Endemic animals of India

Submitted by- Susmita Purkayastha

Roll No. 25Paper 302: Applied Biology

Department of Life science & Bioinformatics

Introduction• Endemism: Those species with ranges restricted to a

particular region, and therefore is useful only in reference to that region.

List of endemic reptiles of India

• Daniel's Forest Lizard (Bronchocela danieli)• Red-throated Forest Lizard (Bronchocela rubrigularis )• Laungwala Toad-headed Lizard (Bufoniceps laungwalaensis )• Orange-lipped Forest Lizard (Calotes aurantolabium ) • Elliot's Forest Lizard (Calotes ellioti )• Large-scaled Forest Lizard (Calotes grandisquamis )• Khasi Hills Forest Lizard (Calotes maria )• Nilgiri Forest Lizard (Calotes nemoricola )• Roux's Forest Lizard (Calotes rouxii )• Bay Island Forest Lizard (Coryphophylax brevicaudus )

• Short-crested Bay Island Forest Lizard (Coryphophylax subcristatus )• Southern Flying Lizard (Draco dussumieri)• Norvill's Flying Lizard (Draco norvillii )• Ota's Mountin Lizard (Japalura otai )• Haridwar Agama (Laudakia dayana )• Indian Kangaroo Lizard (Otocryptis beddomei )• Blanford's Rock Agama (Psammophilus blanfordanus)• South Indian Rock Agama (Psammophilus dorsalis )• Andaman Canopy Agama (Pseudocalotes andamanensis )• Abor Hills Agama (Pseudocalotes austeniana )• Anaimalai Spiny Lizard (Salea anamallayana )

• Indian Smooth Snake(Coronella brachyura)• Andaman Green Bronzeback• Ashok's Bronzeback (Dendrelaphis ashoki )• Southern Bronzeback (Dendrelaphis chairecaeos ) • Giri's Bronzeback (Dendrelaphis girii )• Large-eyed Bronzeback (Dendrelaphis grandoculis )• Nicobar Bronzeback (Dendrelaphis humayuni )• Nicobar Stripe-necked Snake (Gongylosoma

nicobariensis )• Yellow-collared Wolf Snake (Lycodon flavicollis )• Yellow-spotted Wolf Snake (Lycodon

flavomaculatus )

(Dendrelaphis andamanensis )

Critically endangered reptiles of India

Red-crowned Roofed Turtle or the Bengal Roof Turtle (Batagur kachuga) is a critically endangered turtle mainly restricted to the Ganga basin. Males have a bright red coloration during the breeding season.

• Habitat: Deep, flowing rivers but with terrestrial nest sites.

• Distribution: Found in India, Bangladesh and Nepal. In India it resides basically in the watershed of the Ganga.

• Threats: Water development projects, water pollution, human disturbance and poaching for the illegal wildlife market.

• Four-toed River Terrapin or River Terrapin (Batagur baska) is a critically endangered turtle.

• Habitat: Freshwater rivers and lakes.

• Distribution: Bangladesh, India

• Threats: Use of flesh for medicinal purposes, demand for eggs, which are considered a delicacy

EndAngered reptiles of India• Assam roofed turtle

(Pangshura sylhetensis):

Habitat: terrestrial and freshwater habitats in areas with upland tropical moist forest, and fast-flowing streams and also small rivers.

Distribution: Bangladesh, India

Threat:.The forest stream habitat is being impacted by conversion to tea plantations.

List of endemic Amphibians of India

• Khasi Hills Toad(Bufoides meghalayanus)• Beddome's Toad(Duttaphrynus beddomii )• KempholeyToad(Duttaphrynus brevirostris )• Malabar Toad(Duttaphrynus hololius )• Kiphire's Toad(Duttaphrynus kiphirensis )• Mamit's Toad(Duttaphrynus mamitensis )• Manipur Toad(Duttaphrynus manipurensis )• Small-eared Toad(Duttaphrynus microtympanum )• Kolasib's Toad(Duttaphrynus mizoramensis )• Nagaland Toad(Duttaphrynus nagalandensis)• Ridged Toad(Duttaphrynus parietalis )• Silent Valley Toad(Duttaphrynus silentvalleyensis )

• Malabar Torrent Toad(Ghatophryne ornata )• Kerala Stream Toad(Ghatophryne rubigina)• Kemp's Tree Toad(Pedostibes kempi)• Malabar Tree Toad(Pedostibes tuberculosus)• Koyna Toad(Xanthophryne koynayensis )• Tiger Toad(Xanthophryne tigerina)• Aloysius Skittering Frog(Euphlyctis aloysii)• Manipur Frog(Euphlyctis ghoshi)• Mudigere Skittering Frog(Euphlyctis mudigere )• Chestnut-brown Frog(Fejervarya andamanensis)• Calcutta Frog(Fejervarya assimilis)• Short-webbed Frog(Fejervarya brevipalmata )• Wrinkled Cricket Frog(Fejervarya caperata) • Chilapata Frog(Fejervarya chilapata)

