of another
species, L. rakhinense Wogan,
2012, from Northeast India have been shown by Dutta et al (2013) to represent L.
smithi. Very recently, populations of the ‘L.smithi’ complex were reassessed by Al-Razi et al (2021) and described as a new species.
Considering the geographic proximity of our samples to the type locality of L.
sylheticum, we refer our specimens as L.
cf. sylheticum.
Leptobrachella
cf. khasiorum (n= 1)
VA 115 - an unsexed subadult from
Jirang (coll. P. Karthik)
Xenophrys
major (Boulenger, 1908) (n= 1)
SACON VA 83 - an adult female
from Mongalgre (coll. P. Karthik).
Remark: The genus Xenophrys Günther, 1864, which was placed under the
synonymy of Megophrys Kuhl & Van Hasselt,
1822 by Mahony et al. (2013) has now been revalidated by Lyu
et al (2021).
Xenophrys megacephala (Mahony, Sengupta, Kamei & Biju, 2011)
(n= 1)
VA 80 - an unsexed adult specimen
from Dumitdigre (coll. P. Karthik).
Remark: See above for taxonomic
validity of the genus Xenophrys Günther, 1864.
Xenophrys oropedion (Mahony, Teeling
& Biju, 2013) (n= 1)
VA 67 - an adult female from Daribokgre (coll. P. Karthik)
Remark: See above for taxonomic
validity of the genus Xenophrys Günther, 1864.
Xenophrys sp.
(n= 1)
VA 86 - an unsexed subadult from Sasatgre (coll. P. Karthik), whose identity could not be
determined.
Dicroglossidae Anderson, 1871
Fejervarya
sp. (n= 5)
VA 54, VA 82 and VA 98 - three
adult females from Mongalgre and Lum
Jusong, respectively. VA 75 - an adult male from Dumitdigre. VA 107 - an unsexed subadult from Lum Jusong (coll. P. Karthik).
Remark: A large-bodied Fejervarya frog, F. orissaensis
Dutta, 1997 has recently been shown to occur across most parts of Indochina (Köhler et al. 2019). The identity of
our Fejervarya specimens still needs taxonomic
resolution.
Minervarya
sengupti (Purkayastha
& Matsui, 2012) (n= 10)
Ten specimens. VA 117–119 - three
adult females from Jirang. VA 62 - one adult female.
VA 63–65 - three adult males from Daribokgre. VA 71 -
one adult female from Dumitdigre. VA 89, VA 97 - two
adult females from Meghalaya (precise location unavailable) (coll. P. Karthik).
Remark: A fairly recently
described species from Mawphlang, Khasi Hills,
Meghalaya (Purkayastha & Matsui 2012).
Minervarya
cf. pierrei (n= 7)
VA 72, VA 73 and VA 74 - three
adult males from Dumitdigre. VA 116 – an adult female
from Jirang. VA 92
an adult female from Daribokgre and VA 84–85 -
two unsexed adult specimens from Sasatgre (coll. P.
Karthik).
Remark: The taxonomic status and
distribution of Minervarya pierrei (Dubois, 1975) and Minervarya
agricola (Jerdon, 1853)
were recently discussed by Chandramouli et al. (2019)
and Phuge et al. (2020).
Minervarya
sp. (n= 1)
VA 109 - an unsexed juvenile
specimen from Meghalaya (coll. P. Karthik) that could not be identified to
species level.
Limnonectes
khasianus (Anderson, 1871) (n= 8)
VA 111, VA 112 - two adult males
from Jirang, VA 99 and VA 69 - two adult males from Dimitdigre, VA 68 – an unsexed adult from Meghalaya
(precise locality unknown) (coll. P. Karthik), VA 130–131, two unsexed adults
from Rongalgre and VA 132, an unsexed subadult from Kitmadamgre (coll. R.S. Naveen).
Remark: Ohler
& Deuti (2013) discussed and confirmed the
synonymy of Rana laticeps Boulenger,
1882 with Pyxicephalus khasianus
Anderson, 1871, thereby highlighting the seniority of the name combination Limnonectes khasianus (Anderson,
1871).
