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8. Reference to literature in the text should be made by quoting the author's

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Editors,

Journal of the Bombay

Natural History Society.

Hombill House, - ; yj

Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road,

Bombay 400 023.

VOLUME 83(3) ; DECEMBER 1986

Date of Publication : 25-5-1987

CONTENTS

Page

The birds of Kanha Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, India. By Paul N. Newton,

Stanley Breeden and Guy J. Norman. ( With two text-figures) . . 477

Immobilizing Gaur with an Etorphine and Tranquilizer mixture. By Paul

J. Conry . . 499

Ecology of larger mammals of Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. By K. K. Rama-

chandran, P. Vijayakumaran Nair and P. S. Easa. ( With three plates and seven

text-figures ) . . 505

Some ecological aspects of Mangrove forest of Andaman Islands. By V. P.

Singh, L. P. Mall, A. Garge and S. M. Pathak. ( With two text-figures ) . . 525

Survey of the Freshwater Turtles of India Part I: The Genus Kachuga.

By Edward O. Moll. ( With a colour plate and eight text-figures ) . . 538

Basic diurnal activity pattern of Blackbuck, Antilope cervicapra Linn, of

Ball a vp ur Wildlife Sanctuary, W.B. and its seasonal variation. By Bratin-

dranath Chattopadhyay and Tanmay Bhattacharya. ( With four text-figures) . . 553

Ichthyofauna of Bijnor District (Uttar Pradesh). By M. K. Sharma and

D. B. Rajput. (With a map) . . 562

Material for the Flora of Mahabaleshwar-7. By P. V. Bole and M. R. Almeida 570

The birds of the Kedarnath Sanctuary, Chamoli District, Uttar Pradesh:

Status and Distribution. By Michael J. B. Green. (With a plate and a text-

figure) . . 603

Taxonomic studies on the Marine Ostracoda from India. Family: Leptocy-

theridae Hanai, 1957. By C. Annapurna and D. V. Rama Sarnia. (With five

plates) . . 618

Fossil bird egg shell fragments from Karewas of Kashmir Valley (J&K),

India: a scanning electron microscope study. By Ashok Sahni, V. J. Gupta,

Bhuvan Prakash and B. S. Kotlia. (With a plate and two text-figures) . . 623

New Descriptions:

A New species of Copris Muller (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from South

India. By B. D. Gill. (With a plate) . . 632

New species of scorpion of the Genus Lychas (Buthidae: Scorpionida) from

Nasik District, Maharashtra, India. By D. B. Bastawade. (With thirteen

text-figures) . . 634

Description of two New species of Cladocera of Family Daphniidae from

Madhya Pradesh, India. By Pramod D. Rane. (With two text- figures) . . 638

A New species of a Podocopan Ostracod, from the East coast of India. By C.

Annapurna and D. V. Rama Sarma. (With a photograph and eight text-figures) 642

Two New species of Oribatids (Arachnida: Acarina) from South India. By M.

M. Balakrishnan. (With seven text-figures) . . 645

Reviews :

1 . Population Dynamics of Rabies in Wildlife. (A. N. D. Nanavati) . . 650

2. Field Guide to the Common Trees of India. (Meena Haribal) .. 652

Miscellaneous Notes:

Mammals: 1. A note on the interaction of Common Langur (Presbytis entellus) and

wolf (Canis lupus). By B. Ram Manohar and Reena Mathur (p. 653); 2. Sighting of

an unknown species of cat. By M. K. Ranjitsinh (p. 653); 3. Note on Indian wild dogs

(Cuon alpinus) in Sariska National Park. (With a plate). By Divyabhanusinh (p. 654);

4. Some notes on field biology of Rnomoomys opimus, Meriones persicus and Musculus

bactrianus with reference to Orchards of Baluchistan (Pakistan). By Afsar Mian (p. 654);

5. Association of Nesokia indica Gray with Microflora and Fauna of its Burrow Soil

and Droppings. By P. Ramesh (p. 657); 6. A fight between bull Gaur in Mudumalai.

By J. Mangalraj Johnson (p. 659); 7. Instance of an Indian Pangolin {Manis crassi-

caudata Gray) digging into a house. By Rajiv Saxena (p. 660).

Birds: 8. Occurrence of the Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus (Linne) at Tadoba,

Maharashtra. By Meena Haribal (p. 661); 9. Spotting of Habshi Flamingos in Nani-Banni.

By A. A. Vaidya (p. 661); 10. Red Spurfowl ( Galloperdix spadicea caurina). By Raza

H. Tehsin (p. 663); 11. Breeding of the Painted Snipe ( Rostratula benghalensis ) in

Trivandrum, Kerala. By C. Susanth, C. Suresh and S. Rajeevan (p. 663); 12. Recovery

of a Ringed Sandwich Tern, Sterna sandvicensis sandvicensis from Rameswaram Island,

Tamilnadu. By R. S. Lai Mohan (p. 664); 13. Lack of Traffic sense amongst Indian

Rollers. By Debi Goenka (p. 665); 14. Occurrence of the Little Pied Flycatcher

( Muscicapa westennanni ) in Narsapur, Medak district, Andhra Pradesh. By Aasheesh

Pittie (p. 665); 15. Blyth’s Reed Warbler Acrocephalus dumetorum with an abnormal

rectrix. (With a text-figure). By David S. Melville (p. 666); 16. Occurrence of Crowned

Leaf Warbler (Phylloscopus occipitalis ) in Bombay. By Nitin Jamdar (p. 667); 17. New

records of some birds from different parts of Eastern India. By Srikumar Chattopadhyay

(p. 668).

Reptiles: 18. A note on a Hawksbill Turtle ( Eretmochelys imbricata) at Gahirmatha

Beach of Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary, Orissa. By Sudhakar Kar (p. 670); 19. Canni-

balistic behaviour of fresh water turtles in Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan.

By M. John George (p. 670); 20. Fresh water turtle capturing aquatic birds. By C.

Sivasubramanian (p. 671).

Amphibia: 21. Record of the Fungoid Frog Rana malabarica (Bibron) in Navsari

(Gujarat State). By Y. M. Nair and R. K. Patel (p. 672).

Fishes: 22. Occurrence of Whirling Disease in Cirrhina mrigala in Wardha. (With a

photograph). By S. C. Maheshwari (p. 673).

Insects: 23. Development and survival of Myzus persicae (Sulzer) on Taramira (Eruca

sativa Linn.) inflorescence at Ludhiana. By Gurvinderjit Singh and Gurdip Singh (p. 674);

24. Mormon Butterfly (Papilio polymnester) and its status around Bombay. By Meena

Haribal (p. 677); 25. Occurrence of Cydia sp.? funebrana (Treitschke) as apricot fruit

borer — A New record from India. By S. K. Sharma and P. R. Gupta (p. 677); 26.

Mulberry, Morus alba Linnaeus, A New host plant for the Blue Pumpkin Beetle, Rhaphi-

dopalpa intermedia Jacoby (Chrysomelidae : Coleoptera). By R. Rajashekhar Gouda, M.

C. Devaiah and R. H. Patil (p. 679).

Botany: 27. Carex hebecarpa Mey. — A New record for north-west Himalaya. By

Neelam Ghildyal (p. 680) ; 28. Vegetation of the Kapilas hills in Dhenkanal District,

Orissa. By B. C. Patra and B. P. Choudhury (p. 680); 29. Additions to the Pteridophytic

Flora of Naini Tal. By Y.P.S. Pangtey, G. S. Rawat and S. S. Samant (p. 683) ; 30. Floral

Biology of Cassia angustifolia Vahl. By V. A. Amalraj (p. 684); 31. New distributional

records from Chamoli District in N.W. Himalayas. By K. N. Nautiyal and Y. S. Murty (p.

686); 32. Urochloa panicoides P. Beauv. (Poaceae) in South India. (With a plate). By Basa-

vaiah and T.C.S. Murthy (p. 687); 33. A contribution to the Moss; Flora of North Western

Ghats, India. By M. A. Haji Mohamed, N. V. Biradar and J. G. Vaidya (p. 689);

34. On the identity of Hedyotis erecta Manilal and Sivarajan (Rubiaceae). By D. B.

Deb and Ratna Dutta (p. 692).

Annual Report of the Bombay Natural History Society for the year 1984-85 694

Statement of Accounts of the Bombay Natural History Society . . 705

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting . . 724

Minutes of the Extraordinary General Meeting of the Society . . 733

JOURNAL

OF THE

BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY

SOCIETY

December 1986

Vol. 83

No. 3

THE BIRDS OF KANHA TIGER RESERVE,

MADHYA PRADESH, INDIA1

Paul N. Newton2, Stanley Breeden3 and

Guy J. Norman4

(With two text-figures)

Introduction

Kanha Tiger Reserve is a 1945 sq. km. tract

of hill forest, near the geographic centre of

India, famous for its abundance of large

mammals. Although field research has been

conducted within the Reserve (Panwar n.d.,

Kotwal n.d., Schaller 1967, Kurt 1973, Martin

1977, Newton 1984) birds have been neglected,

reflecting the general paucity of information

on the central Indian avifauna (Hewetson

1955). The purpose of this paper is to present

1 Accepted July 1985.

2 Animal Ecology Research Group, Department of

Zoology, South Parks Road, Oxford, England.

3 57, Tahiti Avenue, Palm Beach, Queensland,

Australia. Indian address : Mokshpuri Farm, Rajokri

Marg, New Delhi 110 038.

4 Imperial College Centre for Environmental Tech-

nology, 48, Princes Gardens, London, England.

the authors’ records of birds in Kanha, collated

with previous published observations.

Most of the previous ornithological fieldwork

in central India has been conducted in the

western, often more arid, areas of Berar,

Gwalior, Bhopal and Betul (Osmaston 1927,

Ali 1939, Hewetson 1939, Wright 1942).

D’Abreu (1935) published a list of 409 species

for the, as then. Central Provinces, but in-

cluded 42 species of uncertain occurrence.

Subsequently, Hewetson (1955) recorded 308

species, seen during 29 years forest service in

the Central Provinces and, its administrative

descendant, Madhya Pradesh. Although Hewet-

son (1955), Anderson (1979) and Ranjitsinh

(1983) recorded some specific bird species from

Kanha, Pan war (n.d.) produced the first list of

birds seen in the tract, based on some 12 years

residency. Guntert & Homberger (1973) added

477

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

478

Fig. 1. Kanha Tiger Reserve. Madhya

BIRDS OF KANHA TIGER RESERVE

to this list during a month long intensive orni-

thological survey, which included mist netting.

Kanha Tiger Reserve

The reserve, 50 km SE of Mandla town,

is situated in the Mandla and Balaghat dis-

tricts of Madhya Pradesh (M.P.) in the Maikal

Hills of the Central Indian Highlands (22°

17' N, 80°38'E). Kanha Tiger Reserve en-

closes the 940 sq. km. forests of Kanha

National Park and a surrounding 1005 sq. km.

buffer zone of forest, villages and cultivation

(Figs. 1&2). The only permanent inhabitants

in the National Park are the Forest Depart-

ment staff. Pertinent aspects of the natural

history of the reserve are summarized below.

For further details see Panwar (n.d.), Forsyth

(1872), Rudman (1912), Brander (1923),

Schaffer (1967) and Newton (1984).

a) Topography and Geology.

The landscape comprises flat-topped hills

and ridges enclosing valleys and amphitheatres,

rising from 450 m to 950 m above m.s.l. The

ridges tend to run E-W, producing spurs which

project northwards. The Reserve is isolated

from other forest areas in the Maikal Hills by

cultivation in the surrounding lower lying

tracts. The drainage pattern reflects the divi-

sion of the Park into a western block, drained

by the Banjar River and an eastern block

drained by the Halon River, both tributaries

of the River Narmada. The two hill blocks are

separated, apart from the narrow Bhaisanghat

neck, by farmland and villages. This report

deals only with the ornithology of the west

block (Kisli, Kanha and Mukki Forest

Ranges) — an 8 km wide amphitheatre drain-

ed to the north by the Sulkum nullah (see

Figs. 1 & 2). Geologically, the region is com-

posed of gneiss, crystalline schists and Deccan

trap.

b) Habitats.

Four main vegetation types can be distin-

guished within the Park, moist deciduous

forest, dry deciduous forest, valley meadow

and dadar meadow (Kotwal n.d., Schaffer

1967, Newton 1984). By the Champion & Seth

(1968) classification, forest types 3C/C2ei,

3C/C2eii, 3B/C2 and 5A/C3 are represented.

The moist deciduous forest, comprising 27%

of the Park area and found below about 600 m,

is dominated by sal ( Shorea robusta). In the

valleys, sal is associated with an undergrowth

of Flemingia species whilst on the lower slopes

it is found with a tangle of bamboo ( Dendro -

calamus strictus). Whilst most species are

deciduous, sal, forming 30-80% of trees, is

semi-evergreen. The forest is fragmented into

meadows (1 ha-6 sq. km.), dotted with trees,

forming 21% of the Park area. These are the

relics of Baiga ‘bewar’ slash-and-bum cultiva-

tion, halted about 1868. The largest meadow

has Kanha Forest Village at its western edge

and is referred to as the Kanha meadow.

Above some 600 m, sal-with-bamboo gives

way to dry or mixed deciduous forest (51%

of park area) which also forms islands on

rocky outcrops (‘chattans’) in sal forest.

Although lower in stature than sal forest it has

a much greater species diversity. Owing to

laterite and bauxite deposits, inimical to tree

growth, the plateaux are frequently vegetated

with meadow. In the buffer zone patches of

forest, degraded by human use, are scattered

amongst settlements, pasture and paddyfields.

The major nullahs (streams) and open water

habitats (tanks, anicuts, bunds) are shown on

Figs 1 & 2. The major stiff water bodies are

Shrawantalao, Kanha anicut (both about 1 ha

surface area), Sonph, Rondha, Sondha, Kisli

tanks (about 1/3 ha each) and Menhar bund

(1/6 ha) in the valleys and Deotalao (1/3 ha)

in the hills. All appear, at least in their present

479

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

480

BIRDS OF KANHA TIGER RESERVE

form, to be manmade. There are considerable

seasonal variations in water level and nullahs

cease flowing during the hot weather.

The diverse and abundant mammalian fauna

(Schaller 1967) has been successfully conserv-

ed by Project Tiger and the Forest Depart-

ment, and the decline of many species reversed.

The region has been inhabited by the Baiga

forest tribe for a considerable, but unknown,

length of time living by slash-and-burn culti-

vation and as hunter-gatherers. Much of the

valley sal is probably secondary forest, owing

to logging at the turn of the century. The area,

previously known as the Banjar Valley Reserve

Forest, was declared a Sanctuary in 1933 and

has had variable degrees of protection since

then.

c) Climate .

Three seasons can be identified; cold wea-

ther, hot weather and monsoon. The cold

weather (November-March) is cool and dry

(< 5-7 cm of rain) with minimum and maxi-

mum temperatures of 5° and 25 °C respectively.

Leaf fall commences in January in most tree

species.

During the hot weather (April- June) mini-

mum and maximum temperatures are about

20°C and 42°C respectively. It rarely rains and

deciduous trees renew their leaves and then

flower. Sal trees flush soon after their leaves

fall and then flower en masse.

The timing of the monsoon is variable,

usually heralded by afternoon showers in late

May, culminating in continuous rain in late

June. This transforms the dessicated habitat

into a cool (20-30°C), humid and very wet

environment until October. Rainfall at Kanha

village was 1495 mm in 1980 and 1766 mm

in 1981 (Kotwal pers. comm.).

Systematic List

Those bird species known to the authors

to occur in Kanha Tiger Reserve are listed

below with notes on their natural history. The

nomenclature and taxonomic arrangement

follows Ripley (1982) for birds, Deoras (1978)

for snakes and Brandis (1874) for trees. As

subspecific identifications were not made (no

birds were caught) the Handbook numbers of

Ali & Ripley (1968-1974) have not been used.

Authorship for specific records are given by

initials (PN, SB, GJN). All localities men-

tioned are given on Figs. 1 & 2 and all records

refer to the western block. The authors were

present in Kanha for the following periods:

PN: Jan.-July 1980; Jan. 1981 -July 1982; April-

May 1983.

SB: April 1982-July 1983.

GJN: Dec. 1980-March 1981.

Dates are given in the order day /month/

year. All measurements are given in SI units.

The term ‘1st call /return’ records the date on

which the species was first heard/seen in any

year, after its absence during the monsoon.

The seasonal occurrence of bird species was

classified into three categories, defined below

and indicated in the list, together with breed-

ing records. These categories are necessarily

arbitrary but reflect what is known of the

pattern of Indian migration (Ali & Ripley

1968-74). The abbreviations and symbols used

in the list for previous records, habitats and

classes of migratory status are given below:

Previous records

*: previously recorded by Guntert &

Homberger (1973).

f: ., „ „ Panwar (n.d.).

Habitats

(M) : valley meadow

(Saif) : sal forest with Flemingia

(Salb) : sal forest with bamboo

481

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Systematic List

PODICIPEDIDAE

Podiceps ruficollis Little grebe

(T) [w] Nov.-July. Up to 5 on Kanha anicut,

6 on Sondha tank, also Sonph tank & Shrawam

talao.

Ph alacrocor acidae

Phalacrocorax carbo Cormorant

(T) 15/2/82, 22/2/82, 24/2/82. 1 on Kanha

anicut (PN).

P. fuscicollis Indian shag*

(T) 28/4/82, at Sondha tank (SB).

P. niger Little cormorant*

Recorded by Guntert & Homberger (1973)

at Desi nullah. 7/9/72.

Ardeidae

Ardea cinerea Grey heron

(T) 30/4/83-22/6/83, 1 at Shrawantalao &

Menhar bund. 15/6/83, 1 at Sondha tank (SB).

A. purpurea Purple heron

(T,N) [w] Feb.- June. 1-2 at Kanha anicut,

occasionally also at Shrawantalao.

Ardeola grayii Pond heron*, t

(T,N,M,D) In all months except Aug. In

monsoon numbers considerably reduced with

some birds foraging on meadows. Near water

throughout valley and occasionally at nullah

pools and ponds in hills at Kerighat, Deotalao.

Bubulcus ibis Cattle egret*, t

(T,M,Salf) [w] Dec.-June. Common around

Kanha anicut. Transition to breeding plumage

in May. For description of ‘leapfrogging’ see

Newton (1986).

Egretta intermedia Smaller egretf

(T,N) [w] Jan. -June. 1-2 at Kanha anicut,

occasionally at Shrawantalao, Menhar bund.

20/6/82, a bird in breeding plumage, Menhar

bund (SB).

E. garzetta Little egretf

(T,N) 21/5/83, 25/5/83, 1 at Kanha anicut

(PN). 21/4/82, 1 Menhar bund. 17/1/83, 1

Sondha tank (SB).

ClCONIIDAE

Ciconia episcopus Whitenecked storkf

(T,N,M) [w] Dec.-June. At Kanha anicut,

Menhar bund, Shrawantalao. In late hot wea-

ther about 6 birds at streams traversing central

Kanha meadow.

C. nigra Black stork

(T) 22/11/82, Kanha anicut. 22/1/83 Kanha

meadow, 2 flying (SB). A rare species in the

Deccan, at the southern limit of its range (Ali

& Ripley 1968-74).

Leptoptilos javanicus Lesser adjutant*,f

(N,M,T) [w] March- June. Kanha anicut,

Menhar bund, Shrawantalao, Sondha tank. At

forest pools in Sulkum nullah during hot wea-

ther. Hewetson (1955) recorded this species

in Kanha in 1955, his only record for the state.

Threskiornithidae

Threskiornis aethiopica White ibis

7/7/ 83, 5 flying over Kanha meadow (SB).

482

BIRDS OF KANHA TIGER RESERVE

Pseudibis papillosa Black ibisf

(T,N,Salf) [R] In all months, roosting in

sal ( Shorea robusta) at Kanha Forest Village,

foraging around Kanha anicut and surround-

ing meadows and nullahs.

Anatidae

Dendrocygna javanica Lesser whistling teal*,j

(T) [w] Nov. -July. Shrawantalao, Sondha

tank and Kanha anicut. Maximum of about

350 birds in January at Kanha.

Anas acuta Pintailf

(T) [W] Nov.-March. Shrawantalao, Kanha

anicut, Sondha tank. Maximum of 50 birds at

Kanha in January.

A. crecca Common teal*

(T) [W] Nov.-March at Shrawantalao, Men-

har bund, Mundri dadar bund, Sondha & Sonph

tanks. Maximum of 50-60 birds at Shrawan-

talao.

A. poecilorhyncha Spotbill duck

Recorded by Anderson (1979) on Shrawan-

talao.

A. penelope Wigeon

(T) 15/11/81, Sondha tank (R. Wolton &

PN).

A. querquedula Garganey

(T) 17/1/83, 8 Sondha tank (SB).

A. clypeata Shoveller

(T) 10/11/82, a female at Shrawantalao

(SB).

Nettavus coromandelianus Cotton teal*

(T) [w] Feb.-July. 5-6 at Kanha anicut.

Also at Shrawantalao and Sondha tank.

Accipitridae

FJanus caeruleus Blackwinged kite*

(M, Saif, D, Mx) [w, B] Oct.-June. Kanha,

Rondha and Sonph meadows, Bahmnidadar,

Silpura, Shrawanchitta cliffs, Muchadonga.

Breeding Kanha meadow Feb/81 and Oct/83,

latter nest 8 m up Butea monosperma, 3/10/82

2 eggs, 11/10/82 4 eggs, 5/11/82 2 chicks,

8/11/82 4 chicks, 30/11/82 one chick dead

(SB).

Pernis ptilorhyncus Honey buzzard

(Saif, Salb, M) [R] All months. 10/7/82,

caught, but dropped, a Rana tigerina frog (SB).

Milvus mi grans Black kitef

(M, C) Common in buffer zone at Morcha

village. Only once recorded within Park,

24/6/82, over Kanha meadow (SB).

Acci piter badius Shikraf

(M, Saif) [w] Oct. -July. Common on Kanha

meadows; in May & June frequent bathers at

nullah waterholes (SB). 17/4/81, caught and

killed common myna (A. tristis) (PN).

2/6/82, a shikra tried unsuccessfully to remove

young of common myna (A. tristis) from tree

hole nest (SB). Attempted predation of spott-

ed dove ( S . chinensis) and black drongo (D.

adsimilis) also observed (GJN). This species

possibly confused with Asiatic sparrowhawk

(Acci piter nisus), a winter visitor to central

India (Ali & Ripley 1968-74).

Butastur teesa White-eyed buzzard-eagle

(M, Saif, Mx) [w] Oct. -July. Kanha meadows,

Bahmnidadar, Sonph, Silpura.

Spizaetus cirrhatus Crested hawk-eagle*f

(M, Saif, Mx) Jan.-June, August, November.

Kanha, Kisli, Kodaidadar, Rondha. 31/1/80,

feeding on Indian hare ( Lepus nigricollis ) in

sal forest (PN).

Sarcogyps calvus King vulture*

(M, Saif) Feb.-Aug. Only observed on the

Kanha meadows, always singly. Also 1 at tiger

kill 14/2/1979 at Kisli (C. G. Bowden).

Gyps indicus Indian longbilled vulture*!

23/11/81, 1 bird flying over Kanha meadow

(PN), Guntert & Homberger (1973) noted this

species as considerably rarer than G. bengal-

ensis.

483

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

G. bengalensis Whitebacked vulture*

(M, Saif) [R] All months, common on

Kanha & Sonph meadows, scavenging tiger

(P. tigris) and dhole ( C . alpinus) kills.

Neophron percnopterus Scavenger vulture!

19/4/80, 31/3/82, singletons flying over

meadow and sal forest, Kanha meadow. Com-

mon in buffer zone.

Circus macrourus Pale harrier

(M, D) 20/1/81, 1 Bahmnidadar. 24/12/82-

8/1/83, a male on Kanha meadow. 10/1/83,

eating a lizard (SB). 17/1/82, 2 males Sondha

meadow.

C. melanoleucos Pied harrier

(M, D) [W] Dec.-April. Bahmnidadar.

25/4/80, 23/12/82 Kanha meadow.

C. aeruginosus Marsh harrier

(M, D) [W] Feb.-March, June & Nov.

Bahmnidadar, Sonph & Kanha meadows. The

June record may represent the northerly passage

of birds loitering during the hot weather in

Sri Lanka (Ali & Ripley 1968-74).

Spilornis cheela Crested serpent eagle*!

(Saif, Mx) [R] All months. Calling Jan. -Feb.

23/3/81, chasing peacock ( Pavo cristatus).

27/6/82, carrying 1 m long Boiga snake in

talons. 11/7/82, caught and ate striped keel-

back snake ( Amphiesma stolata). 5/1/82, eating

checkered keelback snake ( Xenochrophis pis-

cator ) (SB).

Falcon idae

Falco biarmicus Lanner falcon!

(M) 14/5/80, 7/1/83, 13/1/83, Kanha

meadow. 6/3/81, Sonph meadow, stooped at

a dove.

F. peregrinus Peregrine falcon*

Recorded by Guntert & Homberger (1973)

at Deotalao in mixed forest, 15/9/72.

F. tinnunculus Kestrel

(M, Saif) [W] Nov.-Dee., Feb.-March. Kanha

meadow.

Phasianidae

Francolinus francolinus Black partridge!

Recorded by Panwar (n.d.).

F. pictus Painted partridge*!

(M) April-Aug. Common on Kanha meadow,

also Sonph, Silpura. Calling April to August

and 31/12/82. 1st call 30/4/81, stopped with

break of monsoon, resumed 25/7/81. 1st call

20/4/82.

F. pondicerianus Grey partridge

(M, Mx) [w] Oct., Nov., Jan., July. Sonph,

Mukki, Beniphat, Morcha.

Coturnix coturnix Common quail!

(M, Mx) [w] Dec., March, June. Kanha

Sonph, Mukki.

C. coromandelica Rain quail

(M) 14/6/82, Kanha meadow, after rain

(SB).

Perdicula asiatica Jungle bush quail*!

(M, D) [w] Jan.- June. Kanha meadow,

Bahmnidadar, Bijadadar.

Galloperdix spadicea Red spurfowl

(Mx) [w, B] Dec.-April, June-July. Kodai-

dadar, Silpura, Bahmnidadar, Bisanpura, Kisli

particularly common in bamboo thickets.

10/6/82, pair with two half -grown chicks at

Kisli (SB).

Gallus gallus Red junglefowl*!

(Saif, Salb, Mx) Nov. -Aug. Common through-

out forest areas.

Pavo cristatus Peafowl*!

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) [R, B] All months, com-

mon throughout Park, especially around mea-

dows. 13/7/81, peahen + 3 chicks, 1 chick later

scavenged by Spilornis cheela and jackal ( C .

aureus). 8/5/83, nest 4 eggs. 6/6/83, nest 4

chicks, 11/6/83, nest 4 chicks (SB).

Gruidae

Grus antigone Sarus crane

A pair in marsh at Khapa, in buffer zone

484

BIRDS OF KAN HA TIGER RESERVE

2/4/82, noted by Mr. R. H. Wright. Also

occurs at Julluk (Mungal, pers. comm.). Not

noted within Park.

Rallidae

Rail us striatus Bluebreasted banded rail

(N,T) 6/7/82, 24/6/83, Desi N. 10/7/82,

Menhar bund. 3/7/83, at pools on Kanha

meadow after heavy rain (SB). Data suggest

that birds may move into the Park for a few

weeks after the break of the monsoon.

Porzana pusilla Baillon’s crake

(T) 11/3/81, 1 in swamp at edge of Kanha

anicut (GJN).

Amaurornis akool Brown crake

(N) May, June, Jan. Churi N, Desi N on

Kanha meadow.

A. phoenicurus Whitebreasted waterhen*

(N, T) 3/6/81, 3/6/82, Kanha anicut, Par-

satola tank. Skulking in pond edge vegetation.

Guntert & Homberger (1973) also recorded

this species at Deotalao.

Gallinula chloropus Moorhen

(T) [w] Feb., March, May. Kanha anicut.

Otididae

Sypheotides indica Lesser florican

Recorded by Ranjitsinh (1983) in Kanha

(Kanheri maiden) in June 1969 and May 1971.

Jacanidae

Hydrophasianus chirurgus Pheasant-tailed

jacana

(T) 17/1/83, three on Sondha tank (SB).

Metopidius indicus Bronzewinged jacana

(T) [w] Jan.-June. Kanha anicut up to 10

birds, also Sondha tank, Shrawantalao. 29/3/81,

2 mating on nullah bank (GJN).

Rostratulidae

Rostratula benghalensis Painted snipe

(T, N) [w] March, May, June. A pair at

Menhar bund, also Rondha tank.

Recurvirostridae

Himantopus himantopus Blackwinged stilt

(T) Oct.-Dec. At tank, Morcha village. Not

noted within Park.

Burhinidae

Burhinus oedicnemus Stone curlew

(M, Mx, D) [w, B] Feb.-July. Kanha mea-

dow, Kodaidadar, Bahmnidadar, Brhoindubra.

Most frequently calling in May. 1st call

13/3/82. 27/4/82, three stone curlew eggs in

small fire, with Cordia ‘gursa’ Baiga fire-making

sticks, on nullah bank near Morcha village.

25/5/82 a nest with 2 eggs in meadow copse.

A second nest with 2 eggs, no adults, with

spring snare set around nest. Snare, made of

Bauhinia vahlii and Cordia latifolia, forming

fibrous noose attached to a 3' long split bamboo

spring, stuck vertically in ground (PN).

Charadriidae

Vanellus indicus Redwattled lapwing!

(M, D, N, T) [w, B] Oct. -July. Kanha, Kisli,

Sonph, Sondha meadows, Kodaidadar, Deo-

talao. 2/6/82, nest 2 eggs Sulkum N. 30/5/83,

nest, downy chicks, Kanha meadow, 10/6/83,

nest 3 eggs Kanha meadow, drowned in heavy

rain (SB).

V. malabaricus Yellow- wattled lapwing!

(M) [w] Jan.-July. Kanha, Kisli and Rondha

meadows. Much rarer than V. indicus.

Tringa erythropus Spotted redshank

(T) Nov. 82, at tank, Morcha village (SB).

Not observed within Park.

485

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

T. nebularia Greenshank

(N) [W] Dec., March. Churi & Desi N.

(PN).

T. ochropus Green sandpiper*

(N) [W] Oct.-April. Sulkum, Desi N.,

Mundri dadar, Shrawantalao, Kisli.

T. glareola Wood sandpiper

(T, N) [W] Jan., March, April. Sulkum,

Desi N., Sonph & Sondha tanks, Deotalao.

Most records from March.

Gallinago gallinago Fantail snipe

(M, T) [W] Dec., March Swampy ground

on Kanha, Rondha & Sonph meadows.

COLU MBIDAE

Treron phoenicoplera Green pigeon* f

(M, Saif, Mx) June-August, Nov.-March.

Kanha, Kisli meadows. Flocks of 50-100 com-

mon on meadows, feeding at saltlicks and

Ficus trees.

Columba livia Blue rock pigeon*f

(M, Saif) Dec., Jan., March, June, Aug.,

Oct. Kanha, Kisli, Sonph, Mukki.

Streptopelia orientalis Rufous turtle dove

(M, Saif, Mx, D) Dec.-April, June-Oct.

Kanha, Kisli, Sonph, Kodaidadar. Commonly

feeding at saltlicks.

S. decaocto Indian ring dove*f

(M, Saif, D) [B] Oct.-March, June-Aug.,‘

Oct. Sonph, Kisli, Kodaidadar. Calling Jan.-

March. 8/3/82, aerial display. 19/4/82. nest

with two eggs, Morcha village (SB).

S. tranquebarica Red turtle dove*

(M, Saif, D) Jan., March-June, Aug., Oct.

Kanha, Kisli, Sonph, Deotalao.

S. chinensis Spotted dove*f

(M, Saif, D) [R, B] All months. Kanha, Kisli,

Sonph, Kodaidadar, Deotalao. 27/4/82, pair

mating in sal forest. 4/5/82, nest with 2 eggs

Morcha village (SB).

Chalcophaps indica Emerald dove

(M, Saif, Salb) June, July. Kanha, Kisli,

Sondha, Parsatola meadows. Recorded by

Hewetson (1955) in May 1955 in Kanha.

PSITTACIDAE

Psittacula eupatria Large Indian parakeet*

(M, Saif) [R] All months. 2/82, feeding

Ventilago calyculata kernels.

P. krameri Roseringed parakeet* f

(M, Saif) [R] All months. Throughout Sul-

kum valley, less common in hills, Kanha, Kisli,

Sonph, Kodaidadar.

P. cyanocephala Blossomheaded parakeetf

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) [W] Oct.-March. Kanha,

Sonph meadow, Kodaidadar. Feeding on

Ficus glomerata figs in October, Ficus religiosa

in January.

CUCULIDAE

Clamator jacobinus Pied crested cuckoof

(M) Only observed in June 1981, 82 during

pre-monsoon shower spells, catching grass-

hoppers & termites on Kanha meadow. Not

observed in June 1983. Probably a passage

migrant en route to breeding grounds (Ali &

Ripley 1968-74).

Cuculus varius Common hawk-cuckoo* f

(M, Saif, Mx, D) [w] Dec.-June. Common in

Sulkum valley and surrounding hills. Calling

Jan. -March 1982. 1st call 10/1/82.

C. micro pter us Indian cuckoo

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) [w] Feb.-July. Sulkum

valley and surrounding hills. Calling April-July

1981. 1st call 14/4/81 & 26/2/82.

C. canorus Cuckoo

(M, Saif, Mx) [w] April- June. Calling April-

June in Sulkum valley and surrounding hills.

1st call 29/4/81.

486

BIRDS OF KANHA TIGER RESERVE

Cacomantis sonneratii Indian banded bay

cuckoo

(M) IQ/5/82, 1 at Churi nullah. 4/5/83,

1 at Kanha meadow (SB).

Eudynamys scolopacea Koelf

(Saif) [w] Oct. -June, Kanha, Kisli. Calling

March- June. In October feeding Ficus tomen-

tosa fruits.

Taccocua leschenaultii Sirkeer cuckoo*

(M, Saif, Mx) [w] Oct., Nov., Jan.-May,

commonly observed from Kanha-Sonph track,

also Silpura, Chuchi mutta, Kisli.

Centropus sinensis Coucal*f

(Salb, Mx) [R, B] All months, in bamboo

forest of Sulkum valley, particularly in upper

reaches of Churi nullah. 25/6/82, nest build-

ing in bamboo, Kanha meadow. Calling April-

Aug., Oct., Nov.

Strigidae

Tyto alba Barn owlf

(M, Saif) 20/3/80, Shrawantalao. 30/3/81,

Desi nullah (PN). Possibly confused with the

Grass owl (T. capensis).

Otus bakkamoena Collared scops owl*

(Saif) Feb.-March. Identified by call in sal

forest around Kanha meadow.

Bubo bubo Eagle-owlf

Recorded by Panwar (n.d.).

B. zeylonensis Brown fish owlf

(Saif, Mx) Oct.-Nov., Jan., March-May,

heard calling around Kanha and Kisli meadows,

also Mahadeo gogra.

Glaucidium radiatum Jungle owlet*

(Saif, Salb, Mx) [w, B] Jan.-July, Oct. Kanha

meadow, Kisli, Sonph, Kodaidadar, Morcha.

Calling Feb.-June. 21/4/82, nest 2 eggs in

old woodpecker hole, Morcha (SB).

Ninox scutulata Brown hawk-owl

(Saif) [B] 26/4/82, pair at nest in shallow

hollow 4 m up sal ( Shorea ) tree, Churi nullah

(SB).

Asio flam me us Shorteared owl

(Mx) 2/3/81, 14/3/81, 28/3/81, Bahmni-

dadar (GJN).

Caprimulgidae

Caprimulgus indicus Jungle nightjarf

(M, Mx) Feb. -April. Identified by call,

Kanha meadow, Bahmnidadar, Kodaidadar,

Deotalao.

C. affinis Franklin’s nightjar

(M, Saif) [w, B] Jan.-May, Kanha meadows.

Calling March-April. 31/5/82, 2 eggs in de-

pression in copse, Kanha meadow (PN).

Apodidae

Chaetura sylvatica Whiterumped spinetail*

[W] Nov., Jan. -March. Flying above Kisli,

Kanha & Sonph meadows.

A pus affinis House swiftf

22/2/81, flying above Kanha anicut (GJN).

Hemiprocne longipennis Crested swift* f

[w] Dec. -June. Above Sulkum valley

meadows and sal forests. 27/2/81, 2 copulated

at top of tree (GJN).

Alcedinidae

Alcedo at this Common kingfisherf

(N, T) Dec. -June, Aug. -Oct. Common on

nullahs & tanks in Sulkum valley, also at

Deotalao. A Lesser pied kingfisher ( Ceryle

rudis) was observed at Kanha anicut in the

cold weather of 1981/2, but the record was

lost (PN).

Halcyon smyrnensis Whitebreasted kingfisher* f

(N, M, Saif, Salb, Mx) Jan. -Oct. Common

throughout Sulkum valley.

H. pileata Blackcapped kingfisher

(N) 13/4/82, 25/4/82, 1 Desi nullah. Rare-

ly recorded in central India on sporadic forays

from coast, not previously recorded from M.P.

(Ali & Ripley 1968-74).

487

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol 83

Meropidae

Merops philippinus Bluetailed bee-eater*

Recorded by Guntert & Homberger (1973)

in September 1972 at Sonph & Kanha meadows.

M. orientalis Green bee-eaterf

(M, Mx) [w, B] Oct. -June. Common through-

out Sulkum valley. In 1981 left late June, first

back 14/11/81. 9/5/82, 2/6/82, nests at Kisli

(SB).

CORACIIDAE

Coracias benghalensis Indian roller*!

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx, D) [B] All months ex-

cept Sept. -Nov. Common throughout Sulkum

valley. 6/5/82, 13/5/82, adult feeding young

at nests, Kanha meadow (SB).

Upupidae

Upupa epops Hoopoe*!

(M, Saif, Mx) [w, B] Oct.-July. Kanha, Kisli,

Sonph meadows, Deotalao. Calling Feb. -June,

most frequently in February. 20/4/82, adult

feeding nestlings, Kanha meadow (SB).

Bucerotidae

Tockus birostris Common grey hornbill*!

(M, Saif, Mx) [w] Oct.-July. Common

throughout Sulkum valley.

Anthracoceros coronal us Malabar pied

hornbill!

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) [w] Oct.-July. Common

throughout Sulkum valley.

Capitonidae

Megalaima zeylanica Green barbet*

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) [B] Nov.-June, August.

Common throughout Park. Feeding on Ficus

arnottiana leaf buds in May and F. foment osa

figs in August (PN). 2/5/82, feeding young

in hollow tree. 10/5/82, nest 3 eggs in dead

tree 1.75 m up. May/82, a pair excavating

nest 1.5 m up dead tree. All nests Kanha

meadows (SB).

M. haemacephala Crimsonbreasted barbet*!

(M, Saif, Mx, D) Jan. -May, Aug., Oct.

Kanha, Sonph, Kisli, Shrawanchitta.

PlCIDAE

Micropternus brachyurus Rufous woodpecker*

(Saif) 12/10/81, 2/6/82, 17/6/82, Kanha

meadow sal forest.

Ficus myrmecophoneus Little scalybellied

green woodpecker*

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) [w] May, June, Nov.,

Feb. Kanha, Kisli, Bisanpura meadows.

P. chlorolophus Small yellownaped

woodpecker*

Recorded by Guntert & Homberger (1973)

on 9 19 111 at Sonph in sal forest, the first re-

cord for central India. This species occurs in

the adjacent Western and Eastern Ghats (Ali

& Ripley 1968-74).

Dinopium benghalense Lesser goldenbacked

woodpecker*!

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx, D) All months except

April, Sept., Nov. Kanha, Sonph, Kisli, Kodai-

dadar.

Picoides mahrattensis Yellowfronted pied

woodpecker*

(Salb, Mx) [W] March- April. ICodaidadar,

Kopedubri, Muchadonga.

P. nanus Pigmy woodpecker

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx, D) Jan. -March, May-

Aug., Oct. Kanha, Kisli, Kodaidadar.

Chrysocolaptes festivus Blackbacked

woodpecker*

(Saif, Mx) [w] Oct., Feb. -June. Kanha

meadow, Kodaidadar. In May feeding on

Lannea coromandelica fruit.

488

BIRDS OF KANHA TIGER RESERVE

PlTTIDAE

Laniidae

Pitta brachyura Indian pitta

(M, Saif) April- June, Aug. Solitaries Kanha

& Bisanpura meadows. Perhaps passage

migrants either side of the monsoon (Ali &

Ripley 1968-74).

Alaudidae

Mirafra assamica Bush lark

16/2/81, 1 on Kanha meadow (GJN).

Eremopterix grisea Ashycrowned finch-lark* f

(M) 6/3/81, on Rondha meadow (GJN).

11/10/82, 3 on track Kanha meadow (SB).

Ammomanes phoenicurus Rufoustailed

finch-lark

(M) [w] June, July, Oct., Jan., Feb. Kanha,

Sonph meadows.

Alauda gulgula Eastern skylark

(C) 19/6/80, common singing in pasture-

land near Indravangram, in buffer zone NE of

Bilwani (PN). Not observed within Park.

Hirundinidae

Hirundo rustica Swallowf

[W] January 1981, numerous flying over

Kanha anicut.

H. smithii Wiretailed swallow*

[w] Nov. -May. Kanha anicut, maximum

numbers about 30 birds. 1st return 14/11/81.

H. fluvicola Indian cliff swallowf

Recorded by Panwar (n.d.).

H. daurica Redrumped swallow* f

[w] Dec. -June. Flying over Kanha, Sondh,

Rondha meadows, particularly over water.

Delichon urbica House martin

[W] 6/3/82, flying over Desi anicut and

Kanha meadow (PN). Also winter 1982/3

Kanha and Kisli meadows (SB).

Lanius excubit or Grey shrikef

(M) [W] Jan. -March. Kanha meadow,

Bahmnidadar.

L. vittatus Baybacked shrikef

(M) 2/1/82, Kanha meadow (PN).

L. schach Rufousbacked shrike

(M) [W] Dec.-March. Kanha and Sonph

meadows.

L. cristatus Brown shrike

(M, Saif, Salb) [w] Oct. -Dec., Feb. -March,

May. Kanha village & meadow, Kisli, Sonph,

Rondha meadows.

Oriolidae

Oriolus oriolus Golden oriole*f

(M, Saif, Mx) [w,B] Jan. -June, Oct. Kanha,

Kisli. 12/6/83, female building nest 15 m up

sal tree, Kanha village.

O. xanthomas Blackheaded oriole*f

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) [w, B] Dec. -July, Oct.

Kanha, Sonph, Kish, Kodaidadar. May 1981

feeding Lannea coromandelica fruit. 24/5/83,

building nest 20 m up sal tree, Kanha meadows,

26/5/83, Indian cuckoo (C. micropterus) sat

briefly on nest (SB).

Dicruridae

Dicrurus adsimilir, Black drongo*f

(M, Saif, Salb) [w, B] Dec.-March, May.

Kanha, Kisli and Sonph. Occasionally feeding

on backs of barasingha ( Cervus duvauceli

branded). 23/6/82, a pair feeding fledglings.

22/5/83, sitting on eggs. 12/6/83, pair feeding

young at nest 27 m up sal; all nests on Kanha

meadow (SB).

D. leucophaeus Grey drongo*

(M, Saif) [w] March- June, Kanha meadow.

489

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

D. caerulescens Whitebellied drongo* f

(Saif, Mx) Jan.-Aug., Oct. Kanha, Sonph,

Kisli, Kodaidadar, Shrawanchitta, Deotalao.

D. hottentottus Haircrested drongo

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) [w, B] Jan. -March, June,

Nov. Kanha, Kisli & Sonph meadows. Most

noticeable in March when birds feed at flower-

ing Bombax ceiba trees, probably on nectar

(PN). 6/6/82, pair with nesting material in

Kisli sal forest (SB).

D. paradiseus Greater racket-tailed drongo* f

(Saif, Salb, Mx) Jan. -March, July, Aug.,

Oct., Nov. Kanha, Kish, Kodaidadar, Keri-

ghat.

Artamidae

Artamus fuscus Ashy swallow-shriket

Recorded by Panwar (n.d.).

Sturnidae

Sturnus malabaricus Greyheaded myna

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) [w, B] Feb.-June. Kanha,

Kisli meadows. In May, 30 bathing in Desi

nullah. Feb. -March frequently feeding at

flowering B. ceiba trees. 29/6/81, adults feed-

ing 3 fledglings at Kanha (SB).

S. pagodarum Brahminy mynaj

(M) [w] Feb.-June. Kanha & Silpura

meadows. Feb.-March frequently feeding at

flowering B. ceiba (PN).

S. roseus Rosy pastor

(M) 12/3/81, 1 in flowering Bombax ceiba,

Kanha meadow (GJN).

S. contra Pied myna* f

(M) [w] May- July, Oct., Dec. -March. Kanha,

Sonph meadows. Feb.-March frequently feed-

ing at flowering B. ceiba (PN).

Acridotheres tristis Common myna*f

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx, D) Jan.-Aug., Oct., Nov.

Kanha & Kisli villages and meadows, Chuchi

mutta, Sonph meadows. In May feeding on

Lannea coromandelica fruits. Commonly ob-

served perching on and feeding from chital

{Axis axis), barasingha (C. d. branderi),

blackbuck {Antilope cervicapra).

A. ginginianus Bank myna*

1 caught by Guntert & Homberger (1973),

17/9/72 at Desi nullah.

A. fuscus Jungle mynaf

(M, Saif) [w] March, May, June. Kanha,

Sonph & Silpura meadows. In May feeding

Syzygium cumini fruit and in March at flower-

ing B. ceiba (PN).

Corvidae

Dendrocitta vagabunda Indian tree pie*t

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx, D) Nov. -Aug. Common

throughout Park. 14/2/82, hammering at tussar

moth cocoon, in May feeding Lannea coro-

mandelica fruit.

Corvus splendens House crow*f

(M, Saif) [R] All months. Kanha & Kisli

villages, occasionally in surrounding sal forest.

C. macrorhynchos Jungle crow*f

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) [B] Dec. -March, May,

June, Aug., Oct. Common throughout Park. In

March feeding at flowering B. ceiba. Common

scavengers at ungulate carcases. 2/5/82, nest

with fledglings, Menhar bund (SB).

Campephagidae

Hemipus picatus Pied flycatcher-shrike

(Mx) 10/3j/81, Kodai dadar. 13/3/81, Kanha

ghat. 4/3/82, Shrawanchitta 6/3/82, Mundri

dadar. 13/5/83, Churi nullah. All in dense

bamboo thickets.

Tephrodornis pondicerianus Common wood

shrike*

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx, D) Feb.-April, July-Aug.,

Oct. Kanha, Kisli, Kodaidadar, Shrawanchitta.

Coracina novae hollandiae Large cuckoo-shrike*

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) Jan.-June, Aug., Oct.

Kanha, Kisli, Kodaidadar.

490

BIRDS OF KANHA TIGER RESERVE

C. melanoptera Blackheaded cuckoo-shrike

(M) 24/3/80, 1 feeding at Butea mono -

sperma flowers, Menhar bund, Kanha meadow

(PN).

Verier ocotus flammeus Scarlet minivet*f

(Saif, Salb, Mx) All months except Sept.

Common in sal canopies in Sulkum valley.

Also in hills at Deotalao, Kodaidadar &

Bijadadar.

P. roseus Rosy minivet

(Saif, Salb) [B] 6/3/81, 10/3/81, 20/5/83

Kanha meadows. 20/5/83, gathering nest mate-

rial (SB). Ali & Ripley (1968-74) do not re-

cord this species breeding in central India, nor

remaining beyond April.

P. cinnamomeus Small minivet*

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) Jan.-May, Aug., Oct.

Common in sal canopies in Sulkum valley.

Irenidae

Aegithina tiphia Common iora*

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) [w] Oct. -June. Common

throughout Sulkum valley.

Chloropsis aurijrons Goldenfronted chloropsis*

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) Dec. -May, Aug., Oct.

Kanha, Kisli. In Feb. -March feeding at flower-

ing Bombax ceiba (PN).

C. cochinchinensis Goldmantled chloropsis

(Saif, Mx) [W] Dec.-March. Kanha, Kodai-

dadar.

Pycnonotidae

Pycnonotus jocosus Redwhiskered bulbul*

(Mx) 30/4/82, small flock at Shrawanchitta.

P. cafer Redvented bulbul* f

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) [B] Oct.-Aug. Common

throughout Park. In May feeding on Lannea

coromandelica fruits. 23/5/83, nest building in

sal tree, 10 m up, Kanha meadow (SB).

Muscicapidae

Pellorneum ruficeps Spotted babbler*

(Salb, Mx) [w] March, April, June. Brhoin-

dubra, Churi & Sulkum nullahs.

Pomatorhinus horsfeldii Slatyheaded scimitar

babbler*

(Salb, Mx) [w] Nov., Feb.-March, May,

June. In dense bamboo tracts Kisli, Kanha,

Kodaidadar and bordering Sulkum nullah.

Dumetia hyperythra Rufousbellied babbler*

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) [w] Oct. -July. Kanha,

Sonph, Kodaidadar & Bisanpura, particularly

in bamboo.

Chrysomma sinense Yelloweyed babbler*

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) All months except Sept.

Kanha, Sonph, particularly in tall grass bor-

dering nullahs.

Turdoides malcolmi Large grey babblerf

Recorded by Pan war (n.d.).

T. striatus Jungle babbler* t

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) [w, B] Oct.-April. Com-

mon throughout the Park. 15/6/82, building

nest Kanha meadow (SB).

Alcippe poioicephala Quaker babbler

(Saif, Salb, Mx) [w] Oct.-Nov., Feb. -May.

Kanha, Kisli, Kodaidadar, Kulughat, Kope-

dubri, Mahadeo gogra.

Muscicapa muttui Brownbreasted flycatcher

(Salb) 25/11/82, 1 at Kopedubri (SB).

M. parva Redbreasted flycatcher

(Saif, Salb, Mx) [W] Oct.-March. Common

throughout Sulkum valley. 1st return 12/10/81

with a marked decline from late February.

M. superciliaris Whitebrowed blue flycatcher

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) [W] Nov. -March. Kanha,

Kisli, Kodaidadar.

M. tickelliae Tickell’s blue flycatcher*

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) [w] Oct.-May. Kanha,

Kisli, Bahmnidadar, Kodaidadar, Mahadeo

gogra.

491

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

M. thalassina Verditer flycatcher

(Salb.Mx) [W] 9/2/81, 13/3/81, 19/11/81.

Kanha, Kisli, Bahmnidadar.

Culicicapa ceylonensis Greyheaded flycatcher

(Saif, Salb, Mx) [W] Nov.-March. Kanha,

Kisli, Bahmnidadar, Kerighat, Chhindi Pathar.

1st return 9/11/81.

Rhipidura aureola Whitebrowed fantail

flycatcher

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) [W] Feb. -April. Kanha,

Kisli, Bahmnidadar, Deotalao.

R. albicollis Whitethroated fantail flycatcher

(Mx) 4/3/82, 1 in dense bamboo, Shrawan-

chitta (PN).

Terpsiphone paradisi Paradise flycatcher*

(M, Saif) May, June, Jan. Kanha meadow.

Guntert & Homberger (1973) noted 2 in Sept.

1972.

Hypothymis azurea Blacknaped flycatcher*

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) [w] Oct.-June. Common

throughout Sulkum valley.

Cisticola juncidis Streaked fantail warbler*!

(M) [w, B] Jan.-March, June, July. Common

in Kanha, Sonph meadows. 18/7/83, nest 4

eggs 1 m up in grass clump, Kanha meadow

(SB).

Prinia hodgsonii Franklin’s wren-wrabler*

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) [w] Jan.-June, Oct.,

Nov. Kanha, Kisli, Sonph, Kopedubri, Kodai-

dadar.

P. subflava Plain wren-warbler*t

(M) [W] Nov., Jan.-March. Kanha, Kope-

dubri in reedy areas, particularly nullah banks.

P. socialis Ashy wren- warbler*!

(M, Mx) [w, B] Jan.-March, May-July, Oct.

Reedy areas, nullah banks throughout Sulkum

valley. 10/7/82, nest 4 young in grass in bed

of Sulkum nullah (SB).

P. sylvatica Jungle wren-warbler

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) March. Kanha, Kodai-

dadar, in reedy habitats.

Orthotomus sutorius Tailor bird*

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) [B] Dec.-June, Aug.

Common throughout Sulkum valley. 2/6/82,

nest 1 m up in hedge, 4 chicks, Kanha village

(SB).

Sylvia curruca Lesser whitethroat

(Saif) 16/3/81, Kanha village (SB).

Phylloscopus collybita Brown leaf warbler

(Salb, Mx) [W] March, November. Kanha,

Kodaidadar, Kisli.

P. affinis Tickell’s leaf warbler

(Mx) [w] Dec.-June. Small parties in mixed

forest (SB).

P. trochiloides Dull green leaf warbler

(Mx) [w] Dec.-June. Small parties in mixed

forest (SB).

Erithacus calliope Rubythroat

(M) 9/10/81, 1 in tall grass meadow, Churi

nullah (PN).

E. svecicus Bluethroat

(M) 25/2/81, 6/3/81 pairs at Kanha,

Rondha meadows (GJN).

Copsychus saularis Magpie-robin*

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) [w] Nov., Jan.-July.

Common throughout Sulkum valley. Singing

March, April & June. 1st return 14/1/82.

C. malabaricus Shama

(Salb, Mx) [w] Jan.-June, Oct., Nov. In

bamboo areas of Kodaidadar, Kanhaghat, Deo-

talao, Mahadeo gogra. Singing March, April,

Oct. & Jan.

Phoenicurus ochruros Black redstart

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) [W] Jan.-March, Nov.

Kanha, Kisli, Sonph, common around Kanha

resthouses. 1st return 28/11/81 and 9/11/82.

Saxicola torquata Stone chat*

(M, Salb) [w] Oct. -July. Common through-

out Sulkum valley, especially Kanha, Rondha,

Sonph meadows. 1st return 12/10/81.

S. caprata Pied bush chat*!

(M) [w] Jan.-March, June, July, Oct., Nov.

Common on Kanha, Sonph meadows, especial-

ly in patches of tall grass. Singing in March.

1st return 14/11/81 and 4/10/82.

492

BIRDS OF KANHA TIGER RESERVE

S. ferrea Dark-grey bush chat

(M) Clearly observed on seven occasions

25/1/81-8/3/81 & 2/1/82 on meadows near

Kanha anicut and in small meadow within sal

forest with Flemingia undergrowth, beside

Kanha-Sonph track, 5 km N of Kanha, alti-

tude 1800'. Discovered by GJN. Description

of female 2/1/82: “stonechat-like in size and

behaviour, back brown, rufous rump, dark

upper tail with rufous outer tail feathers, a

bright white throat, dull greyish breast and

chest, head grey with faint grey supercilium”.

Ripley (1982) states that this species over-

winters south to the Gangetic plain (Yumuna

river); no previous records from central India

published.

Saxicoloides fulicata Indian robin*

(M) 5/3/81, 3/4/82, Kanha meadow. Sing-

ing in April.

M. cinclorhynchus Blueheaded rock thrush

(Saif, Mx) [W] Jan., March. Kanha,

Shrawanchitta.

M. solitarius Blue rock thrush

(Salb) 9/2/81, 29/3/81, Kanha, Bahmni-

dadar (GJN).

Zoothera citrina Orangeheaded ground thrush

(Saif, Salb, Mx) [w] Feb. -June. Churi nullah

and in hills surrounding Sulkum valley. Com-

mon on ground in dense bamboo.

T urdus merula Blackbird

(Mx) 9/4/82, 30/4/82, Muchadonga, Kulu-

ghat & Mahadeo gogra. A bird found dead

23/4/82 on Chhindi Pathar identified by Dr.

Salim Ali (B.N.H.S. Specimen No. 26314) as

T. m. nigropileus.

Paridae

Parus major Grey tit*!

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx, D) All months except

July, Sept. Common throughout Sulkum valley.

P. xanthogenys Yellowcheeked tit*

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) [B] All months except

Sept. Common throughout Sulkum valley.

10/5/82, pair nest building in hollow tree 7 m

up, Morcha village (SB).

Sittidae

Sitta castanea Chestnutbellied nuthatch*!

(Saif) [w] Oct., Nov., Jan., March-June.

Kanha meadow.

S. frontalis Velvetfronted nuthatch*

(Saif, Mx) [w] Nov.-April, June, Oct. Kanha,

Sonph, Deotalao, Bijadadar.

Motacillidae

Anthus hodgsoni Indian tree pipit

(Saif, Mx) [w] Oct.-March. Kanha, Kodai-

dadar. Flocks of up to 30-50 common in forest.

1st return 28/10/81. Confusion with Anthus

trivialis possible.

A. novaeseelandiae Paddyfield pipitf

(M) [w, B] Feb. -July. Common pipit on

Kanha, Rondha, Sonph, Kisli meadows.

18/7/83, nest, 3 young, Kanha meadow (SB).

A. campestris Tawny pipit

(M) 17/11/82, 1 Kanha meadow (SB).

Motacilla citreola Yellowheaded wagtail

(M, Saif) [W] March. Kanha, Sonph, on

nullah banks.

M. cinerea Grey wagtail*!

(M) [w] Jan. -March, April, May, Oct.

Kanha, Sonph, Kerighat, Deotalao particularly

near water.

M. alba White wagtail!

(M, Mx) [W] Jan. -March, Oct. Kanha.

M. maderaspatensis Large pied wagtail!

(N) 27 12] 80, 1 foraging among boulders,

Banjar nullah, Mukki (PN).

Dicaeidae

Dicaeum agile Thickbilled flowerpecker*

(Saif, B) [W, B] March, May, Oct. Kanha,

Mucha. 2/5/82, nest 2.5 m up tree, 3 eggs,

at Morcha village (SB).

493

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JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

D. erythrorhynchos Tickell’s flowerpecker

(Saif, Mx) [W] Jan.-March. Kodaidadar,

Kanha, Jan./82 feeding at flowering Wood-

fordia fruticosa (PN).

Nectariniidae

Nectarinia asiatica Purple sunbirdt

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) [w, B] Jan. -May. Com-

mon throughout Sulkum valley. Singing Feb.