• Ghats Wart Frog(Fejervarya murthii ) • Mysore Wart Frog(Fejervarya mysorensis)• Nicobar Cricket Frog(Fejervarya nicobariensis)• Nilgiri Cricket Frog(Fejervarya nilagirica )• Orissa Cricket Frog(Fejervarya orissaensis) • Parambikulam Frog (Fejervarya parambikulamana)• Reddish Burrowing Frog(Fejervarya rufescens)• Syhadry Cricket Frog(Fejervarya sahyadris)• Lizard-headed Frog (Fejervarya sauriceps)• Sengupta's Frog(Fejervarya sengupti )• Charles Darwin's Frog(Ingerana charlesdarwini ) • Khasi Hills Frog(Limnonectes khasianus)

Critically endangered amphibians• Bufoides meghalayanusHabitat: occurs in montane forest dominated by screw pine trees and is found in crevices inside sandstone bouldersDistribution: cherrapunjee area, East khasi hills, MeghalayaThreats: extensive rock-blasting and stone quarrying in the vicinity of Cherrapunjee. Ngengpui Wildlife Sanctuary and Tura in Garo hills, Meghalaya, are thought to suffer from habitat loss due to logging.

• Pedostibes kempiHabitat: arboreal species associated with semi-evergreen forest.Distribution: Garo Hills, Meghalaya, north-eastern IndiaThreats: unknown.

• Philautus garoHabitat: associated with bushy areas close to perennial streams, in moist tropical forest. Distribution: recorded from the Garo Hills in Assam and Meghalaya, and from Dzulake in Nagaland, India.Threats: habitat loss due to commercial logging (clear-cutting).

• Limnonectes mawlyndipiHabitat: it is likely to live in montane forest and presumably breeds by larval development in water.

Distribution: known only from the type locality in the Khasi Hills in Meghalaya State, India

Threats: unknown

• Philautus kempiaeHabitat: associated with the undergrowth of moist evergreen forest.

Distribution: Garo Hills in Meghalaya State, in north-east India.

Threats: not known.

Endangered Amphibians of India • Ichthyophis bombayensisHabitat: adults are subterranean and partially aquatic, and associated with the humus and decaying wood substrate of tropical wet evergreen forests.Distribution: distributed throughout the Western Ghats region in India.Threats: habitat destruction, the use of agrochemicals, changes in soil chemistry, collection of humus by local people.

• Rhacophorus lateralisHabitat: It inhabits tropical moist evergreen forest and deciduous forest. Distribution: restricted to two small areas of the southern Western Ghats of India in Kerala and KarnatakaThreats: It is threatened by the conversion of forest areas to cultivated land

• Megophrys robustaHabitat: This species is associated with riparian vegetation in tropical moist forest. Breeding takes place in forest streams.Distribution: restricted to four areas of north-eastern India: Mouling National Park, and northern West Siang District, both in Arunachal Pradesh; Darjeeling and Kalimpong in West Bengal; and the Garo Hills and Tura Hills in MeghalayaThreats:The threats to this species are not known.

List of endemic birds of India• Nicobar Megapode (Megapodius nicobariensis) • Grey Junglefowl (Gallus sonneratii) • Rock Bush Quail (Perdicula argoondah) • Painted Bush Quail (Perdicula erythrorhyncha) • Nicobar Sparrowhawk (Accipiter butleri) • Andaman Serpent Eagle (Spilornis elgeni) • Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps) • Andaman Crake (Rallina canningi )• Jerdon's Courser (Rhinoptilus bitorquatus) • Nilgiri Woodpigeon (Columba elphinstonii) • Andaman Woodpigeon (Columba palumboides) • Andaman Cuckoo Dove (Macropygia rufipennis)

Nicobar Parakeet (Psittacula caniceps) Malabar Parakeet (Psittacula columboides ) Forest Owlet (Heteroglaux blewitti ) Andaman HawkOwl (Ninox affinis ) Nicobar Scops Owl (Otus alius ) Andaman Scops Owl (Otus balli ) Malabar Gray Hornbill (Ocyceros griseus ) Narcondam Hornbill (Rhyticeros narcondami ) Whitecheeked Barbet (Megalaima viridis )Andaman Woodpecker (Dryocopus hodgei ) Andaman Treepie (Dendrocitta bayleyi ) Whitebilled Treepie (Dendrocitta leucogastra ) Whitenaped Tit (Parus nuchalis ) Rufoustailed Lark (Ammomanes phoenicura ) Syke's Lark (Galerida deva ) Malabar Lark (Galerida malabarica )