Euphlyctis
cyanophlyctis (Schneider, 1799) (n= 4)
VA 94 - one adult
female (coll. P. Karthik). VA 113, VA 114, VA 125 - three unsexed subadults from Jirang (coll. P. Karthik).
Ingerana borealis (Annandale, 1912)
(n= 5)
VA 135-138, four unsexed
adults from Rongalgre, VA 161 – an adult female from Rongalgre (coll. R.S.
Naveen).
Ranidae Batsch, 1796
Clinotarsus
alticola (Boulenger,
1882) (n= 4)
VA 95 and VA 106 - two adult
females, VA 110 - a juvenile and VA 91 - a subadult from Sasatgre
(coll. P. Karthik).
Remarks: Members of the genus Clinotarsus Minvart, 1869
show a disjunct pattern of geographic distribution. While C. curtipes (Jerdon, 1853) is
restricted to the Western Ghats of southwestern peninsular India, the other two
congeners C. alticola (Boulenger,
1882) and C. penelope Grosjean,
Bordoloi, Chuaynkern,
Chakravarty & Ohler, 2015 occur in the
Indochinese region.
Hylarana tytleri Theobald, 1868 (n= 1)
VA 93 - one unsexed subadult from
Lum Jusong (coll. P.
Karthik).
Hydrophylax
leptoglossa (Cope, 1868) (n= 2)
VA 100-101 - two
adult females from Sasatgre (coll. P. Karthik).
Amolops assamensis Sengupta, Hussain, Choudhury, Gogoi, Ahmed & Choudhury, 2008 (n= 1)
VA 52 - an unsexed subadult from Jirang,(coll. P. Karthik).
Amolops marmoratus (Blyth, 1855) (n= 2)
VA 90a-b - two unsexed juveniles
from Sasatgre (coll. P. Karthik).
Amolops sp.
(n= 3)
VA 120–122 - three
subadult females from Jirang. Their identity could not be
determined to species level.
Rhacophoridae Hoffman, 1932
Polypedates
himalayensis (Annandale, 1912) (n= 3)
VA 76, VA 77 and VA 78 - Three
adult females, from Dumitdigre (coll. P. Karthik).
Polypedates
cf. leucomystax (n= 1)
VA 162, an unsexed adult from
Tura (coll. R.S. Naveen).
Remark: The identity of P. leucomystax from India still needs finer taxonomic
resolution (Frost 2021).
Raorchestes
sp. (n= 9)
VA 51 a&b,
VA 105 – respectively, two adult males and an unsexed adult specimen from Mongalgre (coll. P. Karthik), VA 126–128, three unsexed
adults from Sakalgre and VA 129 one from Daribokgre, VA 149–150 - two adult males from Sasatgre and Eman Asakgre respectively (coll. R.S. Naveen).
Remarks: Boruah et al (2018)
presented point localities for R. shillongensis Pillai & Chanda, 1973 from
Khasi Hills, lying to nearly 20 km to the east of Mongalgre.
The identity of the specimens recorded here requires further study.
Theloderma baibungense (Jiang, Fei & Huang, 2009) (n= 2)
VA 88, VA 96 – an unsexed
juvenile and an adult female from Selbalgre and Raid Nongbri respectively (coll. P. Karthik).
Kurixalus naso (Annandale, 1912) (n= 2)
VA 134, VA153 unsexed adults from
Eman Asakgre and Sasatgre respectively (coll. R.S. Naveen).
Remark: Lalronunga
et al. (2021) presented records of K. yangi from
Mizoram and discussed their distribution records and confusions on the
identities of the two species, indicating a possible synonymy of K. yangi with K. naso.
Reptilia Laurenti,
1768
Sauria Macartney,
1802
Gekkonidae Gray, 1825
Cnemaspis assamensis Das & Sengupta, 2000 (n= 3)
VR 237, VR 233 and VR 221 - Three
adults; one male, one female and an unsexed from Raid Nongbri,
respectively (coll. P. Karthik).
Cyrtodactylus
cf. agarwali (n= 6)
VR 230–231, two adult males, from
Sasatgre; VR 181–183 three adults from Daribokgre; and VR 153- one juvenile from Mongalgre (coll. P. Karthik).
