(Wild) Life on the move: synthesis of new distribution records from India published in JoTT till date for the year 2017

India, being one of the 12 biologically megadiverse countries, is a storehouse of wildlife.  Just to give a snapshot of India’s biodiversity, it hosts 92,873 species of animals (6.64% of the world’s species), and 29,015 species of plants (9.13% of the world’s species).  It is also one of the world’s 12 Vavilovian centres of origin and diversification of crop plants, which are the regions of a high diversity of wild crop relatives representing the natural relatives of domesticated crop plants.  At least 167 species of important agri-horticultural crops and 320 species of their wild relatives are said to have originated in India.  This high level of species diversity could not have been possible without the country’s tremendous ecosystem diversity, which provides a variety of habitats.  Moreover, a range of drivers like unchecked human population growth, habitat degradation and fragmentation, climate change, illegal harvesting of resources, pollution along with others, either alone or synergistically, have resulted in four biodiversity hotspots in the country: 1. The Himalaya, 2. Indo-Burma [northeastern India and Andaman Islands], 3. The Sunda Islands [Nicobar Islands], and 4. The Western Ghats and Sri Lanka.  Now, a distributional shift of certain species, extension or contraction, is being observed in response to prolonged and intensified impact of these drivers.  Also, many of the species were poorly studied in the past either due to lack of interest or funds.  Now a renewed interest, relatively better funding and active biodiversity monitoring have shed some light on these and many other less studied species.  This post brings you a synthesis of all the new distribution records from India published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa (JoTT) till date in the year 2017 (six issues from January to June).

The story so far

• In total, 26 studies have reported new distribution records of 63 species from different parts of India.  Of the reported 63 species, 50 are from the animal kingdom, and 13 are from the plant kingdom.  Being poorly studied, many of them are yet to be evaluated for their conservation status.

• Among the animal species only one, i.e. the Rusty-spotted Cat, is evaluated as Near Threatened by IUCN Red List and included in Schedule I list of Wildlife (Protection) Act of India, 1972.

• In the case of the plant species, 3 species endemic to the Western Ghats are considered rare and threatened (Narah et al. 2017, Josekutty et al. 2017), 5 are wild crop relatives (Pradheep et al. 2017), and 4 are rare species from the family Commelinaceae (Salamma et al. 2017).

• Of all the biogeographic zones of India covered in these studies, the Western Ghats was the most studied and yielded the highest number of species with new distribution record (Awasthi et al. 2017, Fernholm et al. 2017, Josekutty et al. 2017, Lekshmi et al. 2017, Mukherjee et al. 2017, Raut et al. 2017, Salamma et al. 2017, Samson et al. 2017, Srinivasulu et al. 2017 Waghmare et al. 2017).

• The studies recorded the butterfly Myanmarese Tiger-mimic Admiral Limenitis rileyi Tytler, 1940 (Roy 2017), a stink bug species Eocanthecona concinna Walker, 1867 (Waghmare et al. 2017), a shield bug species Neojurtina typica (Salini 2017), a wasp species Xenomerus orientalis Walker (Managanvi et al. 2017), Cyanotis vaga (family Commelinaceae) (Salamma et al. 2017), two species of hermit crabs namely, Clibanarius rhabdodactylus Forest, 1953 and Clibanarius rutilus Rahayu, 1999 (Kachhiya et al. 2017) and a mantis species Mantibara mantis Dodd (Veenakumari and Mohanraj 2017) for the first time in India.

• The Fulvous Leaf-nosed Bat Hipposideros fulvus Gray, 1938 (Dookia et al. 2017) the Manipur Argus Callerebia suroia (a rare satyrid butterfly) (Irungbam et al. 2017), and the wild pig Sus scrofa cristatus (Ahmad et al. 2017) were resighted from the same location after a gap of 38, more than 100 and 30 years, respectively.