• Nicobar Bulbul (Ixos nicobariensis) • Grayheaded Bulbul (Pycnonotus priocephalus)• Yellowthroated Bulbul (Pycnonotus xantholaemus) • Nilgiri Laughingthrush (Garrulax cachinnans) • Graybreasted Laughingthrush (Garrulax jerdoni) • Tawnybreasted WrenBabbler (Spelaeornis

longicaudatus) • Snowythroated Babbler(Stachyris oglei) • Large Gray Babbler (Turdoides malcolmi) • Rufous Babbler (Turdoides subrufa) • Spotwinged Starling (Saroglossa spiloptera)• Whiteheaded Starling (Sturnus erythropygius) • Whitebellied Shortwing (Brachypteryx major)

Critically Endangered birds• White bellied heron (Ardea

insignis):Habitat: recorded from small or large rivers, usually with sand or gravel bars, often within or adjacent to subtropical broadleaved forestDistribution: known from the eastern Himalayan foothills in Bhutan and north-east India to the hills of Bangladesh , north Myanmar.

Threats: widespread loss, degradation and disturbance of forest and wetlands. Wetlands have become degraded as a result of pollution, rapid growth of aquatic vegetation, and the over-exploitation of resources.

• Great Indian bustard ( Ardeotis nigriceps)

Habitat: inhabits arid and semi-arid grasslands with scattered short scrub, bushes and low intensity cultivation in flat or gently undulating terrain.

Distribution: occurs in the Indian Subcontinent, with former strongholds in the Thar desert in the north-west and the Deccan tableland of the Peninsula

Threats: 1) widespread agricultural expansion and mechanization of farming; 2) infrastructural development such as irrigation, roads, electricity pylons, wind turbines and constructions; 3) mining and industrialization; 4) well intended but ill-informed habitat management (Singh et al. 2006, Anon 2011); and 5) lack of community support (P. Patil in litt. 2011, 2013, 2015).

• Baer’s pochard (Aythya baeri)

Habitat: It breeds around lakes with rich aquatic vegetation in dense grass or flooded tussock/shrubby meadows.

Distribution: mainly in eastern and southern mainland China, India, Bangladesh.

Threats:hunting and wetland destruction in its breeding, wintering and staging grounds are probably the reasons for its decline.

• Siberian crane ( Grus leucogeranus):

Habitat: uses wetlands for feeding, nesting and roosting, preferring wide areas of shallow fresh water with good visibility .

Distribution:eastern population that breeds in the northeast of Siberia and migrates 3,100 miles to the Yangtze River in China to overwinter.

Threats: habitat loss and degradation in the wintering grounds, migratory stopover sites and breeding grounds.

• Indian vulture (Gyps indicus ): Habitat: found in cities, towns and villages near cultivated areas, and in open and wooded areas

Distribution: breeds in south-east Pakistan and peninsular India south of the Gangetic plain, north to Delhi, east through Madhya Pradesh, south to the Nilgiris, and occasionally further south

Threats: anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac, used to treat domestic livestock, has been identified as the cause of mortality

• Bengal florican (Houbaropsis bengalensis):

Habitat: natural and semi-natural grasslands, often interspersed with scattered scrub or patchy open forest.

Distribution: two disjunct populations, one in the Indian Subcontinent, the other in South-East Asia (BirdLife International 2001)

Threats: extensive loss and modification of grasslands through drainage, conversion to agriculture and plantations, overgrazing, inappropriate cutting, burning, heavy flooding, invasion of alien species, scrub expansion, dam construction and inappropriate and illegal development

Endangered birds• Narcondam hornbill

(Rhyticeros narcondami):

Habitat: open mixed forest

Distribution: island of Narcondam, east of the Andaman Islands, India.

Threats: small police outpost was established on the island in 1969. Two or three hectares of forest have been lost

List of Endemic Mammals of India• South Indian Tree Shrew(Anathana ellioti )• Nicobar Tree Shrew(Tupaia nicobarica) • Bonnet Macaque(Macaca radiata) • Liontailed Macaque(Macaca silenus ) • Southern Plains Gray Langur (Semnopithecus dussumieri )• Blackfooted Gray Langur(Semnopithecus hypoleucos) • Nilgiri Langur(Trachypithecus johnii)• Madras Hedgehog(Paraechinus nudiventris) • Miller's Andaman Spiny Shrew(Crocidura andamanensis) • Andaman Spiny Shrew(Crocidura hispida)• Jenkin's Andaman Spiny Shrew(Crocidura jenkins ) • Nicobar Shrew(Crocidura nicobarica)