Remark: Purkayasta
et al. (2020) recently reported another species, C. urbanus
Purkayastha, Das, Bohra, Bauer & Agarwal, 2020
from Nongpoh. Additionally, Purkayasta
et al. (2021) described two more new species C. agarwali
and C. karsticola from the Garo Hills.
Hemidactylus
platyurus (Schneider, 1797) (n= 7)
VR 198, VR 218a and VR 232 -
three adult males and VR 218b - one adult female from Mongalgre,
VR 195, VR 200 and VR 216 three adult females from Sasatgre
(coll. P. Karthik).
Hemidactylus
frenatus Duméril & Bibron, 1836 (n= 1)
VR 222 - subadult from Meghalaya
(no more precise locality) (coll. P. Karthik).
Hemidactylus
sp. (n= 1)
VR 171 - subadult male from
Meghalaya (no more precise locality) (coll. P. Karthik).
Gekko
gecko (Linnaeus, 1758) (n= 1)
VR 229 - adult male from
Meghalaya (no more precise location) (coll. P. Karthik).
Agamidae Gray, 1827
Calotes cf. irawadi (n= 9)
VR 178 a & b - an unsexed and
an adult female from Sasatgre;
VR 205, VR 240–245- six unsexed subadult specimens respectively from Meghalaya
(no more precise location) (coll. P. Karthik).
Remarks: Zug et al. (2006)
described Calotes irawadi
from Myanmar. The exact identity of our samples from Meghalaya still needs
further investigation regarding their potential conspecificity
with that newly described taxon.
Calotes maria Gray, 1845 (n= 2)
VR 166, 173 – two adults
respectively from Daribokgre and Sasatgre
(coll. P. Karthik).
Calotes emma Gray, 1845 (n= 3)
VR 247, VR 150, VR 151 - one
adult from Dumitdigre, two adults respectively from
Meghalaya (no more precise location) (coll. P. Karthik).
Calotes sp.
(n= 2)
VR 206, 251 – respectively, an
unsexed subadult and adult male from Dumitdigre
(coll. P. Karthik).
Remark: Species is uncertain and
needs to be determined.
Cristidorsa
planidorsata (Jerdon,
1870) (n= 4)
VR 185 and VR 169 - two adult
males from Meghalaya (no more precise location); VR 184 and VR 188- one adult
female each from Daribokgre and Sasatgre,
respectively (coll. P. Karthik).
Ptyctolaemus
gularis (Peter, 1864) (n= 8)
VR 238, VR 239, VR 207 - three
adult males and, VR 201 - an unsexed juvenile from Meghalaya (no more
precise location), VR 167, VR 168, VR 179 and VR 180 - four unsexed adults from
Daribokgre (coll. P. Karthik).
Scincidae Gray, 1825
Sphenomorphus
indicus (Gray, 1853) (n= 3)
VR 186, VR 224, VR 249 – three
unsexed adults respectively from Daribokgre, Sasatgre, and Dumitdigre (coll.
P. Karthik).
Sphenomorphus
maculatus (Blyth, 1853) (n= 7)
VR 164, VR 165, VR 197, VR 234 a&b - five unsexed adults and VR 217 and VR 226 - two
subadults from Sasatgre (coll. P. Karthik).
Sphenomorphus
sp. (n= 1)
VR 227 - subadult from Meghalaya
(no more precise location) (coll. P. Karthik).
Eutropis multifasciata (Kuhl, 1820) (n= 1)
VR 169 - juvenile from Nongsangu.
Eutropis cf.
macularia (n= 4)
VR 199 - one juvenile, VR198 -
one subadult and VR 235 and VR 236 - two adults from Lum
Jusong (coll. P. Karthik).
Lacertidae Oppel,
1811
Takydromus
khasiensis Boulenger,
1917 (n= 2)
VR 155, 208 – two unsexed adults
respectively from Mongalgre and Nongsangu
(coll. P. Karthik).
Serpentes Linnaeus, 1758
Typhlopidae Merrem,
1820
Argyrophis
diardii (Schlegel, 1839) (n= 4)
VR 187, 223 – two adult specimens
respectively from Daribokgre and Sasatgre
(coll. P. Karthik), VR 255–256 – one adult and subadult respectively from Dangkipara (coll. R.S. Naveen).