5/3/81, building nest in overhanging roots,

nullah bank, 18/3/81, 3 eggs (GJN). 21/4/82,

female nest building in bamboo, Kanha

meadow, 25/4/82, with 1 egg. 5/5/82, 2 eggs

in nest, Kisli (SB). 7/3/82, feeding at flower-

ing W. fruticosa (PN).

ZOSTEROPIDAE

Zoster ops palpebrosa White eye*

(M, Saif, Salb, Mx) Nov.-March, April-Aug.

Common throughout Sulkum valley. 7/3/82,

feeding at flowering Woodfordia fruticosa.

Ploceidae

Passer domesticus House sparrow

(C) [R, B] All months at Kanha village and

in buffer zone. 26/1/81, nesting under eaves

of house (GJN). Not found in forest away

from villages.

Petronia xanthocollis Yellowthroated sparrow

(M, Salb, Mx) [W] Oct., Feb.-April. Com-

mon throughout Sulkum valley. 1st return

19/2/82. Singing in March.

Ploceus philippinus Baya

(C) 18/7/83, 3 breeding colonies at Morcha

village in buffer zone (SB), not noted within

Park.

Estrilda amandava Red munia

(M) [w] Nov., Feb.-April, June. Kanha,

Sonph meadows, especially on burnt ground.

E. formosa Green munia*

1 male recorded by Guntert & Homberger

(1973) at Churi nullah 18/9/72.

Lonchura striata Whitebacked munia*

(M) [W, B] Dec., Feb.-April. Kanha mea-

dow. 1/3/81, carrying nesting material (GJN).

L. punctulata Spotted munia* t

(M) June-Aug., Oct., Nov. Kanha meadow,

flocks of about 20 feeding in nullah grassland.

L. malacca Blackheaded munia*

(M, Mx) [w] Oct. -March, June, July. Kanha,

Beniphat, Shrawanchitta, Kopedubri.

Fringillidae

Carpodacus erythrinus Common rosefinch

(M, Mx) [W] Oct.-Nov., Feb.-March. Kanha,

Kodaidadar, Shrawanchitta. Flocks of about

50 common on meadows and in bamboo. 1st

return 12/10/81.

Emberizidae

Melophus lathami Crested bunting

(M) 8/10/82, 1 male Kanha meadow (SB).

Discussion

Including the observations of Panwar (n.d.),

Guntert & Homberger (1973), Anderson

(1979) and Ranjitsinh (1983) 225 species of

bird have been recorded from Kanha Tiger

Reserve. This is, undoubtedly an underesti-

mate. Our records were collected opportuni-

stically, during our major work, and fieldwork

was concentrated in the valleys with relatively

little time spent in the hills or buffer zone.

Of the 77 families of Indian birds (Ripley

1982), 52 have been recorded in Kanha. The

avifauna was dominated by members of the

Muscicapidae (40 species) and Accipitridae

(14 species). The best birdwatching sites, in

terms of number of species seen, were Churi

nullah (to Beniphat machan), Kanha anicut.

494

BIRDS OF KANHA TIGER RESERVE

Table 1

Bird species, observed in Kanha Tiger Reserve, not recorded in the Central provinces by D’Abreu

(1935) [*] or in Madhya Pradesh by Hewetson (1955) [tj

shag

black stork

wigeon

pied harrier

bluebreasted banded rail

Baillon’s crake

brown crake

spotted redshank

Indian banded bay cuckoo

barn owl

brown hawk-owl

shorteared owl

Franklin’s nightjar

whiterumped spinetail

blackcapped kingfisher

house martin

jungle myna

rosy minivet

brownbreasted flycatcher

Franklin’s wren- warbler

Tickell’s leaf warbler

dull green leaf warbler

rubythroat

dark-grey bush chat

Indian tree pipit

P. fuscicollis *f

C. nigra* t

A. penelope *f

C. melanoleucos f

R. striatus*

P. pusillat

A. akootf

T. erythropus *f

C. sonneratii'f

T . alba-\

N. scutulata |

A. flammeusf

C. affinisi

C. sylvatica f

H. pile at a *f

D. urbica f

A. fuscus*

P. roseus f

M. muttui* f

P. hodgsonii *t

P. affinis *f

P. trochiloides f

E. calliope f

S. ferrea*"\

A. hodgsoni*

Chhindi Pathar, Kodaidadar, Sonph meadow

and Sulcum nullah. The ‘chattans’, boulder-

strewn hillocks, vegetated with dry deciduous

forest amidst sal forest, were particularly rich

islands of bird diversity.

The observations of dark-grey bush chat

(5. ferrea) are of particular interest as this

species has not been previously reported in

M.P. or south of the Gangetic plain (Ali &

Ripley 1968-74). The records suggest that it

may be a winter visitor to Kanha. The black-

capped kingfisher ( H . pileala), although

known to make sporadic forays inland from

the coast, does not appear to have been pre-

viously recorded in M.P. As it was observed

only in April 1982 it may have been an un-

usual vagrant. Other interesting observations

include the golden-fronted chloropsis (C.

aurifrons ), rare in central India (Ali & Ripley

1968-74), but recorded by Hewetson (1955)

in M.P. The rosy minivet (P. roseus) is a

sporadic winter visitor to central India (Ali &

Ripley 1968-74) but records after April, or of

breeding, have not been previously reported.

Therefore, the observation of a bird gathering

nest material in late May suggests that the

species may breed and not be just a winter

visitor. Other unusual species recorded were

the black stork (C. nigra ), rubythroat ( E .

calliope) and, by Ranjitsinh (1983), the lesser

florican ( S . indica) . The observation of emerald

dove (C. indica) supports Hewetson’s (1955)

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JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

suggestion of a colony on the Mandla/Balaghat

border, isolated from other populations.

Species recorded here, but not mentioned

in D’Abreu (1935) or Hewetson (1955) are

given in Table 1. D’Abreu (1935) also record-

ed the following eight species in Mandla and/

or Balaghat Districts which have not yet been

noted in Kanha; wood snipe (G. nemoricola),

painted bush quail (P. erythrorhyncha), stork-

billed kingfisher (P. capensis ), grass owl (T.

capensis), fantail warbler (C. exilis), olivace-

ous leaf warbler (P. griseolus ), plain leaf

warbler (P. inornatus) and yellow-backed

sunbird (A. siparaja).

Our records of breeding and migration are

incomplete but those obtained agree with the

data given in Ali & Ripley (1968-74). The

observations of residents, which by definition

had to be noted in every month of the year,

were particularly scanty. Monthly lists of

species present, in the manner of Hewetson

(1939), were not constructed. Seasonal change

in the avifauna was also complicated by a low

intensity of fieldwork in September due to

illness.

Only 11 species were classified as residents,

33 as winter visitors and 65 as winter & sum-

mer visitors. Breeding within the Park was

recorded for 27 species. Of 49 breeding re-

cords, confined to January to July, October

and November, all but five were obtained from

April to July, reaching a peak in May. Most

species remained unclassified due to a shortage

of data and further fieldwork is required to

clarify their migratory and breeding status. The

influx of winter visitors and exodus of both

species and individuals during the monsoon

was pronounced and no species increased in

abundance during the monsoon. The only

species which did not appear to decline in

numbers during this season was the white-

backed vulture (G. bengalensis) . This suggests

that many species immigrate during the winter,

some departing with the onset of the hot

weather, with others breeding and departing

with the break of the rains. For those species

resident, the fall in numbers during the mon-

soon suggests that some of the population

moves in and out of the Reserve depending

on environmental conditions. The migratory

status of species will depend on the geogra-

phical area being considered, i.e. local move-

ments within the Maikal Hills will be, to an

observer confined to Kanha, indistinguishable

from long range migration between the Hima-

layas and the Reserve. Caution must also be

exercised in inferring a seasonal pattern from

just two years data. However, the pied crested

cuckoo (C. jacobinus), pitta ( P . brachyura)

and the blueheaded rock thrush (M. cinclor-

hynchus) all appeared regularly, but briefly,

in different years, suggesting that they are

passage migrants, in agreement with Ali &

Ripley (1968-74).

A striking aspect of the ecology of Kanha

birds was their frequent participation in mixed

flocks. In 26 such flocks, whose composition

was recorded, 35 species were represented [a

mean of 5 species/flock ± S.D. 2.5 (range

2-12)]. The species which participated most

frequently are listed in Table 2.

Aside from changes in climate and vege-

tation in geological time (cf ‘Satpura Hypo-

thesis’; Ali & Ripley 1968-74), the Kanha

avifauna has probably been considerably

altered by human influence; its remoteness and

wildness is, in part, deceptive. All the open

water bodies are, at least in their present form,

manmade, inflating considerably the species

richness and population size of waterbirds. Up

to the turn of the century the predominant

human influence was through the hunting,

gathering and slash-and-burn cultivation of the

Baiga forest tribe. This ‘bewar’ cultivation

496

BIRDS OF KANHA TIGER RESERVE

Table 2

Frequency of species occurrence in 26 mixed flocks. Species observed in less than 5 flocks

ARE NOT LISTED

fragmented the sal forest with meadows, in-

creasing habitat diversity and the abundance

of ecotones, with probably profound affects

on the bird fauna. More recently the human

influence has shifted to that of the Forest

Department, whose prime effect on the bird

population has probably been, aside from the

cessation of logging, the prevention of the

vast destructive forest fires described by Forsyth

(1872) and Brander (1906). Therefore, human

influence has, so far, probably increased bird

species diversity within the Park.

Acknowledgements

We are greatly indebted to the Joint Secre-

tary (Wildlife), New Delhi, Chief Wildlife

Warden (M.P.) and Project Tiger for permis-

sion to carry out our field projects. We parti-

cularly thank the Kanha staff of the Madhya

Refer

Ali, S. (1939): The birds of central India. J.

Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 41: 82-106, 470-488.

Ali, S. & Ripley, S. D. (1968-74) : Handbook of

the Birds of India and Pakistan. Vols. 1-10. Oxford

University Press. Bombay.

Pradesh Forest Department for their excellent

cooperation. We are grateful to Mrs. B.

Breeden, R. H. Wright, Mungal Baiga, Chris

G. Bowden, Drs Robert Wolton, Mac Hunter

and P. C. Kotwal and Ian Rycott for their re-

cords (acknowledged in the text) and orni-

thological assistance. Dr. Dot Jackson kindly

translated German papers. PN would like to

thank Science Research Council (UK) for

financial support, Dr. M. J. Coe, Department

of Zoology, Oxford and Dr. P. C. Kotwal,

Madhya Pradesh Forest Department for advice

and facilities and Mungal and Mohan of the

Baiga for their field assistance. GJN would

like to thank the Madhya Pradesh State Tou-

rist Corporation and its staff for their generous

and patient assistance. We are also grateful

to Euan Dunn, Mike Rands, Cyril Hewetson

I.F.S., Chris Bowden and Chris Perrins for

their valuable comments on this paper.

E N CES

Anderson, K. (1979) : Jungles Long Ago. Cal-

cutta: Rupa & Co.

Brander, A. A. D. (1906) : Working plan for

the Forests of the Banjar Valley Reserve, Mandla

Forest Division, Northern Circle, C. P. for the period

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JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

1904-1935. Allahabad: Pioneer Press.

— (1923): Wild Animals in

Central India. London: Edward Arnold.

Brandis, D. (1874) : The Forest Flora of North-

West and Central India. London: Wm. Allen & Co.

Champion, H. G. & Seth, S. K. (1968): A re-

vised survey of the forest types of India. Delhi:

Manager of Publications.

D’Abreu, E. A. (1935) : A list of the birds of the

Central Provinces. /. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 38:

95-116.

Deoras, P. J. (1978): Snakes of India. Delhi:

NBT of India.

Forsyth, J. (1872): The Highlands of Central

India. London: Chapman & Hall.

Guntert, M. & Homberger, D. (1973) : Die

Vogel des Kanha-Nationalparkes am Ende der Mon-

sun-Regenzeit. IN Kurt, F. (1973), pp. 31-53.

Hewetson, C. E. (1939) : The bird year in Betul.

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 41: 286-310.

(1955): Observations on the

bird life of Madhya Pradesh. /. Bombay nat. Hist.

Soc. 53: 595-645.

Kotwal, P. C. (n.d.) : Ecological studies on the

vegetation monitoring in Kanha Tiger Reserve. M.P.

Forest Dept. Mimeo.

Kurt, F. (1973): Zoologisch-okologische Exkur-

sion in den Kanha-Nationalpark (Indien). Viertel -

jahrsschr. Naturforsch. Ges. Zurich. 118. In German

with English summary.

Martin, C. (1977): Status and ecology of the

barasingha ( Cervus duvauceli branderi ) in Kanha

National Park (India). J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 74:

61-132.

Newton, P. N. (1984): The ecology and social

organisation of Hanuman langurs ( Presbytis entellus

Dufresne 1797) in Kanha Tiger Reserve, Central

Indian Highlands. D. Phil thesis, University of

Oxford.

— (1986) : Leapfrogging in egrets.

/. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83(2) : 432-433.

Osmaston, B. B. (1927): Birds of Pachmarhi.

/. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 28: 453-459.

Panwar, H. S. (n.d.) : Management Plan for

Kanha Tiger Reserve, M.P. 1973-4 to 1978-9. M. P.

Forest Dept. Mimeo.

Ranjitsinh, M. K. (1983) : Occurrence of lesser

flcrican (Sypheotides indica) in Kanha National

Park. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 80(3) : 641.

Ripley, S. D. (1982) : A synopsis of the birds of

India and Pakistan. Bombay Natural History Society,

Bombay.

Rudman, F. R. R. (1912): Central Provinces

District Gazetteers: Mandla District. Bombay.

Schaller, G. B. (1967) : The Deer and the Tiger.

Chicago: Chicago University Press.

Wright, M. D. (1942): Notes on the birds of

Berar. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 43 : 428-445.

498

IMMOBILIZING GAUR WITH AN ETORPHINE AND

TRANQUILIZER MIXTURE1

Paul J. Conry2

Eight free-ranging Malayan gaur were immobilized with an etorphine and tranquilizer

mixture. Three different combinations of drugs successfully immobilized gaur; Immo-

bilon (etorphine + acepromazine) , Immobilon + Azaperone, and Immobilon + Rompun

(xylazine) . Effective doses of etorphine ranged from 2.45 mg on a calf to 9.8 mg

on an adult bull. Using body weight estimates to compute dosage rates, the median

dosage of etorphine was 1.58 mg/100 kg and varied from 0.98 to 2.45 mg/ 100 kg.

The Immobilon-Rompun combination performed better than the Immobilon-azaperone

combination in these limited field trials. The addition of 150 mg of xylazine to the

combination provided a calming effect and a smooth transition out of narcosis.

Darting failures of adult animals were a problem in this study and appeared to be

caused by underdosing. The problem should be easily resolved by simply increasing

the dose of etorphine to 10.0 to 12.0 mg for adult animals. The wide safety margin

and safety net effect of the etorphine-xylazine mixture, when used with the antagonist

diprenorphine, made a particularly appropriate drug combination to capture gaur in

the rain forest environment. Field personnel using etorphine should be aware of the

human risk involved and be adequately trained and equipped to deal with an

accidental administration into a human.

I N TROD U CTIO N

The Malayan gaur or seladang ( Bos gaurus

hubbacki) is a member of the wild cattle

group found in the tropical evergreen rain

forests of Malaysia and Southwest Thailand.

Human disturbance and habitat modification

associated with the recent extensive develop-

ment of the lowland rain forests have caused

a decline in gaur numbers throughout its

range (Stevens 1968, Simon 1969, Lekagul and

McNeely 1977, Conry 1980). Interest in the

conservation and management of the animal

led to a field study of gaur ecology in central

1 Accepted November 1985.

2 Malaysian Department of Wildlife & National

Parks, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Present Address:

Division of Aquatic & Wildlife Resources, Depart-

ment of Agriculture, Box 24471, GMF, Guam, M.I.

96921, U.S.A.

Pahang, Malaysia, during 1976-1979. One

objective of that study was to determine home

range, movements, and habitat use of gaur

which involved immobilizing free-ranging ani-

mals to attach radio -telemetry collars. The

purposes of this note are to report the immo-

bilization of free-ranging gaur and provide

information on drug combinations and dosages.

With the continued critical status of the gaur

throughout most of its range, this information

may prove useful in efforts to capture animals

for further research or to obtain stock for

captive breeding efforts.

Methods

Large Animal Immobilon (2.45 mg etor-

phine hydrochloride + 10.0 mg Acepromazine

Maleate/ml; Reckitt and Coleman Pharmaceu-

tical Division, Hull, England) was used singly

or in combination with Rompun (xylazine

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JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

hydrochloride; Bayer, Leverkusen, Germany)

or Azaperone (azaperone; Janssen Pharma-

ceutica, Beerse, Belgium) to immobilize free-

ranging gaur. Capture teams composed of the

author and wildlife rangers or a ranger team

darted animals from the ground with Palmer

Cap-chur guns and 4 or 7 cc darts equiped

with collared needles (Palmer Chemical and

Equipment Co., Inc.). Most animals were

darted in the hindquarter or shoulder. The

immobilized animals were treated with medi-

cations, measured, and radio-collared (if appro-

priate) prior to the intravenous injection (ear

vein) of the etorphine antagonist Revivon

(3.0 mg diprenorphine hydrochloride/ml;

Reckitt and Coleman Pharmaceutical Divi-

sion). Body weights of immobilized animals

were estimated with a domestic cattle chest-

circumference /body- weight tape.

Results

Eight gaur were successfully immobilized

with etorphine combined with a tranquilizer

(Table 1). Effective drug doses ranged from

2.45 mg etorphine combined with 10.0 mg

acepromazine and 100 mg azaperone, used on

a calf (No. IF), to 9.8 mg etorphine com-

bined with 40.0 mg acepromazine and 500 mg

xylazine, used on an adult bull (No. 9M).

The median dose of etorphine was 6.13 mg.

Using body weight estimates to compute dosage

rates, the median dosage of etorphine was

1.58 mg/ 100 kg (range 0.98-2.45 mg/ 100 kg).

Seven gaur darted did not go down. Five

spent darts were recovered from the forest

floor, 4 appeared to have functioned properly.

In 2 instances, darted animals were resighted

and partial responses to the drugs observed as

the animals fled.

In unsuccessful attempts, doses of etorphine

varied from 4.9 to 8.58 mg (median dose =

6.13 combined with from 20.0 to 35.0 mg

acepromazine) with either xylazine or azape-

rone added as a tranquilizer (Table 2). Based

Table 1

Drugs/doses administered and reaction times of free-ranging Malayan gaur successfully immo-

bilized WITH ETORPHINE AND TRANQUILIZER MIXTURES

2 Animal remained recumbent following immobilization and died after 8 days.

3 Includes a second dose of 2.45 mg etorphine/10. 0 mg Acepromazine and 300 mg xylazine.

500

IMMOBILIZING GAUR

Table 2

Drugs/doses administered in unsuccessful i mobilizations of free-ranging Malayan gaur

on visual appraisal of animal size, all but 1 of

the animals that failed to go down when darted

were moderate to large size adults.

The “time to find”, defined as the period

between drug injection and location of the

immobilized animal, provided a maximum

value measure of induction time with actual

induction time equal to or less than “time to

find.” The “time to find” was recorded for

6 cases and varied from 5 to 90 minutes (Table

1). The 90 minute case occurred when an

adult bull was not fully immobilized and fled

more than 1 . 6 km before becoming entangled

in vines. A second dose of etorphine was admi-

nistered and the bull was fully immobilized

at 90 minutes. Excluding the 90 minute case,

the mean “time to find” was 12 minutes (n=5).

The narcosis stage allowed easy handling

of the animals and was of sufficient length for

thorough processing of each animal. The mean

down time was 42 minutes (range 35-45, n=6).

The manufacturer’s recommended dosage of

1 . 0 ml Revivon per 1 . 0 ml Immobilon was

administered intravenously to the 8 immobiliz-

ed gaur. With 1 exception, all animals re-

covered quickly; mean recovery time was 5.6

minutes (range 4-10). A large dose of xylazine

(500 mg) apparently delayed the recovery of

animal No. 9M. Recovery time was twice that

of the other animals, and on standing, it had

wobbly legs and moved off only 300 m before

bedding down. Subsequent sightings indicated

that the animal fully recovered.

One animal died during the capture opera-

tion. An old cow estimated at over 15 years

of age was darted with a large dose (9.8 mg

etorphine combined with 40.0 mg aceproma-

zine and 300 mg azaperone) and found immo-

bilized at 5 minutes. After working on the

animal 35 minutes, the etorphine antagonist

was given intravenously and signs of recovery

detected at 10 minutes. Once revived, the

animal stood for a few minutes on wobbly

legs, then laid back down. After an addi-

tional feeble effort the next day, it remained

recumbent and died 8 days later. A veterina-

rian examined the recumbent animal but

detected no medical malady or abnormality

other than advanced age and the stress asso-

ciated with capture.

Discussion

Although chemical immobilization of free-

ranging wild animals was common in

501

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Africa and North America at the time of this

study, the technique was still in the initial trial

stages in Southeast Asia. In Malaysia, Weigum

(1972) had little success immobilizing gaur in

early field tests with a powdered form of

etorphine hydrochloride. More recently, Olivier

(1978) immobilized free-ranging elephants

( Elephas maximus) from the ground and

Williams (1978) immobilized tapir ( Tapirus

indicus) captured in a corral trap with an

etorphine /tranquilizer mixture. Thus, the im-

mobilization efforts in this study relied a great

deal on initial trial and error experience.

In selecting the drugs with which to capture

gaur, the tropical rain forest environment

placed a number of limitations on capture

operations and stringent requirements on the

performance of immobilizing drugs. The tall,

dense forest cover excluded aerial capture

operations and necessitated darting from the

ground, usually on foot. Ground darting free-

ranging animals in dense vegetation required

a fast-acting drug to minimize distance moved

and therefore increase the ease of finding a

darted animal. In addition, the high mean

annual temperatures made prolonged immobi-

lization risky, thus, an immobilizing drug with

a reversal agent was appropriate. Immobilon

was selected as the principal immobilizing drug

because it had the desired attributes of fast

action, reversibility, and neuroleptic effect and

was readily available. Following Harthoom’s

(1976: 255) recommendation, an additional

tranquilizer was added to the Immobilon to

counteract the excitement response common

with etorphine.

Three different combinations of drugs suc-

cessfully immobilized gaur; Immobilon (etor-

phine + acepromazine) used singly or combin-

ed with the tranquilizer azaperone or Rompun

(xylazine). Initial immobilization efforts utiliz-

ed an Immobilon-Azaperone combination with

mixed results; an initial success (No. 1M),

three unsuccessful attempts (Nos. 2M, 3M, 4),

and a fatality (No. 6F). The poor success

obtained with the Immobilon-Azaperone mix-

ture and the fatality prompted a change to the

Immobilon-Rompun mixture with improved

success; five successful attempts out of nine.

Based on my limited initial experience, the

Immobilon-Rompun mixture appeared to be

the better of the two.

With seven unsuccessful darting attempts,

darting failures were a problem in this study.

Underdosing was the known cause in two cases

and the suspected cause in the other five.

However, in one instance, a spent dart was

recovered with a broken needle suggesting that

the needle may have been broken colliding

with brush and the drug ejected prior to im-

pact with the animal. Gasaway et al. (1978)

cautioned against attributing all immobilization

failures to inadequate drug doses when they

found that a large proportion of their darting

failures were caused by dart malfunction, as

may have been the case here. Nevertheless,

underdosing was the probable cause in the

remaining instances.

Weigum (1972) also experienced underdos-

ing problems in his attempts to immobilize

gaur in the 1960’s. Using etorphine alone, he

tried doses of 1. 5-3.0 mg with no apparent

effect, and an 8.0 mg dose knocked down a

young bull, but narcosis was insufficient to

allow handling. Weigum observed the excite-

ment stage typical with etorphine and suggest-

ed adding a tranquilizer to obtain better

results.

In comparing unsuccessful with successful

dartings in this study, most unsuccessful efforts

attempted to capture large animals with inter-

mediate doses of etorphine (4.9 to 7.35 mg),

whereas in successful efforts, large animals

were usually immobilized with a 9.8 mg dose

502

IMMOBILIZING GAUR

of etorphine. On similar sized animals, un-

successful efforts used smaller doses of etor-

phine than successful dartings suggesting that

underdosing was involved.

Doses of etorphine in some successful immo-

bilizations may have been light as well, pos-

sibly right at the effective threshold, for most

successful dosages were well below the 2.45

mg/ 100 kg dosage rate recommended by the

manufacturer (Immobilon Package Insert). A

dosage rate as little as 0.98 mg/ 100 kg, 40%

of the recommended dosage, successfully

immobilized number 11M. In retrospect, using

small doses of etorphine as a precaution to

avoid overdosing fatalities probably resulted in

dosing light in some successful immobilizations

and underdosing in most unsuccessful attempts.

The success of the light dosages in immo-

bilizing gaur undoubtedly resulted from a

synergistic effect obtained by adding xylazine

as a tranquilizer in the mixture. Presnell et al.

(1973) observed a similar effect immobilizing

white-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus) .

They were able to use half the recommended

dose of etorphine when combined with xyla-

zine. Harthoom (1976: 255) likewise stated

that the efficacy of etorphine was greatly in-

creased by combining it with tranquilizing

agents such as xylazine. As xylazine is a parti-

cularly effective sedative-analgesic for domes-

tic cattle, it appears to have a similar potent

effect on the gaur as well. The residual tran-

quilizing effect obtained with xylazine in the

drug mixture also provided a smooth transi-

tion out of narcosis when the etorphine

antagonist was administered.

The etorphine-xylazine drug mixture, when

used with the antagonist diprenorphine to

reverse the action of the etorphine if an animal

got in trouble, was a particularly appropriate

choice for use on the gaur in a rain forest

environment. The wide safety margin of etor-

phine (Harthoorn 1976: 255) combined with

the reversibility of its action via the diprenor-

phine provided the safety net effect essential

to capture rare and valuable animals such as

the gaur. In one instance, dense vegetation and

difficult tracking conditions delayed locating a

darted animal for 90 minutes, yet the extended

period of narcosis had no ill effect. The safety

and effectiveness of the combination are such

that it is commonly used in routine immobili-

zations of captive zoo populations of Indian

gaur ( B . g. gaurus) (J. Jensen, D.V.M., Okla-

homa City Zoo, pers. commun.). In field trials

in this study, animals under narcosis retained

essential body functions, respiration remained

rhythmic and adequate, and temperature regu-

lation appeared unimpaired.

The problem of darting failures of large

animals can probably be overcome simply by

increasing the etorphine dose to 10.0-12.0 mg

for adult animals. The addition of a 150 mg

dose of xylazine to the mixture appears ade-

quate to combat the excitability of the etor-

phine and provides a smooth transition out

of narcosis. Such doses are not expected to

increase drugging mortalities because of the

wide safety margin of etorphine and the

safety net provided with the antagonist

diprenorphine. Larger doses are also in line

with the manufacturer’s recommendation to

use heavy rather than light doses of etorphine

(Carpenter and Lance 1983). The package

insert for use of M99 (etorphine) in the USA

states, “M99 is somewhat unique in that it is

safer to give the maximum dose rather than

the minimum effective dose. Under-dosing may

cause hyperexcitability, hyperventilation and

severe alkalosis that may lead to death. If too

high a dose should be given, a very rapid

reversal is obtained by the intravenous admi-

nistration of M50-50 (diprenorphine).” The

instruction insert goes on to recommend that

503

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

“as a general rule: dose heavily, reverse

quickly. This procedure minimizes the excite-

ment stage — it may be undetectable — and

avoids over exertion, exhaustion, injury and

possible over-dosing by fractional repeat

dosing.”

Whenever considering use of etorphine to

immobilize gaur, or any other animal, the

human risk involved should be fully under-

stood. Carpenter and Lance (1983) point out

that etorphine is a narcotic particularly potent

to humans and that the human lethal dose is

just 0.03 to 0.12 mg, a mere drop. They re-

commend that whenever etorphine is used,

Narcan (naloxone) or Nalorphine, antidotes

for use in humans, and syringes should always

R E FE 1

Carpenter, L. H. & Lance, W. R. (1983): Ap-

proved use of etorphine (M99) in North American

big game animals. Report of Colorado Division of

Wildlife. 25 pp.

Conry, P. J. (1980) : The impact of development

and the behavioural response of the Malaysian sela-

dang. Pages 279-286. In J. I. Furtado, ed. Tropical

ecology and development. Proc. V Int. Sys. of Tropi-

cal Ecology. Int. Soc. Tropical Ecology, Kuala

Lumpur.

Gasaway, W. C, Franzmann, A. W. & Faro,

J. B. (1978) : Immobilizing moose with a mixture

of etorphine and xylazine hydrochloride. /. Wildl.

Manage. 42(3) : 686-690.

Harthoorn, A. M. (1976) : The chemical capture

of animals. Bailliere Tindall, London. 416 pp.

Lekagul, B. & McNeely, J. (1977): Mammals

of Thailand. Assoc, for the Cons, of Wildl., Bangkok.

758 pp.

be carried. They also recommend that etor-

phine be used only by designated, trained, and

responsible personnel familiar with emergency

treatment of an accidental administration into

a human. In line with these sensible recom-

mendations, adequate training should be pro-

vided for capture personnel prior to field use

of etorphine.

Acknowledgements

I thank M. Khan for supporting this pro-

ject, E. Yusof, Sallehuddin Long, and Zainuddin

Lela for their assistance in the field, and B.

O’Gara and R. Flynn for critical review of

the manuscript.

EN CES

Olivier, R. C. D. (1978): On the ecology of the

Asian elephant Elephas maximus Linn. Ph.D. Dis-

sertation, Cambridge, U.K. 454 pp.

Presnell, R. K., Presidente, P. J. A. & Rapley,

W. A. (1973): Combination of etorphine and xyla-

zine in captive white-tailed deer: sedative and immo-

bilization properties. J. Wildl. Dis. 9: 336^341.

Simon, N. (1969): Red Data Book, Mammalia.

Gland, Switzerland. IUCN publ. 1 : 122.

Stevens, W. E. (1968) : The conservation of

wildlife in West Malaysia. Department of Wildlife

and National Parks, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 123 pp.

Weigum, L. E. (1972) : The problems in the pre-

servation of the seladang in the Malaysian National

Park. M. S. Thesis. Michigan State Univ. Lansing.

55 pp.

Williams, K. O. (1978): Aspects of the ecology

and behavior of the Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus

Desmarest) in the National Park of West Malaysia.

M. S. Thesis. Michigan State Univ. Lansing. 54 pp.

504

ECOLOGY OF LARGER MAMMALS OF PERIYAR

WILDLIFE SANCTUARY1

K. K. Ramachandran, P. Vijayakumaran Nair and P. S. Easa2

{With three plates & seven text-figures)

Studies on the distribution, ecological requirements and resource availability to

selected mammals of Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary was carried out for a period of five

years from 1977 to 1982. This sanctuary is located on the crest line of the Western

Ghats in Peninsular India. Forest types consist of grasslands, deciduous and evergreen

forests. The study methods included recording population parameters and activities

of animals sighted and collection of indirect evidences of animals from systematically

laid out sample plots. The grass production from different parts of the habitat was

estimated by the harvest method. A total number of 800 elephants was estimated

to be present in the study area based on the quantity of dung heaps counted from

the sample plots. The overall density was about one elephant per square kilometer

with an ecological density as high as two or three times this in some seasons in

certain parts of the reserve. The proportion of various classes of individuals in the

population and their sex ratio were comparable to that of healthy elephant popula-

tions elsewhere except in the proportion of adult male elephants. Density of animals

like sambar, gaur, wild boar and barking deer showed extreme variation. Frequency

distribution of the number of animals in groups of sambar deer and wild boar were

constructed and comparisons made with the same in other populations. Fodder and

water did not appear to be a limiting factor to the animals. Based on the habits

and habitat use the herbivores were classified into two groups, the first one consisting

of animals like barking deer, sambar, gaur, cattle and elephant and the second group

consisting of mouse deer and hare. The wild boar was not part of either of these

groups. The distribution of arboreal animals like Nilgiri langur, Liontailed macaque,

Bonnet macaque and Giant squirrel were examined. The availability of prey to

carnivores and the competition among them were also studied.

Introduction

There have been a number of studies on

the ecology of larger mammals in Asia in the

last two decades. Schaller (1967), Eisenberg

and Lockhart (1972), Nair et al. (1977), John-

singh (1983) have brought out many details

1 Accepted October 1985. KFRI Scientific Paper

No. 80.

2 Wildlife Biology Division, Kerala Forest Re-

search Institute, Peechi-680 653, Kerala, India.

of the population dynamics, life history, prey-

predator relations and habitat utilization

pattern in the habitats studied. All these studies

have been carried out in deciduous or scrub

forest with high animal density and good

visibility. The present study conducted from

1977 to 1982 in the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary

in Peninsular India examines the ecology of

the larger mammals in evergreen-savannah

type of forest. The results of the present study

have been compared with the studies in the

deciduous-scrub forests mentioned above.

505

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Study Area

The Periyar Tiger Reserve is one of the

most well known wildlife sanctuaries in Penin-

sular India and was a hunting preserve of the

Maharajas of the erstwhile Travancore State.

A masonry dam was constructed across the

Mullaperiyar River near Thekkady in 1895

creating a lake of about 26 km2 (Plate 1).

Populations of significant animals like elephants,

gaur, sambar, wild boar, tiger, wild dog, Nilgiri

langur, liontailed macaque, Malabar giant

squirrel etc. seem to have established an eco-

logical balance with the lake and its catchment

area over the years.

Location

The study area is located between 9° 15'

and 9° 40' N latitude and 76°55' and 77°25' E

longitude in the southern Western Ghats and

is generally known as the Periyar Plateau.

This sanctuary is situated to the west of Madu-

rai and east of Kottayam in the Idukki District

of Kerala State.

Topography

The Western Ghats is about 50 km in width

at the Periyar Plateau. A considerable portion

is under cash crops and forest continuity is

limited to few regions. Eventhough it is called

a plateau it is actually a chain of hills sepa-

rated by valleys, sometimes as much as 300 m

deep.

On the eastern and northern sides of the

plateau along the Crestline at about 2000 m

elevation runs the State boundary. The eleva-

tion drops to about 200 m on the eastern side

of the Crestline. The western regions are also

high elevation areas and slope down gradually

to the coastal plains. Forested regions of

Ranni and Kakki form the southern boundary

of the plateau. The Periyar Plateau is mainly

drained by the Periyar and Mullayar which

join together near Mullakkudy. The Cumbum

valley is drained by Vaigai river, the eastern

slopes by Vaippar and the regions south of

the Pamba Periyar Divide by river Pamba

(Figs. 1 and 2). The elevation around the lake

is about 800 to 1200 m, the higher regions are

grass covered hills. On the southern side of

the lake is the Pamba Periyar Divide, a chain

of hills about 1200 m in elevation, the northern

side drains to the Pamba basin. The remain-

ing portion of the study area, the north eastern

and south western regions are formed by hills

of about 1500 m elevation and valleys of

rivulets originating here. Tributaries of Periyar

drain the western slopes of the Crestline. Mulla-

yar and Periyar flow through deep valleys

amidst the hills of Periyar Plateau.

Climate

The temperature ranges from 15 to 31°C.

March and April are the warmer months.

Annual average rainfall is about 2000 mm

with the peak in July.

History of the forests

Ward and Connor (1827) based on evi-

dence of abandoned buildings inside the forest

on Periyar Plateau show that many forest

areas were under cultivation and were sub-

sequently abandoned due to disturbance from

wild animals following withdrawal of gun

licence to people.

According to Bourdillon (1893) the Periyar

Plateau was getting well connected with the

outside world by the turn of the century; at

that time Kumily was a small station and

there were cardamom collection centres as far

away as Melappara. He gives a description of

the grasslands, large scale grazing by cattle

coming from the eastern side and forest fires

made by the graziers. He also described the

506

LARGER MAMMALS OF PERIYAR SANCTUARY

Fig. 1. Boundaries and important place names in the sanctuary.

present submerged area of the lake as having

marshy vegetation, sandy river bed and

patches of forests in between hillocks.

The dam was completed by 1895. Most of

the trees were not removed as it was not

economical to extract them, this resulted in

the present landscape of the lake filled with

dry stumps (Plate 1). Mannan, Uraly, Paliyan

and Arayan tribes were living inside the forest

even before construction of the dam. Bourdillon

(1893) reports them as living near Poovarasu,

Thanikudy, Navikayam, Melappara, Ummi-

kuppan, Vanchivayal, Pamba Valley and

Moozhikkal. These people engaged in small

scale cultivation but they mainly subsisted on

fish, honey, tubers, etc. from the forest. The

tribals were moved out of the reserve after

declaring the area as a wildlife sanctuary.

In 1899 the forest around the lake was de-

clared as a reserve forest. The Maharaja of

the erstwhile Travancore State appointed Mr.

C. H. Robinson in 1933 as the first game

warden to constitute and maintain the sanc-

tuary. In 1934 a sanctuary was constituted

known as Nellikkampatti Game Sanctuary. In

1936 zoo bred spotted deer were introduced

in one of the islands. The animals did not

survive. In 1950 more areas were added to

the sanctuary to constitute Periyar Wildlife

Sanctuary of 777 km2. In 1978 the area came

under the Project Tiger.

There are about 20 tea and cardamom

507

ALTITUDE

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Fig. 2. Altitude profiles along three typical regions to show the position of lake,

vegetation types and hills.

estates on the Crestline and along the northern

and eastern boundary of the sanctuary. There

are four cardamom estates inside the core

area of the sanctuary - Lakshmipara, Mela-

ppara, Naduthottam and Ummikuppan. The

last one is maintained by tribals. Every year,

thousands of pilgrims visit the Sabarimala

shrine situated inside the reserve. Creation of

Thekkady Development Authority, Kerala

State Tourism Development Corporation’s in-

volvement in tourism, blasting of dry stumps

in the boat route, tiger census by staff and

students of Union Christian College, Alwaye

(Varghese 1981), strengthening of the dam and

increase in disturbance from eastern and

northern side are some of the recent develop-

ments.

Forest types

The forest types of this region has not been

properly surveyed and demarcated. According

to Chandrasekharan (1973) the forest compo-

sition of the reserve is evergreen — 305 km2,

semi-evergreen — 275 km2, moist deciduous —

98 km2 and grasslands — 12 km2.

508

LARGER MAMMALS OF PERIYAR SANCTUARY

In evergreen forest the trees are high, canopy

is almc,3t closed and is made predominantly

of soft-wood species. Common species found

are Mesua ferrea, Elaeocarpus tuberculatus,

Canarium strictum, Evodia lunu-akenda,

Nephelium longana, Cullenia exarillata, etc.

Reeds are found in wet areas. Undergrowth

consist of Strobilanthus sp., Clerodendron sp.,

etc. Various climbers (canes. Acacia, pepper)

are also present. Plate 2 shows typical stand

of evergreen forest in the reserve.

Deciduous vegetation is present only in few

areas. Main trees are Tectona grandis, Dal-

bergia ladfolia, Lagerstroemia lanceolata,

Pterocarpus marsupium, Terminalia bellerica,

T. paniculata, T. chebula, Bridelia retusa,

Emblica officinalis, Randia dumetorum, Gre-

wia tiliaefolia, Bombax sp., Anogeissus ladfolia,

etc. Undergrowth consist of Lantana camara,

Eupatorium odoratum, Zizyphus sp., etc.

Bambusa arundinacea has flowered around

1977 and is gradually getting established in

moist areas.

There are three types of grasslands. Hill tops

like Kumarikulam, Chaverkuzhy, Kathiramudi

have short grass of Heteropogon contortus and

other species (Plate 2). The elephant grass,

Cymbopogon sp. growing to two metres occu-

pies vast areas in the reserve. Amidst these are

fire resistant trees like Anogeissus ladfolia,

Bridelia retusa, Emblica officinalis, Careya

arborea, Kydia calycina, Grewia tiliaefolia, etc.

These were probably wooded regions earlier

and has been reduced to grassland due to

frequent fire. Marshes and lake shore has

succulent grasses like Panicum repens.

v- Materials and Methods

Reconnaissance

During the reconnaissance of the study area

from November 1977 to December 1978 the

investigators camped in various places in the

reserve and the area around each camp was

surveyed intensively on foot. As the observer

walked through the forest details of animals

sighted, their activity, group composition and

indirect evidence of animals like spoors, pug-

marks and dung were noted. The details thus

collected gave an indication of abundance of

animals in various parts of the reserve. The

findings of the reconnaissance was brought out

as an interim report (Vijayan et al. 1979).

Animal density studies

Details of group composition such as total

number of animals, their age and sex and

location of sighting were used for estimating

density of animals. Indirect evidences of

animals collected from systematically laid out

sample plots also were used for this purpose.

A total number of 28 sample plots of one

hectare (100 x 100 m) each were laid out

on six radial lines originating from the two

sampling centres. The plots were at a distance

of about 2.5 km as the crow flies from each

other on the radial line (Fig. 3). Thirty

equidistant sub plots were marked inside these

plots with numbered stakes. The entire area

of one hectare was sampled for elephant dung

and gaur dung. For other animals an area

within three metre radius of the sub plots

were sampled. The plots were cleared off all

animal droppings and visited after 30 days for

recording the details of droppings accumulated.

Data was recorded in March- April (dry

season) and October-November (wet season).

Decomposition of pellets and dung

In order to examine the interval between

clearing the plots and recording data the

decomposition of elephant dung and sambar

pellets and hare droppings were recorded

during dry and wet seasons. Droppings were

marked in different types of forests in the study

509

3

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Fig. 3. Location of the sample plots.

area and degree of decomposition after one,

two, five, ten and thirty days noted.

Feeding trials

Feeding trials were conducted on captive

sambar deer. Grass and herbs harvested from

selected plots were sorted out species-wise and

fed to the animal to establish the palatable

species. Equal quantities of the plants were

also supplied for finding the animal’s prefe-

rence for different species.

Estimation of grass production

An area of 100 m2 (lOx 10 m) was made

inaccessible to animals by exclusion trenches

(3 m depth and top width of 3 m) in three

localities representing elephant grass with

scattered trees amidst, tall elephant grass and

marshy grassland. Grass produced both inside

and outside the trenches were harvested from

randomly chosen plots. The samples were oven

dried and weighed species-wise.

Result and Discussion

The tropical warm climate, high elevation

(about 1000 to 2000 m), heavy rainfall (about

2000 mm), undulating terrain, extensive grass-

lands, marshes, river and dense forests are

highly favourable for wild animals. In general

the evergreen areas contained less number of

larger terrestrial animals. The evergreen areas

harbour arboreal animals. Eventhough the

510

PLATE 1

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83

Ramachandran et a/. : Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary

Above: A view of Periyar lake with dry tree stumps.

Below: A typical stand of evergreen forest in the Aladi region.

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83

Ramachandran et al.\ Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary

Plate 2

IStJll

'

Above : Grasslands near Thanikudy region.

Below: A herd of elephant near lake shore.

LARGER MAMMALS OF PERIYAR SANCTUARY

densities varied animals like elephant, sambar,

barking deer and gaur were present almost

throughout the habitat. Hare seems to be limit-

ed to the grassland and rocky areas. Wild

boar seems to have an unequal distribution,

it being more abundant near marshy areas and

lake shore. The status, distribution, popula-

tion details and feeding ecology of various

animals found in the reserve follows.

Elephant

The Periyar Plateau has one of the major

populations of elephants ( Elephas maximus ) in

Peninsular India. Many details concerning the

ecology and behaviour of the Asiatic elephants

are not fully known.

Estimation of population

The population estimation is attempted

based on the quantity of dung in the sample

plots. Decomposition rate was found to be

very high during the rainy season and hence

the data during the dry season was employed

for the estimation. During the month of April

a total of 297 dung heaps were counted from

the 22 sample plots surveyed. Benedict (1936)

gives the defecation rate of 16.3 times on an

average in a day. Based on more detailed

studies Vancuylenberg (1977) arrived at an

average defecation rate of 15 times a day. An

area of 273 km2 seems to be available as

elephant habitat during the season. The num-

ber of elephants in the reserve is calculated by

Area (in ha) x dung production per ha

Total =

Monthly defecation rate of one elephant

273 x 100 x 297/22

450

This comes to about 800 elephants for the

reserve. The overall density at Periyar was

about one elephant per km2. The ecological

density in areas like Ratendan Valley, Nellik-

kampatti, Aruvi and Chorakotta were about

three elephants per km2 in the dry season.

Eisenberg and Lockhart (1972) estimated a

numerical density in Wilpattu National Park

which has less resource availability at about

0.12 elephants per km2 whereas the ecological

density was as high as 1 . 0 to 1.2 elephants

per km2.

Herd composition and sex ratio

During the period from October 1977 to

February 1982, 134 herds of elephants were

observed. This includes only those herds which

were fully visible. Out of this 134 herds, 15

(11.4%) were solitary individuals. Total num-

ber of individuals in all groups together was

1292.

The herd composition and sex ratio of 49

herds were accurately recorded. This shows

interesting patterns when compared with those

of other populations. The animals were classi-

fied into calves (less than 14 months),

juveniles (14 to 40 months), subadults (40

months to 12 years in the case of females and

40 months to 15 years in the case of males)

and adults (above 12 and 15 years in the case

of females and males respectively). This age

categorisation is similar to the one used by

Eisenberg and Lockhart (1972) except for the

upper age limit of subadults, for studies in

Wilpattu National Park. Fig. 4 shows details

of herd composition. The proportion of calves

in the population was 1 1 . 8%. The proportion

of juveniles was 10.2%. The adult females

constituted 60% of the elephants while the

adult males seen with the herds were only 1%.

The subadult males and subadult females were

7.3% and 9.5% respectively. Compared to

populations in other habitats the proportion

of adult male elephants appears to be very

low (Eisenberg and Lockhart 1972, Laws

511

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

(/)

_j

□

>

Q

Z

Ll.

o

Fig. 4. Frequency distribution of herd sizes observed and the proportion of various

classes of individuals in the herds.

et al. 1975, Nair et al 1977). This could be

due to poaching of tuskers for ivory. Fewer

number of tuskers do not seem to have affected

the population growth as shown by a normal

number of calves. A large proportion of

makhnas in the population is also unlikely.

This probably means that animals classified as

subadult males are sexually functional. Flower

512

LARGER MAMMALS OF PER1YAR SANCTUARY

(1943) did note that elephants may propagate

their species several years before they attain

their full growth. At Periyar the intensity of

biotic disturbance was probably at its height

during the study period. If a drastic reduction

in the number of male elephants occurred

during this period the result in terms of num-

ber of calves bom will be apparent only after

a few years, the gestation period in elephants

being of this order.

The proportion of young (calves + juve-

niles) to adult female, subadult male to sub-

adult female and adult male to adult female

are shown in Fig. 4. The young to the adult

female ratio in Periyar is similar to that of

other populations. So also the sex ratio between

subadult males and subadult females. There

is significant difference between adult male to

adult female when compared to other popu-

lations. In Wilpattu National Park in Sri Lanka

for every two adult female elephant there was

a male elephant (Eisenberg and Lockhart

1972), whereas this numberjn Bandipur and

Periyar are 8.8 adult female per adult male

and 57 adult female per adult male elephants

respectively. When due allowance is given for

the solitary nature of the male elephant and

that the above figures are based on male

elephants seen with herds it does not seem to

be too alarming. But the shortage of adult

male elephant in Periyar population is quite

obvious. Plate 2 shows a herd of elephants on

lake shore.

Solitary elephants

The number of solitary tuskers sighted in

the study area was fewer compared to other

populations as mentioned earlier. Presence of

large number of makhnas in the population

also do not seem to be the case. Eisenberg

and Lockhart (1972) are of the opinion that

makhnas are not difficult to notice in a herd

because of the male elephant’s habit of pro-

truding his penis, especially while moving from

one habitat to another. At Periyar solitary

tuskless elephants were not encountered.

Based on sightings of tuskers from 1979 to

1982 and examination of their individual

peculiarities we conclude that there are only

about nine adult tuskers in the study area.

Out of these only four tuskers were seen dur-

ing the year 1981-82.

Movement pattern

In Periyar elephants are found to use the

lake shore, the grassland, the deciduous

forest and to a lesser degree the evergreen

forest. It is not known whether elephants

could move from lake areas to the evergreen

forests and then to the eastern regions because

of the presence of steep mountains in between.

The question whether the herds observed deep

inside the evergreen forests move to the rest

of the area in the reserve remains un-

answered.

In the Bandipur National Park elephant

move away to the wet areas during summer

(Nair et al 1977). Elephants are seen

more- or less throughout the year in the study

area and therefore there is no mass movement

from one area to the other (Fig. 5). Our studies

show that categorisation of Periyar elephants

into three groups by Nair (1978) based on

movement and temperament is untenable. Ele-

phants have been sighted almost throughout

the year around the lake.

Feeding habits and food requirements

Elephants feed on a large variety of plants.

Their specialised trunk and thick tongue

enable them to feed even on thorny plants.

Grass seems to be their major food item in

Periyar. Elephants feed a great deal on

bamboos and reeds which are found in many

513

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol 83

514

LARGER MAMMALS OF PERIYAR SANCTUARY

parts of the reserve. Fruits of trees like mango

and jack are also eaten. An adult elephant

consumes about 250 to 350 kg of green fodder

(Krishnan 1975). Vancuylenberg (1977) stated

that an elephant spends 17 to 19 hour a day

for feeding. It consumes about 150 kg of green

matter and defecates about 80 kg of dung.

GAUR

In the study area gaur has been sighted at

locations like Edappalayam, Kavalappara,

Chakkappara, Aruvi, Poovarasu, Panamkala

oda. Ottamaram, Kattumadu mottai, Kumari-

kulam, Varayattumudi, Chaverkuzhi, etc. in

different types of vegetation. The gaur is a

widely ranging animal, sometimes migrating to

adjacent areas when food becomes scarce

(Krishnan 1976, Johnsingh 1980). It is not

known whether there is any such movement

to adjacent areas by these animals in Periyar

or how far and how long they stay in a

particular locality.

The total number of gaur and their sex ratio

in the sanctuary could not be estimated

accurately due to the very scanty population

which is slowly getting established after the

rinderpest outbreak in 1974. Rinderpest seems

to play an important role in regulation of

gaur populations. The population builds up

at a rapid rate and the animals become nume-

rous in large herds readily seen in sanctuaries.

An outbreak of a contagious disease like

rinderpest almost wipes out the population and

the whole process repeats. The periodicity of

rinderpest occurrence is not known.

Food requirements

Gaur is described as both a grazer and a

browser preferring green grass when available

but otherwise consuming coarse dry grass and

large variety of forbes, leaves and fruits

(Schaller 1967, Krishnan 1975) like Hibiscus

lampus, Grewia aspera, Grewia hirsuta, Des-

modium pulchellum, Emblica sp., Cordia myxa,

Zizyphus trinervia, Zizyphus xylopyrus, Smilax

zeylanica, Gmelina arborea, T erminalia bellerica

and Bambusa arundinacea which are present

in the reserve. The gaur in captivity is report-

ed to consume about 20 kg of green fodder

a day. In the wild it visits water bodies at least

once during hot days.

SAMBAR

Two factors, dense cover and water influ-

ence the distribution and abundance of sambar

(Johnsingh 1980). In the study area there were

small groups of animals in every hillock or

valley. They are not very conspicuous and

their non-gregarious nature and dispersed dis-

tribution tends towards an underestimation of

their number. The largest group seen consist-

ed of ten individuals (seven does and three

fawns).

Sambar is an important prey species in the

sanctuary. Wild dogs can often be seen chasing

them to water and killing them in water. For

other carnivores such as panther and tiger also

they form an important prey species.

Food requirement

Sambar deer like the gaur is a browser and

grazer. According to Schaller (1967) young

grass constitute their major forage during the

rainy season. Browsing is resorted to when

grass is scarce. In Periyar small groups of

sambar can be seen grazing on the lakeshore

and grassland. Their nipping the tender leaves

of Panicum repens in marshy areas is parti-

cularly noticeable. Feeding trials on a captive

sambar deer showed high preference for grass.

In captivity sambar deer are given 2.6 kg of

green leaves and 3.0 kg of grass daily.

Fruits of Emblica officinalis, Zizyphus

jujuba, Randia dumetorum, T erminalia belle-

515

% OF HERDS SIGHTED

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Fig. 6. Distributed of group sizes of sambar deer sighted.

516

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83

Ramachandran et al. \ Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary

Plate 3

Above: A large sounders of wild boar near the lake shore.

Below: Nilgiri langur jumping from one tree to another!

LARGER MAMMALS OF PERIYAR SANCTUARY

rica, T. chebula also are eaten in large quantity

when available. The thickets of Lantana camara

and Bambusa arundinacea provide them

shelter and fodder. They visit waterholes almost

everyday, sometimes at night.

Population density

The sambar deer seems to be very unevenly

distributed in the reserve. Some areas have

very high concentration of these animals. Four

study plots contained as much as about 75%

of the pellets collected.

Herd composition and sex ratio

The frequency distribution of number of

animals in sambar groups seen is shown in

Fig. 6. Sambar populations in other areas

examined show remarkable similarity with that

of Periyar with the solitary individuals occupy-

ing 30-50% of the total. The group size rarely

exceeds eight individuals. Johnsingh (1980)

found a density of 4.2 sambar/km2 in wet

season and 2.25 sambar/km2 in the dry season

in his focal study area at Bandipur. The density

of sambar in the Kanha National Park was

estimated ot be 1.6 to 2.3 animal/km2 (Schal-

ler 1967). The density of sambar in the

Wilpattu National Park was estimated at 1.17

animals/km2 (Eisenberg and Lockhart 1972).

Sex and age distribution

Attempts were not made for determining

age of sambar deer during visual observations.

The sex could be identified for larger indivi-

duals. Out of 104 individuals accurately sexed

33.65% individuals were males, giving a male

to female ratio of 1:3. All age categories seem

to be represented in the pellets collected from

the sample plots. Sambar stags were seen in

velvet during the months of March, May,

June, August and December. This rules out a

particular season for shedding antler.

WILD BOAR

The Wild Boar (Sus scrofa), one of the

most widely distributed non ruminant ungu-

lates in peninsular India is also one of the

least studied animals.

The animals are seen in sounders ranging

from a few to about sixty individuals. In some

seasons large sounders of 80 or more indi-

viduals can be seen (Plate 3). The significance

of such aggregations, seen only on few occa-

sions is not known. Lone animals can also be

frequently seen. The sightings of pigs in the

reserve show that they are seen mostly around

the lake, and sounders ranging from six to

eleven individuals were most well represented.

In the Wilpattu National Park (Eisenberg and

Lockhart 1972) wild boars have the highest

frequency of four individuals; after the single

individuals. Sounders consisting of four to

fifteen individuals were most common, there

being fewer groups near the upper margin

(Fig. 7). The high incidence of solitary indi-

viduals, mostly males, suggest the possible

existence of elaborate social structure.

Opinions vary about the ranging pattern of

the Wild boar. Eisenberg and Lockhart (1972)

found them to be migratory in the Wilpattu

National Park while Johnsingh (1980) con-

siders them to have a fixed home range in

Bandipur. In Periyar there do not seem to be

any migration as indicated by sightings almost

throughout the year. Unlike many sanctuaries

they can be seen more readily in Periyar,

almost throughout the day especially in the

tourism zone.

Our observations indicate that the members

of a particular sounder are fixed and also

that the adult males are solitary, probably

joining the sounders only for mating. A case

of wild boar feeding on carcass of their own

species was also reported. At the reserve they

517

30

20

10

0

20

10

0

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol 83

(a)

WILPATTU

5 10 15

(b) PERIYAR

10 15

GROUP SIZE

a

Fig. 7. Distribution of groups of wild boar in Wilpattu and Periyar.

LARGER MAMMALS OF PERIYAR SANCTUARY

can be approached close on foot and they

move away only at very close distance. When

approached very close on foot they make

threat displays. Flocks of jungle mynas can

be seen accompanying wild boar and other

grazers for catching the flushed insects.

Wild Boar mostly lives in open habitat,

grass or scanty bush jungle and prefers thick

forest least. They are omnivorous living on a

variety of roots, tubers, insects and carrion.

The tubers notably of Panicum repens in

marshy areas seem to be an important food

item in Periyar. They were seen feeding on

tadpoles of Rana curtipes which appear in large

quantities in some seasons in the lake. There

was an instance of a wild boar feeding on a

dead fish.

SMALLER MAMMALS

The barking deer, mouse deer and the

black-naped hare are included in this section.

These are mostly very shy animals and occupy

a habitat at the edge of the forest.

The barking deer ( Muntiacus muntjak) is

described as a solitary animal which hides the

young ones in thickets till they are mature

(Eisenberg and Lockhart 1972). A captive

male barking deer kept by us was fatally

attacked by a wild male. This probably shows

that the males are territorial and actively keep

off other males. Nature of the male female

bond is not known. Barking deer was record-

ed in areas like Chevlod, Manakkavala,

Ottamaram and Thekkady. Because of diffi-

culty in distinguishing the pellet from that of

Sambar and mouse deer detailed computations

were not attempted.

Nilgiri Tahr ( Hemitragus hylocrius ) the

endangered ungulate is no more seen in the

reserve even though they have been reported

to be present on the tall steep hill tops.

Mouse deer ( Tragulus meminna) is a small

solitary deer, nocturnal in habit with a colour

pattern suitable for concealment (Eisenberg

and Lockhart 1972). We have recorded a case

of wild dogs killing a pregnant mouse deer in

the month of April. Eisenberg and Lockhart

(1972) suspect a consistent home range and

the mouse deer having social interactions at

least in the breeding season. There was diffi-

culty in distinguishing pellets of mouse deer

from that of young of other deer and hence

detailed computations of age categorising were

not attempted. The frequency distribution of

pellet size was symmetrical. Mouse deer drop-

pings were observed mostly in Chevalod and

Ottamaram plots.

The blacknaped hare ( Lepus nigricollis)

also is not very active during the day time, it

hides in grass during day. They seem to prefer

forest edges. Their droppings are very common

in rocky areas.

Availability of fodder to herbivores

Grass is abundant in the grassland on hill

tops, savannah areas, lakeshore and marshes.