• Day's Shrew(Suncus dayi) • Assam Mole Shrew(Anourosorex assamensis )• Salim Ali's Fruit Bat(Latidens salimalii )• Nicobar Flying Fox (Pteropus faunulus )• Andaman Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus cognatus) • Mitred Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus mitratus )• Khajuria's Leafnosed Bat (Hipposideros durgadasi)• Kolar Leafnosed Bat (Hipposideros hypophyllus)• Sombre Bat (Eptesicus tatei )• Peters's Tubenosed Bat (Murina grisea )• Brown Palm Civet (Paradoxurus jerdoni)

• Malabar Civet (Viverra civettina ) • Nilgiri Marten (Martes gwatkinsii) • Nilgiri Tahr (Hemitragus hylocrius ) • Indian Giant Squirrel (Ratufa indica) • Namdapha Flying Squirrel(Biswamoyopterus biswasi )• Jungle Striped Squirrel(Funambulus tristriatus) • Malabar Spiny Dormouse(Platacanthomys lasiurus) • Kashmir Mountain Vole(Alticola montosa ) • Royle's Mountain Vole(Alticola roylei ) • Kutch Rock Rat (Cremnomys cutchicus) • Ellerman's Rat (Cremnomys elvira ) • Hume's Manipur Bush Rat (Hadromys humei )

Critically Endangered mammals• Namdapha flying squirrel

(Biswamoyopterus biswasi):

Habitat:arboreal species, dry deciduous montane forests

Distribution: Namdapha National Park ,Tirap District, Arunachal Pradesh, northeastern India (Saha 1981).

Threats: Poaching of animals for food within the park (Molur et al. 2005).

• Andaman Shrew (Crocidura andamanensis):

Habitat: tropical moist deciduous and evergreen forests

Distribution: India in the eastern Indian Ocean

Threats: habitat loss due to anthropogenic activities on the island, except within the National Park

• Nicobar shrew (Crocidura nicobarica):

Habitat: nocturnal and semi fossorial species, which lives among leaf litter in tropical moist deciduous forest (Molur et al. 2005).

Distribution: from the southern tip of Greater Nicobar Island (India) in the Bay of Bengal.

Threats: habitat loss due to selective logging, general anthropogenic activities and tsunami events

• Pygmy hog (Porcula salvania):

Habitat: dependent on early successional riverine communities, typically comprising dense tall grasslands, commonly referred to as 'thatchland‘

Distribution: northern West Bengal and north-western Assam in India, it is now confined to a very few locations in and around Manas National Park in north-western Assam.

Threats: loss and degradation of habitat due to human settlements, agricultural encroachments, dry-season burning, livestock grazing, commercial forestry and flood control schemes.

• Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla):

Habitat: primary and secondary tropical forests, limestone forests, bamboo forests, broad-leaf and coniferous forests, grasslands and agricultural fields.

Distribution: Himalayan foothills of Nepal, southern Bhutan and north and northeastern India, possibly northeastern Bangladesh, northern and western Myanmar

Threats: hunting and poaching, both targeted and untargeted, for local, i.e. national level use as well as international trade

Endangered Mammals• Asiatic lion (Panthera

leo persica):

Habitat: dry deciduous forest, thorny forest and savanna

Distribution: The Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary in Western Gujarat

Threats: poaching

Ganges river Dolphin(Platanista gangetica gangetica):

Habitat: concentrated in counter-current pools below channel convergences and sharp meanders

Distribution: Indus, Ganges-Brahmaputra-Megna, and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems of the South Asian subcontinent,

Threats: Water development projects, Pollutant loads, Deliberate killing,

• Hoolock Gibbons (Hoolock spp.):

Habitat: forest-dweller ,inhabits tropical evergreen rainforests, tropical mixed deciduous forests, and subtropical broadleaf hill forests.

Distribution: eastern Bangladesh, northeastern India (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura), and northwestern Myanmar.

Threats: combined effects of habitat loss, fragmentation, human interference and hunting

• Indian elephant(Elephas maximus indicus):

Habitat: occur in grassland, tropical evergreen forest, semi-evergreen forest, moist deciduous forest, dry deciduous forested and dry thorn forest

Distribution: West Asia along the Iranian coast into the Indian subcontinent, eastwards into South-east Asia including Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, and into China

Threats: habitat loss, degradation

• Lion –tailed macaque(Macaca silenus):

Habitat: arboreal, this species prefers the upper canopy of primary tropical evergreen rainforest

Distribution: India (Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu)

Threats: habitat fragmentation, Hunting

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