Indotyphlops
sp. (n= 1)
An unsexed adult specimen (VA
219) from Meghalaya (no more precise location) (coll. P. Karthik).
Remark: Superficially resembles I.
braminus (Daudin, 1803)
but the precise identity of this specimen requires further study.
Pseudaspididae Cope, 1893
Psammodynastes
pulverulentus (Boie,
1827) (n= 1)
VR 152 - a subadult specimen from
Meghalaya (no more precise location) (coll. P. Karthik).
Colubridae Oppel,
1811
Calamaria parvimentata Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854 (n= 1)
VR 261 – an unsexed adult from Daribokre (coll. R.S. Naveen).
Lycodon zawi Slowinski, Pawar, Win, Thin, Gyi, Oo & Tun, 2001 (n= 1)
VR 204 – an unsexed adult
specimen from Lum Jusong
(coll. P. Karthik).
Lycodon sp.
(n= 2)
VR 213, VR 215 – two subadult
specimens from Meghalaya (no more precise location) (coll. P. Karthik). Their
specific identity needs further study.
Lycodon jara (Shaw, 1802) (n= 1)
VR 253, an unsexed adult from Thokpara (coll. R.S. Naveen).
Lycodon cf.
aulicus (n= 1)
VR 254, an unsexed adult from Thokpara (coll. R.S. Naveen).
Oligodon juglandifer (Wall, 1909) (n= 1)
VR 214 - unsexed adult road killed
specimen from Meghalaya (no more precise location) (coll. P. Karthik).
Oligodon cyclurus (Cantor, 1839) (n= 1)
VR 254 – an unsexed adult from Thokpara.
Boiga cyanea (Duméril,
Bibron & Duméril, 1854)
(n= 1)
VR 228 - a large adult
specimen from Nongsangu (coll. P. Karthik).
Boiga gocool (Gray, 1834) (n= 3)
VR 190–192 – unsexed subadults
from Meghalaya (no more precise location) (coll. P. Karthik).
Dendrelaphis
proarchos (Wall, 1909) (n= 1)
VR 210 - adult from Meghalaya (no
more precise location) (coll. P. Karthik).
Remark: Vogel & Van Rooijen (2011) revalidated D. proarchos
from the synonymy of D. pictus which has
recently been endorsed by Hakim et al. (2020).
Coelognathus
radiatus (Boie, 1827) (n= 1)
VR 189 - subadult from Meghalaya
(no more precise location) (coll. P. Karthik).
Elaphe
cantoris (Boulenger, 1894) (n= 1)
VR 211 - an unsexed adult (VR
211) from Meghalaya (no more precise location) (coll. P. Karthik).
Pareidae Romer, 1956
Pareas monticola (Cantor, 1839) (n= 1)
VR 212 - adult from Meghalaya (no
more precise location) (coll. P. Karthik).
Natricidae Bonaparte, 1838
Pseudoxenodon
macrops (Blyth, 1855) (n= 1)
VR 260 – an adult male from Chandigre (coll. R.S. Naveen).
Trachischium
monticola (Cantor, 1839) (n= 3)
VR 163, VR 172, VR 220 - adults
from Daribokgre (coll. P. Karthik).
Hebius khasiense (Boulenger, 1890)
(n= 8)
VR 162, VR 175–177 four unsexed
adults from Sasatgre, VR 209, VR 225, VR 246 - three
unsexed adults from Meghalaya (no more precise precise
location) (coll. P. Karthik), VR 257 – an unsexed adult from Sasatgre (coll. R.S. Naveen).
Fowlea
piscator (Schneider, 1799) (n= 3)
VR 156 - adult male road killed
specimen from Nongsangu. VA 202–203 - adults from Meghalaya
(no more precise location) (coll. P. Karthik).
Remarks: Purkayastha
et al. (2018) allocated Xenochrophis piscator
to the genus Fowlea Theobald, 1868.
Smithophis
bicolor (Blyth, 1854) (n= 1)
VR 194 - subadult male from
Northeastern Hill University Campus, Shillong (coll.
P. Karthik).
Remarks: This specimen was
recently described in detail by Chandramouli et al.
(2021).
Elapidae Boie,
1827
Sinomicrurus
macclellandi (Reinhardt, 1844) (n= 1)
VR 159 - one adult from Meghalaya
(no more precise location) (coll. P. Karthik).