Of these the grass in regions other than lake

shore and marshes is mainly Cymbopogon sp.

which is palatable only in young stages and

is burned in the summer resulting in scarcity

of grass. The evergreen forest also contain

grass where the canopy is not closed. This

grass is available almost throughout the year.

Attempts were made to estimate the grass

production in grassland, marshy area and

savannah areas. The grass production is quite

high in the grassland areas as shown by har-

vesting experiments described below. The

grass production at the end of the growth

season is about 700 tonnes /km2. About 20%

of the grass produced is consumed by herbi-

vores. This means that animals depend upon

519

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

other plants and grass in the deciduous and

evergreen areas a great deal. Of the different

sites, Edappalayam had the maximum grass

production followed by Manakkavala and

Thanikudy. The three sites had different grass

species, Edapalayam and Thanikudy predo-

minently elephant grass and Manakkavala

predominently Panicum sp. characteristic of

marshy regions near the lake.

At Edapalayam, at the beginning of the

growth season, no direct comparison was pos-

sible as the regions outside the protected part

burned. Total grass and herbaceous vegetation

had a dry weight of 196.31 gm/m2 inside

trench and 205.22 gm/m2 outside. In the

ungrazed regions Cymbopogon sp. accounted

for 98.69% of the total weight. But in grazed

regions only for 85.82% of the total. Species

Cymbopogon and Desmodium seem to be

heavily grazed whereas Desmostachya bipin-

nata, Cyperus sp., Eupatorium odoratum etc.

were more in grazed areas. Total grass pro-

duction at Manakkavala in ungrazed account-

ed to 711.8 gm/m2 and 592.72 gm/m2 in

grazed areas. On the whole the species diver-

sity seem to be less in the marsh compared to

other areas, Panicum repens accounted for

93 . 89% of the total dry weight in grazed areas

and 95.46% in the ungrazed areas. This is

an important grass because elephants depends

on this in the dry season to a great extent;

the wild boar feed on its rhizomes, the sambar

eats its tender shoot tips.

Bamboo flowered around 1977 and was

getting established again only during the study

period. Coming to trees there are very few

trees the elephants directly fed upon. Bark

of GrevAa tiliaefolia was eaten. The number

of these trees in the forest seem to be very

few. The deciduous areas have Lagerstroemia

lanceolata, Terminalia chebula, Bridelia retusa,

Emblica officinalis, Randia dumetorum, Carey a

arborea, Dillenia pentagyna, etc. Elephants

hardly feed on any of these. Fruits of most

of the other trees are eaten by sambar, bark-

ing deer, etc. Enumeration of these trees or

their phenology was not done. Regarding the

numerous evergreen trees no particular tree

seems to be extensively fed by elephants.

Concerning the feeding of arboreal animals

like giant squirrel, flying squirrel, bonnet

macaque, liontailed macaque and nilgiri lan-

gur, their feeding habits were not investigated

in detail.

Competition among herbivores

The herbivores considered are elephant,

gaur, sambar, cattle, wild boar, barking deer,

mouse deer and hare. Ten biological factors

such as degree of tree use, degree of usage of

shrubs, browsing, grazing, dependance on

underground tubers, need for water, diurnal/

nocturnal nature, preference for open habitat

and sun tolerance were considered. Elephants

feed on trees like Grewia and Ficus sp. Sambar

deer and barking deer feed on fallen fruits.

In using the shrubs also elephants top the list

with its ability to break the stem and to feed

from considerable height. Most of the animals

considered are capable of both grazing and

browsing. Only wild boar and elephant are able

to dig or pull out underground stems and

tubers. Need for water is more or less similar

among the animals, wallowing animals like

the wild boar, sambar and elephants needing

it more than small deer like barking deer and

mouse deer. Most of the animals were active

during day time, the mouse deer and barking

deer are more active during dawn and dusk.

Elephants, hare and mouse deer have been

found to be active during considerable part

of the night also. Sun tolerance was rated

maximum for cattle and least for the solitary

deer. Hare was considered as an animal of

520

LARGER MAMMALS OF PERIYAR SANCTUARY

the open habitat. Other animals preferred

mostly a habitat with both open areas and

cover. The highest density of sambar deer was

recorded in Kadukkapara area with extensive

Lantana thickets. The Lantana shrubs were

very heavily browsed in this area. This is parti-

cularly notable because Lantana is usually

described as an unpalatable weed.

A similarity matrix of similarity in habits

and habitat use of the above herbivores was

prepared from subjective values assigned to

each of the parameters. Clustering by the

hierarchical method (Cody 1974) show animals

like barking deer, sambar, gaur, cattle and

elephant forming one group and animals like

mouse deer and hare forming another group.

The Wild boar is not in either group and

stands out alone having the least overlap with

the rest of the animals.

ARBOREAL MAMMALS

The Malabar giant squirrel, flying squirrel,

bonnet macaque, Nilgiri langur and the lion-

tailed macaque are the major arboreal

mammals.

Malabar Giant Squirrel

This squirrel ( Ratufa indica) is found in

deciduous to evergreen vegetation, and builds

large globular nests of twigs and leaves on

smaller branches of tall trees. Giant squirrel

is seen almost throughout the sanctuary. They

feed on a large variety of fruits, barks, leaves

and seeds. Their extensive feeding on teak

seeds is particularly remarkable. They have

been observed to feed on jackfruit, Terminalia

paniculata (fruits), Bombax malabarica

(seeds), Machilus macaranga (flowers), Ptero-

carpus marsupium (bark), etc.

Flying squirrel

Petinomys fuscocapillus, the small Travan-

core flying squirrel has been observed in the

Thekkady region. This animal is mainly

nocturnal, very active during dusk.

Liontailed macaque

This endemic endangered arboreal macaque,

Macaca silenus is limited to the evergreen

forests of western ghats — Nagercoil district to

North Kanara (8°-15°N and 75°-80°E) (Karr

1973, Green and Minkowski 1977, Kurup

1978, Johnson 1980). In Periyar, they were

recorded in Melappara cardamom estate,

Elatheri, Koyilmala, Ponvarai, Pachakanam,

Aladi, near the eastern border and Pachiar

estate. A lone monkey was seen near Sabari-

mala temple. A troop of seven individuals

were sighted in Poonkavanam area. In Pacha-

kanam area as described by Kurup (1978)

their number is on the decline due to human

activity. Near Melappara cardamom estate a

troop of 32 liontailed macaques were sighted.

Green and Minkowski (1977) observed

that the liontailed macaques feed on Cullenia

exarillata and Artocarpus heterophyllus almost

throughout the year. Preference for other

species vary between different months of the

year. Other important species for the animal

are Tetrastigma sulcatum, Litsea wightiana,

Loranthus elasticus, etc.

Periyar has one of the most extensive ever-

green forests harbouring this monkey. The

exact number, troops and general distribution

in this reserve has not been thoroughly in-

vestigated so far (Green and Minkowiski 1977,

Kurup 1975) due to the extreme difficulty in

approaching this area and rugged nature of

the terrain.

Bonnet macaque

Those found in the natural forest were very

shy and smaller in size compared to the ones

found near habitation.

521

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Bonnet macaques have been found in Mela-

ppara, Elatheri, Ummikuppan, Anchuruli,

Tanikudy, Vaikkappadappu, Koyilmala,

Pachaiyar estate, etc. These monkeys live in

highly social groups. The largest troop found

consisted about 40 individuals.

Nilgiri langur

The Nilgiri langur, Presbytis johnii is com-

monly found almost all over the reserve

(Plate 3). They have been reported to feed

on plants like Pterocarpus marsupium, Grewia

tiliaefolia, Dalbergia latifolia, Artocarpus hir-

suta, etc. (Roonwal and Mohnot 1977). Group

size varies from three to 35 individuals and

the home range is proportional to the group

size ranging from a few hectares to few km2.

CARNIVORES

Sloth bears were recorded from places like

Manakkavala, Medaganam, Mullathode, Otta-

maram, Mulakupara, Chaverkuzhy, Vaikkapa-

dappu, Chorakotta, Koyilmala, Pulikkayam,

Kozhikanam and Edappalayam. The sloth bear

seems to prefer available paths in the forest

as indicated by droppings and foot prints.

They consume fruits of wild mango, Zizyphus

jujuba, Syzigium cumini, Cassia fistula, Cordia

myxa, etc. when available. A charred body of

a sloth bear was observed in March 1978 at

Chamikayam medu in the burnt grassland.

Otter

The Otter ( Lutra sp.) is present in the lake

and upstream of Periyar in good numbers.

They are seen in groups ranging from a few

individuals to about 15 animals. They feed

mainly on fish in the lake. A territorial habit

is suspected as groups are repeatedly seen near

particular areas.

Tiger

The Periyar Wildlife sanctuary has been

declared as a Project Tiger area in 1978. No

details are available regarding the previous

number of tigers in the reserve. Varghese

(1975) estimated a total of 30 tigers (11 males,

5 females, 8 subadult males, 3 subadult females

and 3 cubs) in the reserve. By 1981 the num-

ber of tigers had increased to 38 with 16

adult males, 10 adult females, 8 subadults

and 4 cubs (Varghese 1981). These studies

are based on analysis of pugmarks. During

the reconnaissance period about 25 to 30

tigers were estimated based on spatial distri-

bution of indirect evidences.

Tigers were sighted at Edappalayam, near

boat landing, Manakkavala and Thanikudy. Pug

marks were seen in areas like Ummikuppan,

Melappara, Thanikudy, Manakkavala, Panan-

kala Oda, Poovarasu, etc. A total of four kills

were examined, out of these three were domes-

tic cattle and fourth a sambar stag. In all

cases the tiger shifted the carcass about 200

metres each day.

Leopard

Only very limited details could be collected

on Leopard, Panthera pardus from the study

area. It is possible that many of the foot prints

were mistaken for that of the tiger due to

difficulty in recognising the pugmarks of tiger

and leopard.

Wild dog

In Periyar the pack size ranged from 2 to

14. At Kanha the pack size was 2 to 12 ani-

mals (Schaller 1967). Johnsingh (1980) is of

the opinion that pack size will be small in

areas where food is scarce. Wild dogs were

sighted in areas like Manakkavala, Edappala-

yam, Thekkady boat landing, Thanikudy,

Melappara, Paravalavu, Medaganam, Cheriya-

522

LARGER MAMMALS OF PERIYAR SANCTUARY

kanam, Nellikkampatti, Anchuruli, etc. The

main prey of wild dog in the reserve seem

to be sambar deer. Often the wild dogs were

seen chasing the sambar to water and biting

them to death, swimming around it. One wild

dog was found dead, presumably from

injuries sustained during hunting. Near the

inhabited areas in the reserve people used to

take away deer killed by the wild dog. John-

singh (1980) is of the opinion that in these

cases where the kills have been stolen wild dogs

attempt one more kill on the same day.

Availability of prey and competition among

carnivores

At Periyar the sambar deer constitute a

major prey species for the wild dog, leopard

and tiger. Spotted deer is not present in Periyar.

The wild boar form the second prey species.

We have recorded cases of wild dog hunting

barking deer and mouse deer. Porcupine quills

in some tiger droppings indicate tiger preying

upon porcupine also.

Conclusion

As a habitat for herbivores, Periyar Wild-

life Sanctuary contains sufficient fodder, water

and diversity of forest. The overall density in

the case of elephants is about one animal per

km2. Whereas the ecological density is as

high as three elephants per km2 in some areas

in the dry season. The dense evergreen forests

are found to be less suitable for larger mam-

mals like elephants, gaur and sambar. Certain

ecologically rich portions of the habitat con-

sisting of lake shore, marshes and bushy

thickets contain high density of deer species.

There is a high concentration of wild boar

near the lake shore due to abundant food

availability and protection. High rainfall, lack

of medium sized prey animal and uneven

distribution of the prey animals seem to keep

the density of carnivores in Periyar to a

lower level.

Acknowledgements

We express our thanks to the Kerala Forest

Department for financing the study. Contri-

butions of Dr. V. S. Vijayan who initiated

the project. Dr. M. Balakrishnan, Mr. P. V.

Balakrishnan, Mr. P. V. Unnenkutty and Mr.

K. Sasidharan who worked for short periods

during the study is gratefully acknowledged.

Dr. C. T. S. Nair and Dr. K. S. S. Nair

examined the manuscript and suggested many

useful changes. Encouragement and advice of

Dr. P. M. Ganapathy and Dr. S. Kedharnath

during the study is also gratefully acknow-

ledged.

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Benedict, F. G. (1936): The physiology of ele-

phant. Carnegie. Institute of Washington Publica-

tion No. 474.

Bourdillon (1893) : A report on the forests of

Travancore. Government Press, Trivandrum.

Chan drasekh aran, C. (1973) : Forest resources

of Kerala — A quantitative assessment. Kerala

Forest Department, Trivandrum.

Cody, M. L. (1974): Competition and structure

of bird communities. Princetion University Press,

Princeton, New Jersey.

Douglas-Hamilton, I. (1972) : On the ecology and

behaviour of the African elephant. D. Phil. Thesis.

Oxford University, England.

Eisenberg, J. F. & Lockhart, Melvyn (1972) :

An Ecological Reconnaissance of Wilpattu National

Park, Ceylon. Smithsonian Contribution to Zoology

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Flower, S. S. (1943): Notes on age at sexual

maturity, gestation period and growth of Indian

elephant Elephas maximus. Proceedings of the

Zoological Society of London, 113, 1943: 21-26.

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JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Green, S. & Minkowski, K. (1977) : The Lion-

tailed Monkey and its South Indian Rainforest

habitat, pp. 289-337. In: Primate Conservation.

Eds. Rainier, H. S. H. and G. H. Bourne. Academic

Press.

Johnsingh, A. J. T. (1980): Ecology and be-

haviour of the dhole or Indian Wild dog — Cuon

alpinus Pallas 1811, with special reference to pre-

dator-prey relations at Bandipur. Ph.D. Thesis.

Madurai Kamaraj University.

— (1983): Large mammalian

prey-predators in Bandipur. J. Bombay nat. Hist.

Soc. 80(1): 1-57.

Johnson, J. M. (1980) : The status, ecology and

behaviour of liontailed macaque (Macaca silenus).

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. Vol. 75, Supplementary

issue, pp. 1017-1027.

Karr, J. R. (1973): Ecological and behavioural

notes on the liontailed macaque ( Macaca silenus)

in South India. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 70 ( 1) :

191-193..

Krishnan, M. (1975) : India’s Wildlife in 1959-70.

An ecological survey of the larger mammals of

Peninsular India. Bombay Natural History Society,

Bombay.

Kurup, G. U. (1971) : A preliminary ecological

survey of the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala

State. Cheetal, 13(1): 5-18.

Kurup, G. U. (1975) : Status of the Nilgiri

langur, Presbytis johnii in the Anamalai, Cardamom

and Nilgiri hills of the Western Ghats, India. J. Bom-

bay nat. Hist. Soc., 72(1) : 21-29.

Kurup, G. U. (1979): Distribution, habitat and

status survey of the Liontailed macaque, Macaca

silenus (Linnaeus). J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 75(2):

321-340.

Laws, IC. M., Parker, I. S. C. & Johnstone,

R. C. B. (1975) : The ecology of elephants in North

Bunyoro, Uganda. Clarendon Press, Oxford.

Nair, S. S., Nair, P. V., Sharatchandra, H. C. &

Gadgil, Madhav (1977) : An ecological reconnais-

sance of the proposed Jawahar National Park. J.

Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 74(3) : 401-435.

Nair, N. R. (1978) : Elephant country. The Illus-

trated Weekly of India. April 30, 1978. pp. 28-31.

Roonwal, M. L. & Mohnot, S. M. (1977):

Licntailed Macaque. In: Primates of South Asia-

Ecology, Sociobiology and Behaviour, pp. 217-222.

Schaller, G. B. (1967): The Deer and the Tiger.

A study of wildlife in India. University of Chicago

Press, Chicago, Illinois.

Vancuylenberg, B. W. B. (1977): Feeding beha-

viour of the Asiatic elephant in south-east Sri Lanka

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Varghese, Rajan (1975) : Statistical survey of

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(1981) : Statistical survey of

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(1979): Periyar Tiger Reserve — a reconnaissance

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524

SOME ECOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF

MANGROVE FOREST OF ANDAMAN ISLANDS1

V. P. Singh, L. P. Mall, A. Garge and

S. M. Pathak2

{ With two text-figures)

Introduction

Mangroves are defined as characteristic

littoral plant formations of tropical and sub-

tropical protected coastlines. No other plant

community in the world has perhaps, attracted

more scientific attention than mangroves, pri-

marily on account of their growing on a highly

stressed habitat due to high amount of dis-

solved salts in the substratum and the water

which periodically covers the root system

during tides and the very poor amount of

aeration available. Also the presence of vari-

ous types of aerial roots primarily for

aeration and viviparous seedlings hanging on

most of the trees are characteristic features.

In India mangroves are found in very limited

areas — Gangetic delta, mouths of Mahanadi,

Godavari and Krishna, Cauvery delta, Bombay

region, Saurashtra and Kutch coast and Anda-

man and Nicobar Islands. Nearly 85% of the

Indian mangals are confined to West Bengal

and to the Islands of the Andaman and Nico-

bar groups. A study of mangrove vegetation

of Andaman and Nicobar Islands was under-

taken to know the ecological status, composi-

tion, stratification and zonational pattern.

Andaman group consists of 204 islands

1 Accepted May 1985.

2 School of studies in Botany, Vikram University.

Ujjain.

(Parkinson 1923) but according to the latest

information it includes 291 islands, forming

a chain lying in a north-south direction. The

land area of the whole group is approximately

6,400 sq. km.

Climate : The year may be divided into dry

season and rainy season, and there is a little

fluctuation in temperature with a brief cold

season during the months of December and

January. Dry season occurs from the months

of January to April during which little, if any

rain falls. In the months of February and

March the weather is often sultry, and very

little wind blows. The rainy season occupies

the rest of the year, and during this period,

varying degrees of rain occurs. The rainfall

ranges from 279.4 to 433.5 cm per year, and

varies in different parts of the islands.

Soil: The soil of Andaman archipelago is

usually soft, deep sandy loam, varying from

a fine texture on the alluvial flats to gravel

strewn soil. Under mangrove formations there

is saline low-lying land, which is usually of

alluvial nature. This is inundated at regular

intervals by the rise and fall of tides.

Vegetation: The five main types of vege-

tation in Andaman group have been recognised

by Parkinson (1923) as

a. Mangrove forest

b. Beach forest

c. Evergreen forest

d. Semi-evergreen forest

e. Alluvial forest.

525

4

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. 83

Fig. 1. Sketch map of the Andaman Islands, showing their position (in inset)

mangrove forest (light shading) and localities mentioned in text.

MANGROVE FOREST OF ANDAMAN ISLANDS

According to Chengappa (1944) the area

under mangrove forest is nearly 44.330 hec-

tares, total area of the Andaman mangrove

is estimated at about 1,00,000 ha (Blasco

1977).

Study sites : On the basis of extensive survey

of these islands following sites have been

selected for details study due to differences in

substratum, topography, habitat, etc. (fig. 1).

Site-1 Alexandra Island: Situated nearly 36

km from Port Blair. Here the substratum

is sandy and mangal formation is dense

and mostly species of Rhizophora

dominate.

Site-2 Wandoor: Situated at about 36 km from

Port Blair very near to site-1. The sub-

stratum is muddy and sandy and

vegetation is almost similar to that of

the 1st site with dense population of

animals, e.g. mudskippers and snails.

Site-3 Carbynscove: Located towards the east

coast of South Andaman, 15 km from

Port Blair, the substratum is clayey and

muddy, with lot of human disturbance.

Site-4 Chiriya-tapu : On the south coast of

South Andaman, 42 km from Port Blair.

There is open formation of rocky and

stony shore. Here mangrove formations

are found on rocky substratum.

Site-5 Bambooflat: This site is along an inlet

stream and is muddy with marked

mangal formation. Some of the area is

under acute human disturbance.

Site-6 Wrightmyo: The site is along creeks

and is marshy and muddy with dense

mangal formation.

Site-7 Oralkatcha: Situated at a distance of 35

km from Port Blair. This is an Island

having a sea creek and inlet streams.

Here the best developed mangrove was

noticed.

Site-8 Nilamboor: An island having a sea

creek and inlet streams. Here also very

goodgrowth of mangrove was noticed.

The soil is muddy and sandy and vege-

tation is almost similar to previous one.

Site-9 Gandhi jetty: This site is situated along

long creeks and mangrove formations

are found on large flat areas.

Site- 10 Kandamtala: Situated in the Middle

Andamans at distance of 60 km from

Port Blair. Mangrove formations are

found on large flat areas along the

creek.

Methodology

Phytosociological studies were made during

1983 to 1984 along a series of transects across

the tidal flats. Transects were selected to cover

a wide range of mangal types. For the deter-

mination of composition and structure of

mangrove forest at various sites, presence and

absence of each plant species in each site were

noted and finally percentage species compo-

sition was calculated following Philips (1954).

Sorensen index of similarity was used for

the quantification of communities which was

calculated on the basis of Sorensen (1948).

Complexity index was calculated using the

method given by Holdridge (1967). Soil sam-

ples at different sites were collected from 15

cm depth and all the soil analysis was done

by following Piper (1942) and Jackson (1958).

Results and Discussion

Floristic composition : The tidal zones of

tropical seas are frequently lined with great

mangroves. The outstanding features of these

plants are adoptation to growing in sea water

and establishing themselves in estuaries, creeks

and lagoon areas. The coast line of the islands

527

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Table 1

Mangrove species recorded during the survey of various sites

Table la

Other common associated species which are not true mangrove occurring along the innermost margin

528

MANGROVE FOREST OF ANDAMAN ISLANDS

is irregular and deeply indented thereby giving

rise to a number of tidal creeks. These creeks

are densely populated by this peculiar plant

community. Here the mangroves are well pro-

tected against heavy tidal action and some what

sheltered from high wind. Most of the islands

have muddy, sandy and to some extent muddy

sandy soil type. These factors provide ideal

conditions for mangrove development and

establishment. Extensive survey of various

Islands of south and Middle Andaman was

done and we came to the conclusion that the

mangrove Community of these islands is

greatly dominated by the family Rhizophora-

ceae and the seaward line is always occupied

by Rhizophora spp. We have collected a total

of 40 species of mangroves belonging to 28

genera distributed over 20 families. Among

these 25 species are exclusive species (Table 1).

According to the latest census (COE 1983)

Table 2

Floristic composition of mangrove forest at various sites

529

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

there are 60 exclusive species distributed over

16 families confined to mangrove habitat only

23 non-exclusive species which occur in that

habitat and elsewhere also. We have noted 15

non-exclusive species at various sites in the

Andamans (Table la).

From Table 2 it is seen that some species,

e.g. Rhizophora apiculata, R. mucronata,

Ceriops tagal, Bruguiera gymnorhiza and Avi-

cennia officinalis are common to all sites. Sites

3 and 7 are very rich in floristic composition,

contributing 68% and 64% of the total man-

grove species respectively.

Index of similarity among 10 sites were

analysed (Table 3). From the table it is seen

that maximum similarity is present between

mangals of site-3 and site-7 and minimum

between those of site-6 and site-7.

Table 3

Similarity index at different mangroves sites

* Complexity index is for function of no. spp., density, basal area, height and factor 10-3 based on 0.1 ha.

530

MANGROVE FOREST OF ANDAMAN ISLANDS

Complexity index : Is a very simple mathe-

matical expression for the quantitative charac-

ters of the community in term of complexity

index. The coefficient was used originally

only for comparing the floras of larger areas

in relation to rainfall. Holdridge (1967) gave

the idea of complexity index in case of man-

grove forest. We have determined the comple-

xity index of all the 10 sites (Table 4). Maxi-

mum complexity index has been noted at

Table 5

Structure of mangrove and rainfall (Based on 0.1 ha. area)

Table 6

Genf:ral stratification of species in the mangrove forest of Andaman Islands

531

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

X

i

1

V

f

T

f

?

T

f

*

t

V

?

T

V

o|a

t

it

r

p

profile of mangal at different sites

Key to species:

.<*hi z opho fast ylosa.

_R.mucronata.

.R.apiculata.

_Bruguiera parviflora.

J&cyllndrica.

_B.gytnnorhiza.

.Scyphiphora hydrophyila.

.Heritiera littofalis.

.Ceriops tagal.

.Avicennia officinalis

.A.alba.

.Aegiceras corniculatum.

_Excoecaria agallocha

-Pandanus tectorius.

- Lumnitzera uttorea.

- L.racemosa.

. Nypaf rut leans.

.Sonneratia alba.

.^.apetala.

-Xylocarpus granatum.

-X.moluccensis.

-Phoenix paludosa.

-Acrostichum aureum.

-Acanthus ilicifolious.

_ A.ebracteatus

-Cerbera ftoribued.

_ Afzelia bij uja

„ Hibiscus tiliaceus.

-Pongamia pfnnata

Fig. 2.

532

MANGROVE FOREST OF ANDAMAN ISLANDS

Oralkatcha (Baratang Island), the value is

330.82 and minimum is at Carbynscove the

value is 9.52. The high value of complexity

index at Oralkatcha is due to high rainfall and

the undisturbed condition of the mangroves

forest. There is no felling, while at other sites of

South Andamans complexity index is generally

low, this may be due to the low rainfall and high

human interference in these islands. At sites- 1

and 2, felling in many places is so common

that whole areas are devoid of vegetation and

there are no natural regeneration, resulting in

change of the basic structural pattern of man-

grove forest. A comparative complexity index

has been given in Table 5, from the table it is

seen that mangroves of Andaman Islands are

richer and healthier in comparison to man-

groves of Costa-Rica and Puerto-Rico.

Stratification : The structure that results from

the distribution of organism and their inter-

action with their environment can be called

pattern. Many different kinds of arrangement

in the standing crop of organisms contribute

to pattern diversity in the community as for

example: 1. Stratification pattern (vertical

layering), 2. Zonational pattern, 3. Activity

pattern. 4. Food web pattern, 5. Reproductive

pattern etc. In all, stratification pattern is

most important pattern for the study of any

forest. In a forest the two basic layers the

autotrophic and heterotrophic strata- that are

characteristic of all communities are frequently

distinctly stratified into additional layers.

In the case of the mangrove forests of

Andamans there is layering but the layering

is not as clear as is found in the beach forests

or evergreen forests of the Andamans. In some

places where the mangrove forest is well

developed and there is no interference of

biotic factors, e.g. Kadamtala, Gandhi Jetty

and Oralkatcha, the height of many trees, e.g.

Bruguiera gymnorhiza, Lunmitzera littorea ,

Avicennia marina and Rhizophora mucronata

and R. apiculata reaches to 30 to 45 metres.

We have noted three strata in case of

mangrove forests of Andamans:

Upper stratum — occupied by tall mangrove

species, e.g. Bruguiera gymnorhiza, Lumnit-

zera, littorea, Rhizophora mucronata, R.

apiculata etc.

Middle stratum — Occupied by shrubs and

small trees which are abundant in middle

zone, e.g. Ceriops tagal, Excoecaria agallocha,

Aegiceras corniculatum, Bruguiera parvi-

flora, etc.

Lower stratum — It is occupied by small shrubs

and fern, e.g. Acanthus ebracteatus, A. ilici-

folius, Nypa fruticans, etc.

Zonational trends of mangrove swamp of

Andaman : Based on the study of the structure

and composition of mangrove forest at diffe-

rent sites the following 7 major types of

mangrove communities are recognised:

1 . Rhizophora mucronata — Rhizophora

apiculata Community

2 . Bruguiera gymnorhiza — Ceriops tagal

Community

3 . Rhizophora mucronata — Bruguiera gym-

norhiza Community

4 . Lunmitzera littorea — Avicennia officinalis

Community

5. Bruguiera gymnorhiza — Avicennia offi-

cinalis Community

6. Heritiera littoralis — Pongamia pinnata

Community

7. Acanthus ilicifolius — Acrostichum

aureum Community

Rhizophora species grows typically on the

outer seaward (fig. 2) fringe of the swamp,

where the water is most salty. The distribution

of species in such habitat is largely controlled

by salinity of substratum, frequency and dura-

tion of flooding by tide water, and moisture

content of substratum. Zonational pattern of

533

Table 7

Ecological distribution pattern of mangroves at different sites in relation to habitats

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

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8

I

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

mangroves of all sites have been studied and

is given in Table 7. From the table, it is seen

that mangroves of all sites have three zona-

tion, namely Proximal zone, middle zone and

distal zone.

Proximal zone : This is the seaward zone

where frequency of inundation is maximum.

The species in this zone are Rhizophora api-

culata, R. mucronata, Ceriops tagal, Sonne -

ratia alba, etc. Salinity is in neighbourhood of

that of sea water.

Middle Zone : This zone is towards the inte-

rior, soluble salts are more than in sea water.

The common species are Bruguiera spp. having

great girth. Lumnitzera littorea, Aegiceras

corniculatwn, etc. usually they attained great

height and girth.

Distal Zone: This zone is towards landward

fringe, where salinity may be high. The com-

mon species are Heritiera littoralis, Acrosti-

chum aureum, Acanthus species, etc. This type

of zonational pattern is called metabolic

zonation. From water edge to inland, a pattern

of change in soil salinity and corresponding

zonation of the mangrove species is usually

observed. Each species occupies a salinity zone

to which it is best adapted; more of the energy

goes to growth and less to maintenance (i.e.

respiration) as compared to potential competi-

tor species. This adaptation to salinity regime

is known as the metabolic zonation. Man-

groves such as Avicennia, Aegiceras and Aegia-

litis have salt secreting glands on their leaves.

The sap which passes up their xylem contains

0.2-0. 5% Sodium Chloride. Mangroves such

as Rhizophora , Bruguiera and others lack the

salt secreting glands and the concentration of

salt in their sap is only about 1/10 of the

above group. They have an ultra-filtration

mechanism in their roots enabling selection

absorption of ions.

In some species, e.g. Sonneratia and others

have been found to have excessive amount of

ions in their organs and thus with the absorbed

and accumulated ions the leaves become quite

fleshy. In all cases the osmotic pressure of

cell sap is now near that of sea water. The

normal process of transpiration accounts for

flow of water through the plant. The main

difference between mangroves and other plants

is that the mangroves have an usually high

osmotic pressure in the leaf cell sap. It seems

that physiologically salt excluding membrane

system is more efficient than the system having

salt secreting gland on their leaves. The occur-

rence of Rhizophora spp. in proximal zone or

at seaward side at various study sites supports

this idea. Other species like — Avicennia,

Aegiceras and Lumnitzera sp. are always

recorded in the middle zone of the mangrove

forest, where soluble salts are more.

From the zonational study it seems that

habitat if sandy and not flat has less species

composition and less zonational pattern. Those

areas which are flat and muddy have greater

number of species composition and broad

zonational pattern.

Summary

Ecological studies of mangrove forest were

undertaken at 10 sites covering a large area

of mangrove forests of the Andaman Islands.

Forty species belonging to 28 genera, of over

20 families have been recorded. Complexity

index of each site has been determined. Man-

groves of middle Andaman have more comple-

xity index than south Andaman. Zonational

pattern of mangrove species at different sites

was studied. It is seen that each species usually

occupies a salinity zone to which it is best

adapted.

536

MANGROVE FOREST OF ANDAMAN ISLANDS

Acknowledgements

We are thankful to the Department of

Environment, Govt, of India for giving finan-

cial assistance to carry on research work on

Refer

Blasco, F. (1977): Outlines of ecology, Botany

and forestry of the mangals of the Indian subcon-

tinent. In: Ecosystems of the world-Wet coastal Eco-

systems. Ed. by V. J. Chapman. Pages 141-158.

Chengappa, B. S. (1944): Andaman forests and

their vegetation. Indian Forester 70: 297-304.

COE (1983): Global Status of Mangrove Eco-

systems. Edited by Saenger, Hegerl and Davis, Gland

Switzerland.

Holdridge, L. R. (1967): Life zone ecology.

Tropical Science Center. San. Jose Costa Rica. 206pp.

ecology of mangroves of Andaman Islands.

Thanks are also due to Prof. S. K. Chauhan,

Head, School of studies in Botany, Vikram

University, Ujjain for providing facilities.

ENCES

Jackson, C. (1958) : Soil Chemical analysis.

Prantic Hall CUglewood Clopp. 42 pp.

Parkinson, C. E. (1923) : A Forest flora of Anda-

man Islands. Bishen Singh, Dehradun. 235 pp.

Philips, E. A. (1954) : Methods of vegetation

study. Hewry Halt and Co. INC.

Piper, C. S. (1944): Soil and Plant analysis. Uni-

versity of Adelide, Adelide.

Sorensen, T. (1948): A method of establishing

group equal amplitude in plant sociology based on

similarity of species content. Det. Kong. Desk. Vid.

Selsk. Biol. SKR Copenhagen, 5: 1-39.

537

SURVEY OF THE FRESHWATER TURTLES OF INDIA

PART I: THE GENUS KACHUGA 1

Edward O. Moll2

{ With a colour plate and eight text-figures)

Kachuga is the most diverse genus of the Asiatic batagurines. This paper recognizes

7 species and 10 subspecies (one new and one resurrected). All but one occur in

India. Egg shell and penial morphology support a close relationship of Kachuga

to Batagur, Callagur, Hardella, and Morenia. Two distinct species’ groupings evident

within the genus are tentatively designated the subgenera Kachuga and Pangshura.

The former contains the larger (>40 cm CL) species, K. dhongoka and K. kachuga-,

the latter includes the smaller (< 30 cm CL), K. smithii, K. sylhetensis, K. tecta and

K. tentoria. Sexual dimorphism in size characterizes both groups but pronounced

sexual dichromatism is known only in the Kachuga. Members of both subgenera are

highly aquatic, herbivorous species but differ in other aspects of their ecology.

Members of the subgenus Kachuga are inhabitants of moderate to large rivers, nesting

on sand banks chiefly in March and April. Members of the Pangshura inhabit lentic

as well as lotic habitats and nest in the winter months of October through January

in a variety of situations.

Keys and descriptions are provided for identifying each species and subspecies.

Verified locality records are plotted on distribution maps.

I N TROD U CTIO N

India boasts one of Asia’s most diverse

assemblages of chelonians. At least 5 families,

23 genera and 31 species occur within the

boundaries of the country. Generally the dis-

tribution and the biology of these species are

poorly known. Much of our knowledge of this

assemblage comes from writings of the British

naturalists of the nineteenth and early twentieth

century. For the most part these men were

concerned only with taxonomy. Their locality

data were seldom precise (e.g. North India,

Peninsular India) and natural history data

were rarely provided. To further complicate

1 Accepted September 1986.

2 Dept, of Zoology, Eastern Illinois University,

Charleston, Illinois, USA.

matters much of the describing and classifying

was done by museum curators such as John

Edward Gray, Albert Guenther, and George

Albert Boulenger who had never been to India

and who often relied on second hand infor-

mation, drawings and dried specimens to pre-

pare their accounts. Considerable confusion

and lengthy synonomies have resulted. Malcolm

Smith’s 1931 treatise on chelonians in The

Fauna of British India series did much to

summarize the available information and to

reduce confusion. Nevertheless the distributions

given were still sketchy and little natural

history information was provided.

A long lapse followed Smith’s work during

which time there was meagre interest in field

biology of turtles particularly freshwater

species. With a few exceptions (e.g. Acharji

538

FRESHWATER TURTLES OF INDIA

1950, 1955, Hora 1948, Jayaram 1974) only a

scattering of small notes concerning freshwater

chelonians appeared in the Indian journals

from the thirties to the eighties. Interest was

rekindled by conservation concerns of the

IUCN (International Union for Conservation

of Nature and Natural Resources). Meeting

in conjunction with the 1981 Convention on

International Trade in Endangered Species

(CITES) in New Delhi, the newly formed

Freshwater Chelonian Specialist Group (FCSG)

of the IUCN noted that a proportionately

large number of the chelonians listed on CITES

Appendices I & II (endangered and threatened

categories) inhabited India and Bangladesh. It

also noted that there were few data concerning

the status and distribution of these species in

the region. A survey of the freshwater chelo-

nians of India to obtain data on their distri-

bution and conservation status was given a

“highest priority” status for action by the

group.

The initial survey of the Indian chelonians

was funded by a grant from World Wildlife

Fund to Rom Whitaker and me and was

carried out by Ms. J. Vijaya in West Bengal

and adjoining states from August 1981 to

February 1982. This was followed by a more

extensive survey of Indian rivers and markets

from September 1982 to June 1983 conducted

by myself, Vijaya and Satish Bhaskar with

funding from an Indo-American Fellowship.

Some of the findings of these surveys have

now been published or are accepted for publi-

cation (Groombridge et al. 1983; Moll 1983,

1984, 1985, in press a, b, c.). Publicity about

these surveys and the plight of the South Asian

chelonians in general helped to spark the in-

terest of other investigators, contributing to

a flurry of recent publications (many conser-

vation oriented) concerning these species (e.g.

Das 1986, Khan 1982, Rao and Singh 1984,

1985; Vijaya 1982a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, 1983a,

b, c, d, e; Whitaker 1982, and Yadava and

Prasad 1982a, b).

This paper begins a several part series aimed

at incorporating the findings of the aforemen-

tioned surveys with recent information from

other authors to provide an updated account

concerning identification, distribution and

biology of the Indian freshwater chelonian

fauna. This part considers the Indian repre-

sentatives of the most diverse genus of Asiatic

batagurines, the Kachuga.

Methods

In the course of our surveys, we visited 14

major rivers: the Ganges and its tributaries

(the Hindon, Yamuna, Chambal, Ghagra,

Rapti, Gandak and Hooghly) along with the

Subharnareka, Mahanadi, Godavari, Cauvery,

Narmada and Tapti. Typical procedure of

these surveys included sampling available habi-

tats with baited hoop traps (Legler 1960) and

trammel nets, contacting fishermen and market

vendors for information and specimens, and

canvassing garbage dumps for skeletal mate-

rial. Voucher specimens for most localities

have been placed in the collections of the

Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) or

the Field Museum of Natural History in

Chicago (FMNH). A few have been kept

alive for captive breeding purposes at the

Madras Crocodile Bank. Others are in the

author’s possession (EOM).

Specimens were measured with aluminium

forestry calipers, weighed with portable spring

scales and described before being preserved or

released. Standard measurements, given in

centimeters unless otherwise indicated, are

maximum carapace length (CL), carapace

width (CW), plastron length (PL) and height

of shell (H). Color descriptions of living

539

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

specimens were made using color swatches of

Smithe (1975). Scute and bone terminology of

the shell follows Zangerl (1969). Common

names follow Iverson (1985) except that terra-

pin has been substituted for turtle in the

Kachuga to be consistent with the names of

close relatives (painted terrapins — Callagur ;

river terrapins — Batagur).

Keys, descriptions and colored photographs

showing ontogenetic and sexual variation are

provided herein to facilitate identification. To

save space in the descriptions certain forms

of abbreviation have been used requiring ex-

planation: The seam contact formula indicates

where the seams of the pleural scutes contact

the marginals. The abbreviations used are

modified from that of Tinkle (1962). Five

pleural or carapacial seams contact the

marginal scutes. The anterior edge of the first

pleural typically contacts the first marginal.

To indicate whether this contact is usually

in the anterior, middle or posterior third of

the marginal scute, the respective designations

of 1<, 1M, or 1> are used. The formula

1M 4> 6> 8M 11 < indicates that the five

contacts were middle third of Marginal 1,

posterior third of Marginals 4 and 6, middle

third of Marginal 8 and anterior third of

Marginal 11.

The neural formula signifies the number of

sides on each of the eight neurals (i.e. 4, 6,

or 8). For hexagonal neurals the symbols >

and < denote whether the short sides of the

bone are located anteriorly or posteriorly (see

Fig. 3). When the number of sides is highly

variable a range is given (e.g. 4-6).

The plastral formula indicates relative

lengths of the plastral scutes along the midline

of adults (juveniles often differ). Scute abbre-

viations are : G = gular, H = humeral, P = pec-

toral, Ab = abdominal, F = femoral, and A =

anal. The signs >, <, and >< connote res-

pectively — greater than, less than, and either

may be the larger.

Other abbreviations include: RCM — Rela-

tive clutch mass (modified from Vitt and

Price 1982) is the ratio of clutch mass to

body mass of the spent female. ELI — Egg

length index is the ratio of mean egg length to

carapace length x 100. EWI — Egg width

index is the ratio of mean egg width to cara-

pace length x 100. EMI — Egg mass index is

ratio of mean egg weight to body mass x 100.

AP, MP, and UP are used to indicate the

states of Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and

Uttar Pradesh in localities.

In addition to specimens collected on the

surveys, I was able to examine the collections

of chelonians in the Bombay Natural History

Society (all), the Zoological Survey of India

in Calcutta (part) and the British Museum

of Natural History (BMNH) in London (part).

When positive identification of specimens with

seemingly accurate locality data was possible,

I have included these in the ‘Distribution’

section to increase the number of reliable

records available for the country.

Relationships

The Kachuga are members of the sub-

family Batagurinae of the family Emydidae

sensu McDowell (1964). Hirayama (1984)

and Gaffney (1984) support elevating the sub-

family to familial rank.

The interfamilial relationships of the bata-

gurines are still being debated. See for exam-

ple McDowell (1964), Carr (1981), Sites et

at. (1984) and Hirayama (1984). My own

studies of the penis and eggs (see below)

support the scheme of Hirayama which consi-

ders Kachuga most closely related to Batagur,

Callagur, Hardella, and Morenia. This is also

similar to the view expressed by Loveridge

540

FRESHWATER TURTLES OF INDIA

and Williams (1957). All of these genera

comprise herbivorous and highly aquatic

species. Morphological characteristics shared

by this group include a large foramen orbito-

nasale, a broad secondary palate, serrated

tomia, strong plastral buttresses, the ento-

plastron lying anterior to humero-pectoral

sulcus, and fourth marginal scutes contacting

the second pleural scutes.

All of the aforementioned genera share a

distinctive penial morphology characterized by

a highly elaborated plica media (Fig. 1). The

lateral fold of the plica media is modified into

two pairs of flaps — a proximal rounded pair

with a more prominant, pointed pair distally.

The smaller, lower medial fold is conspicuously

Fig. 1. Penis of Kachuga kachuga. Labled parts as

follows: a. Plica media — medial fold. b. Plica

interna, c. Plica media — lateral fold (small arrow

indicates distinctive pointed flaps), d. Plica externa,

e. Seminal groove. Scale marker represents 5 mm.

triangular in shape. No other batagurines have

yet been found with this unusual type of penis.

The genus Ocadia shares the triangular shaped

medial fold but the distal flaps of the lateral

fold are neither well developed nor pointed.

Ewert (1979) recognized three types of egg

shells, brittle, hard-expansible and pliable.

Batagur, Callagur, and Kachuga which lay

hard-expansible to pliable-shelled eggs are the

only batagurines thus far reported that do not

lay brittle-shelled eggs. The egg shell type of

Hardella and Morenia is unreported.

Within the genus Kachuga, there are two

distinct species groups. One comprises the

large, riverine species, dhongoka, kachuga, and

trivittata. The other includes small to medium-

sized turtles, smithii, tecta, tentoria, and sylhet-

ensis, that inhabit rivers, nullahs and tanks.

Gray (1855) recognizing the distinctness of the

two groups placed them as subgeneric

divisions ( Kachuga and Pangshura) of the

genus Batagur. Gunther (1864) and Gray

(1869) elevated the Pangshura and Kachuga

respectively to generic rank. Boulenger (1889)

subsequently lumped both groups as the genus

Kachuga. This arrangement which has lasted

to present obscures the close relationship of

the four smaller species which share a suite

of derived characteristics not found in the larger

forms. A tentative list of characters defining

the two groups is provided in Table 1. The

list is tentative as it is based chiefly on material

collected by the survey and because no skele-

tons of Kachuga sylhetensis have been exa-

mined as yet. A larger study to determine

the extent of geographical and individual

variation in these characteristics is in progress.

For the purposes of this paper, the evolutionary

divergence of these two lines is recognized by

resurrecting Pangshura and Kachuga as sub-

genera of Kachuga.

541

5

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Table 1

Diagnostic characters of the subgenera Kachuga and Pangshura. Numbers in ( ) indicate figure

NUMBERS DEPICTING EACH CHARACTER

Key to the Indian species of Kachuga (adults)

1 Apex of shell at posterior of second vertebral

(Fig. 4A); fourth vertebral contacts third

broadly (Fig. 5A) ; upper mandible usually

bicuspid with medial notch (Fig. 2A)

(subgenus Kachuga ) 2

Y Apex of shell at posterior of third vertebral

(Fig. 4B); fourth vertebral attenuated anteriorly,

narrowly contacting third (Fig. 5B); upper

mandible not bicuspid, lacks medial notch (Fig.

2B) (subgenus Pangshura ) 3

2 Second vertebral pointed posteriorly (Fig. 5A);

shell usually patterned with three-stripes, a dis-

tinct dark mid-dorsal stripe flanked by less distinct

broken or continuous lateral stripes

K. dhongoka

2' Second vertebral not pointed posteriorly; shell

lacks a distinct pattern K. kachuga

3 Fifth vertebral widest at anterior half of scute;

usually 13 pairs of marginal scutes with those

along posterior border strongly serrated

K. sylhetensis

y Fifth vertebral widest at posterior half of scute;

usually 12 pairs of nonserrated or weakly

serrated marginal scutes present 4

4 Shell relatively low — maximum height usually

less than 44% of maximum length; median

keel of carapace with weak or no spine on

third vertebral (when present not angled sharply

upward) K. smithii

4' Shell high vaulted — maximum height usually

exceeds 45% of maximum length; median keel

with prominant spine on third vertebral angled

steeply upward (may be worn down in old

individuals) 5

5 Head patterned with broad orange to red

crescentic postocular bands which curve upward

from under the eyes often merging to form a

chevron at the back of the head; plastral pattern

typically of multiple small dark blotches on

each scute K. tecta

S' Head pattern lacks broad crescentic band, one

or two reddish to brownish postocular spots

often present; plastron with a single, large dark

blotch per scute or unmarked K. tentoria

Species Accounts

Genus Kachuga Gray 1855

Indian Roofed Terrapins

Distributed from Pakistan to Burma, the

genus contains seven species and ten sub-

species, all but one of which occurs in India.

Roofed turtles can be distinguished from other

batagurines by an elongated fourth vertebral

scute which covers all or part of at least four

neural bones.

542

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 55(3)

Moll: Freshwater Turtles

Plate I

A

B

C

D

E F

(A) Kachuga dhongoka — Female (36.9 cm CL) purchased in Calcutta market. (B) K. dhongoka — Hatch-

ling (5.3 cm CL) from eggs collected on sand banks of the Chambal River near Bah, U.P. (C) K. kachuga

— Female (48.4 cm CL) from Yamuna River, at Bateshwar, U.P. (D) K . kachuga — Male (29.0 cm CL)

from the Chambal River near Barenda, M.P. (E) K. kachuga — Hatchling (6.0 cm CL) from eggs collect-

ed on sand banks of the Chambal River near Bah, U.P. (F) K. kachuga — Immature female (20.5 cm

CL) from the Yamuna River at Bateshwar, U.P.

FRESHWATER TURTLES OF INDIA

Fig. 2. Anterior view of the heads of Kachuga kachuga (A) and K. tentoria (B).

Note weak bicuspid condition with slight medial notch in A and its absence in B.

Scale marker represents 1 cm.

Description : Small to large (56 cm CL)

aquatic turtles having serrated jaws; an ex-

panded secondary palate bearing one or two

denticulated ridges; a large foramen orbito-

nasale exceeding many times the diameter of

the posterior palatine foramen; the fourth

marginal scute contacting the second pleural

scute; expanded plastral buttresses in which

the anterior contacts the first rib and the

posterior the fifth and sixth costals near the

neural suture; the entoplastron positioned

anterior to the humero-pectoral suture; narrow

band-like scales on the limbs; and fully webb-

ed feet with five clawed toes on the forefeet

and four on the hind feet.

Subgenus Kachuga

Contains three species — dhongoka, kachuga,

and trivittata (from Burma). For the most

part this subgenus is diagnosed by plesiomor-

phic or primitive characteristics shared with

sister groups such as Hardella and Callagur

(see Table 1 and Figs. 2-6). They are large

riverine species showing moderate sexual dimor-

phism and with the exception of dhongoka,

pronounced sexual dichromatism.

Kachuga dhongoka (Gray 1834)

Three -striped Roofed Terrapin — Plate I, A+B

Identification : A large riverine Kachuga (upto

48 cm CL) identifiable by a single denticu-

lated ridge on the palate, a pattern of three

stripes (may be obscure) on the carapace

and a posteriorly pointed second vertebral

scute in adults.

Description: Sexes colored similarly (BNHS

1343 and FMNH 224136); carapace —

brownish olive, olive gray or smoke gray

543

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

ground color patterned with dark brown to

black stripes and marginal border; plastron

unpatterned — straw to sulfur yellow or cream

but may darken in old adults particularly

males; head and neck grayish olive to gray;

a cream colored stripe beginning at the snout

runs above the eye and tympanum; mandibles

and chin light olive yellow to cream but again

A B

Fig. 3. Neural bones of Kachuga dhongoka (A)

and K. tentoria (B). Arrow indicates the fourth

neural which is hexagonal in A but octagonal in B.

may darken in old individuals; iris brown to

smoke gray.

Head moderate in size with somewhat up-

turned snout projecting beyond jaw; skin

smooth anteriorly dividing into small irregular

scales at rear of head; apex of upper jaw

with shallow notch flanked on each side by

small tooth-like projections; triturating surface

broad, bearing single denticulated ridge; hyoid

(immature female) with cartilaginous body

and two pairs of ossified, single element horns.

Shell oval flaring posteriorly being widest

across rear of Vertebral 4; a median keel

usually evident anteriorly with a pronounced

knob on Vertebral 2 and a lesser one on 3;

Vertebrals 1, 3 and 4 usually longer than wide

while 2, and 5 tend to be as wide or wider

than long; seam contact formula: 1M 4> 6>

8M 10>; plastron narrow, truncated ante-

riorly and notched posteriorly; plastral for-

mula: Ab > F > H >< P > A >< G;

bridge broad exceeding length of both anterior

and posterior lobes of the plastron; cloacal

bursae present.

Size and Sexual Dimorphism : The sexes

differ greatly in size. Seventeen shells collected

along the Ganges River at Rajamahal and

Kahalgaon were divided into male and female

types (maturity not known). Average CL of

nine “males” was 18.7 (range 15.9 to 21.3)

cm while eight “females” averaged 36.6

(range 33.9 to 40.9) cm. The largest male

and female examined in West Bengal markets

measured 19.8 and 48 cm CL respectively.

Chaudhuri (1912) and Das (1986) reported

that males do not exceed ten inches and 25.5

cm CL respectively. Seven mature females

collected by Rao and Singh (1985) from the

Chambal River in Madhya Pradesh averaged

44 cm CL (range 39.2-48.0).

Dimensions of two typical individuals are:

Female: 42.2 CL 31.2 CW 38.9 PL 16.3 H.

544

FRESHWATER TURTLES OF INDIA

o

Fig. 4. Shells of Kachuga dhongoka (A) and K. tentoria (B). Note that the apex

of A is at the second vertebral and that of B is at the third vertebral.

Weight 8.25 kg. Male: 19.1 CL 13.3 CW

16.2 PL 7.3 H. Weight 0.85 kg.

In addition to size, males can be distinguish-

ed from females by a longer tail in which the

cloaca extends beyond the edge of the shell and

by the presence of costo-peripheral (usually

four prominant and one or two tiny) fonta-

nelles in the carapace (Fig. 6).

Hatchlings : Eight hatchlings from four

clutches obtained at the Chambal River in

Madhya Pradesh had mean dimensions of 5.15

CL 4.41 CW 4.74 PL 2.47 H and mean

weight of 24.25 g. Shells of hatchlings are

weakly serrated posteriorly (Marginals 7-12).

The central keel is broken and modified into

two prominant, knobby spines on Vertebrals

2 and 3 and a smaller one on Vertebral 4.

Vague lateral keels are represented by a line

of tiny tubercles, one each on the areolae of

Pleurals 1-4. A pair of keels run along either

side of the plastron. Vertebral 2 is not pointed

as in adults nor is Vertebral 4 particularly

elongate. These characteristics develop with

age.

Hatchling coloration is similar to that of

adults. The central stripe is usually broken

and is most pronounced on Vertebrals 2 and 3.

The lateral stripes are less obvious consisting

of a broken line of dashes or spots along the

pleural scutes. Another series of dark blotches

or dashes usually border the edge of the shell.

The underside of the marginals may also be

marked with dark pigment but the plastron is

unpattemed. Smith’s (1931) report of reddish

brown patches on the plastral scutes of juve-

niles was likely an iron-based stain that com-

monly forms on the shell when turtles burrow

in certain substrates. A cream to tan stripe

beginning on the snout and running over the

eye and tympanum is usually evident.

Natural History : The three-striped roofed

terrapin inhabits moderate to large rivers. It

appears highly aquatic, leaving the water only

to bask and for nesting. Like certain other

large riverine species (e.g. Dermatemys, Calla-

gur ), adults have considerable difficulty or are

unable to right themselves once placed on

their backs. The turtle is not aggressive and

attempts to bite only after some provocation.

K. dhongoka were regularly seen basking on

logs, debris, and sand banks during our

survey of the National Chambal River Sanc-

tuary, March 31-April 6. However, few were

seen basking on an earlier trip during the

545

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Fig. 5. Vertebral scutes of Kachuga dhongoka (A)

and K. tentoria (B). Arrow denotes broad contact

between the third and fourth vertebrals in A but

narrow contact in B.

cold season (January 18-29). On this trip two

females were captured by fishermen by dragg-

ing large hooks over the bottom in deep water

(c. 10 m) of the nearby Yamuna River

suggesting that some members of the popula-

tion may have been dormant.

Anderson (1876) reported the species to

be herbivorous based on his observations of

two captives. Males, however, are omnivorous.

Feces of a male (19.8 cm CL) purchased in a

West Bengal market were full of bivalve

mollusc shells while the digestive tract of

another (19.1 cm CL) contained stems and

leaves of aquatic plants and a trace of mollusc

shells. No female feces were examined.

Nests of K. dhongoka were observed only

in March and April at the National Chambal

Sanctuary. However, two females reaching the

Howrah markets on December 3 were gravid

as was one of the aforementioned dormant (?)

females collected on 27 January. Rao and

Singh (1985) have confirmed that March and

April are the peak nesting months in the

Sanctuary but they also have found one gravid

female as early as 17 December. This suggests

the possibility that females may carry shelled

eggs for a long period (including a period of

dormancy) prior to nesting. The latest evidence

of nesting was from the ovaries cf a butchered

female (38 cm CL) in a market in Belacoba,

West Bengal which contained 18 fresh corpora

lutea on 28 April.

Nesting takes place on sand banks near the

river. Sixty two nests were found from 1 to

100 m (mean 14 m) inland from the river.

Five which were excavated had an average

depth to the first egg of 21.5 (18 to 27) cm

and to the bottom of the nest of 31 (25-35)

cm. The nests contained from 21 to 34 (mean

26.2) eggs. Rao and Singh found an average

and mode cf 23.5 and 25 (16-35) eggs per

clutch at this locality in 65 nests examined

from 1983 and 1985. Based on 161 eggs from

7 clutches, egg length varies from 46 to 65

(mean 57.3, SD 4.8) mm, egg width from

32 to 39 (mean 35.9, SD 1.5) mm and weight

30 to 55 (mean 43.7, SD 6.1) g. Egg shells

vary from flexible to brittle even within a

clutch. Usually the shell can be indented with

moderate thumb pressure but this often re-

sults in localized fracturing of the mineral layer.

Little is known concerning the reproductive

effort of individual females. One (42.6 cm

CL and 6.65 kg) from the Yamuna River

546

FRESHWATER TURTLES OF INDIA

Fig. 6. Shell of a Kachuga drongoka male with scutes removed to show large

costo-periferal fontanelles.

contained 26 eggs with a RCM of 0.128. The

ELI, EWI and EMI were 11.3, 7.9, and 0.498

respectively. Rao and Singh (1985) provided

data for two others. One (415 cm and 7.86

kg) with 18 eggs had an RCM of 0.097 and

ELI, EWI, and EMI of 14.4, 8.1, and 0.59.

The other 40.5 cm CL (no weight given)

contained 21 eggs having an ELI of 15 and

an EWI of 9.5.

Three eggs incubated in a plastic refrigerator

box on moist cotton at ambient temperatures

ranging from 28 to 35 degrees hatched in 53 to

55 days. The earliest date of nest emergence

observed on the Chambal River was 29 April

(Rao and Singh 1985).

Distribution : The three-striped roofed

terrapin occurs in the Ganges and Brahmaputra

drainages of Nepal and India. Only a shell

has been found in Bangladesh (Khan 1982)

but considering the known distribution, its

occurrence in this country is expected. Smith

(1931) reported that the species occurred only

as far westward as Allahabad on the Ganges

but recent records indicate that it is distri-

buted throughout most of this river’s drainage

(Fig. 7).

Specimens were collected from the following

localities during the survey:

FMNH 224108 — Hindon River, Mohen Nagar,

Ghaziabad, Meerut District, U.P.

BNHS 1343 — Yamuna River, nr. Etawah, Etawah

District, U.P.

FMNH 224154 — Chambal River, Barenda, Morena

District, M.P.

BNHS 1320 — Narayani River, Parsauni Farm, c.

40 km NW Bettiah, Bettiah (W. Champaran)

District, Bihar.

EOM 2751 — Ganges River, Kahalgaon, c. 50 km

W. Sahibganj, Bhagalpur District, Bihar.

EOM 2730 — Ganges River, Rajmahal, Dumka

(Santhal Parghana) District, Bihar.

FMNH 224136 — Market at Belecoba, Jalpaiguri

District, West Bengal. (Said to be from Bihar).

In addition, I have examined preserved specimens

from the following localities and judge them valid.

ZSI 194+197 — Yamuna River, Agra, Agra District,

U.P.

Yadava (1980) — Saryu River, Ayodhya, Faizabad

District, U.P.

547

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vo I. 83

Fig. 7. Distribution map of Kachuga dhongoka in India based on surveys of Indian

rivers conducted from 1981 to 1983 and including museum records verified by the

author.

