 Cnemasspis Kolhapurensis is endemic to parts of India's Western Ghats Scientists have discovered a new species of lizard in the lush Western Ghats mountain range in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The small reptile is a form of gecko and was found by taxonomist Varad Giri in the Kolhapur district. It has been named Cnemasspis kolhapurensis. Mr Giri and his co-workers published their findings in this month's edition of the Zootaxa journal. It is the third new species of lizard recently discovered in the area. Mr Giri, a curator at the Bombay Natural History Society, told the BBC that the Western Ghats has never been surveyed for amphibians and reptiles. "A gecko of this particular character has not been recognised elsewhere in the world," he said. Iridescent sheen Mr Giri said he first noticed the lizard in 2005 during a survey of one of the forests in the area.
"When I first stumbled across it, the lizard looked like a normal specimen," he said. "It was basically a form of gecko but then I saw that it was interesting because its scales were shiny." He said that when the gecko was held up in a certain light, the tail dorsum exhibited an "iridescent sheen". Iridescence is commonly reported in a variety of reptiles - but not geckos. Once Mr Giri and his co-workers had analysed the specimen, they realised it was a previously unknown species. They then enlisted the help of Dr Aaron M Bauer, an expert on lizards based at Villanova University in the US, to confirm the discovery. Cnemasspis kolhapurensis are mostly small in size and have a circular, rather than elliptical, pupil. They are generally found in forests although some have also been found in areas inhabited by humans. Mr Giri said it is a ground-dwelling specimen and can be seen in leaf litter or under rocks. 'Under threat' "Presently this species is known only to this area. It is endemic to the northern parts of the Western Ghats," he added. The Western Ghats mountain range is said to be one of the world's "biodiversity hotspots". But analysts say that the area is at risk of a biodiversity crisis, because it has long been under threat from logging and human encroachment. Mr Giri says the discovery may well help in arguments to preserve parts of the landscape. "This is really important now because there is a lot of human interference and deforestation," he said. Other new species of lizard previously discovered in the area were Hemidactlyus sataraensis and Hemidactylus aaronbaueri. | |
Saturday, July 25, 2009
New lizard species found in India
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Dragonflies face uncertain future
Editor, Earth News
At least one in ten species of dragonfly and damselfly are threatened with extinction, according to the first world survey of their numbers.
The figure may be an underestimate as so little is known about many species.
However, the news is not all bad. The survey published in Biological Conservation is the first to assess the vulnerability of any insect group on a global scale.
And it suggests the extinction risk faced by insects has been exaggerated.
 | PROPORTION OF THREATENED SPECIES 31% of amphibians 20% of mammals 12% of birds 10% of dragonflies and damselflies |
Viola Clausnitzer led an international team of conservation scientists from Germany, Australia, Japan, Russia and the UK among others. They reviewed the status of a random sample of 1500 of the 5680 dragonflies and damselflies known to science.
The team assessed the population and distribution of each species according to the Red List criteria set down by the World Conservation Union (IUCN).
They found that more than half of the species should be categorised as Least Concern, which means they likely remain widespread globally, or are not threatened even if they live in a restricted range.
But one in 10 species is threatened, meaning it is categorised as critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable.
 The Pemba Featherleg (Platycnemis pembipes) a fragile damselfly first discovered in 2001. The species inhabits a single stream in Tanzania and is listed as Critically Endangered. (V. Clausnitzer) |
"It's fair to say that is an underestimate," says Clausnitzer, as too little data exists to accurately assess the status of 35 per cent of the species.
Dragonflies and damselflies, which belong to the insect order known as the Odonata, are susceptible because the larvae of each species live in water. So pollution and changes to habitat, such as forest degradation, which affect water courses can have an impact.
Indeed, because of their sensitivity to water and habitat quality, dragonflies are frequently used to assess environmental health. With their striking colours and behaviour they can be used as indicator species. "If they disappear you've got something wrong with your habitat," says Clausnitzer.
Those species most at risk tend to live in south east Asia and Australia.
In south east Asia, a large number of species are endemic to islands such as the Philippines or within Indonesia, and cannot escape detrimental impacts on their habitat.
| ALREADY EXTINCT Two species of Odonata are known to have gone extinct Both lived on islands Sympetrum dilatatum once lived on Saint Helena Megalagrion jugorum once lived on Maui in the Hawaiian islands |
In Australia, climate change is having an especially strong impact on freshwater systems.
The survey is the first to assess the global health of any order of insects. Compared to vertebrates, the dragonflies and damselflies are not doing badly.
"Amphibians are more threatened than dragonflies in general," says Clausnitzer. Amphibians are being particularly afflicted by the deadly chytrid fungus. "Another difference is that adult dragonflies are more mobile. If one site is destroyed they still have the chance to fly to another site, which frogs don't have."
They also seem less to be less threatened than the mammals, but at a similar level of risk as birds.
"We were a bit surprised that the dragonflies are not that bad off," says Clausnitzer.
"There is a big discussion going on about invertebrates and extinction rates in insects, and this discussion is not based on any real figures. It is all estimations," she adds.
 Only males of Klugi's Threadtail (Protoneura klugi) were known from two locations in Amazonian Peru. The species is listed as Data deficient. (R. W. Garrison) |
In general, conservationists have feared that a much higher proportion of insect species face extinction.
However, Clausnitzer cautions that much more research needs to be done to be sure, and different groups of insects might face very different challenges.