Opportunities for conservation

These new distribution records are important for assessing the status and ecology of a species in the face of climate change, land use land cover change and other drivers.  Such information is useful for delineating new areas significant for conservation and management of existing ones like in the case of the ‘Near Threatened’ Rusty-spotted Cat (Guptha et al. 2017, Nayak et al. 2017), thought to be extinct Fulvous Leaf-nosed Bat (Dookia et al. 2017), the rare Anomalous Nawab butterfly (Mehra et al. 2017), and the Ixora plant (Narah et al. 2017).  This, however, is not possible without a systematic biodiversity inventorization, monitoring and assessment with equal efforts given all over the country.  Also, except for Waghmare et al. (2017) who did phylogenetic analysis along with morphological analysis to identify the species, rest of them relied solely on morphological analysis of either a sample specimen or photographic sample owing to lack of resources and time for sampling.  However, integrating morphology with genetics, wherever possible, could help in accurate identification especially in the case of cryptic species, which have similar morphological characteristics but differ genetically, or poorly studied species which appear similar to other species.  It is also important to see the ecological implications of the new geographic distribution of the species and accordingly develop future conservation plans like in the case of the wild pig (Ahmad et al. 2017) and ascidians (Mondal et al. 2017) that are considered as potentially invasive species.

Bibliography

1. Ahmad, R., I. Suhail & Y.V. Bhatnagar (2017). A first report of the presence of the Indian Wild Pig Sus scrofa cristatus from Kajinag Range, Kashmir, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(3): 10018–10020; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2713.9.3.10018-10020

2. Aswathi, K. & P.M. Sureshan (2017). Additions to the scorpion fauna (Arachnida: Scorpiones) of Kerala, India, with an illustrated key to the genera. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(2): 9844–9850; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2039.9.2.9844-9850

3. Dookia, S., G. Singh & R. Mishra (2017). Re-sighting record of Fulvous Leaf-nosed Bat Hipposideros fulvus Gray, 1838 (Mammalia: Chiroptera: Hipposideridae) from Thar Desert, Rajasthan, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(1): 9764-9767; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2657.9.1.9764-9767

4. Fernholm, B., A.B. Kumar & M. Noren (2017). First record of hagfish (Cyclostomata: Myxinidae) in Indian waters. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(6): 10365-10368; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2526.9.6.10365-10368

5. Guptha, M.B. & M.E. Ramanujam (2017). A photographic record of the Rusty-spotted Cat Prionailurus rubiginosus (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae) in a forest plantation on the east coast of Tamil Nadu, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(5): 10242-10245; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3239.9.5.10242-10245

6. Irungbam, J.S., H. Huidrom & B.S. Soibam (2017). A century later the Manipur Argus Callerebia suroia Tyler, 1914 (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae) recorded in its type locality in Manipur, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(2): 9866–9869; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2931.9.2.9866-9869

7. Josekutty, E.J., P. Biju & J. Augustine (2017). Notes on the extended distribution of two threatened species of Strobilanthes Blume (Acanthaceae) in Kerala, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(5): 10236-10239; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3186.9.5.10236-10239

8. Kachhiya, P., J. Raval, P. Poriya & R. Kundu (2017). Diversity and new records of intertidal hermit crabs of the genus Clibanarius (Crustacea: Decapoda: Diogenidae) from Gujarat coast off the northern Arabian Sea, with two new records for the mainland Indian coastline. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(6): 10334-10339; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2268.9.6.10334-10339

9. Lekshmi, R. (2017). A first record of the Broad-tail Royal Creon cleobis Godart, 1824 (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) and its host plant from Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve of the southern Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(5): 10240–10241; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3231.9.5.10240-10241

10. Managanvi, K., A.K. Karnatak & M.A. Khan (2017). Xenomerus orientalis Walker (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae): a new distribution record for India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(4): 10138–10140; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2005.9.4.10138-10140