FRESHWATER TURTLES OF INDIA

BMNH 1878.8.18.12 — Ganges River, nr. Varanasi,

Varanasi District, U.P.

ZSI 18319+20 — Brahmaputra River, Sonarpur,

Kamrup District, Assam.

Kachuga kachuga (Gray 1831)

RED-CROWNED ROOFED TERRAPIN — Plate I, C-F

Identification : A large riverine Kachuga

(to 56 cm CL) having two denticulated ridges

on the palate, an unpatterned carapace, a

second vertebral scute with a straight posterior

margin and a pair of oval yellow, red or

orange patches on throat.

Description : Sexual dichromatism pronounc-

ed. Males (FMNH 224128 and BNHS 1341):

carapace — unpatterned, drab to brownish

olive, a wash of red may be present along

midline anteriorly; plastron — unpatterned,

cream to light yellow; head and neck brightly

patterned; ground color of head blueblack a

broad geranium red patch extending from top

of snout to occiput; neck creamy white dor-

sally with six bright parallel red stripes, four

of which converge at posterior of head merg-

ing into red patch (most descriptions of this

species in the literature state there are seven

red stripes on the neck; this may be an error

perpetuated from the early descriptions, at

least this was not true of these males); two

sulfur yellow stripes mark the side of the head

— a post ocular running from the eye across

the top of the tympanum and another beginning

at the snout, crossing over the upper mandible

and the lower edge of the tympanum onto the

neck; iris and sclera of eye orange to orange

yellow; lower mandible with a creamy white

stripe along its lower border; throat creamy-

white with an orange oval spot on each side;

limbs brownish olive anteriorly with a wash

of yellow. (Anderson 1878 reported red on

the limbs but none was evident here.)

The bright male coloration appears some-

what seasonal. FMNH 224128 appeared as

above when captured in January but after two

months in captivity, the red stripes had darken-

ed to a deep red (almost maroon), the whitish

areas between the stripes had become gray

and the orange tri orange-yellow eyes had

become light yellow.

Females (FMNH 224152) : dorsum unpat-

terned; coloration dark brown to black includ-

ing carapace, head, eyes, neck, and anterior

face of limbs; silvery to pale yellow mandibles

in conspicuous contrast to the otherwise dark

turtle; plastron pale yellow but under side of

marginals marked with diffuse melanin. (Note:

Another female obtained from the Calcutta

markets differed from the above by having a

poorly defined, light postocular stripe and con-

siderable dark pigment on the plastral scutes.)

Head medium-sized with a slightly, upturned,

somewhat projecting snout; skin of head

smooth anteriorly dividing into irregularly

shaped scales postero-laterally; jaws strongly

serrated; upper, weakly bicuspid with shallow

notch; lower with a single central tooth flank-

ed by notches; palate broadly expanded, its

triturating surface bearing two denticulated

ridges (as in Batagur ), the anterior being most

prominant; lower jaw with pronounced coro-

noid process and triturating surface bearing

single denticulated ridge ( Batagur differs in

having a low coronoid process and a second

ridge at posterior edge of triturating surface).

Shell oval, widest across Vertebral 4 between

the seventh marginals; a median keel with

prominant knob on Vertebral 2 and lesser

knobs on Vertebrals 3 - 5 becoming obscure

in older individuals; seam contact formula:

1M 4> 6M 8M 11 <; Vertebrals 2 and 4

usually longer than wide while Vertebrals 1,3.

and 5 are wider or as wide as long; plastron

narrow, shallowly notched posteriorly and

truncated anteriorly; plasral formula: Ab>

549

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

F>H>P> A>G; bridge width extensive

exceeding length of either plastral lobe.

Anderson (1876) reported that the cloacal

bursae are present but that their walls are

smooth not lined with villi as in the Pangshura.

Size and Sexual Dimorphism : Measurements

of four males and three females examined on

the survey are as follows:

FMNH 224127 M(shell) — 25.2 CL 19.8 CW

23.7 PL

Living M — 26.5 CL 21 .2 CW 24.2 PL 10.9

H

BNHS 1341 M — 27.9 CL 20.6 CW 24.5 PL

11.3 H 2.5 kg

FMNH 224128 M — 29.0 CL 22.1 CW 25.1

PL 10.9 H 3.1 kg

FMNH 224152 F — 47.8 CL 36.9 CW 45.6

PL 20.4 H 15.7 kg

Living F — 50.4 CL 38.3 CW 48.0 PL 20.2

H 18.6 kg

EOM 2841 F(shell) — 52.0 CL 38.2 CW

Males differ from females by having brighter

coloration, smaller size, four prominent costo-

peripheral fontanelles in the shell and a rela-

tively long tail in which the vent opens beyond

the edge of the carapace.

Hatchlings and Immatures : A recently

hatched individual (PI. I-E) from a clutch

obtained on the Chambal River in U.P. measur-

ed: 6.0 CL 5.0 CW 5.6 PL 2.9 H 36 g Wgt.

The shell is strongly serrated posteriorly (more

than in K, dhongoka). Sharp spines are pre-

sent on the free edges of Marginals 5-7; spines

on Marginals 8-12 are blunt but a deep notch

just anterior to each gives the posterior of the

carapace a ragged appearance. The mid-dorsal

keel is modified into blunt spines on Verte-

brals 2 and 3 and a small sharp spine on 4.

Lateral keels are indicated by a weak ridge

over the pleurals. On the plastron two parallel

ridges running along either side from humeral

to anal scute are decked with a small sharp

spine at the posterior of each scute.

The shell is light grayish-olive above with

a pale yellow band along the periphery of

Marginals 4-12. The plastron is pale yellow

and unpatterned. The head is olive brown

with a broad, light cinnamon stripe extending

posteriorly from the eye over the tympanum

and onto the neck; immediately beneath a wide

plumbeous to dark neutral-gray stripe runs

from beneath the eye and the angle of the

mandibles over the lower part of the tympa-

num to the neck. Within this dark stripe a

narrow light neutral-gray runs from beneath

the eye to the tympanum. Six faint stripes of

light cinnamon outlined in black are discern-

ible on the neck. The throat is pearl gray

decked with dark oval patches on either side

instead of bright orange as in adults.

An immature specimen (20.5 CL 16.0 CW

18.9 PL 8.8 H and 1.24 kg) from Bateshwar,

U.P. (PI. I-F) is briefly described herein to

provide additional information on ontogenetic

change in coloration. The carapace is olive

gray to drab with central keel paler in color.

The cream colored plastron is unpattemed.

The head is olive-gray with a broad creamy

band running along dorso-lateral portion from

top half of eye over tympanum to neck.

Below a medium neutral-gray band runs from

lower portion of eye posteriorly over tympa-

num onto the neck. The neck, also medium

neutral-gray, is decked by six somewhat darker

gray stripes. The iris is amber. The mandibles

are light orange-yellow near the tomium and

olive-gray elsewhere. The limbs are olive-gray

anteriorly and creamy white posteriorly.

Natural History : Little has been published

concerning the habits of this species and what

information is available must be viewed with

caution as the turtle may be easily confused

with Batagur.

550

FRESHWATER TURTLES OF INDIA

Fig. 8. Distribution map of Kachuga kachuga in India. (See legend of Fig. 7).

551

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Red-crowned roofed terrapins were found

in moderate to large rivers (Chambal, Yamuna,

Gandak). When in the water their heads can

be recognized at a distance by their bright

yellow to silvery mandibles. We observed both

sexes basking on rocks, logs and debris on

the Chambal and Yumuna Rivers in late

March and early April. All three females

observed basking were near deep pools but a

single male was on a rock not too far from

shore. They were very wary and could not

be approached. On an earlier trip to the same

area during the cold season (January 18-29),

no basking was observed by this species even

though large numbers of the smaller K. ten-

tori a basked every day.

Fresh nests were located on the Chambal

River, 12 km south of Bah in the Agra Dis-

trict of U.P., April 2-4. Average measurements

of 18 eggs selected randomly from three nests

containing 20, 25 and 25 eggs were: length

71.6 (64-75) mm, width 40.3 (38-45.5) mm

and weight 51.8 (45.5-67.5) g. The nests were

8 to 31 m from the water and from 42 to 54

cm deep. Between 1983 and 1985 Rao and

Singh (1985) examined 11 clutches ranging

from 11 to 30 (mean 18, mode 18) eggs in

the National Chambal Sanctuary. Although

the primary nesting season is March and April

in this region, they found one female (53 m

CL and 22 kg) carrying 18 eggs on 17 Dec-

ember 1984.

Based on data provided by Rao and Singh,

the mean egg size for the above female was

64.5 x 39.9 mm and 55.3 g allowing a cal-

culation of the reproductive effort as: RCM

— 0.046, ELI — 11.5, EWI — 7.12, EMI —

0.25. Another female (49 cm CL, no wgt. given)

with an average egg size of 66.5 x 37.6 mm

would have an ELI — 13.5 and an EWI

— 7.6.

vity readily ate leafy vegetables and fruits.

One male gorged itself on casuarina leaflets

which dropped into its tank from over hanging

trees.

Distribution : The red-crowned roof terrapin

definitely occurs in the Ganges drainage of

India and Nepal (Fig. 8). Other records must

be viewed with caution. The considerable

degree of ontogenetic variation, moderate

sexual dimorphism and extreme sexual dichro-

matism have caused frequent misidentification

of this species. For example I have found

specimens confused with K. dhongoka, K.

smithii and Batagur baska at the Zoological

Survey of India. Therefore the occurrence of

K. kachuga in Burma (Gunther 1864, Theo-

bald 1868) and the Krishna (Gray 1862) and

Godaveri (Anderson 1878) drainages of India

need verification. Our survey of the lower

Godaveri found no evidence of large Kachuga.

I have examined the type of Batagur ellioti

(BMNH 55.12.17.15) reputed to be from the

Krishna River. The specimen is definitely a

young K. kachuga but the locality is question-

able. The actual specimen is without data but

Gray (1862) felt that it looked so similar to

a specimen from the Kistna (Krishna) River

drawn by Walter Elliot that he assumed this

to be the type locality.

Specimens were collected at the following

localities:

FMNH 224128 — Chambal River, Barenda, 10 km

W Pinahat, Morena District, M.P.

FMNH 224152 — Yamuna River, Bateshwar, 13

km N Bah, Agra District, U.P.

EOM 2841 — Bherihari Colony Village, 10 km S

Valmiki Nagar (Nepal Border), Bettiah District,

Bihar.

In addition the following preserved specimens

have been examined and the identifications verified.

ZSI 501 and 502 — Allahabad, Allahabad District,

U.P.

Food, habits were not observed in the wild

but two females and two males kept in capti-

ZSI 20632 to 20634 — Ganges River, Rajmahal.

Dumka (Santhal Pargana) Distrcit, Bihar.

{to be continued)

552

BASIC DIURNAL ACTIVITY PATTERN OF BLACKBUCK,

ANTILOPE CERVICAPRA LINN. OF BALLAVPUR

WILDLIFE SANCTUARY, W. B. AND ITS

SEASONAL VARIATION1

Bratindranatei Chattopadhyay2 and

Tan MAY Bh ATTACH ARYA3

{With four text-figures)

The diurnal activity pattern of Blackbuck Antilope cervicapra Linn, was studied in

the Ballavpur wildlife sanctuary for a year. Existence of a basic activity pattern has

been established with both diurnal and seasonal variation in relation to sex and age

class of the individuals. Pasture and climatic conditions appear to be the major

factors influencing the pattern.

Introduction

Method of study

Ballavpur wildlife sanctuary, a man made

forest, holds a small and manageable popula-

tion of blackbuck Antilope cervicapra Linn.

(Bhattacharya & Chattopadhyay 1979).

Attempts are being made to identify various

aspects of the ecology and behaviour of the

antelope in the sanctuary during the past few

years. The present paper is a part of the in-

vestigation and deals with the major activities

of the antelope within the diurnal and seasonal

time-frame. Only stray informations in this

regard are available through the works of

Schaller (1967), Nair (1977), Krishnan (1972),

and Roberts (1977).

1 Accepted June 1983.

2 Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences,

Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, West Bengal, 731235,

India.

3 Present address : Reader, Department of Life

Sciences, Calcutta University, Post Graduate Centre,

Agartala-799004, Tripura, India.

The activity patterns of the blackbuck were

broadly classified following Jarman and Jar-

man (1973) into 4 categories namely, grazing,

walking, standing/ scanning and lying. In this

study, activity refers to any action which re-

sulted into a change in the position of the

creature in relation to space. An animal was

considered static while standing or scanning

and while lying down, otherwise it was con-

sidered mobile. Main mobile activities were

grazing and walking. Walking in this account

refers to the movement resulting into change

in location and includes running, trotting etc.

Stand/scan activity was qualified as the animals

observed standing idly with occasional

scanning. Scanning refers to searching, looking

for or at object in a standing posture. Only

these major activities were studied for esta-

blishing the daily activity pattern and its

seasonal variations. Various other activities

like, urination, defecation, display of different

553

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Fig. 1. Total Activity of Blackbuck between 06.00 and 18.00 hours.

behaviours etc., that are spaced within these

major activities were not taken into conside-

ration.

Routine observations were made by walking

along the laid gridlines. Whenever a group or

individual animal came into the sight the

observational informations were recorded in

the data sheets. A safe distance of about 75-100

metre was found to be adequate for observing

the animals. Observations were made using a

7x35 binoculars.

A pilot survey was conducted during May

to July 1977. This was followed by a syste-

matic regular observation schedule between

September 1977 to August 1978. The daily

observation schedule was divided into three

shifts; morning shift: 06.00-10.00 hr. noon

shift: 10.00-14.00 hr and afternoon shift:

14.00-18.00 hr. Once in a month a continuous

12 hourly observation schedule (06.00 to 18.00

hr.) was undertaken. The total time spent in

the sanctuary during this study was 660.30 hr.

The hour-wise analysis of the activities during

the day time (from 06.00 hr to 18.00 hr)

is represented here as the mean of the percen-

tage of the total number of animals observed

554

standing/

walking(X) scanning (/«) LYING (%)

DIURNAL ACTIVITY OF BLACKBUCK

30 1

IO-

T 1 1

Fig. 2. Activity : Hourwise analysis.

STANDING/

srazing(Z) walking(/J scanning^) lying (/)

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST . SOCIETY, Vol. 83

i 1 1 — r 1 1 1 1 1

JFMAMjJ A S © N D

MONTHS

Fig. 3. Activity Budget: Monthwise analysis.

556

DIURNAL ACTIVITY OF BLACKBUCK

during the different hours of the day, during

the entire study period.

Results

Daily activity pattern

The total daily activity cycle of the black-

buck is shown in fig. 1. The animal mostly

remained active in the day time except a brief

spell around noon when less than 50% of the

population were seen to be active. The acti-

vities reach their peaks once in morning, at

08.00 hr. and again during afternoon, at 15.00

hr. when about 90% of the animals were

active. These two peaks tally with the time

of the supply of supplementary food. After

08.00 hr. the total activity declined through

noon except for a brief rise at 13.00 hr.

An analysis of the various major activities

(Fig. 2) revealed that grazing followed the

general pattern of daily activity, peak period

of grazing corresponding with the decline in

walking, standing /scanning or lying. On the

other hand hours of low grazing were com-

pensated by walking, standing/ scanning or

lying. During peak hours of grazing no indi-

vidual was seen lying, whereas, during low

period of activity and grazing, many were

seen lying down. None the less only less than

35% of the population was seen at any time

to be involved either in lying or in standing/

scanning taken separately (Fig. 2).

Annual pattern

The monthly variation and annual pattern

of different activities are shown in figure 3.

As far as grazing is concerned, it was found

to be quite common between September to

February, when at least 50% of the total popu-

lation were seen to be engaged in doing so.

From March onwards a decline in grazing

was seen till May when only 38.4% of black-

buck were seen grazing. With the onset of

rains in June again a rise in the grazing

activity was observed. Turning to walking (in-

cluding running) it may be observed that

between July to November more than 20%

of the individuals were seen walking. Maximum

degree of walking was observed in November

(23.1%). On the other hand between Decem-

ber to June less than 20% of the individuals

were seen walking. The lowest frequency was

encountered in May (11.7%).

Standing, scanning and lying, as static acti-

vities, characteristically show just the reverse

relation with grazing and walking in annual

pattern. These activities were at their peaks

in May. Lying was more common compared

to standing/scanning. However, in either case

only less than 25% of individuals were engaged

in such activities except in April and May in

case of lying and only April in case of stand-

ing/ scanning.

Monthly variation in the activity pattern in

relation to sex and age

Although grazing was less frequent in males

than the females yet both the sexes followed

a more or less similar pattern all round the

year with lowest frequency encountered during

May (Fig. 4). On the contrary, although both

males and females followed same trend as far

as walking is concerned it was more frequent

in males. Monthwise variation in the frequency

of grazing activity of yearling show two dis-

tinct phases: a more or less steady high level

from July to February and a declining phase

between March to June when grazing is less

frequent. Fawns on the other hand show a

low frequency of grazing during summer

months (April and May) which increased with

the onset of rains and maintained a more or

less high value thereafter.

Similarly both fawns and yearlings had

557

6

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Contd.

55iS

Fig. 4.

DIURNAL ACTIVITY OF BLACKBUCK

Fig. 4. Monthly variation in activity pattern in relation to sex and age class.

JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST . SOCIETY, Vol. 83

identical annual activity pattern as far as

walking is concerned which was at low key

between May and June. Likewise standing/

scanning, also followed a more or less similar

trend with relatively high value during April

and May, in males and females and during

June, in fawns and yearlings.

Lying, which was more common among

males than in females, followed the same

annual pattern in both the sexes with high

frequency during May. Fawns and yearlings

also had a peak value during May. Fawns

spent more time in lying between January and

May in comparison to yearlings but the pattern

was reversed during rest of the year.

Discussion

In the diurnal activity pattern grazing and

walking showed alternative bouts with propor-

tional intensities. Whenever the frequency of

grazing for a particular hour dropped, that of

walking increased suggesting a good coordina-

tion among those two activities where walking

is a function of grazing or vice versa. This

functional relationship reflected the mobile-

grazer character of the species. Such mobile-

grazer character of this species in open land

has also been reported by Prater (1965),

Schaller (1967) and Roberts (1977). However,

in the monsoon and post-monsoon months,

with the new flush of green vegetation the

animals required little walking while grazing

upon thick and continuous carpet of grass.

Different social interactions reached their peaks

by that time, resulting in high frequency of

walking during that period. Nair (1977) also

observed that during rutting more time is spent

in walking and displaying than in grazing by

the males.

The number of antelopes observed lying and

standing/ scanning were high throughout the

summer and early monsoon, the common

functions of these two types of activities were

occasional rumination besides watching, tak-

ing rest or sleeping while in lying posture. The

standing /scanning and lying activities drop re-

markably from monsoon to winter and per-

haps the high value of these activities in

summer was due to the thermal reaction of

the animals and its occupation with rumina-

tion. Balch (1955) has referred that ruminants

rarely sleep because of the need to keep the

thorax upright while ruminating. However, the

rumination will also take longer time during

summer due to the high content of fibers, in

the available food. Morag (1967) has suggest-

ed that in sheep, rumination replaces sleep,

when they are fed with high fiber containing

food. In blackbuck the inactive portion of the

small intestine is relatively larger and the

reticulum of the stomach is comparatively

inefficient. To overcome these inefficiencies a

fine grinding of food is required (Gill & Korda

1960). The situation changes with the new

flush of ground vegetation after rain.

The dominance of the grazing activity

throughout the daytime is also reported by

Schaller (1967), Krishnan (1972) and Roberts

(1977). Perhaps the extensive feeding of this

mobile-grazer species during daytime is faci-

litated by the day fight in selecting grass and

keeping it alert against predators.

Thus it seems that there is a definite pattern

as far as the major activities are concerned

in the fixed hours of the day which are sub-

jected to seasonal variations. Other activities

i.e. urinating, defecating, displaying etc. are

jected to seasonal variations. Other activities,

discussed here. The availability of pasture and

atmospheric temperature seem to be the most

strong ecological determinants in the seasonal

variation of the basic type. Grazing and walk-

ing almost exactly correspond with the

seasonal variation in pasture quality. However,

560

DIURNAL ACTIVITY OF BLACKBUCK

with the declined pasture quality an increase

in walking activity may be expected but the

high temperature in summer acts as a limiting

factor for mobile activities. Similar observa-

tions have been made by Krishnan (1972).

The entire diurnal activity pattern can be

divided into two distinct phases, one corres-

ponding with low sun elevation i.e. morning

and afternoon and the other with high sun

elevation, i.e. from late morning to late noon.

This arbitrary classification, however, excludes

08.00 hr and 15.00 hr activities as these are

conditioned with the supply of food at the

feeding stations. Along with the seasonal

pasture quality and atmospheric temperature,

the sun elevation in day time also acts as an

important factor. This is explained by the high

mobile activities during morning and afternoon

hours and diminishing late morning to late

noon activities.

The activity pattern of ungulates may also

be influenced by the sex and the age of the

animals (Jarman & Jarman 1973, Leuthold

1977, Sharatchandra & Gadgil 1980). Fawns are

more sensitive to extremes of temperature than

yearlings. As far as the grazing is concerned,

Refei

Balch, C. C. (1955) : Sleep in Ruminants. Nature,

Lond. 175 : 940-941.

Bhattacharya, T. & Chattopadhyay, B. N.

(1979) : Population status of Indian Blackbuck

{Antilope cervicapra Linn.) and spotted deer (Axis

axis Erxleben) in Ballavpur wildlife sanctuary, West

Bengal. Cheetal, 20(A) : *39-47.

Gill, J. & Korda, P. (1960) : Untersuchungen uber

Den magendarmkanal der hirschziegenantilope,

Antilope cervicapra (Linnaeus 1758). Acta Theriol.

4(4): 45-52.

Jarman, M. V. & Jarman, P. J. (1973): Daily

activity of Impala. E. Afr. Wildl. J., 11: 75-92.

Krishnan, M. (1972): An Ecological survey of

the larger Mammals of Peninsular India. J. Bombay

nat . Hist. Soc., 69(2): 469-501.

Leuthold, W. (1977): African Ungulates: A

comparative review of their Ethology and Behaviour

Ecology. Springer-verlag, Berlin, Hidelberg, New

York: 305 pp.

the new flush of green influences higher mobile

activity of the fawns relatively more than

those of other members. Throughout the mid

winter and summer the fawns spend much

time in lying down. Social interactions have

a remarkable effect on the increased mobility

of the males and relatively decreased mobility

of the yearlings. As in the present investiga-

tion it was also reported by Schaffer (1967)

and Nair (1977) that in blackbuck grazing is

more frequent in females than in males. On

the other hand lying was more frequent in

males than in females as observed by Schaffer

(1967).

ACK NO WLEDGEM E NTS

We sincerely acknowledge the help rendered

by Directorate of Forests, Govt, of West

Bengal and Staff of the local Forest Beat

Office. Thanks are also due to Head of the

Department of Zoology, Visva-Bharati, for

providing facilities and to the President, Forest

Research Institute and Colleges, Dehra Dun,

for providing a Junior Research Fellowship

to one of the authors (B.C.).

EN CES

Morag, M. (1967) : Influence of Diet on the be-

haviour pattern of sheep. Nature, 213 (5071): 110.

Nair, S. S. (1977) : A population survey and

observations on the Behaviour of blackbuck in the

Point Calimere Sanctuary, Tamil Nadu, /. Bombay

nat. Hist. Soc., 73(2) : 304-10.

Prater, S. H. (1965) : The book of Indian Ani-

mals. Bombay Natural History Society and Prince

of Wales Museum of Western India, 2nd. Ed.: 270-

271.

Roberts, T. J. (1977) : Mammals of Pakistan.

Ernest Benn Ltd., London and Tonbridge: 178-180.

Sharatchandra, H. C. & Gadgil, M. (1980): On

the Time-budget of different Life-history stages of

Chital (Axis axis). J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 75

(Supplementary) : 949-960.

Schaller, G. B. (1967) : The Deer and the Tiger:

A study of Wildlife in India. The University of

Chicago Press. Chicago and London.: 370 pp.

561

ICHTHYOFAUNA OF BIJNOR DISTRICT

(UTTAR PRADESH)1

M. K. Sharma and D. B. Rajput2

(With a text-figure)

Introduction

Bijnor district, Uttar Pradesh has its own

zoogeographical significance. In spite of the

richness of its varied fauna no attempt has so

far been made to explore them. With this

point in view faunal studies of fishes covering

Bijnor were taken up.

Stray references in faunal studies covering

much wider areas, such as those of Hamilton

(1822) and Day (1878) are the only sources

of information. A few references are available

on the fish fauna from adjoining areas namely

collections from Eastern Doons, Hora &

Mukerjee (1958), Lai & Chatterjee (1962),

Sinha and Shiromny (1953) from Meerut,

Majumdar (1958) from Delhi State and

Mahajan (1963) from Muzaffarnagar.

Materials and Methods

The fishes were obtained from Commercial

catches. Cast net was most commonly used

although sweeping, towing and bag nets were

also frequently employed. Daily visits to the

Bijnor, Najibabad, Afzalgarh, Dhampur,

Sherkot and Chandpur fish markets were made

during three years and collections were made

of fishes not commercially exploited. Repre-

sentative specimens of each species were

1 Accepted February 1982.

2 Dept, of Zoology, Vardhaman College, Bijnor

(U.P.).

brought to the laboratory and their taxonomy

studied either on fresh or preserved specimens.

Topography

Bijnor district is situated towards the east of

river Ganges between Muzaffarnagar and Saha-

ranpur districts in the west, Nainital in the east;

Pauri-Garhwal to the north and in the south

Moradabad. (Fig. 1). It is roughly pentagonal in

shape with an altitude varying from 238 to

593.44 metres above sea level and located bet-

ween 29° and 30°N and 78° to 79°E. Its length

from north to south is about 99.2 km. and

width from east to west 89 km, covering an

area of about 4833 square km. The region is

mostly cold for six months or moderately cold.

In other months it is hot but never excessively

so. The average temperature during winter

varies from 7.5°C minimum to 30°C maxi-

mum and during summer it is 23.8° to 39°C

maximum. The average rainfall varies from

85 to 121 cm in different parts of the district.

There is a considerable slope from north to

south. The main rivers descend into the plains

from the Himalayas, which accounts for the

number of hillstream fishes recorded in the

Table 1.

Fishery Resources

The district has rich fishery resources. Be-

sides the two large rivers, the Ganges and

Ramganga, there are seven smaller ones which

562

ICHTHYOFAUNA OF BUN OR DISTRICT

563

Family Clupeidae

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JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol 83

run through it from north to south. These

are Malan, Kho, Dhara, Pili, Panili, Phica and

Khasan rivers. There are some seasonal rivers

such as Ban, Gangan, Karula, Patheria, and

Dhabo. Moreover there is the Ramganga canal

arising from Kalagarh. In addition to these

there are numerous perennial and seasonal

ponds and lakes all over the district such as

Khokra pond, Dharmnagari Dhaya, Chahshirin

pond and Siau Kund which are fed by local

canals, distributaries, flood and rain water

drains. This richness of water resources has

resulted in a varied fish-fauna fairly represen-

tatives of the north Indian freshwaters.

Discussion

About 75% of the recorded fishes belong to

a single Order, Cypriniformes. Atleast 33%

of the fishes listed are of considerable econo-

mic importance as edible fishes. A number of

fishes are known to have varying degrees of

accessory breathing capacity and possess re-

markable accessory respiratory organs: Rita

rita, Clarias magur, Chaca chaca, Channa

punctatus, Channa marulius, Channa striatus,

Amphipnous cuchia, Nandus nandus, Heterop-

neustes fossilis, Glossobius giuris and they can

live without water for a considerable time.

The regular availability of Clarias magur

from a number of ponds in the district

throughout the year agrees with the report by

Mahajan (1963) but is interesting in view of

the report by Sinha & Shiromny (1953) that

the species has only a localised distribution,

being found only in a few ponds at Garhmuk-

teshwar in the months of April, May and

June. It appears that the fishes are present

throughout the year in these ponds and find

a safe place in the bottom of the ponds which

is their natural habitat, while they are easily

netted only in April, May and June as most

of the water dries up at that time and the

level is the lowest. The distribution of Mystus

corsula is reported by Day (1878) to be from

Orissa through Bengal and Assam. The only

report of its occurrence in this region is by

Sinha and Shiromny (1953) from Hindon

nadi in Meerut district and by Mahajan (1963)

from Muzaffarnagar district. Similarly Sicamu-

gil (Mugil) cascasia has been recorded by Day

from rivers of north-west provinces of Assam.

The only report of the occurrence of this

species in this region is from Jamuna river

from Delhi State by Mahajan (1963) from

Kali nadi, Muzaffarnagar.

A number of genera viz., Barilius, Garra,

Labeo, Gagata, Nemacheilus, Glyptothorax,

Barbus and Crossochilus, characteristic of hill-

streams are found here. A few of them have

also been recorded by Mahajan (1963) from

Muzaffarnagar District. The only possible ex-

planation of their occurrence is that they are

swept along the current due to the presence

of an excessive slope described in the topo-

graphy of the disrtict.

Chaca chaca of family Chacidae is a com-

mon fish of this region which not been re-

ported earlier except for a single specimen

obtained by Mahajan (1963). The Anabas

testudinus occurs throughout the district,

although only two specimens were obtained

from fish markets where fishes come only

from Ganges.

Acknowledgement

Grateful thanks are due to Dr. V. P. Agra-

wal. Principal, D. V. College, Muzaffarnagar

for inspiration and encouragement during the

period of collection.

568

ICHTHYOFAUNA OF BIJN OR DISTRICT

Referen ces

Day, F. (1878) : The Fishes of India, being a

Natural history of the fishes known to inhabit the

seas and freshwaters of India, Burma and Ceylon.

Vol. I & II London (Reprint 1958).

Hora, S. L. & Mukerjee, D. D. (1958) : Fishes

of Eastern Doons, United Provinces. Rec. Ind. Mus.

38(2): 133-146.

Lal, M. B. & Chaterjee, P. (1962): Survey of

the Eastern Doons fishes with certain notes on their

Biology. Jour. Zool. Soc. India 14(2) : 230-242.

Mahajan, C. L. (1961): Fish fauna of district

Muzaffarnagar. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 60(2) :

249-251.

Majumdar, N. N. (1958) : On a collection of

fishes from Delhi state, ibid. 55(2) : 366-370.

Sinha, B. M. & Shiromny, P. A. (1953) : The

fishes of Meerut. Rec. Ind. Mus. 57(1): 61-66.

569

MATERIAL FOR THE FLORA OF MAHABALESHWAR - 7

P. V. Bole and M. R. Almeida

[Continued from Vol. 82(1): 86]

Ulmaceae

1. Leaves glabrous, broadly ovate Celtis

1. Leaves with white pubescence beneath, ovate-

lanceolate Trema

Celtis Linn.

1 . Celtis cinnamomea Lindl. ex Planch., in

Ann. Sci. Nat. ser. 3, 10: 303, 1848; FBI 5:

482; Cooke, T. 2: 630 (3: 128); Talbot 2:

299, t. 14.

C. wightii Planch., in Ann. Sci. Nat. ser. 3, 10:

307, 1848, Wight, Icon. t. 1969, 1953; Cooke, T.

2: 631 (3:129).

Rare tree in forest areas along Fitzgerald

Ghat.

FLOWERS & fruits: February-May.

Trema Lour.

1 . Trema orientals (Linn.) Blume, Mus. Bot.

Lugd. Bat. 2: 58, 1856; FBI 5: 484; Cooke,

T. 2: 631 (3: 129-30); Talbot, 2 : 500, t. 515;

Naime, 303.

Celtis orientalis Linn. Sp. PI. 1044, 1753; Graham,

189, 1839.

Sponia wightii Planch., in Ann. Sci. Nat. ser. 3,

10: 322, 1848; Wight, Icon. t. 1971, 1853; Dalzell &

Gibson, 238, 1861.

Trema wightii (Planch.) Cooke, T. Gazett. Bom-

bay, 649, 1885.

Rare tree at Mahabaleshwar. Only one speci-

men has been collected from Fitzgerald Ghat.

flowers: December.

local names: Gol, Ghol.

Urticaceae

1. Leaves and stem with stinging hairs 2

2. Ovary oblique; an annual herb Laportea

2. Ovary straight; a perennial herb Girardinia

1 . Leaves and stem without stinging hairs 3

3. Female perianth 3-5 partite or obsolete

Lecanthus

3. Female perianth tubular, shortly toothed or

sub-entire, enclosing the achenes 4

4. Fruiting perianth fleshy; stigma penicillate

Debregeasia

4. Fruiting perianth dry, numerous; stigma

filiform 5

5. Shrubs; stigma persistant

Boehmeria

5. Herbs, stigma jointed, deciduous

Pouzolzia

Boehmeria Jacq.

1 . Boehmeria scabrella (Roxb.) Gaud., in

Frey. Voy. 500, 1826; Cooke, T. 2: 636 (3:

135); Santapau, 310, 1963.

Urtica scabrella Roxb., FI. Ind. 3: 581, 1832;

Wight, Icon. t. 691, 1841.

Splitgerbera scabrella Dalz. & Gibs. Bombay FI.

239, 1861.

B. platyphylla Don var. seabrella Wedd. Mon.

365, 1856; FBI 5: 578; Birdwood, 26, 1897.

Very common and often very gregarious

shrub along the edges of the forest, in partially

shaded places.

flowers & fruits: September-December.

Debregeasia Gaud.

1. Debregeasia longifolia (Burm. f.) Wedd.,

in DC. Prodr. 16: 235, 1869; Cooke, T. 649,

1885; Santapau, 288; Vartak, J. Univ. Poona,

18: 97, 1960.

570

FLORA OF MA HA BA LESH WAR-7

Urtica longifolia Burm. f., FI. Ind. 197, 1768.

D. velutina Gaud., Bot. Voy. Bonite, t. 90, 1844-6;

FBI 5: 590; Birdwood, 26, 1897; Cooke, T. 2: 640

(3: 139); Puri & Mahajan, 132, 1960.

Conocephalus niveus Wight, Icon. t. 1959, 1853;

Dalz. & Gibs. 239, 1861.

Boehmeria ramiflora Graham, Cat. Bombay PI.

187, 1839.

Rare shrub near water-courses and on sides

of streams.

flowers: December.

local name: Kapsi.

Laportea Gaud.

1. Laportea interrupta (Linn.) Chew., Gard.

Bull. Straits Settlm. 21: 200, 1965; T. P. Rama-

murthy, in FI. Hassan Dist. 89, 1976.

Fleurya interrupta Gaud, in Freyc. Voy. Bot. 497,

t. 8, 1826; Dalz. & Gibs. 238; Wight Icon. t. 1975,

1853; FBI 5: 548; Birdwood, 26, 1895.

Urtica interrupta Linn. Sp. PI. 985, 1753; Graham,

187.

Rare herb in waste-lands and among the

undergrowth along the margins of the forests.

flowers: July- August.

local name: Khajoti.

Lecanthus Wedd.

1 . Lecanthus peduncularis (Wall, ex Royle)

Wedd., in DC. Prodr. 16: 164, 1869 (p.p.):

Santapau, 400, 1962 & 310, 1963.

Procris peduncularis Wall, ex Royle, 111. t. 83,

f. 2, 1839.

L. wallichii Wedd., in Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. ser. 4,

1: 187, 1854; Cooke, T. 2: 634 (3: 133).

L. wightii Wedd., l.c.; FBI 5: 559; Birdwood, 26,

1897; Cooke, T. l.c.

Elatostemma oppositifolium Dalz. in Kew Joum.

Bot. 3: 179, 1851; Dalz. & Gibs. 239; Cooke, T.

651, 1885.

E. ovata Wight, Icon. t. 1985, 1852.

Common herb on old walls and on tree-

trunks in latter half of the monsoon.

flowers & fruits: August-September.

Girardinia Gaud.

1 . Girardinia zeylanica Decne, in Jacq. Voy.

152, 1844; Cooke, T. 2: 633 (3: 132); Puri

& Mahajan, 132, 1960; Santapau, 254.

Urtica heterophylla Roxb. FI. Ind. 3: 586, 1832;

Graham, 187; Wight, Icon. t. 1687, 1851.

G. heterophylla Dalz. & Gibs. Bombay FI. 238,

1861 (non Decne, 1844); Cooke, T. 651, 1885; Bird-

wood, 26, 1897.

G. heterophylla Decne var. zeylanica Hook, f., in

FI. Brit. India, 5: 551, 1888.

Common stinging nettle along road-sides.

Stinging hairs cause skin irritation and produce

quite large blisters.

flowers & fruits: September-November.

local names: Moti Khojati, Aghada.

Pouzolzia Gaud.

1 . Pouzolzia zeylanica (Linn.) Benn., PI. Jav.

Rar. 67, 1838; Santapau, 310, 1963.

Paritaria zeylanica Linn., Sp. PI. 1052, 1753.

P. indica Linn. Mant. 1 : 128, 1767; Graham, 187.

Pouzolzia indica (Linn.) Gaud. Bot. Frey. Voy.

503, 1826; FBI 5: 581; Dalz. & Gibs. 240; Wight,

Icon. 1980, f. 1 & t. 2100, f. 40, 1853; Cooke, T.

2: 638 (3: 137).

Rare herb on slopes of Fitzgerald Ghat.

flowers & fruits: July-September.

Cannabidaceae

1 . Cannabis satiya Linn. Sp. PI. 1027, 1753;

Graham, 187; Dalz. & Gibs, suppl. 79; Lisboa,

223; FBI 5: 487.

C. indica Lamk., Encycl. Method. 1 : 695, 1783.

This species is included here on the authority

of Lisboa. We have not seen any specimen,

in any of the herbaria visited.

local names: Bhang, Ganja, Hemp.

Moraceae

1. Stamens inflexed in buds; anthers reversed

Morus

1 . Stamens and anthers erect in buds 2

571

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

2. Flowers on the inner wall of a close re-

ceptacle Ficus

2. Flowers in globose, oblong or cylindric

heads Artocarpus

Artocarpus J. R. Forest & G. Forst

1 . Artocarpus heterophyllus Lamk. Encycl.

3: 210, 1789; Jarett, in Arn. Arbor. 40: 334,

1959.

A. integri folia Graham, Cat. Bombay PI. 192,

1839 (non. Linn. 1781): Dalz. & Gibs. 244; FBI

5: 541; Lisboa, 223; Birdwood, 26, 1897; Cooke,

T. 2: 657 (3: 158).

A. integrifolia Linn. var. heterophylla Pers., Syn.

PI. 2: 531, 1807.

Rare cultivated tree in private gardens.

flowers & fruits: December-May.

local names: Phanas, Jack-fruit.

Ficus Linn.

1 . Male, gall and female flowers in the same receptacle 2

2. Stamens 1 3

3. Petioles short, stout, never joined to the blade 4

4. Leaves more or less tomentose 5

5. Leaves obtuse; receptacles puberulous, globose, red F. bengalensis

5. Leaves bluntly apiculate; receptacle pisciform, grey-tomentose F. tomentosa

4. Leaves glabrous F. retusa

3. Petioles long, slender sometimes joined to the blade 6

6. Apices of leaves caudate-acuminate 7

7. Apical tail half as long as blade F. religiosa

7. Apical tail less than l/5th as long as blade 8

8. Bases of leaves cordate 9

9. Peduncles 0.2-0.4 in. long F. arnottiana

9. Peduncles 0.5-1.0 in. long F. palmata

8. Bases of leaves tapering F. rumphii

6. Apices of leaves not caudate-acuminate F. infectoria

2. Stamens 2 F. racemosa

1 . Male and gall flowers in one set or receptacle and fertile and female flowers in another 10

10. Male flowers with 2 stamens F. racemosa

10. Male flowers with one stamen 11

1 1 . Leaves at least some opposite F. hispida

11. Leaves all alternate 12

12. Creeping shrubs; bracts present F. heterophylla

12. Erect shrubs; bracts absent F. asperrima

1. Ficus asperrima Roxb. FI. Ind. 3: 554,

1832; Graham, 191; Wight, Icon. t. 633, 1843;

Dalz. & Gibs. 243; FBI 5: 522, 1888; Cooke,

T. 2: 653 (3: 153); Birdwood, 26, 1897;

Santapau, 258.

Rare tree along the edges of the forests

along Fitzgerald ghat.

flowers & fruits: January- April.

local name: Kharvat.

2. Ficus bengalensis Linn. Sp. PI. 1059, 1753;

FBI 5: 499; Birdwood, 26, 1897; Cooke, T.

2: 645 (3: 145); Puri & Mahajan, 132.

F. indica Linn. Amoem. Acad. ed. 3, 1 : 27, 1787;

Graham, 189.

Urostigma bengalense Gasp. Nov. Gen. Ficus 7,

1844; Wight, Icon. t. 1989, 1853; Dalz. & Gibs. 240.

Quite common tree all over in open sunny

places.

572

FLORA OF MAHABALESHWAR-7

flowers & fruits: February- June.

local name: Wad.

3. Ficus cariea Linn. Sp. PI. 1059, 1753;

Graham, 191; Dalz. & Gibs, suppl. 80; Cooke,

T. 2: 655 (3: 155).

F. virgata Roxb. FI. Ind. 3: 530, 1832; Lisboa,

223; Puri & Mahajan, 133, 1960.

Rare shrub, cultivated for its fruits in gar-

dens.

flowers & fruits: January-March.

local name: Anjir.

4. Ficus arnottiana Miq., Ann. Mus. Lugd.

Bat. 3: 287, 1867; FBI 5: 513; Cooke, T. 2:

649 (3: 149).

F. cordifolia Graham Cat. 192, 1839 (non Roxb.

1832); Lisboa, 223; Cooke, T. 648, 1885.

Urostigma cordifolium Dalz. & Gibs. Bombay FI.

242, 1861 (non Miq., 1859).

Rare tree on hard rocky grounds or some-

times found on rocks and broken walls.

flowers & fruits: December- April.

local names: Pair, Asit.

5. Ficus heterophytla Linn, f., suppl. 442,

1781; Graham, 191; Dalz. & Gibs. 243: Wight,

Icon. t. 659, 1843; Cooke, T. 2: 652 (3: 152);

Birdwood, 26, 1897.

F. acutiloba Miq. in Hook. Lond. J. Bot. 7: 227,

1848; Dalz. & Gibs. 243.

Rare scandent shrub on sides of streams.

flowers & fruits: March-July.

local name: Karoti (Birdwood).

6. Ficus hispida Linn. f. suppl. 442, 1781;

FBI 5: 522; Cooke, 2: 653 (3: 154); Bird-

wood, 26, 1897; Santapau, 301, 1963.

F. oppositifolia Willd. Sp. PI. 4: 1151, 1805;

Graham, 191; Wight, Icon. t. 638.

Covellia oppositifolia Gasp. Ricer Caprif. 85,

1845; Dalz. & Gibs. 243.

C. daemonum Miq. in Hook. Lond. Journ. Bot.

7: 462, 1848.

F. daemona Koen., in Graham, Cat. Bombay PL

192, 1819; Wight, Icon. t. 641, 1843.

Rare shrub on slopes of Fitzgerald ghat

and along the banks of streams.

flowers & fruits: March- July.

local names: Kala Umbar, Bodeda.

7. Ficus lacor Buch.-Ham., in Linn. Trans.

15: 150, 1825.

F. infeotoria Roxb., FI. Ind. 3: 551, 1832 (Excl.

syn. of Rheede) (non Willd., 1806); Graham, 191;

Wight, Icon. t. 665, 1844; FBI 5: 515; Birdwood,

26, 1897; Cooke, T. 2: 241 (3: 151).

Urostigma infectorium Miq., FI. Ind. Bat. 1(2):

339, 1859; Dalz. & Gibs. 241.

flowers & fruits: October-March.

local names: Kel, Bassari, Pipli.

8. Ficus racemosa Linn. Sp. PI. 1060, 1753.

F. glomerata Roxb., PI. Corom. 2: 13, t. 123,

1798; Graham, 190; Wight, Icon. t. 667, 1843; Cooke,

T. 648 & 2: 654 (3: 154); Lisboa, 223, Birdwood,

26, 1897; Puri & Mahajan, 133, 1960; Santapau, 399,

1962 & 301, 1963.

Covellia glomerata Miq., in Hook. Lond. Journ.

Bot. 7: 465, 1848; Dalz. & Gibs. 243.

Common tree all over along sides of streams

and also along road-sides.

flowers & fruits: Throughout the year.

local names: Umbar, Rumad.

9. Ficus rdigiosa Linn., Sp. PI. 1059, 1753;

Graham, 190; FBI 5: 513; Birdwood, 26, 1897;

Cooke, T. 2: 649 (3: 149).

Urostigma religiosa Gasp., Ricer. Caprif. 82, t.

7, f. 1-5, 1845; Wight, Icon. t. 1967, 1853; Dalz. &

Gibs, 241.

Common tree all over.

flowers & fruits: March-July .

local names: Pipal, Astha, Ashit.

10. Ficus retusa Linn. Mantissa 129, 1767;

FBI 5: 511; Birdwood 26, 1897; Cooke, T.

2: 647 (3: 146-7).

F. benjamina Willd., Sp. PI. 4: 1143, 1806 (non

Linn. 1767) : Graham, 191.

Urostigma nitidum Miq., in Hook. Lond. Journ.

Bot. 6: 582, 1847; Dalz. & Gibs. 242.

U. retusum Gasp., Nov. Gen. Ficus 7, 1844.

Rare tree along road-sides on way to Panch-

gani and along Fitzgerald ghat.

flowers & fruits: September-March.

local names: Nandruk, Raneikut.

573

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JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

11. Ficus rumphii Blume, Bijdr. 437, 1825;

FBI 5: 512, 1888; Cooke, T. 2: 648 (3: 148);

Bird wood, 26, 1897; Puri & Mahajan, 133,

1960.

F. cordifolia Roxb., FI. Ind. 3: 548, 1832 (non

Blume 1825); Wight, Icon. t. 640, 1843.

Rare species along road-sides.

flowers & fruits: February- July.

local names: Pair, Ashtha, Pahir.

12. Ficus tomentosa Roxb., FI. Ind. 3: 550,

1832; Wight, Icon. t. 647, 1843; Birdwood, 26,

1890; Cooke, T. 2: 646 (3: 146).

There are few trees of this species planted

along road-side between Mahabaleshwar and

Panchgani.

flowers & fruits: January- April.

local names: Karvat, Kallugoli.

13. Ficus pahnata Forsk., FI. Aegypt. 179,

1775; FBI 5: 530; Birdwood 26, 1897; Naime,

308.

F. caricoides Roxb., FI. Ind. 3: 529, 1832; Wight,

Icon. t. 649, 1843; Cooke, T. 648, 1885.

According to Birdwood this is a common

fig at Mahabaleshwar. We have not found it

on the plateau and there is no herbarium

specimen in any of the herbaria consulted.

We include it here on authority of Cooke and

Birdwood.

Morus Linn.

1. Moms alba Linn. Sp. PI. 986, 1753;

Graham, Cat. 194; Dalz. & Gibs, suppl. 80;

FBI 5: 492; Birdwood, 26, 1897; Cooke, T.

2: 658 (3: 159); Puri & Mahajan, 133, 1960.

M. atropurpurea Roxb., FI. Ind. 3: 595, 1832;

Cooke, T. 648, 1885; FBI 5: 491, 1888.

Commonly cultivated for its edible fruits and

for leaves which are used for feeding silk-

worms in sericulture.

flowers & fruits: September-December.

Casuarinaceae

Casuarina Adans.

1 Casuarina equisetifolia J. R. Forst & G.

Forst, Char. Gen. 104, t. 52. 1776; Dalz. & Gibs.

Suppl. 82, 1861; FBI 5: 598; Birdwood, 26,

1897; Puri & Mahajan, 133, 1960.

C. muricata Roxb., FI. Ind. 3: 519, 1832; Graham,

196; Dalz. & Gibs, suppl. 82.

Rare tree planted along road-sides and on

hill-slopes by forest department. The tree is

considered to be a very good wind-break.

flowers & fruits: September-December.

local names: Suru, Beef-wood, Cassowary

tree.

Fagaceae

Quercus Linn.

1. Quercus robur Linn. Sp. PI. 996; 1753;

Birdwood, 26, 1897.

There are a few planted trees at Sindola.

According to Birdwood these trees were raised

from acorns brought by Dr. John Wilson,

from Scotland.

Salicaceae

Salix Linn.

1. Salix tetrasperma Roxb., PI. Cor. 1: 66,

t. 97, 1795; Graham, 195; Wight, Icon. t. 1954,

1853; Dalz. & Gibs. 220; Lee, 466, 1885;

Cooke, T. 648, 1885 & 2: 661 (3: 162); FBI

5: 626; Lisboa, 222; Birdwood 26, 1897; Puri

& Mahajan, 133; Santapau, 261, 1963.

Common tree in spring beds along Yenna

River. Elegant tree, especially when in flowers,

bearing catkin-like spikes.

flowers & fruits: October-December.

local names: Walunj, Indian Willow.

574

FLORA OF MAHABALESHWAR-7

CUPRESSACEAE

Cupressus Linn.

1 . Cupressus sempervirens Linn. Sp. PI. 1002,

1753; FBI 5: 645; Cooke 2: 666 (3: 168).

Rare cultivated tree at Wilson Point.

cone formation: December.

local name: Suruboke.

Gnetaceae

Gnetum Linn.

1. Gnetum ula Brongn. in Duperrey, Voy.

Coquille 12, 1829; Birdwood, 27, 1897; Santa-

pau, 297, 1963. G. funiculata Smith ex Wight,

Icon. t. 1955, 1853. G. scandens Roxburgh, FI.

Ind. 3: 518, 1832; Graham, 188; Dalz. & Gibs.

246; Talbot, For. FI. 2: 543, f. 537.

Rare lofty climber on tall trees in Fitzgerald

Ghat.

cone formation: December-March.

local names: Kombal, Wumbli.

Ginkgoaceae

1. Ginkgo biloha Linn. Mant. 2: 313, 1771;

Bailey, Manual cult. pt. 99, 1949.

Rare plant in cultivation in private gardens

at Mahabaleshwar, but only grown as a potted

plant and never grows to be a shrub.

local name: Maiden Hair-Tree.

Hydrocharitaceae

1. Stems well-developed, branching Hydrilla

1. Stems rhizomatous 2

2. Perianth of a single row Vallisneria

2. Perianth of two rows Blyxa

Blyxa Noronha ex Thouars

1. Seeds spinescent with long filiform tails at each

end B. echinosperma

1. Seeds without tails B. octandra

1 . Blyxa echinosperma (Clarke) Hook, f., in

FI. Brit. Ind. 5: 661, 1888; Cooke, T. 2: 671

(3: 172) (Pro parte); Birdwood, 27, 1897;

Puri & Mahajan, 133, 1960.

Hydrotrophus echinospermus C. B. Clarke, in J.

Linn. Soc. 14: 8, t. 1, 1875.

This species is reported here on authority

of Cooke, Birdwood as well as Puri & Maha-

jan. We have not seen any authentic specimen

from Mahabaleshwar. Specimens in Blatter

Herbarium, which have been identified as be-

longing to this species have all turned out to

be B. octandra (Roxb.) Planch ex Thwaites.

2. Blyxa octandra (Roxb.) Planch ex

Thwaites, Enum. PI. Zeyl. 332, 1864; Santapau,

297; Den Horteg, in FI. Malesiana 5(9): 392,

1957.

Vallisneria octandra Roxb. PI. Cor. 2: 34, t. 165,

1798; Graham, 199.

B. roxburghii Rich., in Mem. Inst. Fr. 77, t. 5,

1811; FBI 5: 660; Cooke, T. 2: 670 (3: 172).

Rather rare herb in shallow waters along

the edges of the Yenna lake and also in rice-

fields. Leaves spreading on the surface of the

soil. Flowers white, erect above water.

flowers : October-February.

Hydrilla Rich.

1. Hydrilla verticillata (Linn, f.) Presl., Bot.

Bemerk. 112, 1844; Dalz. & Gibs. 277; FBI

5: 659; Cooke, T. 2: 668 (3: 170).

Serpicula verticillata Linn, f., suppl. 416, 1781;

Graham, 76.

H. ovalifolia Rich., Mem. Inst. Fr. 12(2) : 76, t.

2, 1811.

Common submerged herb in Yenna lake and

in stagnant waters in rice-fields.

flowers: December.

idcal name: Sheval.

Burmanniaceae

Burmannia Linn.

1 . Burmannia pusilla (Miers.) Thwaites,

Enum. PI. Zeyl. 325, 1864; FBI 5: 665; Santa-

pau, 262, 1967.

575

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

B. coelestis Don var. pusilla Triman, Handb. FI.

Ceyl 4: 131, 1898; Naime 318; Cooke, T. 2: 672

(3: 174); Puri & Mahajan, 133, 1960.

1 3. coelestis Fish., in FI. Madras Pres. 1399, 1928

(non Don, 1825); Birdwood, 27, 1897.

B. triflora Roxb., FI. Ind. 2: 117, 1832 (p. p.);

Dalz. & Gibs. 271; Cooke, T. 651, 1885.

B. disticha Graham, Cat. Bombay PI. 223, 1839

(non Linn., 1753).

Gonyanthes pusilla Miers., in Trans. Linn. Soc. 18:

537, t. 38, f. 3, 1841.

Very common and gregarious herb in wet

places, generally hidden among the grasses.

flowers & fruits: September- January.

Note : T. P. Ramamurthy in Saldanha &

Nicolson, FI. Flassan District, treats this taxon as

synonymous with B. coelestis Don giving cita-

tion of Janker, in Steenis, FI. Malesiana Ser.

I, 4: 17, 1948. However Ramamurthy has

confused the nomenclature and synonymy

followed by him is definitely not the same as

that of Janker, cited in either of the two refer-

ences. Rev. Fr. H. Santapau (FI. Khandala, ed.

3, 262) has not cited basionym of specific epithet

“pusilla” and misquoted page 30 for 130,

otherwise giving the clear and correct nomen-

clature.

Orchidaceae

1. Epithytic or lithophytic plants 2

2. Plants with distinct pseudobulbs 3

3. Pseudobulbs with 2 or more nodes 4

4. Pseudobulbs flattened, discoid or rotund Eria

4. Pseudobulbs elongated, ovoid or conical 5

5. Pedicels and ovary sparsely pubescent; pollinia 8, pyriform Eria (E. mysorensis )

5. Pedicels and ovary glabrous; pollinia 4, linear or linear-oblong Dendrobium

3. Pseudobulb with a single node Cirrhopetalum

2. Plants without pseudobulbs 6

6. Leaves membranaceous, plicate; lip superior Malaxis (P.P.)

6. Leaves fleshy or coriaceous, not plicate; lip inferior 7

7. Plants without distinct stem; leaves radical Oberonia

7 . Plants with a distinct stem; leaves cauline 8

8. Leaf-apex irregularly toothed with 1-3 sharp teeth Rhynchostylis

8. Leaf-apex bilobed, lobes unequal or sub-equal, rounded or sub-acute 9

9. Stem short, ± 5 cm long Smithsonia

9. Stem long, over 15 cm long Aerides

1 . Terrestrial or saprophytic plants 10

10. Lip not spurred, often saccate at the base; sac never projecting beyond the lateral sepals 11

11. Leaves and flowers appearing together Malaxis (P.P.)

11. Leaves and flowers not appearing together 12

12. Plants with pseudobulbs .... Nervi! lea

12. Plants without pseudobulbs, rhizomatous ... Cheirostylis

10. Lip spurred; spur projecting beyond lateral sepals 13

13. Leaves plicate or absent Eulophia

13. Leaves not plicate; anthers immovably afixed to column by a broad base 14

14. Flowers ± 7.5 cm across, stigma tic surface flat, almost confluent Platanthera

14. Flowers less than 3 cm across, stigmatic surface not flat, separate 15

15. Ovary and capsules ± erect and parallel to peduncle, not spreading at an

angle to it; stigmatic surfaces in form of small swellings on edge of lip Peristylus

15. Ovary and capsules widely spreading at an angle to peduncle; Stigmatic

lobes standing out as stalked appendages Habenaria

576

FLORA OF MAHABALESHW AR-7

Aerides Lour.

1. Midlobe of lip linear-oblong, about 7 mm long,

white or pale lilac; spur nearly equalling the

lip A. ringens

1. Midlobe of lip broadly obovate or obovate

deltoid over 14 mm. long, deep pink-mauve;

spur as half as long as lip 2

2. Sepals and petals spotted; lateral lobes of

lip minute, rounded; mid-lobe 12-14 mm

long A. maculosum

2. Sepals and petals not spotted; lateral lobes

of lip 7-9 mm long, narrowly oblong;

midlobe 22-22 mm long A. crispum

1 . Aerides crispum Lindl., Gen. Sp. Orch.

239, 1833; Birdwood, 27; Cooke, T. 2: 700;

Puri & Mahajan, 133; Sant. & Kapadia, 123.

A. lindleyana Wight, Icon. t. 1677, 1851; Dalz. &

Gibs, 265; Cooke, 2:652 (3: 204); Lisboa, 224.

A rare epiphytic orchid at Mahabaleshwar.

The reason for its near extinction in

Mahabaleshwar is its showy and fragrant

flowers. There is one teratological specimen

of this species in Blatter Herbarium which has

produced leaves at the end of the spike.

flowers: May-June; fruits: July onwards.

vernacular names: Ruk Shing, Pan Shing.

distribution at mahabaleshwar: China-

man’s falls, Yenna lake, Koyna Valley.

2. Aerides maculosum Lindl. in Bot. Reg. t.

58, 1845, Cooke, 652; Birdwood, 27; Nairne

325; Cooke, T. 2: 699 (3: 203); Santapau &

Kapadia, 122.

Saccolobium speciosum Wight, Icon. tt. 1674-5,

1851.

A common epiphytic orchid in open

deciduous forests. Very often the velamen roots

are associated with tubercled swelling.

flowers: May-June; fruits: July onwards.

DISTRIBUTION AT MAHABALESHWAR: Kelghar

Ghat.

3. Aerides ringens Fisher, in Kew Bull. 1928:

284, 1928; Blatter & McCann, 490, 1932; Santa-

pau & Kapadia, 119.

A. radicosum A. Rich, in Ann. Sc. Nat. (ser. 2)

15: 65, f. 1C, 1841; Cooke, 2: 700 (3: 204); Puri

& Mahajan, 1 34.