For instance, while the reliance of dragonflies and damselflies on water makes them susceptible, says Clausnitzer "dragonflies are the strongest fliers in the insect kingdom. So you might get a very different picture if you take less capable fliers."
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Longest insect migration revealed
Matt Walker Editor, Earth News |
 Globe skimmers rest up |
Every year, millions of dragonflies fly thousands of kilometres across the sea from southern India to Africa.
So says a biologist in the Maldives, who claims to have discovered the longest migration of any insect.
If confirmed, the mass exodus would be the first known insect migration across open ocean water.
It would also dwarf the famous trip taken each year by Monarch butterflies, which fly just half the distance across the Americas.
Biologist Charles Anderson has published details of the mass migration in the Journal of Tropical Ecology.
Each year, millions of dragonflies arrive on the Maldive Islands, an event which is well known to people living there.
"But no-one I have spoken to knew where they came from," says Anderson, an independent biologist who usually works with organisations such as the Maldivian Marine Research Centre to survey marine life around the islands.
|  This just illustrates how little we still know about the natural world  Biologist Charles Anderson |
Their appearance is especially peculiar because the 1200 islands that make up the Maldives lie 500 to 1000km from the mainland of southern India, and all are coral cays with almost no surface freshwater, which dragonflies need to complete their lifecycle.
Anderson noticed the dragonflies after he first arrived in the Maldives in 1983. He started keeping detailed records each year from 1996 and now collates data collected by local observers at other localities in the Maldives, in India and on vessels at sea.
When Anderson compared these observations with those made of dragonflies appearing in southern India, he found a clear progression of arrival dates from north to south, with dragonflies arriving first in southern India, then in the Republic of Maldives' capital Male, and then on more southern atolls.
Each year, dragonflies first appear in Male between 4 and 23 October, with a mean arrival date of 21 October. Dragonfly numbers peak in November and December, before the insects then disappear once more. The insects arrive in waves, with each staying for no more than a few days.
Over 98% of the dragonflies recorded on the islands are Globe skimmers (Pantala flavescens), but Pale-spotted emperors (Anax guttatus), Vagrant emperors (A. ephippiger), Twisters (Tholymis tillarga) and Blue perchers (Diplacodes trivialis) also appear in some numbers.
The dragonflies then reappear between April and June.
Longest journey
The dragonflies are clearly migrating from India across the open sea to the Maldives, says Anderson.
"That by itself is fairly amazing, as it involves a journey of 600 to 800km across the ocean," he says.
Quite how they do it was a bit of a mystery, as in October at least they appear to be flying against the prevailing winds.
However, in October, and continuing into November and December, a weather system called the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone moves southwards over the Maldives.
Ahead of the ITCZ the wind blows towards India, but above and behind it the winds blow from India. So it seems that the dragonflies are able to reach Maldives by flying on these winds at altitude above 1000m.
| HARDCORE FLYING Globe skimmers are renowned for their ability to fly long-distances They can fly up to 6300m high, the highest of any dragonfly species With a tailwind of 10m per second, a dragonfly could cross from India to Male in 24 hours Maldivians consider the dragonflies' arrival to be a harbinger of the north-east monsoon |
But that is not the end of the animals' epic adventure.
"As there is no freshwater in Maldives for dragonflies, what are they doing here?" asks Anderson.
"I have also deduced that they are flying all the way across the western Indian Ocean to East Africa."
Anderson has gathered a wealth of circumstantial evidence to back his claim.
Large numbers of dragonflies also start appearing in the northern Seychelles, some 2700km from India, in November, and then in Aldabra in the Seychelles, 3800km from India, in December.
That matches the slow southerly movement of the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone weather system, behind which winds blow steadily from India to East Africa.
It is also known that Globe skimmers appear in large numbers through eastern and southern Africa.
In Uganda, they appear twice each year in March or April and again in September, while further south in Tanzania and Mozambique they appear in December and January.
Record breakers
That strongly suggest that the dragonflies take advantage of the moving weather systems and monsoon rains to complete an epic migration from southern India to east and southern Africa, and then likely back again, a round trip of 14,000 to 18,000km.
"The species involved breeds in temporary rainwater pools. So it is following the rains, taking sequential advantage of the monsoon rains of India, the short rains of East Africa, the summer rains of southern Africa, the long rains of East Africa, and then back to India for the next monsoon," says Anderson.
"It may seem remarkable that such a massive migration has gone unnoticed until now. But this just illustrates how little we still know about the natural world."
The monarch butterfly is often cited as having the longest migration of any insect, covering around 7000km in an annual round trip from Mexico to southern Canada.
On average, it takes four generations of butterflies to complete the journey.
Anderson believes that the dragonflies survive the ocean flights by gliding on the winds, feeding on other small insects.
They too, take four generations to make the full round trip each year.
He says the migratory paths of a number of insect-eating bird species, including cuckoos, nightjars, falcons and bee-eaters, follow that of the dragonfly migration, from southern India to their wintering grounds in Africa. That suggests the birds feed on the dragonflies as they travel.
"They [fly] at the same time and altitudes as the dragonflies. And what has not been realised before is that all are medium-sized birds that eat insects, insects the size of dragonflies," he says.
Extraordinary ability
"There are earlier records of swarms of Globe skimmers flying out to sea, and at sea," Anderson continues.
"But it was always assumed that those dragonflies were doomed. Which says rather more about our earth-bound lack of imagination than it does about the globe skimmers' extraordinary flying abilities."