11. Mehra, D., J.S. Flora & V. Sharma (2017). A new locality record of the rare Anomalous Nawab Polyura agrarius (Swinhoe, 1887) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Charaxinae) from central India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(6): 10358-10360; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2972.9.6.10358-10360

12. Mondal, J., C. Raghunathan & K. Venkataraman (2017). New records of Aplousobranch ascidians to Indian waters from Andaman Islands. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(2): 9874-9880; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.1876.9.2.9874-9880

13. Mukherjee, T.K., G. Iyer & P. Chatterjee (2017). Twenty-three new records of mantodea (Insecta) from some states of India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(2): 9829-9839; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.1936.9.2.9829-9839

14. Narah, D., N.A. Bhat & Y. Kumar (2017). Ixora polyantha Wight (Rubiaceae) a new record for northeastern India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(5): 10229-10232; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3131.9.5.10229-10232

15. Naranji, M.K. & S. Kandula (2017). A new record of Gunther’s Waspfish Snyderina guentheri (Boulenger, 1889) (Scorpaeniformes: Tetrarogidae) from Visakhapatnam, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(4): 10130-10132; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2879.9.4.10130-10132

16. Nayak, S., S. Shah & J. Borah (2017). First record of Rusty-spotted Cat Prionailurus rubiginosus (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae) from Ramgarh-Vishdhari Wildlife Sanctuary in semi-arid landscape of Rajasthan, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(1): 9761-9763; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3303.9.1.9761-9763

17. Pradheep, K., R.S. Rathi, K.J. John, S.M. Sultan, B. Abraham, A. Pandey, E.R. Nayar, S.P. Ahlawat & R. Gupta (2017). New distribution records of some wild crop relatives from India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(5): 10223-10228; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2930.9.5.10223-10228

18. Raut, G.A. & S.M. Gaikwad (2017). A new record of Tenodera fasciata (Olivier, 1792) (Insecta: Mantodea: Mantidae: Mantinae) for western India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(6): 10351-10354; https://dio.org/10.11609/jott.2908.9.6.10351-10354

19. Roy, P. (2017). A record of Limenitis rileyi Tytler, 1940 (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Limenitidinae) from Arunachal Pradesh, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(1): 9774-9776; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3070.9.1.9774-9776

20. Salamma, S., M.C. Naik, M.A. Kumar, A. Srenah & B.R.P. Rao (2017). Four species of Commelinaceae, as additions to Andhra Pradesh, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(6): 10340-10344; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3342.9.6.10340-10344

21. Salini, S. (2017). First record of Neojurtina typica from India (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomidae). Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(4): 10133-10137; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2777.9.4.10133-10137

22. Samson, A., P. Santhoshkumar, B. Ramakrishnan, S. Karthick & C. Gnaneswar (2017). New distribution record of Nagarjunasagar Racer Platyceps bholanathi (Reptilia: Squamata: Colubridae) in Sigur, Nilgiris landscape, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(3): 10014–10017; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3175.9.3.10014-10017

23. Sarojinidevi, N. & R.R. Venkataraju (2017). Euphorbia royleana Boiss.,(Euphorbiaceae) a new record for the Eastern Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(5): 10233-10235; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2640.9.5.10233-10235

24. Srinivasulu, B. & C. Srinivasulu (2017). A first record of three hitherto unreported species of bats from Kerala, India with a note on Myotis peytoni (Mammalia: Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae). Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(5): 10216-10222; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3324.9.5.10216-10222

25. Veenakumari, K. & P. Mohanraj (2017). First report of Mantibaria mantis (Dodd) (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae: Scelioninae) from India and additional descriptors for the species. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 9(6), 10347-10350; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2936.9.6.10347-10350

26. Waghmare, S.H. & S.M. Gaikwad (2017). First record of the predatory stinkbug Eocanthecona concinna (Walker, 1867) (Pentatomidae: Asopinae) from India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(2): 9870-9873; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3051.9.2.9870-9873