S. paniculatus Wt. Ic. 5(1) : 9, t. 1676, 1851.

This species is given here on the authority

of woodrow only. There are no specimens

available from Mahabaleshwar in any of the

herbaria.

flowers: March- July.

fruits: July onwards.

Bulbophyllum Thouars.

1 . Bulbophyllum dmbriatum (Lindl.) Reichb.

f. in Walp. Ann. 6: 260, 1861; Blatter & Mc-

Cann, 35: 265, 1931.

Cirrhopetalum fimbriatum Lindl. in Bot. Reg. Misc.

72, 1839; Wight, Icon. t. 1665; Cooke, 652 & 2:

686 (3: 188); Birdwood, 27; Santapau & Kapadia,

197-8.

C. wallichii Graham, Cat. Bomb. Plants, 205, 1839

(non Lindl.).

This species is found in open deciduous

forests. The flowers give an unpleasant odour.

Specimens of this species in Blatter herbarium

differ from North Kanara specimens in having

slightly larger petals.

flowers: March -April;

leaves: June-November.

DISTRIBUTION AT MAHABALESHWAR: Rotunda

Ghat, Below Bombay point, Koyna Valley.

Cheirostylis Blume

1. Cheirostylis flabellata Wt. Icon. 5(1): 16,

t. 1727, 1852 ( Monochilus flabellatum in

Plate). FBI 6: 105.

A rare epiphytic species known from a single

collection from Linsmala (P. V. Bole -2244).

flowers: November.

Cymbidium Sw.

1 . Cymbidium aloifolium Sw., in Nov. Act.

Sc. Upsal. 6: 73, 1799; Graham, 203; Nairne,

325.

This species has been reported from Maha-

baleshwar by John Graham (1839). We have

not seen any specimen of this species.

577

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Dendrobium Sw.

1.

Rhizome distinct, creeping; leaf 1, from top of pseudobulb; flowers 1-2 borne on the top of

the pseudobulb D. macraei

Rhizome not distinct; leaves several, bifaxious; flowers many in racemes or in pairs,

rarely solitary 2

2. Stems usually tufted forming small ovoid pseudobulbs, rarely elongate; flowers in slender

racemes, rarely solitary 3

3. Stems long, much branched; lip undivided or obscurely 3-lobed D. herbaceum

3. Stem simple often reduced to small pseudobulbs; lip distinctly 3-lobed 4

4. Small plants with crowded, ovoid pseudobulbs; petals not broader than dorsal sepal 5

5. Lip pink with deep purple veins, irregularly crenulate, broader across later lobes than

the midlobe; small, irregularly crenulate, truncate or subretuse D. microbulbon

5. Lip pale yellow or yellow-green, ± suffused with pink, equal to or narrower than

midlobe; midlobe of lip suborbicular, with two rows of stiff, glandular hairs on margin,

rounded or subemarginate D. nanum

4. Larger plants with elongate pseudobulbs (rarely uninodal); petals much broader than

the dorsal sepal 6

6. Flowers cream-coloured; midlobe of lip somewhat quadrate-rounded D. ovatum

6. Flowers pure white or tinged with pink; midlobe of lip broadly ovate, or ovate-oblong or

rarely sub-flabellate D. barbatulum

2. Stems elongate, clavate or nodose; flowers in lateral pairs or fascicles, rarely solitary 7

7. Flowers subregular; mentum absent; column without a foot D. lawianum

7. Flowers zygomorphic; mentum distinct; column with a distinct foot 8

8. Flowers pale watery-green, lateral lobes broad, flat D. aqueum

8. Flowers white or suffused with pale rose; lateral lobes forming a small pouch

at the base D. crepidatum

1. Dendrobium aqueum Lindl., in Bot. Reg.

Misc. 6, t. 54, 1843; Cooke, T. 2: 653 (3:

187); Santapau & Kapadia, 99.

D. album Wight, Icon. 5(1): 6, t. 1645. 1851.

A fairly common epiphytic species, espe-

cially on Terminalia chebula.

flowers : September-October.

fruits: December-May.

distribution: Lingmala Fall, Below Bom-

bay Point, Rotunda Ghat, Fitzgerald Ghat.

2. Dendrobium barbatulum Lindl., Gen. Sp.

Orch. 84, 1830; Dalz. & Gibs. 261; Naime 322;

Cooke, T. 652 (3: 184); Lisboa, 224; Bird-

wood, 27; Gammie, J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc.

17: 31, t. 2, 1906; Cooke, T. 2: 682; Puri &

Mahajan, 133 (herbatulum); Santapau &

Kapadia, 93-4.

Common and abundant orchid all over in

deciduous forests.

flowers: January-May.

fruits: March- July.

distribution : Chakdev, Lingmala, Fitz-

gerald Ghat.

3 . Dendrobium crepidatum Lindl., in Paxton,

FI Gard. 1: 63, f. 45, 1850-51; Birdwood, 27;

Gammie, 33; Cooke, 2: 683 (3: 185); Puri &

Mahajan, 133; Santapau & Kapadia, 101-2.

Flowering specimen of this species has not

been collected after its report by Dr. T. Cooke,

from Mahabaleshwar. It is included here on

Cooke’s authority. Reported only from Koyna

Valley.

vern. names: Bechu, Nangli.

4. Dendrobium herbaceum Lindl. Bot. Misc.

69, 1840; Nairne 323; Cooke, 2: 682; (3:

184); Puri & Mahajan, 133; Santapau &

Kapadia, 82-4.

578

FLORA OF MAHABALESHWAR-7

D. ramosissimum Wight, Icon 5(1) 6, t. 1648;

Cooke, 2: 682 (3: 184); Puri & Mahajan, 133;

Santapau & Kapadia, 82-4.

Quite common epiphyte in deciduous forests.

This orchid comes in bloom soon after the

monsoon is over.

Collected from Lingmala, Rotunda Ghat,

Pratapsingh Park.

flowers : September-October.

fruits: October onwards.

5. Dendrobium lawianum Lindl., in Journ.

Linn. Soc. 3: 10, 1859 (lawanum); Cooke, 2:

652 (3: 186); Santapau & Kapadia, 102-105,

t. 25.

Dendrobium roseum Dalz,, Hook. KeW Journ. 4:

291, 1852.

This species is included here on authority

of T. Cooke (1885): There is no good flower-

ing specimen of this species in any of the

herbaria consulted. There is one sterile speci-

men collected by T. Cooke, deposited in

Blatter Herbarium. This sterile specimen re-

sembles very much to D. aqueum Lindl.

6. Dendrobium nanum Hook, f., in Hook.

Icon. PI. t. 1853, 1889; FBI 5: 717, 1890;

Seidenfaden, in Mathew, FI. Tamilnadu Kar-

natek, 1587-8, 1983.

D. mabelae Gammie, in J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc.

16: 567, 1905; Cooke 2: 681 (3: 183); Blatter &

McCann, 262; Santapau & Kapadia 89-91, t. 20.

A perennial epiphyte with yellowish green

pseudobulbs. Membranaceous sheeth of pseudo-

bulbs forms network of fibres after drying of

leaves. Collected from Lingmala, Fitzgerald

Ghat, and Rotunda Ghat.

flowers: July-September.

fruits: September onwards.

7. Dendrobium macraei Lindl., Gen. Sp.

Orch. 75, 1830; Cooke, T. 652; Birdwood 27;

Cooke, 2: 680 (3: 182); Santapau & Kapa-

dia, 79-81, t. 16.

D. nodosum Dalz., in Hook. Journ. Bot. 4: 292,

1852.

Very remarkable species with distinct and

creeping rhizome. Leaves remain persistent

throughout the year. This species is included

here on the authority of T. Cooke and Wood-

row. It is reported by them from Koyna Valley.

flowers: July- August.

8. Dendrobium microhulbon Rich, in Ann.

Soc. Nat. (ser. 2), 15: 19, t. 8, 1841; Bird-

wood, 22: Nairne 322; Cooke, 2: 681 (3:

183); Puri & Mahajan, 133; Santapau &

Kapadia, 87-8, t. 18.

D. humile Wight, Icon. t. 1643, 1852; Cooke, 652.

A tiny pseudobulbous epiphytic orchid.

Leaves caducous. Flowers white with faint

fragrance appear in the beginning of the

monsoon.

flowers: July-October.

fruits: January -May.

distribution: Chinaman’s Falls, Lodwick

point, Mahabaleshwar town.

9. Dendrobium ovatum (Willd.) Kranz., in

Planzenr. 45: 71, 1910; Puri & Mahajan, 133;

Santapau & Kapadia, 91-3, t. 21.

Cymbidium ovatum Willd. Sp. PI. 4: 101, 1805.

D. chlorops Lindl., in Bot. Reg. Misc. 44, 1844;

Birdwood, 26; Cooke, 2: 682 (3: 184).

D. barbatulum Wight, Icon. t. 910, 1843 (non

Lindl.).

This species is usually found in open decidu-

ous forests, as an epiphyte. It is reported from

Mahabaleshwar by T. Cooke. We have not

seen any reliable specimen in any of the her-

baria consulted.

flowers: September- January.

fruits: February-March.

10. Dendrobium macrostacliyum Lindl. Gen.

Sp. Orch. 78, 1830; Wight, Icon. t. 1647, 1851;

Cooke, 2: 683 (3: 185); Santapau & Kapa-

dia, 96-8.

A pendulous epiphyte with sweet scented

flowers which are racemose, pale green first

579

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

This species has been collected by T. Cooke

from Koyna Valley.

flowers: May- June.

fruits: June-December.

11. Dendrobium pierardii Roxb., in Hook.

Exot. Flor. t. 9, 1828 et FI. Ind. 3: 482, 1832;

Graham, 203; FBI, 5: 738-9; Birdwood, 27;

Cooke, 2: 685 (3: 187).

The species has been recorded by Birdwood.

But Santapau & Kapadia have not included

this species among Bombay Orchids.

Eria Lindl. (nom. cons.)

1. Flowers 20-30 mm long, solitary E. reticosa

1 . Flowers under 12 mm long, in racemes 2

2. Pseudobulbs conical-ovoid; scapes shorter or

equalling the leaves; pedicels and ovary pube-

ralous E. mysorensis

2. Pseudobulbs discoid; scapes longer than the

leaves; pedicels and ovary glabrous 3

3. Scapes usually without leaves, zigzag, 1-4

cm. long; flowers greenish white

E. exilis

3. Scape always with leaves, straight, 3-9 cm

long, flowers pale yellow 4

4. Flowers secund, lip without callosites

at the base E. dalzellii

4. Flowers not secund; lip with two callo-

sites at the base E. microchilos

1 . Eria dalzellii (Hook.) Lindl. in J. Linn.

Soc. 3: 47, 1858 (nom. et syn., non descr.);

Birdwood, 27; Cooke 2: 651 (3: 193); Santa-

pau et Kapadia, 152-3.

Dendrobium dalzellii Hook. J. Dot. 4: 292, 1852.

More or less robust herbs with stout pedun-

cles. Floral bracts up to 3 times longer than

the ovary. Margins of sepals and petals with

capitate glands. Lip without callosites at the

base.

flowers: July- August.

fruits : August-October.

distribution: Lingmala, Fitzgerald Ghat,

Koina Valley.

2. Eria exilis Hook. f. in FI. Brit. India, 5:

788, 1890; Hook. f. Ic. PI. t. 2074, 1891; Santa-

pau & Kapadia, 150-151.

E. minima Blatt. & McCann, in J. Bombay nat.

Hist. Soc. 35: 274, f. 2, 1931.

Minute epiphytes with pseudobulbs 3-12 mm

across. Leaves sessile appearing usually before

the flowers. Petals more or less half as long as

sepals; the lip more or less equalling the

petals.

flowers : October-December.

fruits: October-May.

distribution: Tiger Path, Madhu Kosh,

Folkland point, Lodwick point, Chinaman’s

falls.

3. Eria microcliilos (Dalz.) Lindl. in J. Linn.

Soc. 3: 47, 1858 (nom. et syn., non descr.);

Cooke 2: 652 (3: 194); Santapau et Kapadia,

154-6.

Dendrobium microchilos Dalz. in Hook. J. Bot.

3: 345, 1851.

Slender herbs with more or less filiform

peduncle. Floral bracts just longer than ovary.

Margins of sepals and petals without glands.

Lip with 2 callosites at the base.

flowers: July- August.

fruits : August-October.

4. Eria mysorensis Lindl. in J. Linn. Soc.

3: 54, 1858; Birdwood, 27; Cooke, 2: 652

(3: 194); Santapau & Kapadia, 149.

E. pubescens Wight, Icon, 5(1) : 4, 1851, E. poly-

stachya Wight, Icon. t. 1634, 1851 (non A. Rich.

1841).

Epiphyte with ± 3 cm long pseudobulbs.

Flowers white; lip with purple blotches at the

base and apical part yellow. The only speci-

men of this species near Mahabaleshwar was

collected from Koyna Valley.

flowers: July.

5. Eria reticosa Wight, Icon. 5(1): 4, t. 1637,

1851; Cooke, 2: 690 (3: 193); Puri & Maha-

jan, 133; Santapau, 303; Santapau 8z Kapadia,

146-7, t. 34.

580

FLORA OF MAH A BALESFIW A R-7

E . uniflova Dalz. in Hook. J. Bot. Ill, 1852.

E. bracteata Dalz. & Gibs. Bombay FI. 262, 1861

(non Lindl. 1859); Cooke, 2: 652 (3: 193); Bird-

wood, 27.

E. rupestris Blatt. & McCann, in J. Bombay nat.

Hist. Soc. 35: 270, f. 6, 1931.

This species is found on perpendicular rocks

and tree-trunks in open situations, always

directly facing the monsoon showers.

Pseudobulbs discoid with reticulate sheath,

which become loose on drying. Leaves appear-

ing along with flowers. Flowers white, variable

in size, sweetly and strongly scented.

flowers: June- July.

fruits: August-March.

distribution: Fitzgerald Ghat, Lodwick

point, Rotunda Ghat, Lingmala.

Eulophia R. Br. (nom. cons.)

1. Eiilophia mida Lindl., Gen. Sp. Orch. 180,

1833; Blatter & McCann, 487; Cooke 2: 693

(3: 197); Santapau & Kapadia, 115-6.

E. bicolor Dalz. in Kew J. Bot. 3: 343, 1851.

Cryptopera fusca Wight, Icon. 5(1): 11, t. 1690,

1891.

Very variable plant, in respect to the size

and colour of the flowers. This species collect-

ed from Ambenali from the foot of Maha-

baleshwar, by Blatter & McCann.

flowers: June.

Habenaria Wiild.

1 . Petals 2-partite . . . . 2

2. Lower segment of petals filiform, less than

or upto half as long as the upper ones

H. digitata

2. Lower segments of petals 2-3 times longer

than the upper ones 3

3. Leaves several, clustered about the middle

of the stem H. multicaudata

3. Leaves few, radical 4

4. Leaves 2-5, oblong or oblong-lanceo-

late, thin, not flat on ground

H. rariflora

4. Leaves 1-2, ovate to almost orbicular,

flat on ground, fleshy, coriaceous

H. grandifloriformis

1 . Petals entire 5

5. Leaves 2, rarely more, flat on ground

FI. crassifolia

5. Leaves radical or cauline, not flat on ground

..6

6. Lateral lobes of lip broader than midlobe,

obliquely truncate, denticulate at apex .... 7

7. Spur shorter than or equalling ovary..

H. panchganensis

7. Spur If -3 times longer than ovary. . . .

H. plantaginea

6. Lateral lobes of lip not broader than mid-

lobe, linear-oblong to linear-filiform ....

H. hayneana

1 . Habenaria crassifolia A. Rich., in Ann.

Sci. Nat. (ser. 2) 15: 72, t. 3C, 1841; Bird-

wood, 28; Cooke, 2: 722 (3: 227); Santapau

& Kapadia, 22-4; Puri & Mahajan, 134.

Platanthera brachyphylla Lindl. Gen. Sp. Orch.

293, 1835; Wight, Icon., t. 1694, 1853; Lee, 466.

This is a common orchid, found on hill-

slopes among grass.

flowers: August-October.

distribution: Petit Road, Lodwick point,

Yenna Lake, Lingmala, Fitzgerald Ghat,

Chinaman’s falls, Wilson point. Dhobi falls.

2. Habenaria digitata Lindl. Gen. Sp. Orch.

307, 1835; Cooke, 2: 715 (3:220); Puri &

Mahajan, 134; Santapau, 303; Santapau &

Kapadia, 10-12, t. 3, ff. 7-8.

H. trinervia Wight. Icon. t. 1701. 1851; Cooke.

652, 1885.

Common orchid in open grasslands.

flowers: July-October.

fruits : August-November.

distribution: Petit Road, Lodwick point,

Lingmala, Chinaman’s falls, Kate’s point,

Bobington point. Old Mahabaleshwar, Wilson

point.

3. Habenaria gibsoni var. foliosa (Hook, f.)

Santapau & Kapadia, in J. Bombay nat. Hist.

Soc. 56: 194, t. 2, f. 6, 1959.

581

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

A. foliosa A. Rich, in Ann. Sci. Nat. (ser. 2) 15:

71. t. 3 A, 1841; Wight, Icon. t. 1700, 1853; Cooke

2: 716 (3: 221).

H. digitata var. foliosa Hook. f. in FBI. 6: 135,

1890; Cooke. 2: 716 (3: 220).

H. spencei Blatt. & McCann, J. Bombay nat. Hist.

Soc. 36: 17, t. 3, 1932.

A rare species of which only two specimens

are known from Mahabaleshwar.

Santapau & Kapadia ascribe the authority

of this variety to Achille Richard, but actually

the species was reduced to varietal rank by

J. D. Hooker in Flora of British India. This

taxon is known from Mahabaleshwar from a

single collection.

flowers: September.

4 . Habenaria grandifloriformis Blatter et

McCann, J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 36: 17,

1932; Santapau & Kapadia, 17-19.

H. grandiflora Lindl. ex Dalz. & Gibs., Bombay

FI. 267, 1861; (non Torr. ex Beck. 1823); Birdwood.

27; Cooke, 2: 716 (3: 221); Santapau, 400, 1962

& 303, 1963; Puri & Mahajan, 134.

H. rotundifolia Lindl. Gen. Sp. Orch. 306, 1835.

(non A. Rich. 1823).

H. grandifloriformis var. aequiloba Blatter et

McCann, ibid. 18, 1832.

A common orchid in open grasslands among

short grasses. It is one of the first species

to come into flowers at the beginning of the

monsoon.

flowers: June- July.

distribution: Wilson point, Kate’s point.

5. Habenaria heyneana Lindl. Gen. Sp.

Orchid. 320, 1835; Wight Icon. t. 923; Cooke,

2: 199 (3: 225); Santapau, 400, 1962 & 303,

1963; Santapau & Kapadia, 32-3. H. Candida

Dalz., in Hook. J. Bot. 2: 262, 1850.

H. cerea Blatter & McCann. J. Bombay nat. Hist.

Soc. 36: 21, t. 6, 1932.

H. cerea var. polyantha Blatter & McCann, ibid.

22, 1932.

H. subpubens A. Rich., Ann. Sci. Nat. (ser. 2)

15: 75, t. 4C, 1841; Birdwood, 28: Naime 331.

A rather variable orchid growing abundantly

in rocky plateaus. Flowers are white or cream

coloured which turn yellow gradually and

finally black on drying. It is a common orchid

on hill-slopes among grass.

flowers : August-November.

distribution : Petit Road, Kate’s point,

Sindola.

6 . Habenaria multicaudata Sedgwick, in Rec.

Bot. Surv. India, 6: 352, 1919; Blatter &

McCann, 16; Santapau & Kapadia, 14-15 t.

6. f. 1.

This species is known from a single collec-

tion from Mahabaleshwar and it is not report-

ed from the reorganised State of Maharashtra

by earlier collectors.

flowers: September.

7 . Habenaria panchganensis Santapau &

Kapadia, in J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 54: 478,

1957 et Orchid Bombay, 27-8, t. 6, f. 24.

H. variabilis Blatter & McCann, in J. Bombay

nat. Hist. Soc. 36: 19-20, tt. 4-5, 1932 (non Ridley,

1886).

This is one of the commonest and most

abundant ground orchids at Mahabaleshwar

during the monsoon.

flowers: July-September.

distribution : Sindola plateau, Wilson point,

Kate’s point, Petit Road.

8 . Habenaria plantaginea Lindl. Gen. Sp.

Orch. 323, 1835; Wight, Icon. t. 1710, 1851;

Cooke, 2: 718 (3: 224); Birdwood, 28; Santa-

pau, 308; Puri and Mahajan, 134.

This species is found on open slopes of hills

either singly or in groups.

flowers : September-November.

distribution: Lodwick point, Ambenali.

9. Habenaria Songecorniculata Graham, Cat.

Bombay Plants, 202, 1839; Santapau & Kapa-

dia, 29-30.

H. longecalcarata A. Rich, in Ann. Sci. Nat. (ser.

2) 15: 71, t. 3B, 1841: Wight, Icon. t. 1925, 1853;

Cooke 2: 198 (3: 223); Puri & Mahajan, 134.

H. longecalcarata var. viridis Blatter & McCann,

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 36: 20, 1932.

582

FLORA OF M A HA BA LESH WAR-7

This species is reported here only on the

authority of Puri & Mahajan. We have not seen

any authentic specimen from Mahabaleshwar

although it is quite common at Matheran,

Amboli, Poona & Khandala.

flowers: July-September.

fruits: October.

specimen mentioned: Puri -25625 (BSI).

10. Habenaria rariflora A. Rich., Ann. Sci.

Nat. (ser. 2) 15: 70, t. 20, 1841; Wight, Icon,

t. 924; Cooke 2: 776 (3: 221); Santapau &

Kapadia, 15-17, t. 3, ff. 9-10.

Rare species among the grasses. Only speci-

men of this species in Blatter Herbarium (L. J.

Sedgwick — 7964) is supposed to have been

collected in April, which is otherwise a typical

monsoon species.

Malaxis Solander ex 0. Swartz

I . Malaxis rheedii Sw. Kongl. Vetansk.

Acad. Nya Handl. 21: 235, 1800; Graham,

Cat. Bombay PI. 202, 1839; Nair & Ansari,

Taxon 30: 475, 1981.

Malaxis versicolor (Lindl.) Santapau & Kapadia.

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 58: 347, 1961.

Microstylis versicolor Lindl. Gen. Sp. Orch. 21,

1830; Cooke, 2: 678 (3: 179-80); Puri" & Mahajan.

133; Santapau, 304.

M. rheedii Wight, Icon. t. 902, 1844-5; Cooke,

652, 1885; Birdwood, 27.

Quite common perennial herb in shady

places usually found in rocky grounds.

flowers: July-November.

distribution: Yenna lake, Lingmala, Fitz-

gerald Ghat, Goulani Point.

Nervilia Comm, ex Gaud. (nom. cons.)

1 . Nervilia prainiana (King & Prantl.) Seidenf.

Dansk. Bot. Ark. 32(2): 149, 1978.

Nervilia crispata auct. (non(Bl.) Schltr. 1911);

Rao, Bull. Bot. Surv. Ind. 5: 63, t. 1, 1963.

Pogonia pr aim ana King & Prantl. J. Asiat. Soc.

Bengal, Pt. 2, Nat. Hist. 65: 129, 1896.

N. monantha Blatter & McCann, J. Bombay nat.

Hist. Soc. 35: 724, 1932; Santapau & Kapadia 130.

A rare species in shady places near Lin-

gmala. Only known from a single collection

(M. R. Almeida — 2236).

flowers : August-September.

Oberonia Lindl. (non. cons.)

1 . Flowers in distinct verticals, not imbricating;

pedicels more than 2 mm. long. . . .O. recurva var.

lingmalensis

1. Flowers imbricating; pedicels short (0.75-1.5

mm. long) O. recurva var.

recurva

1 . Oberonia recurva Lindl. in Bot. Reg.

Misc. 8, 1839; Cooke, 2: 676 (3: 176); Bird-

wood, 27; Cooke 2: 676; Puri & Mahajan, 133;

Santapau & Kapadia, 61-2.

Rare epiphytic orchid, very variable with

regards to its shape and size of the floral parts.

flowers : November-February.

fruits: December- July.

2. Oberonia recurva var. lingmalensis (Blat-

ter & McCann) Santapau & Kapadia, J. Bom-

bay nat. Hist. Soc. 57: 259, 1960; Santapau

& Kapadia, 64.

O. lingmalensis Blatter & McCann, J. Bombay nat.

Hist. Soc. 35: 255, 1931.

Common epiphytic orchid all over Maha-

baleshwar.

flowers: July-December.

distribution: Yenna Lake, Lingmala, Wil-

son point, Bhilar estate, Kate’s point, Maha-

baleshwar Bazar.

Peristylus Blume

1 . Leaves sessile, narrowly lanceolate; Lateral sepals

linear; lateral lobes of lip subulate, or narrowly

linear oblong, spreading, about twice as long as

the midlobe; spur scarcely clavate at the apex.. . .

P. densus

1 . Leaves tapered at the base, broadly obovate-

elliptic; lateral sepals broad; lobes of lip sub-

equal; linear-oblong, rounded; spur inflated at the

apex 2

583

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

2. Spur equalling or exceeding the sepals; flowers

yellow P. stocksii

2. Spur shorter than the sepals; flowers green..

P. aristatus

1 . Peristylius dcnsus (Lindl.) Santapau &

Kapadia, Orchids of Bombay, 46-8, t. 9 A-B,

1966.

Coeloglossum densum Lindl. Gen. Sp. Orch. 302,

1835. Habenaria peristyloides Wight, Icon. t. 1702,

1851.

H. stenostachya Benth. FI. Hong Kong, 362, 1861;

Birdwood, 28.

P. xanthochlorus Blatt. & McCann, J. Bombay

nat. Hist. Soc. 35: 734, 1932.

Rare orchid in partially shaded places along

forest margins.

flowers : August-October.

2. Peristylus aristatus Lindl. ex Gamble, FI.

Pres. Madras 1474, 1928; Jorapur & Garg,

Ind. J. Forestry, 3(2): 174-5, 1980.

H. aristatus Hook, f., in FI. Brit. Ind. 6: 156,

1890.

This species has been reported from Babing-

ton point on way to Robber’s Cave in open

cut forest. Only specimen of this species is in

Herbarium of Botany Department of Karna-

taka University.

flowers: August.

3. Peristylus stocksii (Hook, f.) Kranz.

Orchid, Gen. Spec. 1: 51, 1898; Cooke, 2:

710; Santapau & Kapadia, 48-9, t. 9 C-D!.

Habenaria stocksii Hook, f., FI. Brit. Ind. 6: 158,

1890.

Common orchid in the undergrowth of

forests.

flowers: July-September.

fruits : August-October.

Platanthera L. C. Rich.

1. Platanthera susannae (Linn.) Lindl. Gen.

Sp. Orch. 295, 1835; Wight, Icon. t. 920, 1844-

5; Lee, 466; Nairne 329-30; Cooke, 2: 713;

Puri & Mahaian 134; Santapau 134; Santapau

& Kapadia, 42-5, t. 7.

Orchis susannae Linn. Sp. PI. 939, 1753.

Habenaria susannae R. Br. Prodr. 312, 1810;

Birdwood, 24.

H. gigantea Don, Prodr. FI. Nep. 24, 1825; Gra-

ham, 201.

Rare species among the grasses and extreme-

ly endangered due to enthusiastic collectors,

for its large fragrant flowers.

occurrence: Lingmala.

flowers : September-October.

fruits: October-December.

Rhynchostylis Bl.

1 . Rhynchostylis retusa (Linn.) Blume, Bijdr.

286, t. 49, 1825; Santapau, 304 1963; Santapau

& Kapadia, 211-12.

Epidendrum retusum Linn. Sp. PI. 953, 1753.

Aerides retusum Sw. in Schrad. J. 2: 233, 1799;

Graham, 204.

This species is reported from a single

collection from Mahabaleshwar (H. Santapau -

13134 B). We have not seen this species at

Mahabaleshwar and Rev. Fr. Santapau’s above

mentioned specimen is not located in Blatter

Flerbarium.

Thurda Reichb. f.

1 . Thunia venosa Rolfe, in Orchid. Rev. 13:

206, 1905; Cooke, 2: 692; Puri & Mahajan,

133; Santapau & Kapadia, 184-6, t. 43.

There is only one herbarium specimen at

Calcutta (CNH), collected by Cartensen.

We have not seen it in the area under study.

flowers: July, fruits: March.

Vanda R. Br.

1. Vanda testacea (Lindl.) Reichb. f., Gard.

Chron. 2: 166, 1877; Santapau & Kapadia,

219-220.

Aerides testaceum Lindl. Gen. Sp. Orch. 238, 1833.

V. spathulata Graham, Cat. Bombay PI. 204, 1839

(non Spr. 1826).

584

FLORA OF MAHABALESHW AR-7

V. parviflora Lindl., Bot. Reg. 30: Misc. 45, 1844;

Wight, Icon. t. 1669, 1851; Cooke, 2: 703; Puri &

Mahajan, 1 34.

Rare orchid in Koyna Valley, below Maha-

baleshwar. We have not seen this species on

the plateau.

flowers: May-June; fruits: July onwards.

ZlNGIBERACEAE

1. Lateral staminodes broad 2

2. Connectives not spurred at the base; corolla-

tube long, slender 3

3. Stigma turbinate Hitchenia

3. Stigma subglobose Hedychium

2. Connectives spurred at the base; corolla- tube

funnel-shaped Curcuma

1. Lateral staminodes small, obtuse, narrow

Zingiber

Curcuma Linn.

1 . Flowers appearing with the leaves; bracts of coma

with purple edges only C. pseudomontana

1. Flowers appearing before leaves on a separate

stalk; bracts of the coma entirely purple or

crimson C. zerumbet

1 . Curcuma pseudomontana Graham, Cat.

PI. Bombay 210, 1839; Dalz. & Gibs. 275;

Cooke, 2: 730 (3: 236).

C. ranadei Prain, in Journ. Bombay nat. Hist.

Soc. 11: 463, 1898.

C. montana Baker, in Hook, f., FI. Brit. India

6: 214, 1892 (non Rose., 1828); Birdwood, 28, 1897.

Quite common rhizomatous herb in open

forests among undergrowth.

flowers : September-October.

local name: Ram Haldi.

2. Curcuma zerumbet Roxb., in Asiat. Res.

11: 333, 1810; Graham, 209.

C. zedoaria Rose., Monandr. PI. t. 109, 1828; FBI

6: 210; Birdwood, 28, 1897; Cooke, 2: 732 (3: 238).

Cultivated in private gardens for tubers

which are used in medicines as well as making

red powder which is used during Holi festival.

flowers: July-September.

local name: Kachora.

Hitchenia Wall.

1. Hitchenia caulina (Graham) Baker, in

Hook. f„ FI. Brit. India 6: 224, 1890; Birdwood,

28, 1897; Nairne 337; Cooke, 2: 728 (3: 233);

Santapau, 398, 1962 & 311, 1963; Puri & Maha-

jan, 134, 1960.

Curcuma caulina Graham, Cat. Bombay PI. 210,

1839; Dalz. & Gibs. 275; Lisboa, in Journ. Bombay

nat. Hist. Soc. 2: 140, t. opp. p. 140, 1889; Lee

466, 1885; Cooke, 651, 1885.

One of the common and abundant plants

of Mahabaleshwar, in monsoon. It is found

all over in open as well as in partially shaded

places at Lingmala, Wilson point, Kate’s point,

Babington point, Fitzgerald ghat. Petit road,

Lodwick point, Madhu kosh, etc. Tubers of this

plant are collected for edible starch. There are

two forms commonly met at Mahabaleshwar;

one with white bracts and other with purple.

Flowers in one form are white whereas in the

second form they are pink in colour. Roots

bear terminal tubers.

flowers : J uly-September .

local names: Chowar, Chavar, Araroot.

Hedychium Koenig

1 . Hedychium coronarium Koenig, in Retz.

Obs. Bot. Fasc. 3: 73, 1783; Graham, 205;

Dalz. & Gibs, suppl. 86; Wight, Icon. t. 2010,

1853; Bot. Mag. t. 708, 1803; FBI 6: 225;

Birdwood, 28, 1897; Cooke, 2: 728 (3: 234);

Puri & Mahajan, 134, 1960.

This species has been reported to occur

near Lingmala on sides of Yenna river. We

have not been able to locate it in wild state,

however it is quite common in cultivation at

Mahabaleshwar.

flowers: Throughout the year.

local names: Sontaka, Gulabchampa.

2. Hedychium coronarium Koeng. var.

flavum (Roxb.) J. G. Baker, in FI. Brit. Ind.

6: 226, 1892; Birdwood, 28, 1897.

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JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

H. flavum Roxb. FI. Ind. 1: 12, 1824; Bot. Mag.

t. 3039, 1831.

This variety with fragrant bright yellow

flowers has been reported by Birdwood, on

Lisboa’s authority. According to him this

species comes in blooms immediately after the

first rains.

Zingiber Boehm.

1 . Zingiber neesanum (Graham) Rama-

murthy, in FI. Hassan Dist. 769, 1976. Alpinia

neesana Graham, Cat. PI. Bombay 207, 1839.

Z. macrostachywn Dalz. in Kew Journ. Bot. 4:

342, 1852; Dalz. & Gibs. 273; FBI 6: 247; Lee, 466,

1885; Cooke, 651 & 2: 735 (3: 241); Birdwood 28;

Puri & Mahajan, 134; Santapau, 400, 1962 & 311.

1963.

Rhizomatous perennial found all over along

forest margins as well as in dense shady places

among undergrowth. Common at Kate’s

point, Lingmala, Petit road, Kelghar ghat.

Nakinda village, Fitzgerald ghat, and near

Yenna lake. Spikes and bracts of the plant

are orange-red in colour and develop laterally

to the main stem.

flowers: July- August, local name: Nisan.

Cannaceae

Canna Linn.

1. Canna indica Linn. Sp. PI. 1, 1753;

Graham, Cat. 211; Dalz. & Gibs, suppl. 88;

FBI 6: 260; Cooke, 2: 744 (3: 251).

Common cultivated ornamental in gardens.

Flowers scarlet in colour.

flowers: Throughout the year.

local name: Dev-kel.

Musaceae

1 . Leaves distichous Ravenala

1. Leaves in whorls 2

2. Stems dilated at base; fruits with seeds Ensete

2. Stems not dilated at base; fruits seedless. . . . Musa

Ensete Bruce

1. Ensete superbum (Roxb.) Cheesman, in

Kew Bull. 1947: 100, 1948; Santapau, 298,

1963.

Musa super ba Roxb., FI. Ind. 2: 489. 1824; Wight,

Icon. tt. 2017-18, 1853; Dalz. & Gibs. 272; Bird-

wood, 28, 1897; Cooke, 2: 740-41 (3: 247). M.

textilis Graham, Cat. Bombay PI. 213. 1839.

Quite common tree-like monocarpic herbs,

found on inaccessible cliffs and on hill-slopes

along ghat areas. Fruits develop seeds and are

not eaten by man, but are eaten by monkeys.

Young inflorescences are used as vegetable.

flowers: Throughout the year.

local names: Ran-kel, Chavan-kel.

Chowani, Chawai.

Musa Linn.

1 . Musa paradisica Linn. Sp. PI. 1043, 1753;

Cooke, 2: 742 (3: 249).

Well known Banana plant cultivated for its

fruits, in private gardens.

flowers: Throughout the year.

local name: Kel.

Ravenala Adans.

1 . Ravenala madagascarensis Sonn. Voy.

3(5): 244, 1782; FBI 6: 198; Cooke, 2: 744

(3: 250).

Urania speciosa Willd., Sp. PI. 2: 7, 1799; Graham,

213; Dalz. & Gibs, suppl. 89.

Rarely cultivated in gardens as an ornamen-

tal plant.

local name: Traveller’s tree.

Haemodoraceae

Ophiopogon Ker-Gawler

1 . Ophiopogon i adieus Wight, Icon. 6: 26,

t. 2050, 1853.

O. intermedius D. Don var. pauciflora Hook, f.,

Flora Brit. India 6 : 269, 1892; Cooke, 2: 745 (3:

252).

586

FLORA OF MAHARALESHWAR-7

O. intermedins Trim. FI. Ceylon 4: 267; 1885

(non Don, 1825); Birdwood, 28; Woodrow, in J.

Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 12: 521, 1899.

Chlorophytum laxum sensu Santapau, 299, 1963

(non R. Br. 1810).

Quite common herb in shady places near

Chinaman’s fall, Lodwick point. Tiger’s path,

Dhobi’s falls and on Lingmala flats. Flowers

are white and are borne in pairs in each bract

in a terminal raceme. All the specimens in

the Blatter Herbarium were identified as

Chlorophytum laxum. Rev. Fr. Santapau’s

record of C. laxum from Mahabaleshwar is

also constituted on material belonging to this

species.

flowers: Throughout the year.

Agaveceae

1. Flowers over 10 cm. long; perianth lobes erect

Agave

1. Flowers less than 6 cm long; perianth-lobes

spreading Furcraea

Agave Linn.

1. Agave vivipara Linn. Sp. PI. 323, 1753.

Wight, Icon. 6: 18, t. 2024, 1853; Birdwood,

28, 1897.

A. cantata Dalz. & Gibs. Bombay FI. suppl. 93,

1861 (non Roxb., 1832); Lisboa 224.

A. wightii Drumond & Prain, in Agric. Ledger

7: 91, 1906; Cooke, 2: 753 (3: 261).

Aloe americana Roxb., FI. Ind. 2: 167, 1832 (non

Agave americana Linn. 1753).

Rarely planted as a hedge plant at Maha-

baleshwar.

local names: Chota guial, Guital.

Furcraea Vent.

1. Furcraea foetida (Linn.) Howorth, Syn.

PI. Succ. 73, 1812; Baker & Bakh., FI. lav.

3: 165, 1968.

Agave foetida Linn. Sp. PI. 323, 1753.

F. gigantea Ventenat, Bull. Soc. Philom. Paris 1:

65, 1793.

There are few plants of this species planted

near Wilson point and near Bhilar.

flowers: October.

Amaryllidaceae

1. Filaments are attached to the perianth-lobes, but

not connate Crinum

1 . Filaments united towards their bases by an in-

tervening petaloid membrane Pancratium

Crinum Linn.

1 . Perianth erect, salver shaped 2

2. Perianth lobes linear 3

3. Leaves 7-10 cm wide; umbels 15-20 flower-

ed C. asiaticum

3. Leaves 1.5-2 cm wide; umbels 6-12

flowered C. defixum

2. Perianth funnel-shaped C. woodrowii

1. Perianth funnel-shaped 4

4. Style longer than the filaments; stamens de-

cimate C. lati folium

4. Style shorter than the filaments; stamens not

declinate C. brachynema

1 . Crinum asiaticum Linn., Sp. PL 292, 1753;

Graham, 215; Dalz. & Gibs. 275; Cooke, 2:

749 (3: 258), 1885; Birdwood, 28; Curtis, Bot.

Mag. t. 1073, 1807.

C. toxicarium Roxb. FI. Ind. 2: 134, 1832;

Graham, 216; Wight, Icon. tt. 2021-22, 1853.

Commonly cultivated species in gardens.

Very prominent species due to its large cylin-

dric stem-like neck.

flowers: June-July. local name: Nagdaun.

2. Crinum brachynema Herbert, in Bot. Reg.

Misc. 36, 1842; Cooke, 651, 1885; Woodrow

28; FBI 6: 284; Cooke, 2: 751 (3: 258);

Lisboa 224; Puri & Mahajan, 134.

Quite common species in open forests.

Naked scapes appear just before the monsoon.

flowers: May.

3. Crinum defixum Ker-Gawler, Journ. Sci.

& Arts 3: 105, 1817; FBI 6: 281; Curtis, Bot.

Mag. t. 2208, 1818; Cooke, 2: 749 (3: 257).

C. roxburghii Dalz. & Gibs. Bombay FI. 275, 1861;

Lee, 466.

587

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

C. asiaticum Roxb., FI. Ind. 2 : 127, 1832: (non

Linn. 1753); Cooke, 651, 1885; Birdwood, 28.

Common bulbous plant on Lingmala plateau

and near Yenna lake.

flowers : August-September.

4. Crinum latifcliuin Linn. Sp. Pi. 291, 1753;

Graham, 216; Wight, Icon tt. 219-20, 1841;

FBI 6: 283; Birdwood 28; Cooke, 2: 750 (3:

258) .

Rare species along the margins of water

courses and in wet grounds.

flowers: May- June.

5. Crinum woodrowii Baker, in Bot. Mag.

t. 7597, 1898; Cooke, 2: 750 (3: 257).

This species was described from plants grown

from bulbs sent by G. M. Woodrow to Kew,

from Mahabaleshwar.

flowers: May- June.

Pancratium Linn.

L Pancratium tiiflonim Roxb., FI. Ind. 2:

126, 1832; FBI 6: 285; Cooke, "2: 752 (3:

259) ; Puri & Mahajan, 134.

This species has been reported from Maha-

baleshwar by T. Cooke, as well as by Puri &

Mahajan. We have not seen any authentic

specimen from the area under study.

flowers: May- June.

Hypoxidaceae

1. Fruit indehiscent Curculigo

1 . Fruit opening at the top as a circumsessile or 3-

valved capsule Hypoxis

Curculigo Gaertn.

1. Curculigo orchioides Gaertn., Fruct. 1:

63, t. 13, 1788; Graham, 215; FBI 6: 277;

Birdwood, 28; Cooke, 2: 748 (3: 255); Santa-

pau, 401, 1962 & 297, 1963.

C. malabarica Wight, Icon. 6: 22, t. 2043, f. 1 ,

1853; Dalz. & Gibs. 276; Birdwood, 28.

C. brivifolia Dryand. in Ait. Hort. Kew (ed. 2),

2, 253, 1811; Graham, 215; Dalz. & Gibs. 276.

Very common herb in open as well as in

shady places at Lingmala, Wilson point, Fitz-

gerald ghat, Kate’s point and near Yenna

Lake. Very attractive plant with tiny yellow

flowers arising from the axils of the radical

leaves. It is the first species to sprout in the

monsoon and to disappear last. Roots supposed

to have medicinal properties and sold in local

market under the trade name “Kali Musli”.

local name: Kajuri.

Hypoxis Linn.

1 . Hypoxis aurea Lour., FI. Cochinch. 200,

1790; FBI 6: 277; Cooke, 2: 747 (3: 254);

Puri & Mahajan, 134; Santapau 401, 1962 &

297, 1963.

C. gramini folia Nimmo ex Graham, Cat. Bombay

PI. 215, 1839; Dalz. & Gibs. 276.

Fairly common and abundant herb among

the grasses. Cleistogamic flowers and fruits are

present on the bulbs. Flowers bright yellow.

Fruits with many seeds.

flowers & fruits: May-November.

Dioscoreaceae

Dioscorea Linn.

1 . Stems twining clock- wise; seeds winged 2

2. Leaf-bases acute or rounded; male spike many

in fascicles D. oppositifolia

2. Leaf-bases cordate; male spikes 1-3 together

D. belophylla

1 . Stem twining anti-clock- wise; seeds winged at the

base only 3

3. Leaves simple .4

4. Stems winged D. sativa

4. Stems not winged D. bulbifera

3. Leaves 3-5 foliate D. pentaphylla

1. Dioscorea belophylla Voight, Hort. Sub.

Calc. 635, 1845; Prain & Burkill, in Ann. Bot.

Gard. (Calcutta) 14(2): 348, t. 127, 1938;

Santapau, 294, 1963.

D. nummularia var. belophylla Prain, Bengal PI.

2: 1067, 1903.

588

FLORA OF MAH A BA LESHW A R-7

A rare climber along edges of the forests

near Lingmala. All specimens at Blatter Her-

barium are sterile.

2. Dioscorea hulbifera Linn., Sp. PI. 1033,

1753; Graham 219; Birdwood 28; Wight, Icon,

t. 878, 1844, Cooke 2: 758 (3: 268).

Heimia bulbifera Kunth., Enum. 5: 435, 1850;

Dalz. & Gibs. 247.

Rarely cultivated in gardens for the bulbils

which are used as vegetables.

flowers : August-September.

local name: Karanda.

3. Dioscorea oppositifolia Linn. Sp. PI. 1033,

1753; Graham 219; FBI 6: 292; Dalz. & Gibs.

247; Wight, Icon. t. 813; Cooke, 2: 758 (3:

266):

Common climber along road-sides and along

edges of forests, the flowers are produced in

great profusion and in bud condition they are

used by local people as a vegetable.

flowers : August-October.

local name: Paspoli.

4. Dioscorea pentaphylla Linn., Sp. PI. 1032,

1753; Graham 218; FBI 6: 281; Dalz. & Gibs.

247; Wight, Icon. t. 814, 1844; Birdwood 28;

Cooke, 2: 757 (3: 264); Puri & Mahajan, 134;

Santapau, 294, 1963.

D. triphylla Linn. Sp. PI. 1032, 1753; Graham,

218; Dalz. & Gibs. 247; Cooke 651, 1885.

D. jaquemontii Hook, f., in FI. Brit. Ind. 6: 290,

1892.

Common climber with white flowers at Fitz-

gerald ghat. Old Mahabaleshwar, Lingmala,

Lodwick point, Madhu Kosh and Dhobi’s

Falls.

flowers : September-October.

local names: Shend-Vel, Shendon-Vel.

5. Dioscorea sativa Linn. Sp. PI. 1033, 1753;

Graham, 218; Dalz. & Gibs, suppl. 92; Hook,

f., in FBI 6: 295, 1892; Birdwood 28.

D. bulbifera Linn. var. sativa (Linn.) Prain, Ben-

gal PI. 1065, 1903; Cooke, 2: 758 (3: 266).

Rarely cultivated in gardens for its edible

tubers.

flowers: October.

local names: Godri (Birdwood), Gorkan

(Cooke).

Marantaceae

Globba Linn.

1. Globba bulbifera Roxb., As. Res. 11: 358,

1810; FBI 6: 206; Cooke, 2: 724-5 (3: 230).

G. marantina Wall. Cat. 6532, 1825 (non Linn.,

1753) (nom. nud.); Graham, 211; Dalz. & Gibs.

272; Lee. 466.

This species reported here on authority of

Lee.

Liliaceae

1 . Shrubs with perennial stems above ground; fruits

berry-like Asparagus

1 . Herbs with annual stems or scapes rising usually

from underground perennial root-stock', corm or

bulb 2

2. Underground perennial stem small; root-fibres

large, numerous, usually some or all fleshy

or tuberous Chlorophytum

2. Usually underground stems are large in pro-

portion to the roots 3

3. Climbing herbs Gloriosa

3. Erect herbs 4

4. Perennial stem a solid corm, covered

with brown sheathe; usually stems

leafy; flowers solitary or corymbose...

Iphigenia

4. Perennial stem a tunicated bulb; annual

scape simple, naked; leaves radical;

flowers racemose 5

5. Seeds sub-globose Scilla

5. Seeds flattened 6

6. Perianth campanulate, 6-

partite Urginia

6. Perianth cylindric, 6-lobed

Dipcadi

Asparagus Linn.

1. Asparagus racemosus Willd. var. javanica

(Kunth.) Baker, in J. Linn. Soc. London 14:

589

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JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

624, 1874; FBI 6: 316; Cooke, 2: 762 (3:

270); Sanlapau 298.

A. sarmentosus Graham Cat. Bombay PI. 221,

1839 (non Linn., 1753). A. jaquemontii Baker, l.c.

615, 1874.

Asparagopsis sarmentosa Dalz. & Gibs., Bombay

FI. 246, 1861 (non Kunth., 1850); Cooke, 649, 1885.

Asparagus racemosus sensu Birdwood, J. Bombay

nat. Hist. Soc.: 28, 1897 (non Willd. 1850); Puri &

Mahajan, 134.

Asparagopsis javanica Kunth., Enum. 5: 100, 1850.

Common deciduous sarmentose shrub, gene-

rally springing from the shades of other bushy

trees and shrubs. Common along sides of Petit

Road and along margins of Yenna Lake. Also

common at Kate’s point.

flowers: June-September.

local name: Ashwal.

Chlorophytum Ker-Gawler

1 . Flowers in densely flowered racemes

C. breviscapum

1 . Flowers solitary or two in a raceme

C. orchidastrum

1. Chlorophytum breviscapum Dalz. in Kew

Journ. Bot. 2: 141, 1850; Dalz. & Gibs. 252;

FBI 6: 333; Birdwood 28; Cooke 2: 771 (3:

280).

This species has been reported from Maha-

baleshwar by Birdwood. We have not seen

any specimen, from the area under study.

local name: Kula (Birdwood).

2. Chlorophytum orchidastrum Lindl., in

Bot. Reg. t. 813, 1824; FBI 6: 336; Cooke.

2: 771 (3: 282); Birdwood 28.

Anthericum nimmonii Graham, Cat. Bombay.

Chlorophytum nimmonii (Graham) Dalz. in Kew

Journ. Bot. 2: 142, 1850; Dalz. & Gibs. 252.

Phalangium oligospermum Wight, Icon. 6: 21, t.

2038, 1753. C. glaucum Dalz. in Kew Journ. Bot.

2: 142, 1850; Dalz. & Gibs. 252; FBI 6: 334; Cooke

2: 772 (3:281-2); Santapau, 299, 1963.

C. glaucoides Blatter, in J. Proc. Asiat. Soc. Bengal

(N.S.) 26(1): 361-2, 1930.

Often gregarious on grassy slopes, usually

found on precarious rock-ledges and

occasionally among the undergrowth in

forests. Root-stock is somewhat curled,

having about 20 tubers. Tubers white. Common

at Lingmala, Ledwick point. Tiger’s path and

Chinaman’s falls.

flowers : J uly-October.

Dipcadi Medic.

1 . Dipcadi ursulae Blatter, Journ. Bombay

nat. Hist. Soc. 32(4): 735, 1928.

There are few specimens in Blatter herba-

rium from Bhilar Estate. All specimens are in

fruiting condition and without leaves.

fruits: April.

Gloriosa Linn.

1 . Gloriosa superba Linn. Sp. PI. 305, 1753;

Graham, 221; Wight, Icon. t. 2047, 1853; FBI

6: 358; Cooke 2: 766 (3: 274).

Methonia superba Crantz, Inst. Herb. 474, 1766;

Dalz. & Gibs. Bombay FI. 250, 1861.

Rare climber with apical tendrils, found on

lower slopes of hills near Wada and in Koyna

Valley.

flowers : August-October.

local names: Bachnag, Khadyanag.

Iphigenia Kunth.

1. Flowers white or pale yellow; capsule

obovoid 7. pallida

1 . Flowers deep purple; capsule ellipsoid-oblong . . .

7. indica

1 . Flowers pinkish-purple 7. stellata

1. Iphigenia indica (Br.) A. Gray, in Kunth.,

Enum. 4: 213, 1843; FBI 6: 357; Birdwood

29; Cooke 2: 766 (3: 275); Puri & Mahajan*

134.

Anguillaria indica Br. Prodr. 273, 1810.

590

FLORA OF MAHABALESHW AR-7

This species is reported from Maha-

baleshwar by Birdwood. We have not seen

any authentic specimen in any herbaria from

the locality under study.

flowers: June-July.

local name: Markalli (Cooke).

2. Iphigenia pallida Baker, in J. Linn. Soc.

17: 451, 1879; FBI 6: 357; Nairne 349;

Cooke, 2: 767 (3: 275-6).

Anguiliaria indica Graham. Cat. Bombay PI. 222,

1839 (non R. Br. 1810).

This species is reported by Cooke on basis

of a herbarium specimen at Kew, without

precise authority, collected from Maha-

baleshwar.

3. Iphigenia stellata Blatter, Journ. Bombay

nat. Hist. Soc. 32(4): 734. 1928.

Common herb among grasses in rocky

grounds. Abundant at Wilson point, Kate’s

point and Petit road. Flowers pinkish purple.

Seeds of this species contain highest percen-

tage of colchicine among Iphigenia Spp.

flowers: June-September.

S cilia Linn.

1 . Sdlla hyacinthina (Roth.) McBride, in

Contr. Gray Herb. (N.S.) 56: 14, 1918.

Ledebouria hyacinthina Roth., Nov. PI. So. 195,

1821; Wight, Icon. t. 2040, 1853; Graham 220; Dalz.

& Gibs. 251.

L. maculata Dalz., Kew Journ. Bot. 2: 143, 1850;

Dalz. & Gibs. 251; Cooke, 651, 1885.

S. indica Baker, in Saund. Refug, Bot. 3; appendix

12, 1870 (non Roxb.. 1832); FBI 6: 348; Birdwood,

28; Nairne 349; Cooke, 2: 767 (3: 276); Puri &

Mahajan, 134; Santapau 401, 1962 & 299, 1963.

Fairly common bulbous herb in open grass-

lands during first half of the monsoon. Flowers

light-purple. Leaves appear after flowers.

Abundant at Wilson point and Lingmala.

flowers: June-July.

Urginia Steinh.

1 . Urginia polyantha Blatter, Journ. Bombay

nat. Hist. Soc. 32(4) 735, 1928.

Rare species among the grasses. Only known

from a single collection from Bhilar Estate, on

way to Panchgani.

flowers: April.

Smilacaceae

Stnilax Linn.

1. Stnilax zeylanica Linn. Sp. PL 1029, 1753;

FBI 6: 309; Santapau, 399, 1962 & 304, 1963.

S. macrophylla Roxb.. FI. Ind. 3: 793, 1832 (non

Willd., 1806); FBI 6: 310; Graham 219; Dalz &

Gibs. 246; Birdwood 28; Cooke 2: 763 (3:271-2);

Puri & Mahajan, 134.

S. ovalifolia Roxb., FI. Ind. 3: 794, 1832; Graham

219; Wight, Icon. t. 809, 1844; Dalz. & Gibs. 246;

Lee, 466; Cooke 649, 1885.

Woody deciduous climber with small

prickles, climbing on tall trees. Fruits globose

in umbels in axils of leaves. Leaves 5 -nerved.

Common along Petit Road, near Chinaman’s

falls, Ludwick point and Lingmala.

flowers: May.

PONTEDERIACEAE

Pontederia Linn.

1 . Pontederia cordata Linn. Sp. PI. 288, 1753;

Bot. Mag. t. 1156, Engler, in DC. Monogr.

Phan. 4: 532, 1883; Bailey, Man. Cult. PI.

200, t. 32, 1949.

Aquatic fleshy herb in marshy places, in

dense clumps in blue flowers. Possibly an

introduced plant.

flowers: May.

Comm ELI naceae

1. Leaf-sheaths inflated Amischophacellus

1 . Leaf-sheaths not inflated 2

2. Flowers irregular .... Cammelina

591

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

2. Flowers regular 3

3. Stamens 6, all fertile; cymes scorpoid. .

Cyanotis

3. Stamens 3 fertile and 3 sterile or

sterile stamens absent; cymes panicled

Murdannia

Amischophacellus Rao & Kamathy

1 . Amisdiophacellus axillaris (Linn.) Rao &

Kamathy, J. Linn. Soc. Bot. 59: 306, 1966.

Commeiina axillaris Linn. Sp. PI. 42, 1753.

Tradescantia axillaris Linn. Mant. PI. 321. 1771;

Graham, 223.

Cyanotis axillaris (Linn.) Roem. & Schult. f.,

Syst. 7: 1154, 1830; Dalz. & Gibs. 256; FBI 6:

388; Birdwood, 29; Cooke 651, 1885 & 2: 795 (3:

305).

This species is reported here on authority of

Birdwood.

flowers : August-October.

Commeiina Linn.

1 . Commeiina paludosa Blume, Enum. PI.

Jav. 1: 2, 1825; Rolla & Kamat. in Journ.

Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 59: 60, 1962.

C. obliqua Buch,-Ham. ex Don, Prodr. FI. Nepal,

45, 1825 (non Vahl, 1806); FBI 6: 372; Cooke 2:

784 (3:293-4); Santapau, 292, 1963.

C. polyspatha Wight, Icon. 6: 29, t. 2066, 1853.

C. communis sensu Cooke, Gazett. Bombay 651.

1885.

C. hirsuta sensu Santapau, J. Bombay, nat. Hist.

Soc. 401, 1962.

Common along the road-sides among the

hedges in shady places. This is one of the

largest flowered species in the genus.

flowers : August-October.

Cyanotis Don (nom. cons.)

1 . Roots bearing fusiform tubers C. tuberosa

1 . Roots fibrous, not tuberous 2

2. Plants cottony; hairs of filaments of two

colours C. fasciculata

2. Plants not cottony; hairs of filaments one

coloured 3

3. Seeds trigonous; striate C. cristata

3. Seeds truncate at base, not trigonous

C. wightii

1 . Cyanotis cristata (Linn.) Schult. f., Syst.

7: 1150, 1830; Wight, Icon. t. 2082, 1853;

Cooke 2: 794 (3: 304); Puri & Mahajan 135;

Santapau 135 & 401, 1962.

Commeiina cristata Linn. Sp. PI. 42, 1753.

This species is reported here on authority

of Puri & Mahajan and Santapau. We have

not seen any authentic specimen from Maha-

baleshwar.

2. Cyanotis fasciculata (Heyne ex Roth.)

Schultes f., Syst. 7: 1152, 1830; FBI 6: 387;

Dalz. & Gibs. 225; Cooke, 2: 787 (3: 303).

C. rosea Wight, Icon t. 2086, 1853.

C. dichotricha Wight, Icon. t. 2088, 1853.

Tradescantia fasciculata Heyne ex Roth Nov. PI.

Sp. 189, 1821.

C. fasciculata Heyne ex Roth. var. glabrescens

C. B. Clarke in DC. Monogr. Phan. 3: 253, 1881.

Common, often in dense patches, but

scarcely abundant species at Fitzgerald ghat,

Chinaman’s fall, Wilson point, Pratapsingh

Park, Yenna lake, Lingmala and along Petit

road in hard rocky grounds. Flowers blue

turning bright purple at maturity. In Maha-

baleshwar specimens there is gradual variation

in this species from cottony-wooly to glabrous

plants. Therefore we prefer to merge the variety

glabrescens with the typical Variety.

flowers: July-October.

3. Cyanotis tuberosa (Roxb.) Schult. f., Syst.

7: 1153, 1830; Dalz. & Gibs. 256; FBI 6:

386; Cooke, 2: 793 (3: 302-3); Santapau, 326.