Naja kaouthia Lesson, 1831 (n= 1)
VR 157 - one juvenile from
Meghalaya (no more precise location) (coll. P. Karthik).
Ophiophagus
hannah (Cantor, 1836) (n= 1)
VR 252 - an adult male from
Meghalaya (no more precise location) (coll. P. Karthik).
Viperidae Oppel,
1811
Ovophis monticola (Günther, 1864) (n= 3)
VR 161, VR 193, VR 248 - three
adults from Dumitdigre (coll. P. Karthik).
Trimeresurus
popeiorum Smith, 1937 (n= 2)
VR 170, VR 174 - two adults,
respectively one male and one female from Daribokgre
and Sasatgre (coll. P. Karthik).
Trimeresurus
erythrurus (Cantor, 1839) (n= 2)
VR 158 - subadult from Selbalgre (coll. P. Karthik), VR 259 – a subadult from Dalu (coll. R.S. Naveen).
Trimeresurus
sp. (n= 1)
VR 160 - one subadult, (VR 160)
from Meghalaya (no more precise location) (coll. P. Karthik), whose specific
identity needs further study.
Discussion
Currently, the collection
encompasses a total of 75 species of the herpetofauna, including 29 species of
amphibians from 20 genera in seven families and 46 species of reptiles from 31
genera, in 10 families. Reptiles are represented by 17 species of lizards and
29 species of snakes. This collection is expected to grow as the field study
continues. The collections from peninsular India at SACON have recently been
catalogued (Ganesh et al. 2020) and there still are collections from other
regions within India that will be cataloged in future. Herpetofaunal
collections in other institutions within India are recently being catalogued
(e.g., Ganesh 2010; Ganesh & Asokan 2010;
Zacharias & Jose 2020) which would aid in supplementing our knowledge on herpetofaunal species and their distribution.
Table 1. GPS coordinates of
collection localities in Meghalaya, India.
|
Community Reserves / Sites |
District |
Latitude (°N) |
Longitude (°E) |
Altitude (m) |
1 |
Chandigre |
West Garo Hills |
25.5362 |
90.3256 |
833 |
2 |
Dalu |
West Garo Hills |
25.2206 |
90.2163 |
31 |
3 |
Daribokgre |
North Garo Hills |
25.47902 |
90.3105 |
1123 |
4 |
Mongalgre |
West Garo Hills |
25.6261 |
90.2064 |
535 |
5 |
Sakalgre |
West Garo Hills |
25.5143 |
90.3808 |
895 |
6 |
Sasatgre |
West Garo Hills |
25.5262 |
90.3283 |
895 |
7 |
Selbalgre |
West Garo Hills |
25.5143 |
90.2030 |
282 |
8 |
Tura |
West Garo Hills |
25.515 |
90.2027 |
281 |
9 |
Kitmadamgre |
North Garo Hills |
25.8006 |
90.3959 |
223 |
10 |
Eman Asakgre |
South Garo Hills |
25.36989 |
90.54481 |
174 |
11 |
Thokpara |
West Garo Hills |
25.2756 |
90.1051 |
94 |
12 |
Dangkipara |
South Garo Hills |
25.4286 |
90.3269 |
380 |
13 |
Chimanpara |
West Garo Hills |
25.29606 |
90.12145 |
92 |
14 |
Rongalgre |
West Garo Hills |
25.4574 |
90.1669 |
112 |
15 |
Dumitdigre |
West Garo Hills |
25.6084 |
92.0156 |
1103 |
16 |
NEHU, Shillong |
East Khasi Hills |
25.6126 |
91.8972 |
1404 |
17 |
Jirang |
Ri Bhoi |
25.8974 |
91.5849 |
647 |
18 |
Lum Jusong |
Ri Bhoi |
25.8948 |
92.0396 |
919 |
19 |
Nongpoh |
Ri Bhoi |
25.8983 |
91.8956 |
681 |
20 |
Nongsangu |
Ri Bhoi |
25.8717 |
92.0529 |
740 |
21 |
Raid Nongbri |
Ri Bhoi |
25.9152 |
92.0156 |
790 |
NEHU—North Eastern Hill
University
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