Tradescantia tuberosa Roxb., Cor. PI. 2: 5, t.

108, 1798; Graham, 223.

Common among grasses in rocky grounds,

especially on way to Kate’s point and Lingmala

falls. Reddish purple flowers clustered in a

head make this species very conspicuous

along the forest fringes.

flowers : September-October.

4. Cyanotis wightii C. B. Clarke, in DC.

Monogr. 3: 250, 1881; FBI 6: 386; Birdwood

29; Cooke 2: 795 (3: 304); Puri & Mahajan.

135.

592

FLORA OF MAHABALESHWAR-7

Cyanotis longifolia Wight, Icon. 6: 33, t. 2084,

1853 (non Benth. 1849).

This species is reported from Mahabaleshwar

by T. Cooke.

Murdannia Royle

1 . Inflorescence terminal, cymose paniculate 2

2. Grass-like herbs; leaves needle-shaped

M. nimmonii

2. Not grass-like herbs; leaves not needle-shaped

3

3. Weak, prostrate Or decumbent herbs .... 4

4. Capsules 9 or less than 9 seeded

M. nudiflorum

4. Capsule more than 9-seeded

M. spiratum

3. Erect, robust herbs 5

5. Roots tuberous M. simplex

5. Roots fibrous M. giganteum

1 . Inflorescence axillary, consisting of 1-3 flowers. .. 6

6. Flowers ochre-yellow 7

7. Filaments bearded M. versicolor

7. Filaments naked M. ochracea

6. Flowers blue 8

8. Filaments bearded; seeds angular

M. lanuginosa

8. Filaments naked; seeds cubical

M. wightii

1 . Murdannia gigantea (Vahl) Bruckn. in

Pfam. 15A: 173, 1930.

Commelina gigantea Vahl, Enum. 2: 177, 1806.

Aneilema giganteum R. Br., Prodr. 271, 1880; FBI

6 : 379; Cooke 2: 789 (3:299); Puri & Mahajan,

135.

A. encifolium Wight, Icon. t. 2074, 1853.

This species is included here on authority

of Cooke and Puri & Mahajan, who have

reported it from Mahabaleshwar.

2. Murdannia lanuginosum (Wall, ex Clarke)

Bruckn. in Pfam. 15A, 173, 1930.

Aneilema lanuginosum Wall, ex Clarke, in DC.

Monog Phan. 3: 214, 1881; FBI 5: 380; Cooke,

2: 790 (3: 300); Puri & Mahajan, 135.

Rare erect herb near Lingmala, along road-

sides with Ochre-yellow flowers.

flowers: May-October.

3. Murdannia nimmoniana (Graham) Comb.

Nov.

Commelina nimmoniana Graham, Cat. Bombay

PI. 224, 1839.

M. semeteres (Dalz.) Santapau, in Poona Agric.

Coll. Mag. 41: 284, 1951 & Rec. Bot. Surv. Ind.

16(1): 325, 1953.

Aneilema semeteres Dalz. in Kew Journ. Bot. 3:

138, 1951; Dalz. & Gibs. 254.

A. paniculata Wall, ex Clarke, in DC. Monogr.

Phan. 3: 815, 1881; FBI 6: 381; Cooke, 2: 790

(3: 300).

Dichaespermum juncoides Wight, Icon. t. 2078,

1853.

Common herb near Wilson point. Flowers

blue. Leaves characteristically needle-shaped.

flowers : J uly-September.

Note : The earliest name, Commelina nim-

moniana Graham, is very often neglected by

modern taxonomist as nomen sub-nudum,

because it is not well described by Graham.

But it is the only member of family Commelina-

ceae from its type locality with needle-shaped

leaves which was well known to Cooke, and

which was placed by him in the synonymy of

Aneilema paniculatum Wall.

4. Murdannia nudiflora (Linn.) Bruckn.,

Kew Bull. 7: 189, 1952.

Commelina nudiflora Linn., Sp. PI. 41, 1753 (pro

parte), Graham, 223.

Aneilema nudiflorum (Linn.) Wall., List. 182, no.

5224, 1839 (non R. Br., 1810); Dalz & Gibs. 253;

Cooke 2: 788 (3: 298).

M. malabarica (Linn.) Bruckn. in Pfam. ed. 2,

15A: 173, 1930; Santapau, in Journ. Bombay nat.

Hist. Soc. 52; 658, 1955. Tradescantia malabarica

Linn. Sp. PI. ed. 2, 412, 1762.

Commelina communis Walter, FI. Carol. 68, 1788;

Dalz. & Gibs. 252; Cooke, 651, 1885.

Common herb among grasses.

flowers : September-October.

5. Murdannia ochracea (Dalz.) Bruckn., in

Engl. & Prantl. Pfam. 15A: 173, 1930.

Aneilema ochraceum Dalz., in Kew Journ. Bot.

3: 135, 1851.

Dichaespermum repens Wight, Icon. 6: 31, t.

2078, f. 3, 1853 (non Hask., 1881).

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST . SOCIETY, Vol. 83

This species is known from a single collec-

tion from Mahabaleshwar (BSI — -No. 67575).

6. Murdannia simplex (Vahl) Brenan, Kew

Bull. 1952: 186, 1952; Gandhi, FI. Hassan

649, 1976.

Commelina simplex Vahl, Enum. 2: 177, 1806.

Aneilema sinicum Ker-Gawler, Bot. Reg. t. 659,

1822; FBI 6: 379; Birdwood 29; Cooke, 2: 789 (3:

299); Puri & Mahajan, 134.

A. secundum Wight, Icon. t. 2075, 1853.

Very common and abundant, very often

gregarious herb in moist grounds along road-

sides, in open grass-lands and along edges of

forests. Tallest species in the genus, easily dis-

tinguishable due to its tuberous roots and

blue flowers. Collected from Lingmala, Kate’s

point, Lodwick point & Bhilar estate.

flowers : August-September.

7. Murdannia spiratum (Linn.) Bruckn., in

Engl. & Prantl., Pfam., ed. 2, 15A: 173. 1930;

Santapau, 324.

Commelina spirata Linn. Mant. 1 : 176, 1767.

Aneilema spiratum R. Br., Prodr. 271, 1810 (in

adnot); FBI 6: 377; Birdwood, 29; Cooke 2: 787

(3: 296-7); Puri & Mahajan, 134.

A. canaliculatum Dalz. in Kew Journ. Bot. 3:

137. 1851; Dalz. & Gibs. 254.

A. nanum Kunth. Enum. 4: 65, 1843; Wight, Icon,

t. 2977, 1853.

Occasional among grasses in hard rocky

grounds.

flowers : J uly-November.

8. Murdannia wightii Rao et Kamathy, in

Bull. Bot. Surv. India, 3: 168, 1961.

M. pauciflorum (Wight) Bruckn., in Engl. &

Prantl.. Pfam. 15A: 173, 1930. Aneilema pauciflorum

Wight, Icon. t. 2077, 1853 (non Dalzell, 1851); FBI

6: 378; Birdwood, 29; Cooke. 2: 788 (3: 297);

Puri & Mahajan, 134.

This species also known from a single col-

lection from Mahabaleshwar by T. Cooke.

flowers: October.

9. Murdannia versicolor (Dalz.) Bruckn., in

Pfam., ed. 2, 15A: 173, 1930; Santapau, 324.

Aneilema versicolor Dalz. in Kew Journ. Bot. 3:

136, 1851; Dalz. & Gibs. 253; FBI 6: 378; Cooke

2: 788 (3:298).

Occasional among grasses in moist and slop-

ing grounds. Common at Babington point.

Dhobi’s falls, Lingmala, Lodwick point and

in Pratapsingh Park.

flowers : September-November.

Arecaceae

1 . Basal leaflets not spinous Caryota

1 . Basal leaflets spinous Phoenix

Caryota Linn.

1. Caryota urens Linn. Sp. PI. 1189, 1753;

Graham, 226; Dalz. & Gibs. 278; FBI 6: 422;

Birdwood, 29; Cooke 2: 805 (3: 315-6); Puri

& Mahajan, 135.

Rare palm along forest margins.

flowers: Throughout the year.

local names: Bherli mad. Fish-tail palm.

Phoenix Linn.

1 . Phoenix sylvestris (Linn.) Roxb., FI. Ind.

3: 787, 1832; Graham, 224; Dalz. & Gibs. 278;

Cooke 2: 801 (3: 311).

Elate sylvestris Linn. Sp. PI. 1189. 1753 (pro

parte) .

Rare palm at Mahabaleshwar.

flowers : January-February.

local name: Shindi, Wild date palm.

594

FLORA OF MAHABALESHW AR-7

Araceae

1. Plants not climbers 2

2. Aquatic or marsh plants, without tubers Cryptocorine

2. Terrestrial tuberous herbs 3

3. Flowers bisexual (spadix homogenous); venation striate Zantedeschia

3. Flowers unisexual; venation reticulate 4

4. Leaves simple 5

5. Plants bearing leafless bulbiferous shoots Remusatia

5. Plants without leafless bulbiferous shoots 6

6. Spadix with a barren terminal appendix 7

7. Ovules many, parietal Colocasia

1. Ovules few, basal Alocasia

6. Spadix without barren terminal appendix 8

8. Leaves not variegated Ariopsis

8. Leaves variegated Caladiiim

4. Leaves compound 9

9. Male flowers stipitate; flowers diocious Arisacma

9. Male flowers sessile or so; flowers always monoecious Amorphophallus

1 . Climbers 10

10. Leaves pinnately cut or perforated Monstera

10. Leaves entire 11

11. Leaves with reticulate venation Epipremnum

1 1 . Leaves with parallel venation Rhaphidophora

Amorphophallus Blume ex Decaisne

(nom. cons.)

1 . Amorphophallus commutatus (Schott.)

Engler, in DC. Monogr. 2: 319, 1879; FBI 6:

515; Lisboa. Journ. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc.

10: 527, 1896; Cooke, 2: 826 (3: 337); Santa-

pau, 291.

Conocephalus commutatus Schott., in Bonaplan.

7: 28, 1859.

Thomsonia nepalense sensu Birdwood l.c. 29,

(non Wall. PI. As. Rar. 1: 83, t. 99, 1839).

A. sylvaticus Dalz. & Gibs. Bombay FI. 256, 1861

(non Kunth., 1841).

Pythonium waltichianum Kirtikar, in Journ. Bom-

bay nat. Hist. Soc. 7: 312, 1893 (non Schott., 1832).

Synantherias sylvatica Schott., Gen. Aroid. t. 28,

1858; Birdwood 29; FBI 6: 518.

Dracontium polyphyllum Graham. Cat. Bombay

PI. 229, 1839 (non Dennst, 1819).

Common along Fitzgerald ghat, in partially

shaded places. Vegetative shoots appear after

flowering spadix in monsoon. Spathe is purple

coloured with white blotches.

flowers: May-June.

local names: Sheula, Sheuli.

Alocasia (Schott.) G. Don (nom. cons.)

1 . Alocasia indica (Roxb.) Schott, in Oestr.

Bot. Wochenol 410, 1854; FBI 6: 525; Cooke,

2: 830 (3: 341).

Cultivated for its stems and root-stocks

which are used as vegetables.

Ariopsis Nimmo

1 . Ariopsis peltata Nimmo ex Graham, Cat.

Bombay PI. 252, 1839; Dalz. & Gibs. 259; FBI

6: 519; Cooke 2: 827 (3: 338); Santapau,

288, 1963.

Remusatia vivipai-a Wight, Icon. t. 900, 1844 (non

Schott, 1832).

595

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Rare species in shady places in rocky

grounds. Very often found in crevices of rocks

and among stones in broken old walls.

flowers: June- August.

Arisaema Martius

1. Leaves 2-3 together 2

2. Leaf-segments pedatisect A. tortuosum

2. Leaf-segments radiatisect A. neglectum

1 . Leaves solitary 3

3. Leaflets petiolate A. caudatum

3. Leaflets sessile 4

4. Leaves appearing after the flowers; spathe

9-12 cm long A. murrayi

4. Leaves and spathes appearing simultani-

ously; spathe 6-18 cm. long

A. leschenaultii

1 . Arisaema caudatum Engler, in DC.

Monogr. Phan. 2: 559, 1879; FBI 6: 508;

Rolla Rao & Ahuja, Bull. Bot. Surv. India 1 1 :

450, 1969.

A. longecaudatum Blatter, in Asiat. Soc. Bengal

26: 362, 1930 & J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 35: 20,

1931; Chatterjee, in Bull. Bot. Soc. Bengal 8: 128,

1954; Santapau, 401, 1962 & 288, 1963.

Very common and abundant herb all over

Mahabaleshwar in monsoon.

flowers: June-September.

2. Arisaema leschenaultii Blume, Rumphia

1: 93, 1835; FBI 6: 504; Lisboa, 223; Cooke,

2: 821 (3: 332); Blatter & McCann, J. Bom-

bay nat. Hist. Soc. 35: 19, 1931.

Arum crubescens Dalz. & Gibs. Bombay FI. 258,

1861 (non Schott., 1830).

Rare, in shady places among the under-

growth in the forest areas.

flowers : J une-September.

3. Arisaema murrayi (Graham) Hook, f., in

Bot. Mag. t. 4388, 1848; FBI 6: 507; Dalz.

& Gibs. 258; Nairne, 362; Cooke 651 & 2:

281 (3: 332); Birdwood 28; Lee 466; Blatter

& McCann, l.c. 18; Puri & Mahajan, 135.

Arum murrayi Graham, Cat. Bombay PI. 229,

1839.

596

Fairly common perennial herb all over,

usually occurring in groups of 5-7 plants toge-

ther, during monsoon.

flowers: June- July.

local name: Sapacha kanda.

4. Arisaema neglectum Schott., in Bonapald.

7: 26, 1859; FBI 6: 504; Blatter & McCann,

l.c. 21.

A. tortuosum (Wall.) Schott, var. neglectum

(Schott.) Fisher, in Gamble, FI. Madras Pres. 1585,

1931.

A rare herb among grasses with radiatisect

leaflets.

flowers: June.

5. Arisaema tortuosum (Wall.) Schott., in

Schott. & Endl. Melet. Bot. 17, 1832; FBI 6:

502; Cooke, 2: 820 (3: 331-2).

Arum tortuosum Wall.. PI. Asiat. Rare. 2: 10, t.

Ill, 1830.

Arisaema curvatum Dalz. & Gibs., Bombay FI.

258, 1861 (non Kunth., 1841); Hooker, Bot. Mag.

t. 5931, 1871.

Common species in partially shady places.

fix)wers: June.

Caladium Vent.

1 . Caladium bicolor Vent., Jard. Cels. t. 30,

1800; Baily, Man. cult. PI. 188, 1949.

Quite commonly cultivated in gardens as an

ornamental plant.

flowers: July.

Colocasia Schott.

1 . Colocasia esculenta (Linn.) Schott., in

Schott. & Endl. Melet. 1: 18, 1832; Bailey,

Man. Cult. PI. 189, 1949.

Arum esculentum Linn. Sp. PI. 965, 1753.

Colocasia antiquorum Schott., in Schott. & Endl.,

Melet 1: 18, 1832; FBI 6: 523; Cooke 2: 829 (3:

340-41); Blatter & McCann, in Journ. Bombay nat.

Hist. Soc. 35: 29, 1931; Santapau, 293.

Rare species in cultivation. Leaves are used

as vegetable.

local name: Alu.

\

FLORA OF MAHABALESHWAR-7

Cryptocorine Fisher

1 . Tube of the spathe much longer than the

limb C. retrospiralis

1 . Tube of the spathe much shorter than the

limb C. spiralis

1 . Cryptocorine retrospiralis (Roxb.) Fisher

ex Wydler, in Linnaea 5: 428, 1830; FBI 6:

493; Wight, Icon. t. 772, 1844; Cooke 2: 818

(3: 329).

C. roxburghii Dalz. & Gibs., Bombay FI. 259,

1861 (non Schott., 1832); Cooke, 651, 1885; Bird-

wood 29.

Arum spirals Graham, Cat. Bombay PI. 228, 1839

(non Retz. 1779).

Ambrosinia retrospiralis Roxb., FI. Ind. 3: 492,

1832.

Common on margins of pools, lake and beds

of streams as well as in rice-fields, near Ling-

mala. Plants are usually found partially sub-

merged under water.

flowers : November-February.

2. Cryptocorine spiralis (Retz.) Fisher ex

Wydler, Linnaea 5: 428, 1830; FBI 6: 494;

Wight, Icon. t. 773, 1844; Cooke, 2: 818 (3:

329).

Arum spirale Retz. Obs. Bot. 1: 30, 1779.

C. hugellii Schott., Gen. Aroid, 8, t. 12, 1853; FBI

6 :.494, 1893.

C. tortuosa Blatter, & McCann, J. Bombay nat.

Hist. Soc. 35: 16, t. 1, 1931; Santapau, 398, 1962

& 288, 1963.

This species is found abundantly along the

margins of Yenna lake and near Lingmala.

flowers : August-December.

Epipremnum Schott.

1 . Epipremnum aureum (Linden ex Andre)

Bunting in Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 1: 78,

1964.

Pothos aurea Linden ex Andre, in Illustr. Hortic.

27: 69, t. 381, 1880; Cooke, 2: 818 (3: 340).

Commonly cultivated in gardens as well as

indoor ornamental plant.

local name: Money plant.

Monstera Adanson (nom. cons.)

1 . Monstera deliciosa Liebm. Videnk. Med-

del. Dansk. Naturalist. Foren. Kjobenhaur 1 &

2: 19, 1849; Bailey, Man. Cult. PI. 183, 1949.

Rarely cultivated in gardens as an ornamen-

tal plant.

Remusatia Schott.

1 . Remusatia vivipara (Roxb.) Schott., Melet.

1: 18, 1832; FBI 6: 521; Cooke 649, 1885 &

2: 828 (3: 339); Blatter & McCann, J. Bom-

bay nat. Hist. Soc. 35: 30 1931; Santapau,

400, 1962 & 288, 1963.

Arum viviparum Roxb., FI. Ind. 3: 496, 1832;

Graham, 228; Wight, Icon. t. 798, 1844; Birdwood,

29.

Caladium viviparum Lodd., Bot. Cat. t. 281, 1820.

Colocasia vivipara Thwaites, Enum. 336, 1784.

Common epiphytic or lithophytic herb all

over. Usually the plants are found associated

with leafless reddish-brown shoots covered with

bulbils, which resemble tiny flowers. We have

not come across flowering specimen in the area

under study.

Rhaphidophora Hasskarl

1. Rhaphidophora pertusa (Roxb.) Schott.,

Bonaplandia 5: 45, 1857; FBI 6: 546; Cooke

2: 831 (3: 342).

Pothos pertusa Roxb., FI. Ind. 1: 455, 1820;

Graham, 230.

Scindapsus pertusus Schott, in Schott. & Endl.

Melet. 1: 21, 1832; Wight, Icon. t. 781, 1844.

Rarely cultivated in gardens as an ornamen-

tal climber.

Zantedeschia Sprengel (nom. cons.)

1 . Zantedeschia aethiopica (Linn.) Sprengel,

in Linn. Syst. Veget. ed. 16, 3: 735, 1826;

Bailey, Manual Cult. PI. 181, 1949.

Calla aethiopica Linn. Sp. PI. 968, 1753.

This tropical African introduced species has

been collected by Rev. Fr. H. Santapau, from

597

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST . SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Lingmala, which is probably an escape from

cultivation.

flowers : September.

Lemnaceae

1 . Fronds flat, with one or more roots, bearing the

flowers in marginal clefts; anthers 2-celled;

filaments slender Lemna

1 . Fronds minute, like grains of sand, root-less,

proliferous, bearing the flowers on the upper

surface; anthers sessile, one-celled Wolff ici

Lemna Linn.

1 . Roots solitary L. trisulca

1 . Roots many L. polyrhiza

1. Lemna trisulca Linn. Sp. PI. 970, 1753;

Dalz. & Gibs. 281; FBI 6: 557; Birdwood,

29; Cooke 2: 831 (3: 343).

Common floating herb in stagnant waters in

ponds and in ricefields.

flowers: September.

local name: Duck weed.

2. Lemna polyrhiza Linn. Sp. PI. 970, 1753;

FBI 6: 557; Birdwood 29; Cooke, 2: 832

(3: 433).

Rare weed in ponds and in rice-fields, in

stagnant waters.

flowers: September.

Wolff ia Horkel

1 . Wolffia arrhiza (Linn.) Horkel, ex Wimm.,

FI. Schles, ed. 3, 140, 1857: Birdwood 29.

Lemna arrhiza Linn., Mantissa 2: 294, 1771;

Syme, Eng. Bot. ed. 3, 9: 24, t. 1398, 1869.

L. globosa Roxb. FI. lnd. 3: 565, 1832; Graham,

252; Dalz. & Gibs. 281.

Wolffia globosa (Roxb.) Horteg & Vander Plas

Blumea 18: 367, 1970.

W. michellii Schleid. Beitr. Bot. 233, 1844; Cooke

2: 832 (3: 344).

Tiny weed in stagnant waters, covering water

surface like green scum.

flowers: September.

Eriocaulaceae

Eriocaulon Linn.

1 . Anthers white or yellow 2

2. Plants of marshy places; heads 1 cm across E. horsely-kondae

2. Plants of pools and wet grounds; heads 0.5 cm or less across E. mitophyllum

1 . Anthers black 3

3. Sepals of the female flowers deeply boat- shaped; keel thickened or expanded into a wing or

crest -.4

4. Head under 1 mm. in diameter 5

5. Female sepals equal, equally crested E. margarettae

5. Female sepals unequal, one not crested E. eleanorae

4. Heads 5 mm or more in diameter E. stellulatum

3. Sepals of the female flowers not boat-shaped; keel not thickened 6

6. Male flowers with one enlarged petal projecting beyond floral bracts 7

7. Leaves 2-5 cm long, lanceolate; scapesl5-25 cm long E. odoratum

7. Leaves 4.5-6 cm long, linear; scapes 30-45 cm long E. cristatum

6. Male flowers not with enlarged petal 8

8. Stems disciform, 0; floral bracts black 9

9. Receptacle villous

10. Inflorescence bracts obtuse; horizontal 11

11. Female petals linear E. thwaitesii

1 1 . Female petals absent E. nigricans

10. Involucral bracts reflexed, shorter than heads E. sedgwickii

9. Receptacle glabrous 12

12. Heads 4-6 mm across; female petals glabrous E. duthiei

12. Heads 7-10 mm across; female petals hairy in upper part E. bolei sp. nov.

8. Stems elongated, slender L. setaceum

598

FLORA OF MAHABALESHWAR-7

1 . Eriocaulon cristatum Mart, in Wall. PI.

As. Rar. 3: 28, 1832; FBI 6: 574; Fyson, Ind.

Sp. Erioc. 48, t. 31.

E. miserum Koern. in Linnaea 27: 607, 1856.

Rare species at Mahabaleshwar. It has been

collected from Bhilar estate.

flowers: November.

2. Eriocaulon duthiei Hook. f. in FI. Brit.

India 6: 578, 1983; Fyson, Ind. Sp. Erioc. 27,

t. 7.

Rare species on sides of stream near Bhilar.

Herbarium specimen was identified by H. N.

Moldenke as E. odoratum Dalz. but our speci-

men differ from E. odoratum Dalz. in having

boat-shaped sepals in female flowers and hav-

ing smaller heads.

flowers: November.

3. Eriocaulon eleanorae Fyson, in Journ.

Indian Bot. 2: 316, 1921 & Ind. Sp. Erio-

caulon 52, t. 35; Santapau 294.

Quite common and gregarious in rocky

grounds near Lingmala, Kate’s point and

Yenna Lake.

flowers : September-October.

4. Eriocaulon margarettae Fyson, in Journ.

Indian Bot. 2: 316, 1921 & Ind. Sp. Erio-

caulon 52, 1923.

E. humile Moldenke. Phytologia 3: 162. 1949;

Santapau, 294-5.

Rare species at Mahabaleshwar and at Bhilar

among the grasses. Some specimens of this

in Blatter Herbarium (BLAT) have been mis-

identified as E. quinqueloculare Linn., but

Mahabaleshwar specimens lack in red colour-

ed leaves and belong to this species.

flowers : October-November.

5. Eriocaulon mitophyllum Hook, f., in

Flora Brit. India 6: 575. 1893.

E. miserum Koern. var. mitophyllum (Hook, f.)

Fyson, Ind. Spec. Eriocaulon 59, t. 48, 1923.

Common and abundant species on rocky

grounds very often partially submerged in

puddles. Very common at Wilson point. Petit

road and near Pratapsingh park.

flowers: July-September.

6. Eriocaulon nigricans R. Br. Prodr. 254,

1810.

Eriocaulon achiton Koern. in Linnaea 27 • ^30.

1854. FBI 6: 584; Fyson, Ind. Sp. Eriocaulon 29-30,

f. p. 30, 1923.

This species is known from Mahabaleshwar

from a single Collection (S. C. Tavakari —

s.n. B), from Chinaman’s falls.

flowers: October.

7. Eriocaulon odoratum Dalz. in Kew Journ.

Bot. 3: 280, 1851; Dalz. & Gibs. 280; FBI

6: 574; Cooke, 2: 844 (3: 355-6); Fyson, Ind.

Sp. Erioc. 44, t. 28.

Common and abundant and one of the

dominent species in rocky grounds near

Wilson point, Pratapsingh park and Bhilar

Estate, among grasses.

flowers : September-November.

8. Eriocaulon horsley-kondae Fyson, in Journ.

Ind. Bot. 3: 13, 1922 & Ind. Spec. Eriocaulon,

58, t. 43, 1923.

Common herb on moist rocky grounds along

with E. odoratum Dalz. on Wilson point.

flowers : September-October.

9. Eriocaulon setaceum Linn. Sp. PI. 87.

1753; Cooke 2: 842 (3:354); Fyson, Ind.

Sp. Erioc. 20, t. 1.

E. capillus-naiadis Hook. f.. FI. Brit. India. 6: 572,

1893,

Rare species found on margins of Yenna

lake with black flowering heads.

flowers: November.

10. Eriocaulon stellulatum Koern. in Linnaea

27: 620, 1856; FBI 6: 579; Cooke, 2: 846

(3: 358); Fyson, Ind. Sp. Erioc. 53, f. 55.

Very common and abundant herb among

grasses at Bhilar estate, Madhukosh, Lodwick

point, Chinaman’s falls, Lingmala, Dhobi’s

falls and near Yenna lake.

flowers : October-December.

599

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

11. Eriocaulon sedgwickii Fyson, Journ. Ind.

Bot. 2: 260, 1921 & Ind. Sp. Eriocaulon, 36,

t. 16, 1923.

Rare species at Mahabaleshwar. There are

no other collection of this species at Blatter

herbarium, other than type specimen collected

by L. J. Sedwick.

flowers: November.

12. Eriocaulon thwaitesii Koern., in Linnaea

27: 627, 1854; Fyson, Ind. Sp. Erioc. 29 & 68,

1923.

This species has been reported from Ling-

mala, Mahabaleshwar by Fyson, (Sedgwick —

4646).

13. Eriocaulon bold sp. nov. Similis Erio-

caulon sedgwickii Fyson sed differt laevibus

capitibus. Similis E. duthiei Hook. f. sed differt

prolatis capitibus.

Holotypus — P. V. Bole 2230 (BLAT)

lectus Lingmala, Mahabaleshwar die 6.11.1955.

Herbs 4-8" tall, with sheaths 1.5-2" long.

Scapes glabrous. Leaves small, lanceolate.

Heads ± 1 cm across, white. Bracts covering

the floral parts completely. Male flowers 1-3

in a single bract. Sepals 2, lanceolate or spathu-

late. Petals united into a tube. Stamens 4-6.

Anthers black; basifixed. Female flowers 1-2

in each bract, sepals 2, boat-shaped, hairy on

the back. Petals linear, with faint black spots,

with long white hairs. Ovary trilocular, style

with trifid stigma. Nut brown-red.

Gregarious herb on side of a stream in

running water near Lingmala.

flowers: November.

There is one specimen of this species in

Blatter Herbarium, collected by the Senior

author on way to Lingmala via Panchgani

Road.

Exsiccata : P. V. Bole — 2230 (6-11-1955).

It comes near to E. sedgwickii Fyson, and

E. duthiei Hook. f. It differs from the former

in having glabrous heads whereas it differs

from the latter due to its longer heads.

Cyperaceae

1. Nut enclosed in an utricle Care x

1 . Nut not enclosed in an utricle 2

2 . Glume distichous in entire inflorescence 3

3. Rhachilla of spikelets disarticulating above

two lowest glumes Mariscus

3. Rhachilla of spikelets persistant

Cy perus

2. Glumes spirally imbricately arranged 4

4. Style base persistant, swollen, when cadu-

cous not leaving a tumour on the nut. . . .

Fimbristylis

4. Style base deciduous, leaving a tumour on

the nut Bulbostylis

Bulbostylis Kunth.

1. Bulbostylis densa (Wall.) Hand.-Mazz. in

Karsten & Schenk, Vegetation 20, 7: 16,

1930; Santapau, 303.

Scirpus densus Wall, ex Roxb. FI. Ind. 1: 231.

1820.

B. trifida Kunth., Enum. 2: 213, 1837.

B. capillaris Nees var. trifida (Kunth.) C. B.

Clarke, in Flora Brit. Ind. 6: 652, 1894; Blatter &

McCann, Journ. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 37(4): 765-

1935.

Common herb among grasses at Shindola

summit.

flowers: November.

Carex Linn.

1 . Spikes long-cylindric; peduncles 1-2 in each

sheath C. baccans

1 . Spike short, numerous, without sheaths 2

2. Each spikelet with 3-4 nuts C. cruciata

2. Each spikelets with 6-10 nuts 3

3. Nut ovate-elliptic, not stipitate

C. glaucina

3. Nut ovate, short stipitate

C. lindleyarta var. major

1 . Carex baccans Nees, in Wight Contr. 122,

1834; FBI 6: 722; Blatter & McCann, 765.

Rare, robust species in wet places.

flowers: November.

600

FLORA OF MAHABALESHWAR-7

2. Carex cruciata Wahlenb. in Vet. Akad.

Handl. Stockholm 24: 149, 1803; FBI 6: 715;

Blatter & McCann, J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc.

38(1): 7, 1935.

C. condensata Nees, in Wight Contr. 123, 1834;

FBI 6: 716; Cooke 2: 905 (3:420); Puri & Maha-

jan, 1 34.

C. indica Nees, in Wight, Contri. 123, 1834 (non

Linn. 1753); Graham 233; Dalz. & Gibs. 288; Cooke

651, 1885; Birdwood 29.

Common along road-sides and along forest

fringes near Chinaman’s fall and Lodwick

point. Tolerates shade to a great extent.

flowers : October-December.

local name: Lavicha Gavat.

3. Carex glaucina Boeckler, in Linnea 40:

353, 1876.

C. filicina Nees var. glaucina (Boeck.) Kuken-

thal, Pflanzenr. 38: 274; 1909; Santapau, 303.

In wet places near Chinaman’s falls. Petit

road, Lingmala, Babington point, Madhu-

kosh and Lodwick point.

flowers : October-December.

4. Carex lindeyana Nees var. major Fisher,

in Gamble, FI. Pres. Madras 3: 1169, 1928.

C. mercarensis Hochst. var. major Steud. Syn. PI.

Cyper. 194, 1855; FBI 6: 719; Cooke, 2: 906 (3:

421); Puri & Mahajan, 135.

C. mercarensis Woodrow, Journ. Bombay. Nat.

Hist. Soc. 13: 433, 1901.

Occasional in shady places in forest areas.

Rare along Petit Road and near Yenna lake.

flowers: October-March.

Cyperus Linn

1 . Stigmas 2 2

2. Rhachilla deciduous as a whole C. brevifolius

2. Rhachilla persistent 3

3. Superficial cells of the nut nearly square C. globosus

3. Superficial cells of the nut longitudinally oblong or elliptic 4

4. Spikelets lanceolate, 20-60 flowered; nut obovoid, black C. latespicatus

4. Spikelets linear-oblong with exactly parallel sides; hh 20 flowered; nut globosely ovoid, brown

C. malabaricus

1 . Stigmas 3 5

5. Rhachilla of the spikelets not winged C. nutans

5 . Rhachilla of the spikelets 2-winged 6

6. Leaves short, rarely half as long as the stem or absent 7

7. Rhizome short, stoloniferous C. macer

7. Rhizome elongated, not stoloniferous 8

8. Bracts linear-enciform, shorter than the inflorescence, to 5 cm long, 3 cm wide; wing

of rhachilla narrow, pale in colour C. corymbosus

8. Bracts longer than the inflorescence, upto 60 cm long and 7 mm wide; wing of the

rhachilla broad, red in fruiting specimens C. pangorei

6. Leaves long, often longer than the stem C. rotundus

1. Cyperus brevifolius (Rottb.) Hassk. Cat.

Hort. Bogor. 24, 1844.

Kyllingia brevifolia Rottb., Desr. et Ic. 13, t. 4.

f. 3, 1773; Blatter & McCann 25.

Rare species at Mahabaleshwar, found in

wet places along water courses.

flowers: October.

2 . Cyperus corymbosus Rottb., Desr. & Icon.

42, t. 7, f. 4, 1773; FBI 6: 612; Cooke, 2:

870 (3: 383); Blatter & McCann 270.

In gregarious patches near banks and along

water-courses. Always associated with araceous

plants ( Cryptocorine spp.).

flowers : August-November.

601

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

3. Cyperus digitatus Roxb., FI. Ind. 1: 205,

1832; FBI 6: 599; Cooke, 2: 862 (3: 387);

Blatter & McCann 259.

Rare herb along water-courses.

flowers: November.

4. Cyperus globosus Allioni, FI. Pedem. 49,

1789; Cooke 2: 857 (3: 370); Puri & Maha-

jan, 135.

Pycreus globosus Reich., FI. Germ. Exc. 140,

1830; Blatter & McCann 29.

P. capillaris Nees, in Linnaea 9: 283, 1834; FBI

6: 591; Birdwood 29.

P. flavidus Retz., Obs, 5: 13, 1789 (nec Clarke

1893).

Common in moist places.

flowers: October.

5. Cyperus latespicafcus Boeck., in Flora 42:

441, 1859; Cooke 2: 855 (3: 368); Puri &

Mahajan 135.

Common among the grasses and in rocky

hard grounds at Shindola summit, Lodwick

point and Wilson point.

flowers: November.

6. Cyperus macer C. B. Clarke, in Journ.

Linn. Soc. London, 21: 160, 1884.

Rare along sides of streams on hill slopes,

near Lingmala.

flowers: November.

7. Cyperus malabaricus (Clarke) Cooke, FI.

Pres. Bombay 2: 856, 1908.

Pycreus malabaricus Clarke, in Journ. Linn. Soc.

London 34: 12, 1898; Blatter & McCann 28, t. 3.

Common herb in moist places and on sides

of rice fields.

flowers : October-November.

8. Cyperus nutans Vahl, Enum. 2: 363, 1806;

Cooke, 2: 868 (3: 381); Santapau, 300.

C. distans Graham, Cat. Bombay PI. 232, 1839

(non Linn., 1753); Dalz. & Gibs. 283.

Rare sedge near Babington point.

flowers: October-November.

9. Cyperus pangorei Rottb. Desr. & Icon.

31, t. 7, f. 3. 1773 (non Retz., 1789); neck

C. B. Clarke, 1893).

C. corymbosus Kunth., Boeck. et Alior. (non

Rottb., 1773).

C. tagetum Roxb., FI. Ind. 1 : 208, 1832; FBI

6: 613.

Common sedge in running water of Yenna

stream, in rivulets near Chinaman’s fall and

near Dhobi’s fall.

flowers : August-October.

Mariscus Gaertn.

1. Spikelets in compact single head

M. blatteri

1 . Spikelets in umbellate inflorescence 2

2. Spikelets distant along the rhachis

M. konkanensis

2. Spikelets closely packed along the rhachis . ..

M. cyperinus

1 . Mariscus blatteri McCann, in Journ.

Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 37(3): 532-3, 1934.

Rare species with compact single head. Head

1.5-2 cm across.

flowers: October.

2. Mariscus cyperinus (Retz.) Vahl, Enum.

2: 377, 1806.

Kyllinga cyperina Retz. Obs. Bot. 6: 21, 1791.

Scirpus cyperoides Linn. Mant. 2: 181, 1771. (non

M. cyperiodes (Roxb.) A. Distr. 1833).

Cyperus cyperoides (Linn.) O. Kuntze, Rev. Gen.

2: 333, 1898.

Common herb along road-sides in Fitzgerald

ghat.

flowers : August-October.

3. Mariscus konkanensis (Cooke) Sedgwick,

in Journ. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 25: 698,

1918; Blatter & McCann, 535.

Cyperus konkanensis Cooke, FI. Pres. Bombay 2:

874, 1908.

M. sieberianus Nees var. subcomposita Clarke, in

FI. Brit. Ind. 6: 522, 1893.

C. cyperoides (Linn.) O. Kuntze var. subcomposita

(Clarke) Kukenth., in Pfrech. 101: 516, 1936.

Rare herb on sides of streams among grasses

on Southern side of the Plateau.

flowers: November.

{to be continued)

602

THE BIRDS OF THE KEDARNATH SANCTUARY,

CHAMOLI DISTRICT, UTTAR PRADESH:

STATUS AND DISTRIBUTION1

Michael J. B. Green2

(With a plate and a text -figure)

Ornithological data obtained during three years spent in the Kedamath Sanctuary

of the Garhwal Himalaya, North India are presented. A total of 146 species were

identified, including Muscicapa westermanni, Seicercus poliogenys and Certhia nipal-

ensis which have not previously been recorded west of Nepal. Species accounts

include details of altitudinal distribution, status, habitat and behaviour.

Introduction

Information about the birds of the Kedar-

nath Sanctuary in the Garhwal Himalaya of

Chamoli District has not previously been

documented. Furthermore, published observa-

tions concerning the avifauna of the Garhwal

Himalaya are limited. Osmaston (1921) noted

96 species during his ten years’ residence in

the region, Lavkumar (1956) recorded 133

species during a two month visit in early

summer and Devillers (1976) observed 93

species in the course of a three week expedi-

tion in spring.

The purpose of this paper is to list 146

species recorded in the Kedamath Sanctuary

during a three year study of the Himalayan

musk deer Moschus chrysogaster, from Febru-

ary 1979 to December 1981 (see Green 1985).

Of this total, 40 species are not mentioned

in the lists of either Osmaston, Lavkumar or

Devillers. Several species have not previously

been recorded west of Nepal according to Ali

and Ripley (1968-74), Fleming et al (1976)

1 Accepted August 1985.

2 Department of Applied Biology, Pembroke

Street, Cambridge CB2 3DC, England. Present

address : Conservation Monitoring Centre, 219 (c)

Huntingdon Road, Cambridge CB3 ODL, U.K.

and Inskipp and Inskipp (1985). These are

the Little Pied Flycatcher Muscicapa wester-

manni, Grey-cheeked Warbler Seicercus polio-

genys and Nepal Tree Creeper Certhia nipal-

ensis. In addition, the upper altitudinal limit

of 14 species is higher than that given by these

authorities.

Identifications are based on field observa-

tions. Specimens were not collected except in

the case of several species of game bird, which

were inadvertently caught in box traps set for

musk deer. Weights and measurements of these

specimens are appended. Observations were

not standardised and most were made

at the southern edge of the sanctuary,

within a triangular area lying between Chopta

Chatti, Tungnath and Mandal and referred to

as the main study area (Fig. 1). Other obser-

vations were made during visits to Bisuri Tal,

Kedamath, Madhyamaheshwar and Rudranath

(Fig. 1).

Kedarnatei Sanctuary

The sanctuary was created in 1972 and takes

its name from the famous Hindu shrine at

Kedamath. It is situated about 300 km north-

east of Delhi and, covering an area of 975 km2,

is the largest protected area in the Himalaya

603

CHAUKHAfVSBA

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

604

Fig. 1. A map of the Kedamath Sanctuary showing the main study area and routes

taken to other parts of the sanctuary.

BIRDS OF KEDARNATH SANCTUARY

of India. The entire sanctuary lies in the

northern catchment of the Alaknanda river,

which is the major tributary of the upper

reaches of the Ganges. The sanctuary is

bounded to the north by a range of peaks,

mostly over 6,000 m, and in the south by the

Mandal-Okhimath road (Fig. 1). Altitude

ranges from 1,160 m (near Phata) to 7,068

m (Chaukhamba peak).

The climate is considerably influenced by

the southwest monsoon in summer and by the

passage of belts of low pressure, known as

‘western disturbances’, in winter (see Mani

1981). The sanctuary is fully exposed to the

summer monsoon because its main valleys

tend to lie in a N-S direction and there is

very little rain-shadow effect from the 3,000 m

high hill ranges to the south. Of the mean

annual precipitation of 3,093 mm at 3,050 m

in the main study area, 81% fell in the mon-

soon, between June and September, and 11%

fell as snow in winter, between December and

March (Green 1985). Temperatures are highest

in May or June prior to the arrival of the

monsoon, after which conditions become over-

cast, and lowest in the first half of January.

The highest and lowest temperatures recorded

at 3,050 m in the main study area were 25.0°C

and — 10.5°C, respectively (Green 1985). The

sanctuary is snow-bound for about three

months of the year, following heavy snow-

falls in December.

A great variety of vegetation types occurs

in the sanctuary, reflecting the complex and

diverse nature of the climate, geology and

topography in the region. The subtropical,

temperate, subalpine and alpine zones are re-

presented in the sanctuary but the tropical

zone, which does not occur above 1,200 m, is

absent. The major forest types, based on the

classification of Champion and Seth (1968),

are described by Agrawala (1973). For pre-

sent purposes it is convenient to distinguish the

following types of vegetation, all of which

occur in the main study area.

Subtropical and Temperate Zones

Ban/moru oak forest (1,500-2,750 m)

Ban oak ( Quercus incana) or moru oak

(Q. dilatata), at altitudes above 2,100 m, pre-

dominate with Rhododendron arboreum often

constituting a second storey. Elm ( Ulmus wal-

Uchiana ), horsechestnut ( Aesculus indica),

bird-cherry ( Prunus padus), hazel ( Corylus

colurna ) and maple ( Acer spp.), which are

absent from the lower altitudes, are often

associated with moru oak. Common shrubs

include Indigofera, Berberis, Rubus, Viburnum

and, in the case of moru oak forests, bamboo

( T hamnocalamus spp. ) .

Temperate Zone

Karsu oak forest (2,500-3,300 m)

Karsu oak (Q. semecarpifolia) is usually

associated with a second storey of R. arbo-

reum. Other tree species may include fir ( Abies

pindrow), maple (A. caecium), Meliosma

dilleniaefolia, rowan ( Sorbus Janata) and yew

( Taxus baccata ). The understorey is dominat-

ed by impenetrable thickets of bamboo ( T .

spathiflorus) wherever undisturbed. Common

shrubs include Berberis, Cotoneaster, Rosa,

Skimmea, Spiraea and Viburnum.

Conifer forest (2,600-3,400 m)

Fir (A. pindrow) is predominent and often

restricted to northern and sheltered slopes.

Rhododendron arboreum mixed with karsu

oak comprise a second canopy. The under-

storey is similar to that of karsu oak forest.

605

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JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Subalpine Zone

Birch-rhododendron scrub forest

(3,100-3,350 m)

This forest type occurs above the conifer

and oak forests and fringes the alpine meadows.

Birch ( Betula utilis ), the characteristic species,

is sparsely distributed and does not form a

complete canopy. Prunus cornuta, Rhododen-

dron arboreum, Sorbus foliolosa and Vibur-

num foetens form a second storey. The under-

storey is dominated by extensive evergreen

stands of Rhododendron campanulatum, fre-

quently intermingled with clumps of bamboo

( T . spathiflorus). Other common shrubs in-

clude Cotoneaster, Rosa, Rubus and Spiraea.

Alpine Zone

Rhododendron scrub (3,350-3,500 m)

Birch-rhododendron scrub forest grades into

rhododendron scrub, chiefly R. campanulatum,

above 3,350 m. Trees are absent but the com-

position of the shrub layer is similar to that

of birch-rhododendron scrub forest.

Pasture (above 3,500 m)

The herb community is often dominated by

Danthonia cumminsii which forms tussocks of

grass over extensive areas. Small shrubs such

as Gaultheria nummularioides, G. trichophylla

and Rhododendron lepidotum are also pre-

sent. Forbs are predominant in the vicinity of

former kharaks (settlements temporarily used

by herdsmen and shepherds), particularly

nitrophilous species such as Bistorta spp.,

Potentilla fulgens, and Selinum vaginatum.

Large patches of forest within the tempe-

rate and subalpine zones have been cleared,

over many decades, primarily for pasture and

also for fuelwood. The grassland communities

are maintained by regular burning in early

spring and grazed by livestock (goats, sheep

and water buffalo) during the summer months.

Also grass is cut for fodder in autumn. More

widespread is the considerable depletion of the

forest understorey, particularly in the tempe-

rate zone. Bamboo and other resources that

are valuable commodities are removed and

subsequent grazing by livestock inhibits rege-

neration of the shrub layer.

Species accounts

The following is an annotated preliminary

list of birds found in the Kedamath Sanctuary.

It is not comprehensive as many parts of the

sanctuary were never visited. Moreover, some

of the species that are difficult to identify in

the field were undoubtedly overlooked. All

records relate to the main study area unless

a species was seen elsewhere, in which case all

locations are given. Species not recorded by

either Osmaston (1921), Lavkumar (1956) or

Devillers (1976) are marked with an asterisk.

The systematics and scientific nomenclature

follow those of Ali and Ripley (1968-74);

common names are taken from Fleming et al.

(1976). The numbers in square brackets refer

to the subspecies in Ali and Ripley. Informa-

tion about seasonal status is based on Ali and

Ripley, Fleming et al. and Inskipp and Inskipp

(1985).

Accipitridae

IPernis ptilorhynchus Honey Buzzard [130]

3,290 m Resident

Probably seen once. Usually not recorded

above 1,800 m (Ali and Ripley 1968), although

Inskipp and Inskipp (1985) recorded a pro-

bable migrant at 3,050 m in May.

606

Plate l

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83

Green: Kedarnath Sanctuary

Above: The main study area lies at the southern edge of the Kedarnath Sanctuary, above

the Mandal-Chopta Chatti Road (foreground). The peak (top left) is Chan-

drasila (3,680 m.)

Below: The Bearded Vulture Gypaetus barbatus is fairly common in the sanctuary.

{Photos: Author)

BIRDS OF KEDARNATH SANCTUARY

? Milvus mi grans Dark Kite [134]

3,470 m Summer visitor

Probably seen once, perched on cliffs at

Rudranath.

*Buteo sp. Buteo [154]

3,050-3,660 m Resident

Fairly common, around oak-rhododendron

forest and clearings. Dark patches on the

carpels. The species is either buteo, hemilasius

or rufinus, all of which are difficult to distin-

guish in the field. One seen on 5 June dropped

its nesting material after being divebombed by

another (R. T. Sauey pers. comm.). Once, in

November, one seen being mobbed by at least

nine jungle crows.

*Spizaetus nipalensis Mountain Hawk-eagle

[158]

3,050 m Resident

Scarce — seen once, perched on a rhododen-

dron tree at the forest’s edge. Elsewhere not

recorded above 2,835 m (Inskipp and Inskipp

1985).

Aquila chrysaetos Golden Eagle [166]

2,130-3,350 m Resident

Occasional, above open forest and cliffs. Locals

report that it hunts Impeyan Pheasant.

* Aquila nipalensis Steppe Eagle [169]

1,680-3,660 m Winter visitor

Occasional, over open forest and cliffs.

Ictinaetus malayensis Black Eagle [172]

3,200 m Resident

Scarce — seen once, over forest.

Torgos calvus Black Vulture [178]

1,370-2,290 m Resident

Occasional, between Chopta Chatti and Okhi-

math and in Madhyamaheshwar valley.

Gyps himalayensis Himalayan Griffon Vulture

[181]

1,680-3,660 m Resident

Common, over forest and cliffs in the main

study area and near Kedarnath. One of two

roosting sites, situated 40 m apart on some

cliffs, was occupied by 1700 h on 17 June. The

occupant rested thereafter despite being ap-

proached, at 1900 h, to within 15 m by maraud-

ing langurs ( Presbytis entellus ).

Gypaetus barbatus Bearded Vulture [188]

2,900-3,660 m Resident

Fairly common, in the vicinity of cliffs in the

main study area and at Kedarnath and Rudra-

nath. A pair seen copulating repeatedly on 8

October while perched on some cliffs.

Circus cyaneus Hen Harrier [189]

3,050-3,960 m Winter visitor and/or passage

migrant

Fairly common, above the tree line. Males and

females seen singly, usually in autumn and

once in spring.

*Spilornis cheela Crested Serpent Eagle [196]

1,830 m Resident

Probably occasional — seen once, between

Chopta Chatti and Okhimath (R. T. Sauey

pers. comm.).

Falconidae

*Falco sub buteo Eurasian Hobby [212]

3,350 m Winter visitor or resident

Scarce — seen once, perched on a rock at the

edge of oak-rhododendron forest. May well

breed in the area, as in western Nepal (In-

skipp and Inskipp 1985).

Falco tinnunculus Eurasian Kestrel [222]

2,440-3,510 m Resident

Common, in forest clearings and by cliffs.

Phasianidae

Lerwa lerwa Snow Partridge [227]

3,110-3,660 m Resident

Fairly common, on rocky and grassy slopes.

Coveys of 5-20 birds recorded in winter, from

late November until early April. Summer

months spent above 3,660 m.

607

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Tetraogallus himalayensis Himalayan Snowcock

[232]

3,200 m Resident

Scarce — seen once, when two were sighted

on a grassy slope above the tree line.

Francolinus francolinus Black Partridge [238]

1,830-1,950 m Resident

Fairly common, in the understorey of oak-

rhododendron forest.

Arborophila torqueola Common Hill Partridge

[267]

2,710-3,140 m Resident

Fairly common, in oak-rhododendron forest.

Covey of two males and three females seen on

9 February. Female with several chicks seen

on 28 June.

* Arborophila rufogularis Rufous-throated Hill

Partridge [270]

2,930-3,050 m Resident

Occasional, in oak-rhododendron forest amidst

dense undergrowth. Previously not recorded

above 2,400 m (Ali and Ripley 1969).

Lophophorus impejanus Impeyan Preasant

[290]

2,470-3,690 m Resident

Common, in oak-rhododendron forest and on

grassy slopes and cliffs above the tree line in

the main study area, Kilpulbhadni, Madhya-

maheshwar, Okhla Dhar, Rudranath and near

Kedarnath. Two males observed fighting on

26 April. A nest with three eggs found under

an overhanging rock on 27 April; a fourth

egg laid by 28 April but the nest was sub-

sequently deserted. A total of six females and

11-12 fledglings recorded in an area of about

1 km2 during the first week of July (A. D.

Lelliott pers. comm.). Personal observations

suggest that the density of the population in

the main study area was at least ten pairs

km-2.

Lophura leucomelana Kalij Pheasant [293]

1,520-2600 m Resident

Fairly common, in oak-rhododendron forest.

Up to ten males and one female in May and

eight males and six females in October record-

ed along an approximately 8 km stretch of

road between Mandal and Pangarbasa.

Pucrasia macrolop ha Koklas Pheasant [305/6]

2,100-3,350 m Resident

Fairly common, in oak-rhododendron forest

and rhododendron scrub in the main study

area, Kilpulbhadni and at Rudranath. Two

males seen fighting in dense forest on 8 June

(B. Breeden and R. T. Sauey pers. comm.).

A female seen with six, possibly seven, fledgl-

ings on 17 June; another seen with six fledgl-

ings on 7 August. About five pairs km*2 in

the main study area (Green unpublished

data).

Charadriidae

Scolopax rusticola Woodcock [411]

3,050-3,380 m Summer visitor

Occasional, in oak-rhododendron forest. Some-

times seen ‘roding’ (see Ali and Ripley 1969)

at dusk in June.

COLUMBIDAE

Columba leuconota Snow Pigeon [513]

2,800-3,050 m Resident

Fairly common, around cliffs. Considerable

seasonal altitudinal movement — a flock of

about 30 birds descended to 2,830 m in con-

secutive winters and roosted by some caves

among cliffs.

Streptopelia orient alis Rufous Turtle Dove

[531]

2,800 m Resident

Fairly common, on forest roads.

PSITTACIDAE

Psittacula himalayana Slatyheaded Parakeet

[562]

1,680 m Resident

Occasional, in flocks in oak-rhododendron

forest.

608

BIRDS OF KEDARNATH SANCTUARY

CUCULIDAE

*Cuculus sparverioides Large Hawk-Cuckoo

[572]

2,900-3,200 m Resident

Fairly common, in oak-rhododendron forest.

Previously not recorded above 2,900 m

(Fleming et al 1976).

Cuculus canorus Eurasian Cuckoo [578]

3.050- 3,660 m Summer visitor

Fairly common, in oak-rhododendron forest.

Cuculus saturatus Himalayan Cuckoo [580]

2,740-3,350 m Resident or summer visitor

Fairly common, in oak-rhododendron forest.

Calls were heard for the first time in 1981 on

19 March. One of a pair seen collecting grass

on 18 April.

Strigidae

*Otus spilocephalus Spotted Scops Owl [611]

3.050- 3,200 m Resident

Common, in oak-rhododendron forest. Could

be heard throughout the night during summer.

Previously not recorded above 2,745 m

(Fleming et al 1976).

*Strix aluco Tawny Wood Owl [662]

3,050 m Resident

Common, in oak-rhododendron forest. Never

seen but calls recognised by S. and B. Breeden

and R. T. Sauey (pers. comm.).

Capri mulgidae

Caprimulgus indicus Jungle Nightjar [670]

3.050- 3,810 m Resident

Fairly common, at edge of oak-rhododendron

forest or rhododendron scrub. A previously

unrecorded call heard at dusk on 10 May and

28 June at Bisuri Tal while seen flying low

over rhododendron scrub. This call also re-

corded by A.D. Lelliott (pers. comm.) who

describes it as a series of 5-14 ‘chuck’ calls.

crescending in the middle of the sequence and

diminishing towards the end. The call lasts

for about five seconds and is often accompani-

ed by a ‘rushing of wind’ note that usually

terminates very abruptly. This note has been

described as the ‘whish-whish’ of the wings of

a powerful bird in flight (Osmaston 1921).

Previously not recorded above 3,300 m (Ali

and Ripley 1970).

Apodidae

Collocalia brevirostris Edible Nest Swiftlet

[683]

2,800-3,050 m Resident

Fairly common, seen on several occasions

above ridges (S. Breeden pers. comm.).

Apus pacificus Large Whiterumped Swift [700]

3,050 m Resident

Fairly common, above ridges.

lApus affinis House Swift [703]

3,050 m Resident

A probable sighting above cliffs by T. Milli-

ken (pers. comm.). The species does not

normally occur above 2,100 m (Inskipp and

Inskipp 1985).

Upupidae

*Upupa epops Hoopoe [765]

1,830 m Resident

Scarce — seen once, on a forest road.

Capitonidae

Megalaima virens Great Himalayan Barbet

[777]

1,680-2,130 m Resident

Fairly common, in oak-rhododendron forest

(S. Breeden pers. comm.).

PlCIDAE

Picus squamatus Large Scalybellied

Woodpecker [807]

2,180-3,220 m Resident

609

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Fairly common, in oak-rhododendron forest

and rhododendron scrub. Seen once on the

snow-free part of some cliffs above the tree

line, where the surrounding slopes were com-

pletely snow-covered.

*Picus canus Blacknaped Woodpecker [809]

1,920-3,230 m Resident

Common, in oak-rhododendron forest and

clearings in the main study area and at Ansuya

Devi. Often on the ground, sometimes with

Laughing Thrushes and once with White-

collared Blackbirds. Previously not recorded

above 2,440 m (Fleming et al 1976).

*Hypopicus hyperythrus Rufousbellied

Sapsucker [833]

1 ,680-2,590 m Resident

Fairly common, in oak-rhododendron forest.

Dendrocopos himalayensis Himalayan Pied

Woodpecker [837]

2,190-3,110 m Resident

Common, in oak-rhododendron forest. While

drilling a hole in an oak tree ( Quercus seme-

car pi folia) on 10 April, a female hid behind

the far side of the trunk whenever a Jungle

Crow flew past.

* Dendrocopos macei Fulvousbreasted Pied

Woodpecker [845]

1.950-2,040 m Resident

Fairly common, in oak-rhododendron forest.

Hirundinidae

Delichon urbica Eurasian House Martin [930/1]

3,260-3,630 m Summer visitor

Occasional, in flocks above cliffs in the main

study area and at Rudranath.

Laniidae

Lanius schach Rufousbacked Shrike [947]

1,680 m Resident

Common, in open country around villages.

Oriolidae

Oriolus traillii Maroon Oriole [961]

2,300-3,030 m Resident

Occasional, in oak-rhododendron forest. Pre-

viously not recorded above 2,440 m (Fleming

et al 1976).

Dicrurus leucophaeus Ashy Drongo [965]

1.680- 2,040 m Resident

Fairly common, in the vicinity of forest. Adults

seen feeding fledglings on 4 June (S. Breeden,

pers. comm.).

Sturnidae

Acridotheres tristis Common Myna [1006]

2,060 m Resident

Common, around the temple at Ansuya Devi.

* Acridotheres fuscus Jungle Myna [1009]

1.680- 1,830 m Resident

Fairly common. Pairs nesting in a tree hollow

and among rocks along a forested roadside on

4 June; one parent fed young with a skink

(S. Breeden pers. comm.).

Corvidae

Garrulus glandarius Eurasian Jay [1020]

1,800-3,200 m Resident

Fairly common, in oak-rhododendron forest in

the main study area and at Ansuya Devi.

Previously not recorded above 2,740 m (Flem-

ing et al 1976).

Garrulus lanceolatus Blackthroated Jay [1022]

1,830 m Resident

Probably occasional — seen once, between

Chopta Chatti and Okhimath (R.T. Sauey

pers. comm.).

Cissa flavirostris Yellowbilled Blue Magpie

[1025]

1.680- 3,080 m Resident

Common, in oak-rhododendron forest. Two

fledglings seen learning to fly on 30 June. Seve-

610

BIRDS OF KEDARNATH SANCTUARY

ral birds seen mobbing a Himalayan yellow-

throated marten ( Maries flavigula) on 20

March.

Dendrocitta formosae Himalayan Tree Pie

[1037]

1.680- 1,830 m Resident

Common, in cultivated fields and forest.

Nucifraga caryocatactes Nutcracker [1043]

3,050 m Resident

Scarce — seen once, in oak-rhododendron

forest in the main study area (S. Breeden pers.

comm.).

Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax Redbilled Chough

[1047]

3,140-3,510 m Resident

Fairly common, among cliffs in the main study

area and near Rudranath and Kedamath.

Corv us macrorhynchos Jungle Crow [1054]

2,800-3,720 m Resident

Common, in forest and above the tree line.

Fledgling seen learning to fly on 2 June.

Parents observed feeding two young with

chapattis on 14 July. Once several birds seen

repeatedly divebombing a male Impeyan

Pheasant, which was feeding, but they did not

mob its mate just 30 m away.

Campephagidae

Pericrocotus ethologus Longtailed Minivet

[1085]

1.680- 3,200 m Resident

Common, in oak-rhododendron forest.

Pycnonotidae

Pycnonotus leucogenys Whitecheeked Bulbul

[1125]

1,680 m Resident

Common, in oak-rhododendron forest.

Pycnonotus cafer Redvented Bulbul [1131]

1,680 m Resident

Fairly common, in oak-rhododendron forest in

the main study area and at Ansuya Devi.

Muscicapidae

Pomatorhinus erythrogenys Rustycheeked

Scimitar Babbler [1182]

2,040 m Resident

Scarce — seen once, in secondary scrub bor-

dering cultivated fields at Ansuya Devi.

*Pnoepyga albiventer Scalybreasted

Wren-Babbler [1197]

3 ,050-3 ,190 m Resident

Occasional, in bamboo thickets.

IStcichyris chrysaea Golden-headed Babbler

[1212]

2,440 m Resident

Probably seen once, in oak-rhododendron forest

between Chopta Chatti and Okhimath (S.

Breeden, pers. comm.). Previously not record-

ed west of Central Nepal (Ali and Ripley

1971, Fleming et al. 1976).

*Paradoxornis nipalensis Nepal Parrotbill

[1239a]

3,000-3,150 m Resident

Occasional, among rhododendron and bamboo

thickets in oak forest. Previously not recorded

above 3,000 m (Inskipp and Inskipp 1985).

Garrulax albogularis Whitethroated Laughing

Thrush [1273]

1.680- 2,440 m Resident

Common, in oak-rhododendron forest and

clearings. Seen in parties of up to 30 in the

main study area and at Ansuya Devi.

Garrulax striatus Striated Laughing Thrush

[1279]

1.680- 3,260 m Resident

Common, in oak-rhododendron forest. Consi-

derable seasonal altitudinal movement — seen

just below the snow line at 2,130 m on 12

January. Previously not recorded above 2,850

m (Inskipp and Inskipp 1985).

Garrulax variegatus Variegated Laughing

Thrush [1290]

2.800-3,280 m Resident

611

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Common, in oak-rhododendron forest in parties

of up to five.

*Garrulax ocellatus Whitespotted Laughing

Thrush [1298]

2.900- 3,080 m Resident

Fairly common, in oak-rhododendron forest.

Garrulax lineatus Streaked Laughing Thrush

[1314]

2.040- 3,230 m Resident

Fairly common, in oak-rhododendron forest

and clearings in the main study area and at

Ansuya Devi.

Garrulax erythrocephalus Redheaded Laughing

Thrush [1324]

2.040- 3,290 m Resident

Common, in oak-rhododendron forest in the

main study area and in cultivated fields at

Ansuya Devi.

Minla strigula Barth roated Minla [1358]

3.050- 3,280 m Resident

Common, among bamboo thickets in oak-

rhododendron forest.

Yuhina gularis Stripethroated Yuhina [1371/2]

2,350-3,290 m Resident

Fairly common, in oak-rhododendron forest

and birch-rhododendron scrub. Seen in parties

of up to a dozen in the main study area and

near Kedarnath.

Alcippe vinipectus Whitebrowed Tit-Babbler

[1380]

2.900- 3,570 m Resident

Common, in scrub.

Heterophasia capistrata Blackcapped Sibia

[1396]

2,130-2,590 m Resident

Common, in oak-rhododendron forest.

Muscicapa sibirica Sooty Flycatcher [1406]

3.050- 3,200 m Summer visitor

Fairly common, at the edge of clearings in oak-

rhododendron forest in the main study area

and at Kilpulbhadni.

*Muscicapa strophiata Orangegorgetted

Flycatcher [1414]

2,590-3,080 m Resident

Common, in oak-rhododendron forest.

*Muscicapa westermanni Little Pied Flycatcher

[1419]

3,080-3,200 m Summer visitor

Occasional, in oak-rhododendron forest. Pre-

viously not recorded west of Nepal or above

3,000 m (Inskipp and Inskipp 1985).

Muscicapa superciliaris Whitebrowed Blue

Flycatcher [1421]

2,440-2,530 m Resident

Fairly common, in oak-rhododendron forest

and clearings.

Muscicapa leucomelanura Slaty Blue Flycatcher

[1423]

3,200 m Resident

Occasional, close to the ground in bamboo

thickets.

* Muscicapa sundara Beautiful Niltava [1432]

1,680-3,200 m Resident

Fairly common, in oak-rhododendron forest.

Muscicapa thalassina Verditer Flycatcher

[1445]

2,130-3,200 m Summer visitor

Common, in tree tops at the edge of clearings

in the main study area and “at Kilpulbhadni.”

Culicicapa ceylonensis Greyheaded Flycatcher

[1448]

1,950-3,050 m Summer visitor

Fairly common, in oak-rhododendron forest.

Rhipidura hypoxantha Yellowbellied Fantail

Flycatcher [1450]

2,100-3,280 m Resident

Fairly common, in oak-rhododendron forest.

Cettia brunnifrons Rufouscapped Bush

Warbler [1486]

2,040-3,350 m Resident

Common, in rhododendron bushes and bamboo

thickets.

612

BIRDS OF KEDARNATH SANCTUARY

Bradypterus thoracicus Spotted Bush Warbler

[1490]

3.110- 3,230 m Resident

Common, in pastures. Three nests, lined with

grass and feathers and containing 3-4 eggs,

found 10-40 m apart in grass tussocks (A,D.

Lelliott pers. comm.).

Phyllo scopus inornatus Plain Leaf Warbler

[1590]

3,050 m ?Summer visitor

Probably common but seen only once by A.D.

Lelliott (pers. comm.).

*Phylloscopus maculipennis Greyfaced Leaf

Warbler [1597/8]

3.110- 3,200 m Resident

Fairly common, in open oak-rhododendron

forest.

*Phylloscopus magnirostris Largebilled Leaf

Warbler [1601]

3,510 m ?Summer visitor

Probably fairly common but seen only once,

at Rudranath.

Phylloscopus trochiloides Dull Green Leaf

Warbler [1604]

3,350 m ?Summer visitor

Probably fairly common but seen only once,

in rhododendron scrub at Rudranath.

* Phylloscopus reguloides Crowned Leaf

Warbler [1609]

2,800-3,410 m Resident

Common, in open oak-rhododendron forest

and rhododendron scrub. A nest, containing

four chicks with their eyes closed, found in a

hole on a 45° slope on 29 May. A fifth chick

lay dead outside the nest. One chick had its

eyes open by 2 June. The chicks were last

seen on 6 June and the nest was empty by

14 June.

Siecercus burkii Yellow-eyed Warbler [1614/5]

2,990-3,410 m Summer visitor

Fairly common, in rhododendron scrub.

Seicercus xant hose hist os Greyheaded Warbler

[1616]

3,110-3,630 m Resident

Fairly common, in oak-rhododendron forest

and above the tree line. Previously not re-

corded above 2,700 m (Ali and Ripley 1973).

*Seicercus poliogenys Greycheeked Warbler

[1620]

3,110-3,260 m Resident

Scarce, in rhododendron scrub. Previously not

recorded west of Central Nepal or above

3,200 m (Inskipp and Inskipp 1985).

*Brachypteryx stellata Gould’s Shortwing

[1635]

3,540 m Resident

Scarce — seen once, in rhododendron scrub at

Rudranath.

Erithacus cyanurus Orangeflanked Bush Robin

[1654]

2,040-3,280 m Resident

Common, in oak-rhododendron forest, rhodo-

dendron scrub and clearings. Nest with at least

two chicks discovered in a hole on a 45° grass

slope on 30 May. It was subsequently found,

on 17 June, strewn outside the hole with one

unhatched egg (18x13 mm). Nest made of

grass, lined inside with moss and the hairs of

musk deer (2,762 hairs counted by S.

Breeden).

*Erithacus indicus Whitebrowed Bush Robin

[1659]

3,110-3,350 m Resident

Occasional, in oak-rhododendron forest and

rhododendron scrub in the main study area

and at Rudranath.

Phoenicurus caeruleocephalus Blueheaded

Redstart [1670]

2,440-3,200 m Resident

Fairly common, in forest clearings and rhodo-

dendron scrub.

Phoenicurus frontalis Bluefronted Redstart

[1675]

3,350-3,510 m Resident

613

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Fairly common, in open scrub. Male seen

gathering food for young nesting in cliffs on

5 June (S. Breeden, pers. comm.).

Rhyacornis fuliginosus Plumbeous Redstart

[1679]

1,980-2,350 m Resident

Occasional, by fast flowing streams. Seen along

the Balasuti Nala, north of Mandal, and near

Ansuya Devi.

*Grandata coelicolor Grandala [1683]

3,960 m Resident

Scarce — seen once, a pair on rocky slopes

near Bisuri Tal on 8 June (S.M.C. Poulton

pers. comm.).

Enicurus scouleri Little Forktail [1684]

1.830- 3,280 m Resident

Common, by streams in closed and open

habitat.

*Enicurus immaculatus Blackbacked Forktail

[1685]

1.830- 2,130 m Resident

Occasional, by streams in forest. Previously

not recorded above 1,450 m (Ali and Ripley

1973).

Enicurus maculatus Spotted Forktail [1688]

1.830- 3,050 m Resident

Fairly common, by streams.

Chaimarrornis leucocephalus Whitecapped

River Chat [1716]

1.830- 3,510 m Resident

Common, along fast flowing streams and rivers.

Two pairs building nests on 5 June (S. Breeden

pers. comm.). Flightless chicks in a nest on

6 July; two fledglings seen flying with adults

on 7 July (A.D. Lelliott pers. comm.).

Monticola cinclorhynchus Blueheaded Rock

Thrush [1723]

3,110 m Summer visitor

Scarce — seen once by R. T. Sauey (pers.

comm.).

Monticola rufiventris Chestnutbellied Rock

Thrush [1724]

2,740-3,290 m Resident

Fairly common, in oak-rhododendron forest

and rhododendron scrub.

Monticola solitarius Blue Rock Thrush [1726]

3,140-3,200 m Resident

Scarce, near water in rhododendron scrub.

Myiophonus caeruleus Whistling Thrush [1729]

1,830-3,350 m Resident

Occasional, by rivulets in forest.

*Zoothera dixoni Longtailed Mountain Thrush

[1740]

3,440 m Resident

Scarce — seen once by A. D. Lelliott (pers.

comm.).

Zoothera dauma Speckled Mountain Thrush

[1741]

3,050 m Resident

Fairly common, in oak-rhododendron forest.

Zoothera monticola Large Longbilled Thrush

[1745]

3,050-3.140 m Resident

Scarce — seen once, near a rivulet in rhodo-

dendron scrub.

*T urdus unicolor Tickell’s Thrush [1748]

2,740 m Summer visitor

Scarce — seen once, in oak-rhododendron

forest.

Turdus albocinctus Whitecollared Blackbird

[1749]

2,040-3,350 m Resident

Common, in oak-rhododendron forest and

birch-rhododendron scrub in the main study

area and at Rudranath and Ansuya Devi.

Some seasonal altitudinal movement — a flock

seen on the ground just below the snow line

at 2,130 m on 12 January. Nest, lined with

moss and containing two eggs, found in a tree

hollow, 1.2 m above ground level (A. D.

Lelliott pers. comm.).

614

BIRDS OF KEDARNATH SANCTUARY

T urdus boulboul Greywinged Blackbird [1750]

2, 1 30-2, 1 90 m Resident

Fairly common, in oak-rhododendron forest.

*T. urdus merula Eurasian Blackbird [1752]

1.830- 3,460 m Resident

Occasional, in oak-rhododendron forest in the

main study area and between Rambara and

Kedamath.

T urdus rubrocanus Greyheaded Thrush [1758]

2,130 m Resident

Scarce — seen once, amidst a flock of White-

collared Blackbirds in oak-rhododendron

forest.

*T urdus ruficollis Blackthroated Thrush [1763]

3,230 m Winter visitor

Occasional — seen once, a party of at least

six in rhododendron scrub.

T urdus viscivorus Mistle Thrush [1768]

2,740-3,170 m Resident

Fairly common, in oak-rhododendron forest

and forest clearings.

Troglodytidae

Troglodytes troglodytes Wren [1771]

2.830- 3,200 m Resident

Occasional, in forest clearings and rhododen-

dron scrub.

Cinclidae

Cinclus pallasii Brown Dipper [1775]

2.350-3,200 m Resident

Occasional, along fast flowing streams and

rivers.

Prunellidae

Prunella collaris Alpine Accentor [1778/9]

2,380-3,170 m Resident

Fairly common, on cliffs and by the roadside.

Seen below the tree line only in January and

February.

*Prunella himalayana Altai Accentor [1780]

3,310-3,440 m Winter visitor

Occasional, in flocks on grassy slopes. Seen in

the main study area only between late March

and mid-May.

Paridae

Par us monticolus Greenbacked Tit [1799]

2,040-3,170 m Resident

Fairly common, in oak-rhododendron forest in

the main study area and at Ansuya Devi.

Parus melanolophus Spotwinged Black Tit

[1802]

2,800-3,140 m Resident

Common, in oak-rhododendron forest.

*Parus rubidiventris Rufousbreasted Black Tit

[1805]

3,050-3,410 m Resident

Common, in oak-rhododendron forest and

rhododendron scrub. The presence of grey on

the rufous breast and belly suggests a transi-

tion form. Possibly the species hybridises with

P. rufonuchalis (Simla Black Tit).

*Parus dichrous Crested Brown Tit [1807/8]

2,830-3,170 m Resident

Common, in oak-rhododendron forest.

Parus xanthogenys Yellowcheeked Tit [1809]

1,680 m Resident

Probably occasional — seen once by A. D.

Lelliott (pers. comm.).

Aegit halos concinnus Redheaded Tit [1818]

1,680-2,100 m Resident

Fairly common, in scrub.

Aegit halos niveogularis Whitethroated Tit

[1822]

3,410 m Resident

Occasional, a party of about a dozen seen in

rhododendron scrub.

SlTTIDAE

Sitta himalayensis Whitetailed Nuthatch [1834]

3,050 m Resident

615

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Fairly common, in oak-rhododendron forest.

Tichodroma muraria Wall Creeper [1839]

1,520-3,350 m Resident

Occasional, on cliffs. A bird in summer plum-

age, with a black throat, seen on 29 March.

Certhiidae

Certhia familiaris Northern Tree Creeper [1843]

2,590-3,050 m Resident

Fairly common, in oak-rhododendron forest.

Certhia nipalensis Nepal Tree Creeper [1851]

3.050- 3,140 m Resident

Fairly common, in oak-rhododendron forest.

Previously not recorded west of Nepal (In-

skipp and Inskipp 1985).

Motacillidae

Anthus hodgsoni Hodgson’s Tree Pipit

[1852/3]

2,800-3,310 m Resident

Common, around forest clearings. Flies to tops

of tree when disturbed and pumps its tail.

Solitary individuals often seen in winter.

Anthus roseatus Rosebreasted Pipit [1865]

3,200-3,660 m Summer visitor

Fairly common, in pastures.

Anthus sylvanus Upland Pipit [1873]

3,050 m Resident

Probably occasional — seen once by A. D.

Lelliott (pers. comm.).

Motacilla caspica Grey Wagtail [1884]

1,830-2,740 m Summer visitor

Occasional, on forest road in the main study

area and river terraces near Kedarnath.

Motacilla alba Pied Wagtail [1887]

3,510 m Summer visitor

Scarce — seen once, near Kedarnath.

Nectarxniidae

* Aethopyga nipalensis Nepal Sunbird [1922]

3.050- 3,150 m Resident

Occasional, in oak-rhododendron forest.

* Aethopyga ignicauda Firetailed Sunbird

[1930]

3.050- 3,470 m Resident

Occasional, in oak-rhododendron forest. A

male seen feeding from Rhododendron arbo-

reum flowers on 29 March.

Ploceidae

Passer domesticus House Sparrow [1939]

1,680 m Resident

Common, around villages.

Fringillidae

Mycerobas affinis Allied Grosbeak [1983]

2,900-3,140 m Resident

Occasional, in oak-rhododendron forest in the

main study area and at Kilpulbhadni.

Carduelis carduelis Eurasian Goldfinch [1989]

1,520-3,290 m Resident

Fairly common, seen on several occasions by

A. D. Lelliott (pers. comm.).

Leucosticte nemoricola Hodgson’s Mountain

Finch [2000]

2,040-3,350 m Resident

Occasional, on grassy slopes in the main study

area. Flock of about 100 seen at Ansuya Devi.

^Carpodacus nipalensis Nepal Rosefinch

[2014/5]

3.050- 3,350 m Resident

Fairly common, in open scrub and pastures.

Carpodacus rhodochrous Pinkbrowed Rosefinch

[2017]

3,350 m Resident

Occasional, in rhododendron scrub. Males seen

singly, or in twos, and females in parties of

up to a dozen at Rudranath on 21 June.

* Carpodacus thura Whit eb rowed Rosefinch

[2020/1]

3,050 m Resident

Occasional, in pastures.

616

BIRDS OF KEDARNATH SANCTUARY

Carpodacus puniceus Redbreasted Rosefiiich

[2030]

3.170- 3,200 m Resident

Occasional, in open scrub.

*Haematospiza sipahi Scarlet Finch [2034]

3,000 m Resident

Scarce — a pair seen once, in the tops of a

fir ( Abies pindrow).

Pyrrhula erythrocephala Redheaded Bullfinch

[2039]

3.170- 3,510 m Resident

Fairly common, in birch-rhododendron scrub

in the main study area and near Kedarnath.

Emberizidae

Emberiza cia Rock Bunting [2052]

1,980-2,440 m Resident

Common, in forest clearings.

Melophus Iathami Crested Bunting [2060]

1,680 m Resident

Common, in cultivated fields.

Acknowledgements

Stanley and Belinda Breeden, Tony Lelliott

and Ron Sauey kindly contributed informa-

tion on a number of species. I am also very

grateful to Stanley Breeden, Tim Inskipp,

Tony Lelliott and Derek Lees-Smith for com-

menting on earlier drafts of the manuscript.

Table 1

* Crest measured 8.6 cm.

References

Agrawala, N. K. (1973): Working plan for the

Kedarnath Forest Division 1972-73 to 1981-82. Work-

ing Plans Circle, Naini Tal, Uttar Pradesh.

Ali, S. & Ripley, S. D. (1968-74): Handbook of

the birds of Indi^i and Pakistan. 10 volumes. Oxford

University Press, Bombay.

Champion, H. G. & Seth, S. K. (1968): A re-

vised survey of the forest types of India. Govern-

ment of India, New Delhi.

Devillers, P. (1976) : Observations ornitholo-

giques de pr intemps au Garhwal, Himalaya Indien.

Gerfaut 66: 221-249.

Fleming, R. L. Sr., Fleming, R. L. Jr. & Bang-

del, L. S. (1976) : Birds of Nepal with reference

to Kashmir and Sikkim. R. L. Fleming Sr. and Jr.,

Kathmandu.

Green, M. J. B. (1985) : Aspects of the ecology

of the Himalayan musk deer. Ph.D. dissertation,

University of Cambridge.

Inskipp, C. & Inskipp, T. (1985): A guide to

the birds of Nepal. Croom Helm, Beckenham, Kent.

Lavkumar, K. S. (1956): A contribution to the

ornithology of Garhwal. /. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc.

53: 315-329.

Mani, A. (1981) : The climate of the Himalaya.

In: The Himalaya: aspects of change, ed. J. S. Lall

in association with A. D. Moddie, pp. 3-15. Oxford

University Press, Delhi.

Osmaston, A. E. (1921): A note on the nidifi-

cation and habits of some birds in British Garhwal.

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 28: 140-160.

617

TAXONOMIC STUDIES ON THE MARINE OSTRACODA

FROM INDIA. FAMILY: LEPTOCYTHERIDAE HANAI,

19571

C. Annapurna and D. V. Rama Sarma2

(With five plates)

Introduction

Although several publications are available

on the systematics and ecology of benthic

ostracods from other countries, there is no

comprehensive work either on taxonomy or

ecology of marine and estuarine ostracods from

India. Some information is available on the

systematics of ostracods from the Miocene,

Pliocene and Holocene sediments.

While investigating the systematics and

ecology of benthic ostracods, 40 species be-

longing to 27 genera and 14 families were

identified from the marginal marine environ-

ments namely Bimili backwaters (17°54'N,

83°28'E), Balacheruvu tidal stream (17°39'N,

83°15'E) and Vasishta Godavari estuary

(16°18'N, 81°42'E).

Among the members of the family Lepto-

cytheridae Hanai, 1957, Leptocy there andhra

ensis, Tanella estuarii and T. kingmai are new

to science, Callistocy there sp. aff. C. crispata

is found to be the first record from Indian

waters. T. vasishta Annapurna & Rama Sarma

1979 and T. indica Annapurna & Rama Sarma

1979 were described earlier from the lower

reaches of the Vasishta Godavari estuary and

the marginal water bodies on the east coast

1 Accepted March 1984.

2 Department of Zoology, Andhra University,

Waltair 530 003, India.

of India (Annapurna & Rama Sarma, 1979a;

1979b)

Material and Methods

Regular sampling of the bottom sediments

was made at monthly intervals with a core-

device developed by Phleger (1960). The

material was strained through a large sieve

of 250 microns mesh size. The material was

carefully washed and the rolled up sediment

was gently broken up into fine sediment

fractions with a brush. After the fine sediment

was thus washed away, the specimens were

transferred to a counting dish. The material

was examined under a stereo binocular micro-

scope and the forms were picked up with a

double zero brush. After establishing their

identity, the total number was counted and

categorised as living and dead. The adults

were dissected under glycerine and the appen-

dages were sketched under camera lucida. The

shells were mounted on microfossil slides.

Results and Discussion

1. Genus Leptocythere Sars, 1928

Key for identification

1 . Carapace elongated and subquadrangular and

smooth L. pellucida

2. Carapace oblong and subreniform, surface orna-

mented with closely indistinct pits . . L. macallana

3. Carapace oval and quadrangular and marked

with closely set, sharply defined, round, pits...

L. castanea

618

j. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83

Annapurna & Rama Sarma: Marine Ostracoda

A. Leptocythere andhraensis — exterior view of complete shell; B. Callistocythere sp. aff. C. crispata — exterior

view of complete shell; C.Tane/la estuarii — dorsal view of carapace; D. Tanella kingmai — exterior view of

carapace.

TAXONOMIC STUDIES ON MARINE OSTRACODA

4. Carapace narrow, elongated and ornamented

with few tubercles L. tenera

5. Carapace oval and subreniform and ornamented

with elevated ridges L. crispata

6. Carapace oblong, elongated carapace, ornament-

ed with dense pits L. andhraensis

Leptocy there andhraensis sp. nov. (Plate 1,A;

Plate 2, A & B; Plate 3, 1-9)

Carapace oblong and moderately elongated,

compressed laterally. Anterior end broadly

rounded, posterior end truncated above, round-

ed below. Surface ornamented with dense pits.

Hinge in the right valve antimerodont type;

posterior sockets crenulate with crenulation of

median hinge bar. The median hinge bar

strongly crenulated in the left valve. Inner

lamella wider anteriorly and narrower poste-

riorly and posteroventrally. Marginal pore

canals straight and simple. Dorsal and ventral

margins straight. Normal pores moderate in

number and small. Central muscle scars in a

vertical row of four and V-shaped frontal scar.

Eye spot absent, left valve slightly larger than

right.

Length : 0.57 mm; Height : 0.27 mm.

Antennule 3 -jointed, ultimate podomere

narrow and elongated and bears five claw-like

setae. First claw-like seta divided into two setae.

Antenna 3 -jointed, penultimate podomere con-

sists of slender setae; ultimate podomere with

two pairs of claw-like setae. Spinneret seta

2- jointed, reaching the distal ends of claws.

Mandible consists of one pair of long and

three pairs of short teeth; mandibular palp

3 - segmented and ends with five slender setae.

Maxilla with masticatory lobes narrow and

elongated and bears three elongated claw-like

setae and five small setae. Vibratory plate wide

with 13 unfeathered elongated rays. Thoracic

legs 4-jointed ending with curved claws. Distal

ends of each podomere with 1 to 3 setae. Palp-

like structure developed on the first thoracic

leg.

Remarks'. In hingement, marginal pore

canals and muscles scars L. andhraensis re-

sembles L. pellucida, L. macallana, L. casta -

nea, L. tenera and L, crispata. This species

differs from the above species in (oblong and

elongate) shape and densely pitted ornamenta-

tion. In the antennule, each claw-like seta is

divided into two.

Type-locality : Bimili backwaters on the

east coast of India.

Type-specimens : Holotype and two para-

types are deposited in the Museum of Zoolo-

gical Survey of India, Calcutta, India.

Occurrence : Bimili backwaters and Vasishta

Godavari estuary.

The species is named after Andhra Pradesh,

the state in which both the localities are

situated.

2. Genus Callistocy there Ruggieri, 1953

Callistocythere sp. aff. C. crispata (Brady,

1868) (Plate 1, B)

Cythere crispata Brady, 1868, pp. 72-73, pi.

xiv, figs. 8a-d.

Shape elongated to subquadrangular; com-

pressed laterally. Maximum height generally

equal to half the length at the anterior end.

Valves heavily calcified. Dorsal margin nearly

straight. Posterodorsal cardinal angle promi-

nent. Anterior end more broadly rounded than

the posterior one. Ventral margin sinuous in

the anterior half. Ornamentation strongly reti-

culate. Anterior and posterior marginal ridges

well developed. Antero-ventral marginal and

postero-ventral denticulation clear. Hinge

amphidont/archidont type. Inner lamella wide

in anterior and postero-ventral area. Line of

concrescence almost coincides with the inner

margins; anterior vestibulum poorly develop-

ed; selvage near and parallel to outer margin

619

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST . SOCIETY, Vol. 83

but in the posterior part often considerably

removed removed from it. The left valve has

a selvage-like ridge with a ‘snap-pit on its

outer side, situated at the sinuous margin,

corresponds to ‘snap-knob’ in the right valve.

Marginal pore canals less numerous, most

wide at the base, typically branching. Normal

pores moderate in number and open. A row

of four adductor scars and one fulcral point

present. Eye spot very weak. Left valve larger

than right.

Length: 0.51 mm; Height: 0.34 mm.

Occurrence : Bimili backwaters; Balacheruvu

tidal stream; Vasishta Godavari estuary.

3. Genus Tanella Kingma, 1948

Key for identification

1 . Shape of carapace elongate and narrow 3, 6

2. Carapace oblong and tumid 7

3. Hexagonal network with a prominent ridge 9

4. Reticulated, longitudinal ridges strong and

arched 1 1

5. Pits separate and limited in number T. estuarii

6. Pits in clusters and innumerable T. kingmai

7. Posterior reticulation clear with 4 to 5 pits

T. miurensis

8. Posterior reticulation obscure with 3 to 6 pits

arranged in groups 13

9. Socket in right valve crenulate 12

10. Socket in right valve smooth 11,13

1 1 . Marginal pore canals polyfurcate T. gracilis

12. Marginal pore canals bifurcate T. vasishta

13. Marginal pore canals intermediate between

polyfurcate and bifurcate branching T. indica

3a. Tanella estuarii sp. nov. (Plate 1, C; Plate

2, C&D; Plate 4, 1-10)

Carapace thin oblong and tumid in outline.

Anterior margin obliquely rounded. Dorsal mar-

gin nearly straight inclined towards the poste-

rior. Ventral margin straight sinuous at the ante-

rior end. Posterior end truncated above and

rounded below. Surface sculptured by strong

vertical ridges at anterior and posterior ends.

Pits arranged in rows. Anterior marginal

ridges strong beginning at anterior cardinal

angle and ending in anteroventral area. Poste-

rior marginal ridges strong, beginning in poste-

rior part of dorsal margin and extending to

postero-ventral area and become straight and

run parallel to ventral margin to ventral

sinuous area. Hinge structure and adductor

scars same as in type genus. Viewed from

above, carapace ovate; with anterior and pos-

terior marginal ridges projecting. Sexual dimor-

phism very strong. Male form more elongated

than female. Posterior end broad in female

for keeping eggs in brood cavity.

Length : 0.33 mm; Height : 0.17 mm.

Antennule 4-jointed, first two podomeres as

long as the remaining two podomeres. Third

podomere with dorsal claw-like setae and ulti-

mate podomere with three stout distal claws.

Antenna 4-jointed, second podomere twice the

length of third podomere. Third podomere

bears two setae on either side. The ultimate

podomere consists of one seta at the anterior

side and ends with two stout distal claws.

Mandible with three serrate teeth laterally

placed on cutting area. Mandibular palp 4-

segmented. The first segment bulbous, second

segment more elongated than the remaining

one. Third segment bears two elongate setae.

Fourth segment ends with five strong claws.

Maxilla with three narrow masticatory lobes,

the basal part slightly curved, terminate down-

wards in three short cylindrical rows. Jointed

masticatory process and palp built of two podo-

meres. The masticatory process ends with setae.

The exopodite well developed in the maxilla

as a branchial plate or vibratory plate bearing

11 unfeathered rays. In thoracic legs, endopo-

dite well developed protopodite 3-segmented

ends with curved claws. Third thoracic leg

directed downwards. Paired furcae attached to

620

J. BOMBAY NAT. HIST. SOC. 83 PLATE 2

Annapurna & Rama Sarma: Marine Ostracoda

U-J

A. leptocythere andhraensis— interior view of right valve; B. Leptocythere andhraensis— interior view of left

valve; C. Tanella estuarii— interior view of right valve; D. Tanella estuarii— interior view of left valve; E.

Tanella kingmai — interior view of right valve; F. Tanella kingmai — interior view of left valve.

J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 83

Annapurna & Rama Sarma: Marine Ostracoda

U 01 MM

Leptocythere andheraensis

1. antennule; 2. antenna; 3. mandible; 4. mandibular palp; 5. maxilla- 6

thoracic leg; 8. third thoracic leg; 9. genital organ.

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83

Annapurna & Rama Sarma: Marine Ostracoda

Plate 4

Tanella estuarii

1. antennule; 2. antenna; 3. mandible with palp; 4. maxilla; 5. vibratory plate; 6. first thoracic leg; 7. second

thoracic leg; 8. third thoracic leg; 9. masticatory lobe of maxilla; 10. furcae.

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83

Annapurna & Rama Sarma: Marine Ostracoda

Plate 5

thoracic leg; 8. third thoracic leg; 9. genital organ.

O -1 mm

TAXONOMIC STUDIES ON MARINE OSTRACODA

the posteroventral end of the body and un-

segmented.

Remarks : In the shape of carapace, margi-

nal area and in the arrangement of muscle

scars T. estuarii resembles T. gracilis and T.

vasishta. It differs from T. vasishta in poly-

furcate branching of marginal pore canals.

T. estuarii differs from T. miurensis and T.

indica in the shape of the carapace and surface

sculptured with pits, separate and limited in

number.

Type-locality : Vasishta Godaviri estuary on

the east coast of India.

Type-specimens : Holotype and three para-

types are deposited in the Museum of Zoolo-

gical Survey of India, Calcutta, India.

Occurrence : Bimili backwaters, Balacheruvu

tidal stream and Vasishta Godavari estuary.

This species is named after the type-locality.

3b. Tanella kingmai sp. nov. (Plate 1, D;

Plate 2, E & F; Plate 5, 1-9).

Carapace narrow and elongate; highest at

anterior cardinal angle, anterior margin turn-

ing downwards and rounded. Dorsal margin

straight showing concavity in the centre. Poste-

rior and truncated above, narrowly rounded

below. Anterior marginal ridges strong begin-

ning at cardinal angle and ends in antero-

ventral region. Carapace sculptured by deep

pits. Pits arranged in pairs in the centre at

anterior end in rows. Hinge structure same as

in type genus. Muscle scars 4, adductor scars

in a vertical row. Furcal muscle scars not clear.

Marginal pore canals same as in type genus.

Sexual dimorphism clear.

Length: 0.42 mm; Height: 0.18 mm.

Antennule 4-jointed, first two podomeres as

long as remaining podomeres. Penultimate

podomere with single seta and ultimate podo-

mere with 3 claw-like setae and 4 slender

setae; third podomere with two claw-like setae

and one slender seta. Exopodite 2-jointed not

reaching ends of distal claws. Mandible with

three serrate teeth placed laterally on cutting

edge. Mandibular palp 3-segmented; first seg-

ment bulbous, last segment with one claw-like

seta and six slender setae. In maxilla, masti-

catory lobe short and ends with setae, vibratory

plate with 11 unfeathered rays. Thoracic legs

same as that of type species.

Remarks : In the shape of the carapace,

marginal area, marginal pore canals and

arrangement of muscle scars T. kingmai re-

sembles T. gracilis, T. vasishta and T. estuarii.

It differs from T. indica, T. miurensis in the

body shape. It differs from T. estuarii by the

surface of the carapace being sculptured with

pits, pits arranged in clusters and are innume-

rable. Postero-dorsal region is tilted upwards

characteristically.

Type-locality : Bimili backwaters, on the east

coast of India.

Type-specimens : Holotype and three para-

types are deposited in the Museum of Zoolo-

gical Survey of India, Calcutta, India.

Occurrence : Bimili backwaters, Balacheruvu

tidal stream and Vasishta Godavari estuary.

This species is named after Dr. J. Th.

Kingma, in appreciation of his excellent work.

Summary

Distinguishing characters relating to carapace

and soft parts of three new ostracode species,

namely Leptocy there andhraensis, Tanella

estuarii and T. kingmai inhabiting the shallow

backwaters of Bimili, Balacheruvu tidal stream

and Vasishta Godavari estuary, on the east

coast of India are described. The description

of Callistocythere sp. aff. C. crispata which is

recorded for the first time from the Indian

waters is also given.

621

10

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol 83

Ack NOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks are due to the Head of the Depart-

ment of Zoology of Andhra University for

facilities, to Prof. M. Subba Rao, Geology

Department for his interest and encouragement

in the study and to Dr. S. V. Darvasula,

Refei

Hanai, T. (1957): Studies on the Ostracoda from

Japan. 1. Sub-family Leptocytherinae n. sub-fam.

J. Fac. Sci. Univ. Tokyo, Section II, 10: 431-438.

Annapurna, C. & Rama Sarma, D. V. (1979a):

Occurrence of a new podocopan ostracode Tanella

vasishta in the Vasishta Godavari estuary. Curr.

Sci., 48: 42-43.

Annapurna, C. & Rama Sarma, D. V. (1979b):

Occurrence of a podocopan ostracode Tanella indica

sp. nov. in the marginal water bodies on the east

coast of India. Indian J. Mar. Sci., 8: 117-118.

Phleger, F. B. (1960): Ecology and Distribu-

tion of Recent Foraminifera. Johns Hopkins Press,

Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth,

Canada for providing us with Scanning Elec-

tron Micrographs. The willing co-operation of

Mr. M. Ananda Rao, Geology department in

the identification of the species is thankfully

acknowledged. One of us (CA) is grateful to

the C.S.I.R. for financial assistance.

EN CES

Baltimore, 297 pp.

Sars, G. O. (1922-1928): An Account of the

Crustacea of Norway. Vols. 1-9: Ostracoda, 277 pp.

*Ruggieri, G. (1953) : Etae e faune di un terrazzo

marine sulla costa ionica della Calabria. Giorn. Geol.

Scr., 2A, 23: 19-168.

Brady, G. S. (1968) : A monograph of the Recent

British Ostracoda. Trans. Linnean Soc., 26: 353-495.

Kingma, J. Th. (1948): Contributions to the

knowledge of the young Caenozoic Ostracoda from

the Malayan region. Doctoral thesis, Univ. Utrecht.

119 pp.

* Not referred to in original.

622

FOSSIL BIRD EGG SHELL FRAGMENTS FROM

KAREWAS OF KASHMIR VALLEY (J&K), INDIA:

A SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE STUDY1

Ashok Sahni, V. J. Gupta,

Bhuvan Prakash2 and B. S. Kotlia3

{With a plate and two text-figures)

The present discovery of avian fossil egg shell fragments from the Plio-Pleistocene

Karewa lake sediments is the only documented such find in India, Fossil bird egg

shells, varying in thickness from 0.2 to 0.35 mm, have been discovered from two

sites namely Kilar and Sombur (Karewa Group), Kashmir Valley and have been

studied by scanning electron microscopy. The sediments, exposed near Kilar, con-

stituting the Lower Karewa Formation, are about 1.8 m.y. to 1.6 m.y. in age. The

ossiferous horizon at Sombur which has yielded bird egg shell fragments together

with several remains of Elephas hysudricus, is younger than 0.73 m.y. The egg shell

structure is well calcified, primatic with a smooth external surface having isolated

circular pores. The mammillae are of variable size and range in diameter from

0.03 to 0.04 mm. The presence of fossil egg shells in the Karewa deposits has been

attributed to birds on the basis of morphological similarities to egg shell structure

of recent birds. The only group to which the Kashmir egg shells resemble are

gekkonids. However, reptiles are poorly represented, the fauna being dominated by

elephants, deer, horses, microtine, murid rodents, shrew-like insectivores and cyprinid

fishes.

Introduction

The present paper deals with the discovery

of fossil egg shell fragments from near Kilar

and Sombur (Kashmir Valley), constituting

the Lower and Upper Karewa respectively

(Kotlia 1985). The fossil record of birds in

India is rather poor as compared to the other

vertebrates. Because of their light weight and

delicate skeletal structure, bones are easily

decomposed before the process of fossilization

starts.

1 Accepted October 1985.

2 Centre of Advanced Study in Geology, Panjab

University, Chandigarh.

3 Physical Research Laboratory, Navrangpura,

Ahmedabad.

The egg shell of different reptiles and birds

have specific microstructure (Sochava 1969,

1970 and 1971; Hirsch 1979, 1983, 1985). The

hard calcareous egg shell is characteristic of

birds whereas a soft parchment-like egg shell

is produced by most reptiles (Hirsch 1979).

On the basis of their internal structure, egg

shells have been divided into two types, single

layered (testudoid) and double layered (orni-

thoid). The double layered egg shells in turn

can be subdivided into two types namely

angusticanalicular and prolatocanalicular, de-

pending upon the shape of the aeration canals

running through the spongy layer. An angusti-

canalicular type egg shell is observed in

modern birds (Sochava 1969) where aeration

623

JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

canals are narrow and have constant width.

In prolatocanalicular shells, aeration canals

vary greatly in transverse section. Turtles and

crocodiles have testudoid type egg shell. In

avian egg shells the basic units (spheroliths)

are slender columns arising from the relative-

ly narrow mammillary layer (cone layer).

Spheroliths are usually wedge shaped in croco-

diles and turtles (Fig. 1) (Hirsch 1985).

rocks (Lydekker 1984, Sahni, in press). The

fossil birds so far recovered from the Siwaliks

are mostly aquatic except for the remains of

some large terrestrial flightless birds. The re-

mains of aquatic birds (herons, pelicans) are

best preserved in sediments in sites around

their natural habitat for example lakes, rivers

and along coastal areas. Hence, this group is

relatively better represented as fossils. Though

-cl

I

L-

c.

d

Fig. 1. Comparative structural features of egg shell in (a) Chelonia, (b) Crocodilia,

(c) Dinosauria, (d) Aves (after Hirsch 1979, Erben 1970).

Abbreviations

cl — cone layer; eisp — eisosphertite; exsp —

mammillary layer; psp — primary spherite;

zsp — zone of spherite.

Dinosaurian egg shells are closest to those of

birds in structure and have similar correspond-

ing basic units to those found in bird egg shells

(Fig. 1) (Sochava 1970). Dinosaur egg shells,

about 75 to 65 million years in age have re-

cently been described from Jabalpur (Sahni

and Gupta 1982). Nagpur and other regionally

adjacent localities (Sahni et al 1984, Jain and

Sahni 1985).

Fossil avifauna from the Indian subconti-

nent is known from the Siwalik Group of

exospherite; extz — external zone; ml —

spl — spongy layer; teg — tegmentum;

very little is known about the fossil record of

birds, earlier descriptions of Siwalik birds are

known from the notes of Capt. Hugh Falconer

and Gen. Sir S. W. Baker. Later, the collec-

tion of Falconer and Cautley were published

by Lydekker in 1879. Lydekker (1884) re-

ported a number of birds from the Siwalik

Group rocks. His scheme of classification was

somewhat incomplete again due to the lack of

most of the diagnostic characters and was

limited to fragmentary limb bones and verte-

624

FOSSIL BIRD EGG SHELL

brae. Siwalik birds were reviewed recently by

Sahni (in press). The main birds from the

Siwaliks are: Pelicanus cautleyi, P. sivalensis,

Phalacrocorctx, Leptoptilus, Argola, Mergus,

Strut hio asiaticus and Dromaeus (?) sivalensis.

Pelicanus cautleyi and P. sivalensis are re-

cognized by the distal extremity of the ulna

which is smaller than in the existing Indian

and African P. mi t rat us. Later, De Terra and

Paterson (1939) carried out considerable and

comprehensive field work in the Karewas and

reported the remains of birds along with the

remains of Elephas hysudricus and a number

of bones of artiodactyls mammals from

‘Sombur Bone Bed’. More recently, Tripathi

and Chandra (1962), on the basis of skeletal

elements also reported birds (but did not

illustrate or describe these) from the Lower

Karewa deposits, exposed at Nichahoma and

Tsrar Sherif. The remains of the struthious

birds are relatively more common because of

the more robust nature of their bones (Lyde-

kker 1884). Ostrich egg shells at some

archaeological sites in western India are also

known (H. D. Sankalia, pers. comm.).

Locality and stratigraphic position

The Valley of Kashmir is symmetrically

oriented about the northwest syntaxis and is

an intermontane basin developed within the

southern Himalayan Schuppenstruktur. It has

accumulated about 1225 m of Plio-

Pleistocene synorogenic sediments (deltaic,

lacustrine, fluvio-glacial). These sediments lie

unconformably over the Panjal Trap and

Triassic Limestone. On the basis of different

lithologies, Karewas have been divided into

three structural units i.e.. Lower and upper

Karewa Formations and Loess deposits (Bhatt

1979, Agrawal et al. 1979). The developmental

history of the intermontane basin of Kashmir,

based on geological and palaeomagnetic studies

have shown that Karewa sedimentation had

been initiated by about 4.0 m.y. ago (Burbank

and Johnson 1982, Kusumgar et al 1985a, b).

Since then, lacustrine and glacio-fluvial sedi-

ments dominating the Karewa sequence have

preserved a large number of megavertebrates

(Badam 1979, Sahni 1982, Kotlia et al. 1982.

Kotlia 1985) as well as microvertebrate and

micromammals (Sahni and Kotlia 1983, 1985;

Kotlia 1985).

Fossil bird egg shell fragments have been

recovered from two localities, Kilar and Som-

bur, constituting the Lower Karewas and

Upper Karewa respectively. Kilar section

(33°48'03"N, 74°75'53"E), the lateral exten-

sion of the Romushi Karewa sediments, is

exposed along Birnai Nala between Kilar and

Lasidaban villages (Fig. 2A, B), 60 km SW

of Srinagar. The section is considered to be

lithologically equivalent to part of the Romushi

section exposed below Aglar Conglomerate

and is ascribed to the same formation as the

conglomerate horizon exposed at the top of

the Kilar section which has been physically

traced to Aglar village where it constitutes a

well organised conglomeratic bed (Kotlia

1985): Kilar section comprises a compact and

bluish mudstone sequence interlayered by fine

grained sandstone layers showing wave built

structures. The bluish lenticular sand bodies

are associated with finely laminated yellowish

rhythmite layers showing wave ripples. The

sediments, specially in the middle part of the

section are rather disturbed and not continu-

ously exposed. The upper part of Kilar section

is a mudstone-sandstone succession dominated

by compact and bluish mudstone with thin

and thick sandstone alternations. The mud-

stone dominant succession contains abundant

gastropod shells at the base otherwise it shows

faint laminations. Detailed lithostratigraphy of

625

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol 83

MUD STONE

[l-Z-ll SANDY MUDSTONE

RHYTHMITE

SANDSTONE

SILTY MUDSTONE

YELLOW SILT «. CLAY

LIGNITE

QjHT] GASTROPOD SHELLS

BRECCIA

\» <E] CONGLOMERATE

TRIASSIC LIMESTONE

f*x*„*] EGG SHELL HORIZON

Fig. 2. A. A part of the geological map of Kashmir Valley showing sampling loca-

lities (modified after Bhatt 1976); B. Lower Karewa section exposed at Kilar showing

fossil bird egg shell horizon (after Kotlia 1985); C. Upper Karewa section exposed

at Sombur showing egg shell horizon (after Kotlia 1985).

FOSSIL BIRD EGG SHELL

Kilar section has been studied by Kotlia

(1985).

The egg shell fragments have been discover-

ed from the ossiferous horizon in the topmost

part of the section, just below the conglome-

rate succession. The bluish coloured lenticular

sand bodies and the 1-2 cm thick silty mud-

stone layers have also yielded the post-cranial

remains of Equus sivalensis associated with

microtine and murid rodents (Kotlia 1985).

The fossil bird egg shell fragments are also

recovered from Sombur (33°57'02"N; 74°57'

10"E), an Upper Karewa locality, 18 km NE

of Srinagar. This ossiferous horizon which

forms a part of the Upper Karewa Formation

lies stratigraphically 8 m above the “Sombur

Bone Bed” (Fig. 2C). Sombur sediments,

overlying the Triassic Limestone, are compos-

ed of laminated silt and clay, associated with

fine to medium sand bodies. The Triassic

Limestone is poorly exposed on which rests

a 7-9 cm thick limestone breccia which is

followed upward by a thin conglomeratic hori-

zon consisting of Triassic Limestone, Panjal

Trap pebbles and boulders, this conglomeratic

horizon in turn is followed by fine to medium

grained sandstone associated with layers of silt

and clay with minor pebbly horizon at the

base. Being rich in vertebrates, it was named

“Sombur Bone Bed” (De Terra and Paterson

1939). Above this conglomeratic horizon lies

about 50 cm thick fine grained lenticular sand

body intercalated with yellowish silt and clay

layers. This sandy layer is overlain by a

yellowish silt and clay bed. Above this

sequence, loessic deposits are located showing

weakly developed palaeosol sands.

The egg shell yielding horizon, exposed

about 50 m away from the main section (Fig.

2C) consists of fine grained greenish sandstone,

interlayered with yellowish clays beds. The

ossiferous horizon is overlain by a thick light

yellowish silt layer in which a few lenses of

clay and fine sand are seen.

It may be pointed out that Sombur sedi-

ments are considered by most workers, e.g.

De Terra and Paterson (1939) and Bhatt

(1982) to be a part of the Lower Karewa

Formation. Following Wadia (1951), Agra-

wal et al. (1979), Singh (1982) and Kotlia

(1985), we opine that the nature and

sequential build up of Sombur sediments is

of Upper Karewa age. The topmost member

of Sombur section is a loess bed, the upper-

most Karewa structural unit, capping the

Karewa sediments everywhere in the Kashmir

Valley. The loessic deposits range in thickness

from 15 to 25 m on the Himalayan flanks and

Pir Panjal flanks respectively. SEM studies of

loess and palaeosol (Pant et al. 1978) indicate

that the palaeosol bands represent buried

weathered soil erosion. The lowermost and the

uppermost palaeosols, exposed at Burzahom,

on the Himalayan flank are radiocarbon dated

to >31000 and 18000 year B. P. respectively

(Agrawal et al. 1979).

Age of ossiferous horizons

Based on the magnetic measurements

(Kusumgar et al 1985a, b; Kotlia 1985), Kilar

sediments, yielding the egg shell fragments fall

well within the Olduvai Event (1.8 m.y. to 1 . 6

m.y.), whereas Sombur sediments fall within

the Brunhes magnetic epoch, hence are younger

than 0.73 m.y.

Systematics

Scanning electron microscopy has confirmed

the structure of these egg shells. Because of

the isolated, assorted nature of the egg shell

fragments, it is not possible to definitely relate

the egg shells to any particular bird genus.

There appear at least two different types of

egg shells judging from the different thickness

627

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

of the shells. Their ultrastructure, however,

is fairly similar and presently no further light

can be thrown on the taxonomic affinities of

these two egg shell types. It is speculated, given

the palaeoenvironmental conditions, that the

eggs may have belonged to aquatic birds. Such

birds have been reported earlier by Lydekker

(1884). The other group of vertebrates which

have a rigid calcareous egg shells and which

are found in Karewa sediments (albeit rarely)

are gekkonid lizards. Little is known about the

ultrastructure of gekkonid shells and so pre-

sently the shell fragments are being referred

to birds. At present, there is no fossil record

in the Kashmir Karewa of turtles, crocodiles

and snakes some of which have rigid calca-

reous shells.

The shell fragments are represented by

about fifteen specimens less than a square mm

in size. Nearly all the specimens exhibit a

smooth surface exposed above the spheroidal

surface of the shell (Plate 1, Figs. 1, 5). The

thickness of shell varies from 0.2 to 0.35 mm.

The shells have simple isolated spherical nodes

sometimes showing elongation and extended

nodes which coalesce together to form ridges.

Fig. 1 (Plate 1) displays simple as well as

spherical nodes rising from the delicately

sculptured surface having sparse and indistinct

pore openings. On the smooth external sur-

face, the presence of minute pores can be

observed (Plate 1, Fig. 1). External pores are

not depressed into the surface but rather the

edge of each orifice is nearly flat. The openings

are generally circular but may be subcircular

with the deviations being arcuate expansions

of a circle rather than subcircular restrictions.

Study of the transverse sections of egg shells

under light microscope shows the retention of

the spherolith structure. Because of the spongy

nature of the prismatic layer, spheroliths are

not clear (Plate 1, Fig. 4) but boundaries of

individual units are easily discernible. Dughi

and Sirugue (1976) also stressed the presence of

the spongy nature of the prismatic layer in

avian egg shell which is supposedly absent in

reptilian egg shells.

The internal surface shows well developed

mammillary knobs with a coarse and irregu-

lar appearance of the mammillary layer. The

mammillary knobs have well developed and

radial spicular calcite/ aragonite. The mammi-

llae are of variable size and range in diameter

from 0.03 to 0.04 mm. Some specimens (Plate

1, Figs. 2, 3) show distinct resorption craters.

Resorption craters in these egg shells indicate

that the embryo developed absorbing and leach-

ing out the calcium minerals of the outer shell.

The mammillae, normally appear as subround-

ed cones and are loosely associated, allowing

for an inter-mammillary ventilation system.

In longitudinal sectional view, the individual

spheroliths are not very distinct (Plate 1, Figs.

5, 6). The mammillary layer is restricted

somewhat internally. The greater part consists

of the spongy or prismatic layer. The external

layer is not well defined. Under electron

microscope, spheroliths are clear and aeration

canals extend from inner or papillary layer to

the external surface (Plate 1, Figs. 5, 6).

Aeration canals have been described by Erben

(1970) for Strut hio and Rhea bird egg shells.

In the specimens (Plate 1, Figs. 2, 3) aera-

tion canals are very prominent part of the

structure. They seem to radiate out from the

mammillae extending towards the external

surface. They are not traceable within spongy

or prismatic layer (Plate 1, Figs. 4, 5) though

their extension can be observed on the shell

surface. These aeration canals transmit oxygen

required for breathing of the embryo (Sochava

1970).

All specimens examined by scanning elec-

tron microscopy, show all the structures of an

628

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83

Sahni et al. : Bird Egg shell

Plate l

FOSSIL BIRD EGG SHELL

1. External surface view showing pores; 2. Mamillary surface showing resorption craters with aeration

canals; 3. Enlarged view of single mammillae showing aeration canals having constant width; 4. Longi-

tudinal section showing two distinct spheroliths;. 5. Longitudinal section showing mammillae and spongy

layer; 6. Enlarged view of single mammillae showing mammillae and spongy layer.

Abbreviations

ac, aeration canal; p, pores; si, spongy layer.

FOSSIL BIRD EGG SHELL

avian egg as also indicated by Thaler (1965)

in his identification of the fundamental diffe-

rence between eggs of birds and dinosaurs.

Thaler (1965) separated them on the basis of

the microcrystalline structure of the shell and

accepted that in the bird eggs, the customary

definition of a mammillary spherolithic zone is

distinct from an upper arched or spongy layer.

In his comprehensive review of egg shell struc-

ture of reptiles and birds, Erben (1970) studied

the ultrastructure of various birds. He describ-

ed in detail the various component units of

avian egg shell structure and pointed out that

while the avian structural pattern was similar

to that of other reptiles, it could be easily

differentiated from that of other reptiles. Re-

cently, Sahni et al. (1984) have described

some thin egg shell fragments from the

Cretaceous-Palaeocene beds of peninsular India

and ascribed them to of uncertain relationship,

possibly related to dinosaurian, avian or lacer-

tilian affinities. The Kashmir egg shells have a

comparable shell thickness and are found asso-

ciated with a similar biotic component (fishes,

charophytes, ostracods, molluscs) indicating

a similar depositional environment. However,

in the absence of comparative material, it is

presently not possible to precisely document

the affinities of thin egg shells.

Palaeoecology

A preliminary study of the faunal assem-

blage from Kilar reveals that the material was

transported from both long and the short

distances and was probably secondarily con-

centrated in the Karewa basin (Kotlia 1985).

Fossil vertebrates belonging to the upland and

lacustrine communities are found in the Kilar

sediments. The presence of microtine rodents

in these sediments indicate the advent of the

colder climatic conditions. Torrential river

fishes, i.e. Schizothorax and Oreinus together

with microtine rodents, constituting the major

part of Kilar fauna (Sahni and Kotlia 1983)

are still unknown from the contemporaneous

Siwaliks of India. The reason for disparity in

type of fishes and rodents found both in the

Karewas and the Siwaliks could be due to the

lower temperatures prevailing in the Plio/

Pleistocene of the Kashmir Valley in compa-

rison to those of Pinjor basin of the Siwaliks.

We opine that the lacustrine and fluvial

conditions persisted during the deposition

of the Sombur sediments which have yield-

ed scattered micromammalian fauna. In the

lower part of the section, the lacustrine environ-

ment persisted as is indicated by current

bedded and lenticular gritty sand bodies. The

absence of lignite layers in Sombur section

may indicate the absence of swampy environ-

ment.

The presence of bird egg shells in Kilar and

Sombur sections indicate that birds formed a

small but important part of the Karewa lake

community through a wide temporal span.

When one considers the fact that most of the

Karewa ecosystem has been stable and has

not changed significantly from the present

ecosystem, it is reasonable to assume that the

birds, like their modern day counterparts were

marsh or lake dwellers and probably were

nourished by the abundant fish fauna.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Prof. S. B. Bhatia,

Chairman, Centre of Advanced Study

in Geology, Pan jab University, Chandigarh for

the help rendered during this work. We wish

to express our thanks to Prof. D. P. Agrawal,

Project Leader, Kashmir Palaeoclimate Pro-

ject, for logistic help and fruitful discussions.

The financial assistance from CAS in Geology

to Bhuvan Prakash is gratefully acknowledged.

629

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

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— (in press) : Fossil birds. Encyl. Ind.

Nat. Hist. Mus. Cent.

Sahni, A. & Gupta, V. J. (1982): Cretaceous

egg shell fragments from the Lameta Formation,

Jabalpur, India. Bull. l.G.A. 75(1): 85-88.

Sahni, A. & Kotlia, B. S. (1983): Micromam-

mals from the Karewa Group of Kashmir. Man

Environ. 7: 157-158.

(1985): Karewa

microvertebrates: biostratigraphical and palaeoecolo-

gical implications. In: Climate and Geology of Kash-

mir and Central Asia: The 4 Million Years: (eds.)

Agrawal. D. P.. Kusumgar, Sheela, and Krishna-

murthy, R. V. Today and Tomorrow’s Publishers,

New Delhi: 29-44.

Sahni, A., Rana, R, S. & Prasad, G. V. R. (1984) :

SEM studies of thin egg shell fragments from the

Inter-trappeans (Cretaceous-Tertiary transition) of

Nagpur and Asifabad, Peninsular India. Jour. Pal.

Soc. India. 29: 26-33.

Singh, I. B. (1982): Sedimentation pattern in the

Karewa basin, Kashmir Valley, India and its geolo-

gical significance. Jour. Pal. Soc. India. 27: 71-110.

Sochava, A. V. (1969): Dinosaur eggs from the

630

FOSSIL BIRD EGG SHELL

Upper Cretaceous of the Gobi desert. Jour. Pal. 4:

517-527.

(1970): Microtexture of Dino-

saur egg shells from the Lower Cretaceous of the

Northern Gobi. Doklady Akademi Nauk SSR. 192

(5): 1137-1140.

(1971): Dinosaur eggs in Gobi

desert. Priroda. 10: 65-68.

Thaler, L. (1965) : Les oeufs des Dinosaurs due

midi de la France livrent le secret de leus extinction;

Paris. F. Dunod, Science Progress Lt. Nature : 41-48.

Tripathi, C. & Chandra, P. R. (1962) : Detailed

examination of the Karewas of Kashmir for the

remains of early man. Unpubl. Geol. Surv. India

Report.

Wadia, D. N. (1951) : Pliocene-Pleistocene boun-

dary in NW India. Xll Int. Geol. Cong. London

(1948). 18: 43-48.

631

NEW DESCRIPTIONS

A NEW SPECIES OF COPRIS MULLER (COLEOPTERA:

SCARAB AEIDAE) FROM SOUTH INDIA1

B. D. Gill2

( With a plate )

Copris keralensis sp. nov. is described from the rainforests of Kerala State. It appears

closely related to species in the subgenus Paracopris Balth. Both sexes are figured.

In the process of gathering data on the for-

aging behavior of Scarabaeinae, a series of an

unsual species of Copris was collected in the

rainforests of the Western Ghats. Comparison

with material in the collections in Paris and

subsequent search of the literature has con-

firmed that it is indeed a new species and is

described below. The sexual dimorphism

exhibited by this species is unusual for the sub-

genus Paracopris Balthasar (1939) to which it

evidently belongs.

Copris keralensis sp. nov.

(Plate I-Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4)

Holotype. Male length 12.3 mm, greatest

width 6.9 mm. Body and legs chocolate-brown;

antennae reddish-brown. Head and ventral sur-

face strongly shining, pronotum less shining;

elytra and pygidium opaque. Clypeus (Fig. 1)

broadly bidentate, margin reflexed; surface

smooth anteriorly, punctate basally. Frons with

a long conical horn arising medially in front

of eyes, slightly inclined posteriorly. Pronotum

lacking median groove or line; very densely

punctate, appearing rugose; punctures with

1 Accepted October 1985.

2 Biology Dept. Carleton University, Ottawa,

Canada K1S 5B6.

minute yellowish setae. Anterior emargination

of pronotum with broad marginal membrane;

margin with a median pair of sharp anteriorly

directed teeth. Elytra lightly striate, striae with

coarse shallow punctures; intervals flat, finely

sparsely punctate, punctures with short yello-

wish setae. Pygidium densely punctate, punc-

tures minutely setose. Metasternum finely

punctate medially, coarsely punctate anteriorly

and laterally. Ventral surface of femora closely

punctured. Front tibia with four teeth; apex of

tibial spur bluntly rounded. Genitalia as in figs.

3 and 4.

Allotype. Female, length 12.2 mm, greatest

width 6.8 mm. Differing from holotype in the

following characters: frons (Fig. 2) with a

slightly elevated median tubercle arising just

in front of the eyes; anterior margin of prono-

tum obtusely angulate at midline, lacking teeth;

front tibia with apical spur acutely rounded.

Type Material. Holotype, male, India,

Kerala, 60 km E Alwaye, 1 VIII 1984, B.

Gill, 300 m. Allotype, female, same data as

holotype. Paratypes, 4 males, 11 females same

data as holotype; 2 males, 8 females, India,

Kerala, 66 km E Alwaye, 1 VIII 1984, B.

Gill, 500 m. Holotype and allotype deposited

in the National Museum of Natural History

(Ottawa, Canada). Paratypes in the Zoologi-

632

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83 Plate I

Gill: Copris keralensis sp. nov.

Holotype, drosal view of genitalia.

NEW DESCRIPTIONS

cal Survey of India (Calcutta), Museum

National d’Histoire Naturelle (Paris), H. & A.

Howden collection (Ottawa) and B. Gill

collection (Ottawa).

Remarks. The 25 paratypes range from 10.5

to 13.0 mm in length. With the exception of

a few teneral individuals that are reddish-

brown, the paratypes do not vary noticeably

from the holotype. The evenly convex pro-

notum, punctate metasternum and smooth

clypeus will cause the new species to key out

to C. furciceps Felsche in Arrow’s fauna of

British India (1931). It can be distinguished

from that species by the broadly bidentate

clypeal margin and the presence of a single

horn or tubercle upon the frons. The presence

of two sharp teeth on the anterior margin of

the pronotum in the males is also very distinc-

tive of the new species.

Copris keralensis appears to be closely rela-

ted to a number of species placed in the sub-

genus Paracopris by Balthasar (1963). It

shares with them nearly opaque coloration,

R E FE

Arrow, G. J. (1931) : The Fauna of British India

including Ceylon and Burma. Lamellicornia Part

III (Coprinae). London, p. 1-428.

Balthasar, V. (1939) : Neue arten der copro-

phagen Scarabaeiden aus dem Museo Zoologico

della R. Universita di Firenze. Redia 25 : 1-26.

(1963): Monographic der Scara-

baeidae und Aphodiidae der palaearktischen und

orientalischen Region (Coleoptera : Lamellicornia).

slender legs and a strongly punctate and flat-

tened body form. However the sexually dimor-

phic pronotum of this species certainly falls

outside of the subgeneric limits established by

Balthasar (1963, p. 329) “der Halsschild ist

in beiden Gruppen vollkommen einfach ...”

A re-evaluation of the characters used to parti-

tion the genus Copris (s. lat.) may therefore

be warranted (Paulian 1945).

All specimens were collected in pitfall traps

placed in the forest and baited with 2 ml of

human dung. Traps were similar in design to

those used by Peck and Howden (1984).

ACK NOWLEDGEM ENTS

I am most grateful to G. M. Sirur and

family for their generous hospitality and as-

sistance during the field work in India. Dr. H.

F. Howden very kindly provided financial sup-

port and guidance for this research. Dr. C.

Scholtz assisted with the German translations

and Mr. L. E. C. Ling took the scanning

micrographs.

EN CES

Band I. Academia Verlag. Praha, p. 1-391.

Paulian, R. (1945): Faune de l’Empire Francais

III. Coleopteres Scarabeides de l’lndochine. I.

Paris, p,. 1-224.

Peck, S. B. & Howden, H. F. (1984): Response

of a dung beetle guild to different sizes of dung

bait in a Panamanian rainforest. Biotropica 16(3):

235-238.

633

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

NEW SPECIES OF SCORPION OF THE GENUS LYCHAS

(BUTHIDAE: SCORPIONIDA) FROM NASIK DISTRICT,

MAHARASHTRA, INDIA1

D. B. Bastawade2

(With thirteen text-figures)

Introduction

Eleven species of the genus Lychas C. Koch,

are known from Indian sub-continent. Among

these six species under three sub-genera have

been described from the southern part of India

(Tikader & Bastawade 1983). I continued the

study of Indian Scorpions and recently collect-

ed -a good number of scorpion specimens from

Western portion of Nasik district during my

Western Ghat Survey (1984). The genus

Lychas is known only by Lychas ( Alterotri -

chus) rugosus (Pocock) from Nasik District.

The present communication describes a new

species from Kharpadi village, Harsul, Peinth

Taluk of Nasik district.

Lychas (Alterotrichus) kharpadi sp. nov.

(Figs. M3)

General : Yellow scorpion of small to

medium body size. Carapace and mesosoma

sparsely and weakly granular and with few

scattered dark patches. Male smaller and more

slender than female. Metasoma reddish brown

on posterior segments and telson. Pedipalps

delicate. Pectines well developed.

Measurements'. $ — Total length 38.75

mm. Carapace 4.50 mm long, mesosoma 11.50

mm long, metasoma 22.75 mm long.

$ — Total length 45.25 mm. Carapace

5.00 mm long, mesosoma 15.00 mm. long,

metasoma 25.25 mm long.

1 Accepted March 1985.

2 Zoological Survey of India, Western Regional

Station, Pune 411016.

Carapace'. Entire surface weakly and

sparsely granular. A pair of median eyes

situated anteriorly in the ratio 1: 2.25 as in

fig. 1. Five pairs of lateral eyes present on

anteriolateral portion with smooth lateral ocu-

lar tubercles of which two anterior pairs

directed anterio-laterally, third pair posterio-

laterally and last two pairs dorso-posteriorly

and posteriorly respctively. Interocular portion

black and more granular on anterior. Carinae

absent. Anterior margin invaginated slightly

and smooth. Lateral margins finely crenulated.

Posterior margin smooth. Chelicerae smooth

on basal segment with typical Buthid dentition

except only one tooth on ventral surface of

immovable finger. Pedipalps : Delicate, cari-

nated and confusicated on femur and patella.

Femur as long as carapace but shorter than

patella, all carinae crenulated. Patella cari-

nated and anterior or inner carinae evenly

crenulated. Manus smooth, without carinae

and length of under hands less than half the

length of femur. Fingers as long as patella,

smooth. Dentition on fingers over-lapping, with

two unpaired teeth on proximal portion of

movable fingers as in fig. 2 and a strong apical

tooth. Trichobothrial pattern on pedipalp of

typical Alterotrichus types but differs from

known species of the sub-genus as in figs. 6-13.

Legs', delicate, weak, finely granular and cari-

nated on femur and patella. Tibia smooth, with

very short and inconspicuous tibial spur on

III & IV pairs. Tarsomere I almost as long

as tibia but slender, smooth and clothed with

634

NEW DESCRIPTIONS

bristles on ventral portion. Tarsomere II deli-

cate, thin, smooth, covered thickly with paired

bristles on ventral portion. A pair of claws

strong. Pectines : A pair of pectines well deve-

loped and more than four times as long as

wide, middle lamillae divided into 8-9 small

pieces. Fulcra distinct. Lamillae and fulcra

covered with setae. Pectinal teeth strong in

male and 17/17 in number and 18/18 in fe-

male. Basal piece smooth, not much sclerotized

Figs. 1-5. Lychas ( Alterotrichus ) kharpadi sp. nov.

1. Dorsal aspects of carapace; 2. Dorsal view of

movable finger of pedipalp; 3. Ventral aspects of

cephalothoracic sternum, genital operculum and pec-

tines; 4. Dorsal aspects of tergite III; 5. Lateral

aspects of Metasomal segment V & Telson.

and invaginated on anterior margin as in fig.

3. Genital operculum wider than long, a pair

of sclerites exposed posteriorly in male through

which male papillae visible, while completely

fused in female. Cephalothoracic sternum

triangular.

Mesosoma : All tergites sparsely granular.

Tergites I- VI monocarinated, with three dark

and four yellow spots on posterior portion -as

in fig. 4. Lateral margins crenulated, posterior

smooth. Pretergal portion finely granular.

Tergite VII more granular and with four

crenulated carinae. Lateral and posterior

margins granular. Sternites III-VI smooth,

lateral and posterior-margins also smooth, each

sternite with a pair of book lungs. Last sternite

635

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Figs. 6-9. Showing trichobothrial patterns on exterior surface of patella for

6. mucronatus; 7. rugosus; 8. hendersoni; 9. kharpadi sp. nov.

Figs. 10-13. Showing trichobothrial patterns on exterior surface of Manus and

immovable finger of Pedipalp 10. mucronatus; 11. rugosus; 12. hendersoni; 13. kharpadi

sp. nov.

636

NEW DESCRIPTIONS

granular and carinated. Carinae weakly crenu-

lated and granules obsolete. Lateral margins

crenulated. Posterior margin smooth. Prester-

nal portion short and smooth.

Metasoma\ Cauda slightly more than five

times as long as carapace. Basal segment longer

than wide. All segments carinated. Segments

I and II with all eight carinae, all carinae

crenulated. Segments III & IV with six carinae,

all carinae crenulated and lateral carinae deve-

loped only on half of anterior portion of seg-

ment III. Dorsal carinae on segments I-IV

weakly tuberculate posteriorly. Intercarinal

portion weakly and much sparsely granular.

Anterior and posterior margins of each seg-

ment smooth. Segment V almost as long as

carapace, only inferior lateral and single in-

ferior median carinae poorly granular and

weakly crenulated. Intercarinal space poorly

granular. Anal rim of this segment smooth.

Telson slightly shorter than segment V. Vesicle

as long as segment II, weakly granular, ventral

median crest ending posteriorly into a sub-

aculear spine, provided with a pair of minute

teeth on inner margin. Aculeus long, as long

as vesicle, sharp, not much curved and dark

on distal portion as in fig. 5.

Etymology : The specific name refers to the

locality and has been used as a noun in appo-

sition.

Type-specimens : Holotype : 1 A in spirit.

Allotype : 1 $ in spirit, will be shortly depo-

sited in the National Collection, Zoological

Survey of India, Calcutta.

Type-locality : Near Kharpadi village, Har-

sul. Taluk Peinth, Nasik district, Maharashtra,

India. 4.ii.l984. Coll. D. B. Bastawade.

Distribution'. Known only from type loca-

lity.

Habit and Habitat : This species is arboreal

in habit and lives under the bark of trees. The

specimens were collected from a height of 10'

to 11' above the ground.

Discussion : This species closely resembles

Lychas ( Alterotrichus ) hendersoni Pocock in

its colour patterns and in having the same

number of pectinal teeth but it differs as

follows: i) Movable finger of pedipalp has two

unpaired proximal teeth in outer row. (ii)

Inter relations between the trichobothria et ,

est and emx & em2 on patella of pedipalp

totally different from that of known species

(Figs. 7-10). (iii) Inter relations between the

trichobothria dt, db to et est on immovable

finger of pedipalp are also different from that

of known species (Figs. 11-13).

Acknowledgements

I thank Dr. B. K. Tikader, Director, Zoo-

logical Survey of India, Calcutta and Officer-

in-Charge, Zoological Survey of India, Western

Regional Station, Pune for providing facilities

to carry out this work. My thanks are also

due to Mr. P. W. Garde for preparing the

final diagrams for this paper.

Reference

Tikader, B. K. & Bastawade, D. B. (1983) :

Fauna of India: Scorpions, Sangam Press, Pune,:

1-671.

637

11

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol 83

DESCRIPTION OF TWO NEW SPECIES OF CLADOCERA OF

FAMILY DAPHNIIDAE FROM MADHYA PRADESH, INDIA1

Pramod D. Rane2

(With two text-figures)

Daphniopsis surname sp. nov. and Daphnia

sarojae sp. nov., two cladocerans collected

from Jabalpur and Mandla districts of Madhya

Pradesh are described and illustrated. The new

species are compared with their closely allied

species. Types are deposited in National Col-

lection of Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta,

and the registration numbers are given in text.

Daphniopsis sumanae sp. nov.

(Fig. 1)

FEMALE

Head relatively large, never producing any

helmets, length of the head is slightly more

than 1/3 of its height and i of the valve

length. Anterior lateral margin of the head

above the eyes almost straight which gives

appearance like a triangular head. Optical vesi-

cle placed more dorsally and anteriorly from

the longest point of head. Ocellus small, trian-

gular. Rostrum small, obtuse at tips, looks

like a knob. Ventral margin of the rostrum

deeply and simply concave and not sinuate

even near the rostrum. There is marked con-

vexity at the base of the small antennule.

Median carina on posterior surface of head

continued into a mound between tips of anten-

nules. Fornix strongly prominent and termi-

nating behind on each side in a well marked

1 Accepted September 1985.

2 Zoological Survey of India, Central Regional

Station, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India. Present

address : Zoological Survey of India, 933-A, Shivaji

Nagar, Pune 411 016.

sharp corner. Valvular part of the shell (cara-

pace) when seen laterally is broadly oval in

outline, with stout spine not longer than J of

the valve length. Spine thickened at its base

and arises dorsally from the middle axis of the

body. There is a slight bulging of shell, at the

ventral side near the joint of spine. A dis-

tinct notch by which the dorsal part of head

is demarcated from the carapace. Denticles

on the dorsal edge long, thick and overlapping,

extending below the well marked notch. Ven-

tral edge denticles extends slightly more than

\ length of the carapace. The denticles are

most heavily set on the shell spine. Postero-

dorsal edge of the postabdomen deeply sinuat-

ed beyond middle dividing the denticles in two

sets. Anterior set with 5-6 curved and thick

based anal denticles. Posterior set with 4-5

straight denticles. Claw with three pecten, all

unequal size. Proximal pecten with 10-12

teeth, circularly arranged; middle pecten with

rather thick, large 21-23 teeth of which first

3-4 are much smaller; distal pecten with

numerous thin, equal sized teeth. Two ephip-

pial eggs present, lying at right angles to the

dorsal margin. Tips of eggs strongly pointed,

coming out above the level of the ephippium

at lateral margin. Ephippium reticulated with

dense circles. Four abdominal process pre-

sent. First large and turned upward, second

hook-shaped turned downward, with dense

hairs all over. No parthenogenetic female

present in the collection. All females

either bearing mature, dark brown ephippium

or with developing (two) ephippial eggs.

638

NEW DESCRIPTIONS

men of female; 5. Carapace marking in ephippial female; 6. Claw of female; 7. Male;

8. Shell spine; 9 and 10. Ephippium, dorsal and lateral view; 11. Male postabdo-

men; 12. Dorsal view of male head.

639

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Length of the ephippial female — 2.44 mm.

MALE

Similar to female in general shape of the

body. Size 1.18 mm. Head almost as long as

one third of valves. Fornix highly expanded.

Eyes comparatively larger than the females,

with several refractive bodies. Antennule with

large flagellum narrowing evenly to the distal

end. The inner tip of the ventral margin of valve

has a dense row of feathered setae along 2/3

of its length. Postabdomen with small reduced

abdominal process. Dorsal side of the post-

abdomen sinuate, with rather small 6-7 anal

denticles. Pectinate claw. Some specimens have

one spine above the head.

Holotype. 9 India: Madhya Pradesh,

Mandla district, a ditch about 30 cm. depth in

the Narmada river at Sahastradhara about 6

km. North of Mandla, 17.12.80, (P. D. Rane),

C. 3474/2.

Allotype : c?» (same data as holotype), C.

3475/2. Paratypes : 17 $9,5 <$<$, (Same

data as holotype), C. 3477/2.

Comments. The species shares the generic

character of Daphniopsis Sars, 1903, namely a

distinct notch by which the dorsal part of

the head is demarcated from the carapace.

The new species comes close to D. studeri

Riihe, 1914 but it differs by its broad ephip-

pium and more pointed eggs. Several plumose

setae at ventral margin of male valve is also

a unique character for the new species.

Daphnia sarojae sp. nov.

(Fig. 2)

FEMALE.

Carapace, seen laterally, rounded and oval

in outline, with the spine generally long, more

than 1/3 of the valve length and slightly turned

obliquely upwards, issuing somewhat above

the axis of the body; denticles of dorsal edge

extending beyond the cervical region, denti-

cles of ventral edge starting almost from the

join of head and carapace. Head of

moderate size and defined from the carapace

above by a slight concavity of the dorsal

margin; Helmet may be present in early deve-

loping stages. Eye and ocellus of moderate

size. Rostrum small, pointed. Ventral margin

of head concave and sinuate near the rostrum.

Antennule small, knoblike. Fornix well deve-

loped. Carapace distinctly reticulated all over

by deep rectangular and squarish cells. Dorsal

edge of postabdomen straight but not sinuate.

There are above 10-12 anal denticles. Claw

straight, pectinate, with proximal and distal

pecten. Proximal pecten with 8-9 teeth arrang-

ed in half circles, distal pecten with 18-19 large

equal teeths. There are fine hairs extending

from distal pecten to the end of claw. Three

haired abdominal process present. Intestine

opens near the base of the claw. Ephippial

female was not recorded in the collection.

Length of the female, 2.2 mm.

MALE.

Similar to female in general shape of body,

size about 1.4 mm. Antennule with long

flagellum narrowing evenly to the distal end,

large eye, no abdominal process and hook at

first leg. Post-abdomen much narrowed, with

small four spines near \ region of dorsal side.

Claw with pecten. Rostrum obtuse.

Holotype . 9, India: Madhya Pradesh,

Jabalpur, Rain puddle near rice field on

Shahpura Road about 6 km. from Jabalpur

near Tewar village. (P. D. Rane), 25.6.1983,

C. 3478/2.

Allotype, (Same data as holotype), C.

3479/2.

Paratypes. 95 9 9,4 cf cT (Same data as

holotype) C. 3480/2.

Comments . This form is allied to Daphnia

640

NEW DESCRIPTIONS

Fig. 2. (1-10). Daphnia sarojae sp. nov.

1. Parthenogenetic female; 2. Male; 3. Immature female; 4, Immature male; 5.

Postabdomen of male; 6. Postabdomen of female; 7. Head of female, lateral

view; 8. Head of male, lateral view; 9. Claw of female; 10. Dorsal view of

female head.

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

lumholtzi Sars, 1885 but differs conspicuously

in broader valves and arrangement of denti-

cles on ventral and dorsal valves. The reticu-

lation of the carapace with very distinct rectan-

gular cells is a unique character of the new

species.

Acknowledgements

There are due to Officer-in-Charge, Central

Regional Station, Zoological Survey of India

for providing facilities. I am also grateful to

Shri Satish Fadnavis, departmental artist, for

his kind help in making the illustrations.

A NEW SPECIES OF A PODOCOPAN OSTRACOD, FROM THE

EAST COAST OF INDIA1

C. Annapurna and D. V. Rama Sarma2

(With a photograph and eight text -figures)

Introduction

While studying the ecology of the benthic

ostracods inhabiting marginal water bodies on

the east coast of India, a new species of

podocopan ostracod belonging to the genus

Atjehella was collected from the backwaters

of Rimili (lat. 17°54'N and long. 83°28'E)

and in the lower reaches of the Vasishta

Godavari estuary (lat. 16°18'N; long. 81°42'E).

So far, only one species of Atjehella is on

record (Kingma 1948).

Family: Cytherettidae Triebel, 1972

Genus: Atjehella Kingma, 1948

Key to the species of Atjehella

1 . Surface of carapace sculptured with 3 or 4 longi-

tudinal ridges 3

2. Surface of carapace sculptured with numerous

longitudinal ridges: 4

3. Merodont type of hinge 5

4. Amphidont type of hinge 6

5. Branching marginal pore canals

A tjeh el la semi pi i cat a

6. Simple and straight marginal pore canals.

A. multicostatum

1 Accepted September 1985.

2 Department of Zoology, Andhra University,

Waltair 530003 (A.P.).

Atjehella multicostatum sp. nov.

(Photo 1; Figs. 1-8)

Carapace laterally compressed, valves heavi-

ly calcified and very shallow in lateral view.

Anterior end broadly rounded, posterior end

less rounded than anterior end. Dorsal and

ventral margin nearly straight and converging

slightly towards the posterior end. Carapace

ornamented with numerous longitudinal ridges

on posterior half of the shell. Hinge amphi-

dont type, 3 sockets are connected by a

crenulate bar. Inner lamella wide anteriorly

and ventrally. The line of concrescence coin-

cides throughout with the inner margin, runs

an irregular course with a prominent ventral

loop. Marginal pore canals 10 in number at

the anterior end. Marginal pore canals simple

and straight; normal pores few, scattered and

open. Central muscle scars in a vertical row of

4 adductor scars. Eye spots absent. Left valve

slightly larger than right.

Length: 0.52 mm; Height : 0.33 mm.

Antennule 6- jointed, second podomere bear-

ing tuft of hairs dorsomedially, third podomere

642

NEW DESCRIPTIONS

Photo. 1 : Atjehella multicostatum sp. nov. — exterior view of left valve.

bulbous and short. Consists of 2 claw-like

setae, fourth podomere narrow and consists of

4 claw-like setae and slender setae arranged

between the claws. Antenna 6- jointed, distal

ends of first segment with 2 claw-like setae,

ultimate podomere with 2 pairs of claw-like

setae, the slender setae, arranged between the

claw-like setae. No spinneret seta. Mandible

with 6 pairs of teeth arranged laterally on the

cutting edge. Mandibular palp 3 -jointed. First

segment bulbous. Ultimate segment with

slender setae. Maxilla with 3 masticatory

lobes, narrow and elongated masticatory lobes

end with elongated slender setae. Vibratory

plate well developed with 15 unfeathered rays.

In first thoracic leg, endopodite develops as

palp — a characteristic feature of the family

Cytherettidae. Second and third thoracic legs

each with 3 podomeres, ends with curved

claws.

Remarks : In the general shape of the

carapace A. multicostatum is similar to A.

semiplicata as illustrated by Kingma (1948).

It differs from it in the presence of numerous

longitudinal ridges, amphidont type of hinge

and the marginal pore canals being simple and

straight.

The name of the species is based on the

characters of systematic importance, viz. sur-

face of the carapace sculptured with numerous

longitudinal ridges.

Type specimens'. Holotype and 2 paratypes

643

WW 10

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Figs. 1-8. Atjehella multicostatum sp. nov.

1. Antennule; 2. Antenna; 3. Mandible with palp; 4. Maxilla; 5. Vibratory plate;

6. First thoracic leg; 7. Second thoracic leg; 8. Third thoracic leg.

NEW DESCRIPTIONS

are deposited in the National Collection, Zoo-

logical Survey of India, Calcutta, India.

Type locality: Bimili backwater.

Occurrence : Backwaters of Bimili and

Vasishta Godavari estuary, east coast of India.

Acknowledgements

We thank the Head of the Department for

facilities. We are thankful to Prof. M. Subba-

rao. Geology Department of Andhra Univer-

sity for his interest and encouragement in this

work. One of us (CA) is grateful to the

CSIR, New Delhi for financial assistance.

Reference

Kingma, J. T. H. (1948) : Contributions to the

knowledge of the young-caenozoic ostracoda from

the Malayan region. Acal. thesis Utrecht.

TWO NEW SPECIES OF ORIBATIDS (ARACHNIDA: ACARINA)

FROM SOUTH INDIA1

M, M. Balakrishnan2

{With seven text-figures)

Two new species of oribatid mites, viz.

Mixacarus quadrifasciatus sp. nov. (Lohman-

niidae) and Neogalumna curviporosa sp. nov.

(Galumnidae) are described with illustrations.

Both the genera are new to India.

Mixacarus quadrifasciatus sp. nov.

(Figs. 1-3)

Dimensions : Length: 800-928 (852.5) ju,;

width: 432-480 (444) height: 320 p.

Prodorsum (Fig. 1): Broadly triangular,

ornamented with rounded or irregular foveolae

and small circular areae porosae; lamellar {la)

and interlamellar {in) hairs almost equally

long; rostral {ro), anterior exobothridial

{exa) and posterior exobothridial {exp) setae

short and of squal length; all prodorsal setae

1 Accepted November 1985.

2 Department of Zoology, University of Calicut,

673 635, Kerala, India. Present address : Regional

Research Station, Coffee Board, Chundale, 673 123,

Kerala. India.

with minute barbs; sensillus (ss) with 11-12

branches, of which the proximal one and

distal two being very short (fig. 2); a transverse

ribbon-like band present posterior to the level

of in.

Notogaster (Fig. 1): Lateral margins more

or less parallel; posterior margin slightly

wavy; surface with closely set rounded or irre-

gular foveolae and scattered small circular

areae porosae; four transverse bands present,

probably S2, S3, S5 and S6; S2, S3 and S6 in-

complete; S5 complete with the middle portion

curved posteriorad; sixteen pairs of setae, all

with minute barbs; lateral setae longer than

the median ones.

Ventral side (Fig. 3): Infracapitulum punc-

tate, with 4 pairs of unilaterally barbed setae

and a few small circular areae porosae;

epimeral setal formula 3-1 -3-4, all setae short

and provided with minute barbs; coxisterna

I with 6-11 small circular areae porosae;

genital setal formula 6+4; pre-anal plate widest

645

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Figs. 1-3. Mixacarus quadrifasciatus sp. nov.

1. Dorsal side; 2. Sensillus; 3. Ventral side.

646

NEW DESCRIPTIONS

ro

Figs. 4-7. N eogalamna curviporosa sp. nov.

4. Dorsal side; 5. Sensillus; 6. Ventral side; 7. Tarsus I.

647

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

in the middle; two pairs of anal and 4 pairs

of adanal hairs, all unilaterally barbed; adanal

setae slightly longer than the anal setae.

Legs: All legs monodactylous; left leg I

with 2 claws in one paratype.

Holotype $ . India. Kerala, Tunakadavu

(Nelliyampathy Hills), collected from leaf

litter on forest floor. 10. v. 1982. Coll. M. M.

Balakrishnan.

Paratypes 3 $ . $ , data same as for holotype.

Remarks : The genus Mixacarus is hitherto

known from 8 species: M. integer Balogh, 1958

from Africa, M. hammani Balogh, 1961 from

Java, M. neotropicus Balogh, 1962 from Peru,

M. chapmani Wallwork, 1962 from Ghana,

M. exilis Aoki, 1970 from Tsushima, M. van -

honggui Mahunka, 1973 from Korea, M.

brevipes (Banks) Norton, 1978 from North

Carolina and M. zhuzhikovi Bulanova Zakh-

vatkina, 1979 from the USSR. The present

species can be distinguished from all its known

congeners by the presence of 4 transverse bands

on the notogaster.

Neogalumna curviporosa sp. nov.

(Figs. 4-7)

Dimensions : Length: 510 [i; width: 357 /a;

height: 293 ji.

Prodorsum (Fig. 4) : Surface smooth; inter-

lamellar setae slightly long; lamellar setae vety

thin; rostral setae originating in front of a

transverse elevation; dorsosejugal suture

arcuate; areae porosae dorsosejugales long;

sensillus with a short stalk and long spindle-

shaped head provided with barbs (fig. 5).

Notogaster (Fig. 4) : Integument with irre-

gular and diffuse foveolae disposed laterally

and posteriorly; ten pairs of alveoli; four pairs

of areae porosae; Aa ribbon-shaped and

curved; Ax irregularly rounded; A2 and Az

ribbon-shaped (A2 of left side was seen very

close to A i).

Ventral side (Fig. 6): Infracapitulum punc-

tate; epimeral and anogenital regions smooth;

circumpedial lines distinct; six pairs of genital,

1 pair of aggenital, 2 pairs of anal and 3 pairs

of adanal setae; iad off anus; postanal area

porosa ribbon-shaped.

Legs : All legs tridactylous and heterodacty-

lous; tarsus I (fig. 5) becoming narrower

abruptly after J of its length; a total of 23

hairs present on tarsus I.

Holotype $ . India. Kerala, Tunakadavu

(Nelliyampathy Hills), collected from leaf

litter on forest floor. lO.v.1982. Coll. M. M.

Balakrishnan.

Remarks : The genus Neogalumna is repre-

sented only by the type species N. antenniger

described by Hammer (1973) from West

Samoa. The present specimen differs from the

type species in the presence of (1) prominent

interlamellar setae, (2) sensillus with short

stalk and long spindle-shaped head provided

with barbs, (3) long areae porosae dorso-

sejugales, (4) long and curved Aa and (5)

ribbon-shaped A2 and A3.

Since the lamellar setae of both the species

of Neogalumna are very thin when compared

to the rostral setae, it seems justifiable to be

treated as a generic character.

The type specimens are to be deposited in

the Zoological Survey of India, 34, Chitta-

ranjan Avenue, Calcutta.

ACK NOWLEDGEM E NTS

I am grateful to the Head, Department of

Zoology, University of Calicut, for facilities,

to Dr. M. A. Haq for encouragement and to

the University of Calicut for financial support.

648

NEW DESCRIPTIONS

References

Aoki, J. (1970) : The Oribatid Mites of the

Islands of Tsushima. Bull. Nat. Sci. Mus. Tokyo,

75(3): 395-442.

Balogh, J. (1958) : Oribatides nouvelles de

l’Afrique tropicale. Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr. 58: 1-34.

(1961): An outline of the family

Lohmanniidae Berl. 1916 (Acari: Oribatei). Acta

Zool. Hung., 7: 19-44.

(1962): Identification keys of world

oribatid (Acari) families and genera, ibid. 7: 243-

344.

Bulanova Zakhvatkina, E. M. (1979) : Finding

of Mixacarus zhuzhikovi new species (Oribatei,

Mixonomata) in Termite Nests. Biol. Nauki, 0(9) :

29-32.

Hammer, M. (1973): Oribatids from Tongatapu

and Eua, the Tonga Islands and from Upolu, Western

Samoa. Biol . Skr. Dan. Vid. Selsk., 20(3) : 1-70.

Mahunka, S. (1973) : Zwei neue Lohmanniiden

Arten aus Korea (Acari, Oribatida). Folia Entomol.

Hungarica, 26(1) : 49-56.

Norton, R. A. (1978) : Some Lohmanniidae (Aca-

rina: Oribatei) from North and South Carolina

Forest Soils. J. Georgia Entomol. Soc., 13(1) : 15-24.

Wallwork, J. A. (1962): Some Oribatei from

Ghana. X. The Family Lohmanniidae. Acarologia,

4(3): 457-487.

649

REVIEWS

1 . POPULATION DYNAMICS OF RABIES IN WILDLIFE. Edited by

Philip J. Bacon, pp. 349 + index (23 x 15.5 cm), with several text-figures.

London, 1985. Academic Press Inc. Price not mentioned.

Rabies has been known since the dawn of

history and is traditionally associated with

dogs to such an extent that, in many parts

of the world people are still not aware that

rabies can be caused by animals other than

dogs.

In fact, rabies can infect any warm blooded

animal, and any infected animal, not exclud-

ing man, can transmit the disease to others.

However, the dog remains the main reservoir

and vector for transmission of this disease,

and European countries, which have efficiently

eliminated stray dogs have kept themselves

free of this disease for the greater part of the

present century. Wild animals do suffer from

rabies but they impinge of human communities

so rarely as to remain something of a curiosity.

In most of the developing world, where dog

rabies is still the predominant source of infec-

tion, wild animal rabies is of only academic

interest. However, in recent years particularly

after the war of 1939-45 there appears to be

an upsurge of wild animal rabies in Europe

and studies made in western Europe show

that the main vector of this disease is the red

fox. This animal is found over most of

Europe inhabiting mainly open scrub land,

and hilly areas where little or no agricultural

activity takes place. In recent years, the num-

ber of foxes dying of rabies has increased,

and incidents of foxes attacking dogs, live-

stock, and even man have been increasing.

Rabies infection in these animals appears to

be spreading gradually southwards. The first

records were from Scandinavia and North

Germany. Later rabid foxes have been report-

ed in France and as far south as northern

Italy.

In the beginning efforts were made to

control this spread of rabies by shooting the

fox, but it soon became evident that this was

not the answer. When foxes were shot, there

was a temporary depletion of the fox popula-

tions, but a few months later more foxes

drifted in from surrounding areas to restore

the populations. Complete extermination is

neither practical on a continental scale, nor

desirable ecologically. It was therefore felt

that efforts should be made towards contain-

ment of the fox population, and to control

the spread of rabies in this population. One

of the efforts, not described in the book under

review was the immunization of foxes by

putting out baits containing oral rabies

vaccine. This is reported to have been very

successful in Switzerland but the scientific

follow up reports are still not available.

Under these circumstances it was felt that

an effort to understand the mode of spread

of rabies in the fox population and its rate

of advance would help us to determine what

sort of control measures are likely to give the

best results. The use of mathematical model-

ling where, in a model, change of one or more

parameters can indicate the sort of end result

such a change would produce, would be of

help in determining what measures to use.

Preparation of such models requires not only

650

REVIEWS

close collaboration between biologists and

mathematicians but needs certain background

information such as the rate at which breeding

occurs, i.e. the rate at which new susceptibles

are added to the population, the actual inci-

dence of rabies in the population at a given

time, the frequency of infection occurring in

the population, etc. Most of these are unknown.

Despite this efforts have been made by

assigning arbitrary values or ‘guesstimates’

to some of these factors, to devise models,

spatial as well as temporal, for estimating the

spread of rabies in the red fox population

and how the modification of various factors

involved in the model would affect the out-

come. Various types of models are presented

in this book, and effects of various manipu-

lations have been extrapolated. Since the

factors required in preparing the original

model are not exactly known these models

and their predictions have to be tested in the

field to establish whether, and to what extent,

they correspond to what happens in nature.

Mathematical modelling is a fascinating

exercise, and when the basic presumptions

correspond with the facts, can give surprisingly

clear quick answers to questions posed.

However, in the present instance where many

of the basic parameters are unknown, it be-

comes an exercise of preparing a model with

a given set of parameters and seeing how it

would progress with time or in geographical

space if these parameters continue to remain

in force. The result of such extrapolation is

compared with observed phenomena. If the

correspondence with observation is close, one

may take it that the assumed parameters were

near enough to the truth. If it does not corres-

pond to observed phenomena, the parameters

may be redesigned or modified to get a more

suitable fit. The models presented in this book,

and the simulations based on extrapolations

of these, are of great interest to all those in-

volved in these disciplines as well as to biolo-

gists concerned with the problems of spread

of rabies. As such it forms a useful contribu-

tion for epidemiological research, enabling us

to decide what type of action would be most

fruitful in preventing further spread of disease.

Mathematical modelling can be applied to

many types of problems, and its usefulness in

wildlife studies is only beginning to be explor-

ed. The models presented deal solely with the

problem of rabies in the red fox in Europe.

The introductory chapters however give an

excellent overview of the knowledge about

rabies in Wildlife in different parts of the

world.

A. N. D. NANAVATI

651

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

2. FIELD GUIDE TO THE COMMON TREES OF INDIA. By P. V.

Bole and Yogini Vaghani. pp. xxiii+125 (18x11.5 cm) with line

drawings by Yogini Vaghani. Bombay, 1986. Oxford University Press

for World Wildlife Fund - India. Price Rs. 18.50.

The problem faced by beginners is, how to

identify plants and which books should they

refer to. There are hardly any book suitable

for amateurs on identification of Indian plants.

The ‘Field Guide to the Common Trees of

India’, is a welcome attempt to help amateurs.

The book describes briefly about hundred of

the most common trees of the Indian plains

and foothills including some of the trees in-

troduced into India from other parts of

the world. Each description is accompanied

by a line drawing to assist in identification.

But the drawings are very disappointing. There

is no comparative scale for flowers, fruits, etc

and this leads to misinterpretation.

However an interesting feature is the key to

the identification of the trees described in the

text on the basis of the branching, leaves.

stipules, spines etc. It would have been more

useful if in the beginning a few pages depicting

different parts of plants, and shapes and types

of leaves had been included. The book also

has a colour classification of flowers, which

should be very useful during the flowering

seasons. The book has a well chosen glossary

and index of both common and latin names.

There are several typographical errors.

The key on page 7 (line 14) is erroneous and

difficult to understand. It is indeed very diffi-

cult to choose hundred common trees from

the several thousands found in India and to

prepare a simple key for the same. It may also

happen that several closely related species may

have similar features and may lead to erroneous

identification.

MEENA HARIBAL

652

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

1. A NOTE ON THE INTERACTION OF COMMON LANGUR

(PRES BYT IS ENTELLUS ) AND WOLF (CAN IS LUPUS )

In the early morning of March 7th 1986, I

(BRM) was observing an all male langur troop

at Nahargarh Reserve forest, about 10 km from

Jaipur city, feeding on the leaves of Anogeissus

pendula. Suddenly one animal gave an “Alarm

bark”, and all members of the troop became

alert, and peered towards the nearby hills.

I saw a wolf (Cams lupus) sitting on a

rock. The langurs started jumping from

branch to branch and came very near to the

Dept, of Zoology,

University of Rajasthan,

Jaipur-302 004,

May 7, 1986.

wolf, and started barking. Initially, for more

than half-an-hour, the wolf was quiet. Then

the wolf started reacting. The langurs were

frightened, and climbed up to the top of the

trees. However they continuously barked and

tried to chase the wolf and followed, it as the

wolf moved out of the area. No case of such

interaction appears to have been reported so

far.

B. RAM MANOHAR

REENA MATHUR

2. SIGHTING OF AN UNKNOWN SPECIES OF CAT

Returning from Hayuliang in the eastern

Mishmi hills of Arunachal Pradesh on the road

to Tejn and some 15 km from Hayuliang, I

came across on the road at night, a darkish

rusty-brown cat about the size of the domestic

cat but longer and with a long and prominent

tail. The animal was distinctly visible at close

range in the powerful beam of the jeep lights.

It was marked with chocolate brown spots

but not very prominent, the size and the num-

ber of spots increasing from the front portion

of the body towards the hind portion, the tail

being very prominently marked by rings of

the same colour. I have not seen a cat of

this kind and have not heard of one such

being reported. It was not a domestic cat be-

cause firstly the Mishmi tribes there do not

keep domestic cats and in any case the sight-

ing was quite far from any habitation and what

clinched the issue was the fact that some 2

km further up I saw ail identical specimen

again. The closest in resemblance is the

rusty spotted cat, but it was a little different,

especially in the matter of rings around the

tail and I am not aware of any rusty spotted

cat being reported anywhere in that region

or for that matter in eastern India.

M. K. RANJITSINH

Joint Secretary,

Deptt. of Environment

& Forests,

(Wildlife Wing),

Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi,

May 24, 1986.

653

12

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

3. NOTE ON INDIAN WILD DOGS ( CUON ALPINUS) IN

SARISKA NATIONAL PARK

( With a plate)

Sariska has traditionally been the hunting

preserve of the Maharajas of the erstwhile

state of Alwar in Rajasthan. To the best of

my knowledge there is no authenticated record

of wild dogs in the area during the Maha-

raja’s time or later. I have been visiting these

forests since 1972 and neither have I come

across wild dogs on my various visits, nor

have 1 heard reports of their occurrence dur-

ing this period.

Some few weeks back I received informa-

tion that 3 wild dogs had been seen inside

the National Park. I was in Sariska on 23 rd

and 24th April when this report was confirm-

ed by the forest department staff and the wild

dogs have been seen on kills of sambar and

cheetal fawns. On 24th April, I was sitting in

the hide on a water hole at Kalighati. At 5.00

p.m. there were about eight cheetal and four

sambar at the waterhole with an assortment

of peafowls, tree pies, crows, etc. Suddenly a

sambar and a cheetal gave alarm calls and

all of them bolted and the birds flew off in-

No. 1, Mansingh Road,

New Delhi-110 011,

June 4, 1986.

stantly as would happen on the arrival of a

large predator. Within seconds a female wild

dog arrived, entered the water, sat in it and

quenched its thirst. She remained there for

about five minutes and departed. While the

sambar and cheetal again arrived within

minutes of the departure of the wild dog,

there was no sign of the other two wild dogs

until I left the hide at dusk around 6.30 p.m.

In sharp contrast, the arrival of a jackal

earlier at 4.30 p.m. caused no commotion

among the prey population, and infact the

former had to demonstrate and charge the

sambar and cheetal to shoo them off the

water hole.

As far as wild dogs are concerned, I am

told that they were found in and around the

present Ranthambor National Park but not in

the last 30 years or more. It would be interest-

ing to know if there are any reports of these

animals in the vicinity of Sariska to find out

where the three animals in question came

from.

DIV Y ABHANUSINH

4. SOME NOTES ON FIELD BIOLOGY OF RHOMBOMYS OPIMUS,

MERIONES PERSICUS AND MUS MUSCULUS BACTRIANUS

WITH REFERENCE TO ORCHARDS OF

BALUCHISTAN

Introduction

The Great Gerbil or the Giant Day Jird

( Rhombomys opimus Lichenstein, 1823), the

Persian Jird ( Meriones persicus Blandford,

(PAKISTAN)

1875) and the House Mouse ( Mus musculus

Linnaeus, 1758; M. m. bactrianus Blyth, 1846,

the Persian House Mouse) are known from

Baluchistan through some casual distributional

notes and some occasional ecological inferences

654

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83

Divyabhanusinh: Cuon alpinus

Plate l

Indian Wild Dog ( Cuon alpinus) in Sariska National Park.

{Photos: Author)

l|M f,:

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

mostly drawn from the generalizations based

upon the studies from other regions (Roberts

1977). During the course of our studies on

the biology of vertebrate pests of orchards of

Baluchistan (Mian and Ali in press, Mian et al.

in press) limited data was collected on these

species which is being presented here.

Methods and Materials

A total of 30 individuals of R. opimus

(Quetta valley, 5; Mustung, 16; Gulistan, 9);

10 specimen of M. persicus (Ziarat, 8; Chao-

tair, 2) and 10 individuals of M. m. bactrianus

(Quetta valley, Ziarat and Choatair) were

trapped from the localities mentioned against

each with the help of steel snap traps. The

individuals were brought back to the labora-

tory and were sexed, weighed and analysed

for various ecological parameters as per

methods outlined in Mian (1986, in press).

Sokal and Rohlf (1969) was followed for

statistical analysis.

Results and Discussion

Rhombomys opimus :

All the 30 individuals of this species were

trapped from apple orchards during winter

months (November through January, no trap-

ping being undertaken in these areas in other

parts of the year). Quetta valley, Mustung

and Gulistan, share a common character in

having loose sandy soil, steppic vegetation and

an altitudinal location ranging from 1500-2000

m above sea level. This habitat is in confor-

mity to the one described by Roberts (1977)

for this species, in general. However, Roberts

(1977) has not marked these areas in the

tentative distribution map which mostly res-

tricts the distribution of the species to the

border area of north east Chagai (southwestern

Baluchistan). Further, the species in Pakistan

has been associated with uncultivated patches

of steppic vegetation and hence was consi-

dered as of no economic importance. The

present trapping of the species from orchards,

hints at the importance of this species as a

potential pest to orchards or other irrigated

plantations. Further data is needed in support

or otherwise of the present information. The

species may also pose a potential threat to the

small earth filled dams which play an impor-

tant role in the economy of the area.

Our trapping data suggests that there is a

gross imbalance in the sex ratio exhibited

through our total sample (25 males: 5 females;

Male : Female sex ratio, 5:1) and in the

different samples collected from different

localities (Quetta, 4 males: no female; Mus-

tung: 14 males: 3 females; Gulistan, 7 males:

2 females). This imbalance in sex ratio can

be attributed to a number of factors, includ-

ing the higher population of the males in

winters, trap shyness of the females,

larger home range of males, males being more

attracted to the cultivated tracts of the apple

orchards and males being more exploratory

in habit than females. The present data is

insufficient to lend support to any of these

alternative hypotheses.

The fairly high trap success (0.0156 indi-

viduals/trap /day) shown in the winter may

indicate that the species does not hibernate

during the cold winter months. This observa-

tion partially confirms the earlier report of

Sokolov (1963) suggesting that the species

will feed above ground even when there is

snow on the surface.

None of the females trapped (total of 5)

during our sampling period was reproductively

active indicating that there is no reproductive

activity during the winter months.

655

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Meriones perskus :

10 specimens (6 c? <$ and 4 $ ? ) were

trapped from the valleys located at higher

altitudes, in forests of Juniperus macropoda

and were equally shared in the two seasonal

samples, i.e.. May and July. Out of the two

females trapped during May, one was pregnant

with three embryo (2 in the left uterine horn

and one in the right, average weight of the

embryo was 0.46 g). The other female col-

lected in July had a vaginal plug indicating

a recent mating.

Mus museums :

A total of 10 specimens of the House Mouse

were trapped from Quetta valley (2), Ziarat

(6) and Chaotair (1) during the summer

months, i.e., April to July. The absence of

the individuals of this species in the samples

collected in other parts of the year specially

in those collected from Quetta valley is rather

hard to explain. It is quite possible that the

species remains underground where it depends

upon the stored food collected in the burrows

or in the godowns established in human

settlements (Roberts 1977).

M. m. bactrianus is very widely distributed

and is usually associated with human settle-

ment (Roberts 1977, Taber et al. 1967)

Department of Zoology,

University of Baluchistan,

Quetta, Pakistan,

August 12, 1986.

Refer

Mian, A. (in press) : Field biology of Nesokia

indica with reference to orchards of the Baluchistan

(Pakistan). J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc.

(1986): Field biology of collared Pika,

Ochotona rufescens, with reference to orchards of

Baluchistan (Pakistan). J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc.

83(2): 423-425.

though it has been trapped at a distance of

4 miles (more than 6 km) from the nearest

human habitation. The presence of this species

in orchards may also be due to their asso-

ciation with human settlements in the vicinity

of orchards.

In the overall sample 4 males and 6 females

were trapped. Out of the 6 females captured

3 had vaginal plugs, indicating a recent

mating and another had a visible pregnancy.

The pregnant/potential pregnant females were

equally distributed in the samples collected

in the months of April, May and July. One

of the pregnant female had 6 embryos in the

uterus (2 on the right side and 4 on the left

side). This is in conformity with the one

recorded by Roberts (1977), who suggested

an average size of 5 embryos per female for

this species /subspecies.

Ack nowledgements

This study was supported by Pakistan

Science Foundation through Project No. B-

BU/BIO (107). Thanks are due to Dr. M.

Ali, Mr. R. Ali, Dr. M. A. Beg, Mr. A. A.

Khan, Mr. A. R. Khokhar, Mr. Ghulam

Sultan and Mr. Q. Ah for their support at

various stages of this research.

AFSAR MIAN

!NCES

Mian, A. & Ali, M. (in press) : Biology of verte-

brate pests of orchards of Baluchistan. Science,

Technology and Development.

Mian, A., Ali, M. & Ali, R. (in press): Damage

to orchard plantation by vertebrate pests in Balu-

chistan (Pakistan). Pakistan J. Agri. Res.

(in press) : Distribu-

656

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

tion of different species of vertebrate pests in

orchards of Baluchistan (Pakistan). Pakistan J. Agri.

Res.

Roberts, T. J. (1977): The Mammals of Pakis-

tan. Ernest Ben Limited, London and Tonbridge,

pp. 361.

Soical, R. R. & Rohlf, F. J. (1969): Biometry,

The Principles and Practice of Statistics in Biolo-

gical Research. W. H. Freeman and Company, San

Francisco.

Sokolov, I. I. (1963) : Mammalian Fauna of the

USSR, Gromov, I. M., A. A. Gureev and K. J.

Chapskii, Moscow, Vol. I. Insectivora, Chiroptera

and Lagomorpha (in Russian, as quoted by Roberts,

1977, Mammals of Pakistan).

Taber, R. D., Sheri, A. N. & Ahmad, M. S.

(1967): Mammals of the Lyallpure Region, West

Pakistan. /. Mamma!., 48: 392-407.

5. ASSOCIATION OF NESOKIA INDICA GRAY WITH MICROFLORA

AND FAUNA OF ITS BURROW SOIL AND DROPPINGS

Introduction

The habits and habitats of rodents are often

very different and is reflected in the flora and

fauna of burrows. Nesokia indica G. a field

rat, inhabits bunds of field, banks of water

channels and occasionally flat fields. Rodents

in general are considered to be carriers of

diseases. The studies on the microflora and

fauna were, therefore, conducted to investi-

gate whether or not N. indica is associated

with pathogens affecting human, plant and the

rat itself.

Materials and Methods

a . Microflora

1. The fungal flora of rat burrows

For the isolation of soil fungus a method

described by Waksman (1927) was followed.

Soil samples from various burrows situated in

irrigated and non-irrigated areas were collected

and mixed thoroughly. Soils around the

burrows were also collected and mixed

thoroughly, these samples served as control.

Potato dextrase agar (P.D.A. containing

200 g Potato extract, 20 g agar-agar, 20 g

dextrose and 3.3 ml of 1% Rose Bengal in

1 litre) media sterilized by autoclaving at

151b for 20 min. was used for plating. Each

plate held 20 ml of medium soil samples

which were plated by direct method and the

plates were incubated at 25 °C for one week.

These plates were examined for colonies

of fungus. Two replicates were maintained for

each set. The fungi were isolated and identified.

2. Isolation of fungi from rat droppings

Droppings were collected from various

burrows and were powdered. The same tech-

nique as described above was adapted for

fungi isolation and identification.

b. Fauna of rat burrows

1 ) Nematodes :

The method included the following steps:

(i) Extraction, (ii) Killing, (iii) fixing and

identification.

i) Extraction of nematodes.

Soil samples used here were same as that

for fungal studies. Samples were processed

by 'Cobb’s modified sieving and Baermann

funnel technique (Christie and Perry 1951).

20, 60, 200 and 325 mesh sieves were used.

In place of the funnel 10 cm diameter petri

dishes were used. The catch from all the

sieves except 20 mesh sieve was poured over

tissue paper (three layered) spread over

coarse aluminium gauge touching the water

layer in the petri dish (Schindler 1961). This

was left for 48h and the suspension containing

657

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Table 1

Fungal flora

* Soil collected from the vicinity of the burrows.

nematodes was collected and transferred into

a bottle and was concentrated by decantation.

ii and iii). Killing, fixing and identification.

After decantation, the suspension was

transferred to a McCartney bottle and was

kept in boiling water for 2 minutes. Then an

equal quantity of 5% formalin was added to

it. The nematode suspension was observed

under a binocular microscope and the identi-

fication of nematodes was done upto generic

level. A similar procedure was followed for

the isolation of nematodes from the droppings.

The burrows were also searched and the

presence of various fauna recorded.

Results and Discussion

Examination of microflora and fauna in

soil samples collected from the burrows of

N. indica has revealed that the burrow soil

is rich in flora and fauna. Ten different species

of fungi were obtained while there were only

7 found in the soil collected around the

burrows. Table 1 shows the various types of

flora obtained during the investigation. Most

of the fungi are saprophytic, some of them

under congenial conditions may cause diseases

in certain host plants (Facultative parasites).

Urs et al. (1966) have also reported different

microflora obtained from soil samples of the

burrows of R. rattus, M. musculus, B. indica,

B. bengalensis and T. indica. They also report

Aspergillus and Pencillium in almost all burrow

soils.

Table 2 shows various types of nematodes,

plant parasitic in nature, obtained from the

burrow soil. No nematodes were isolated from

the droppings. Chakraborty (1975) also found

nematodes in the burrow soils of B. bengal-

Table 2

Fauna of burrows (Nematodes)

* Soil collected from the vicinity of the burrows.

4- Plant parasitic.

658

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

ensis, but has not given any account about their

role.

Apart from nematodes, isopods, spiders,

centipedes, toads, ants, ground beetles, eggs

of reptiles, were found in the rat burrows.

Nothing specific is known about the role of

these organisms on rat activity. However, it

was observed that in the burrows, in which

spiders were present, the rats had already

deserted the burrow. Ants can be also source

of nuisance for rats, it is very likely that ants

force the rats to keep on changing their abode.

In case of other species of rats, e.g. B. indica

(Arjunwadkar and Gadgil 1974) and B. ben-

gal ensis (Chakraborty 1975) some informa-

Division of Entomology,

Indian Agricultural Research

Institute,

New Delhi 110 012,

June 7, 1986.

tion on the fauna is available. But nothing is

known about their role on rat activity. There-

fore, it can be concluded that there is a need

to investigate the role of microflora and fauna

in detail in order to understand their influence

on the population dynamics of this pest, and

also to human, plant and the rat itself.

Ack nowledgements

I wish to thank my supervisor Dr. R. N.

Katiyar for his valuable guidance during this

study. I am grateful to Mr. I. Krishna Murthy

for typing this manuscript. This study was

done during the tenure of my Masters Degree

programme.

P. RAMESH1

Referen ces

Arjunwadkar, A. V. & Gadgil, M. (1974): Bur-

rowing habits of greater bandicoot rat ( Bandicota

indica B.). J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 7/(1) : 138-

140.

Chakraborty, S. (1975): Field observations on

the Biology and Ecology of the Lesser Bandicoot-

rat, B. bengalensis G. in West Bengal. All India

Rodent Seminar, held at Ahmedabad, India. Sept.

23-26, 102-109 pp.

Cristie, J. R. & Perry, V. G. (1951): Removing

nematodes from soil. Proc. Helm. Soc. Wash. 18:

106-108.

Schindler, A. P. (1961): A simple substitute

for a Baermann funnel. PI. Dis. Reptr. 45: 747-748.

Urs, L. Yoshoda, Krishnakumari, K. M. &

Majumdar, S. K. (1966): A report on the burrow-

ing habits of rodents. Ind'an Rodent Symp. held at

Calcutta. Dec. 8-1, pp. 199-203.

Waksman, S. H. (1927): Principles of soil micro-

biology. Bailiere, Tindall and cox. London.

1 Present address: Sorghum Entomology, ICRI-

SAT, Patancheru PO, A.P.

6. A FIGHT BETWEEN BULL GAURS IN MUDUMALAI

On 9.1.86 at 3.30 p.m. while moving on

elephant back through compartment 12, we

heard animals crashing through and thrashing-

bushes Gopan, the Mahout cautiously took

his ward Bama to an advantageous place, to

have a safe look of what was happening. We

saw on a sloping opening 2 bull Gaurs thump-

ing and snorting, near a herd of 14 plus, (Herd

marker-old Cow with tom left ear); one bull

was young the other, older. There was no

659

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

appreciable difference in size; the dewlap of

the young bull was nearly touching the ground

and his dorsal ridge was prominent. The old

bull had some identification marks — a pale

patch above right carpal joint — a conspicu-

ous dip in the dorsal ridge — his right horn

appeared shorter by 2-3 inches than the left,

with tip broken and frayed. The young bull

exhibited lateral display, turned toward the old

bull attacking with low horn threats (18 times).

The older bull appeared to retreat, before

actual contact of heads (12 times) turned

aside; both pushed the head of the other

without twisting (5 times) pushed twisting

heads (once). It appeared that the old bull

wanted to get away, exhibiting submissive

gestures and swinging around, when the young

bull forged forward. The old bull who first

stood on the lower side of the slope; by

strategic moves, enticed the young bull to

attack, retreated in small semi circles and

manoevoured to occupy a position higher than

the young bull and stood along the contour.

The old bull then started snorting vigorously

and thumping, I thought the old bull was

preparing to attack but it did not. The young

bull responded with thumps and snorts after

a lateral display and attacked up the slope.

The old bull gave one powerful push and

the young bull went crashing (probably roll-

ing) down the slope. It looked that the older

bull manoevoured his adversary, cleverly to

a lower position where the slope and his own

weight acted against the animal and the old

bull took advantage of the slope. They had

been fighting for about 45 minutes. The next

day I located the herd but not the young bull.

After two days I saw him limping severely

and grazing solitarily, 3 km away from the

herd.

Wildlife Warden, I. MANGALRAJ JOHNSON

Mudumalai Sanctuary,

Udhagamandalam 643 001,

Tamil Nadu,

June 26, 1986.

7. INSTANCE OF AN INDIAN PANGOLIN (MANIS

CRASSICAUDATA GRAY) DIGGING INTO A HOUSE

At about 2 O’Clock on the night of 5/6

October 1984, I and my friend woke up

when we heard a ‘hiss’ from inside a room

which had been since long locked up and

had an uncemented floor.

On opening the door, we found a long

burrow in a corner and an Indian Pangolin

(Manis crassicaudata Gray) standing nearby.

Obviously, it had arrived by burrowing from

outside into the house. As the compound fence

Hanuman Nagar,

Phalka Bazar,

Gwalior-474 009 (M.P.),

July 26, 1986.

R E FE

of the house is not less than 12 feet away

from the spot, it should have made a long

burrow.

The Indian Pangolin is occasionally seen in

the villages near Gwalior and in the Madhav

National Park, Shivpuri (M.P.) (Saxena 1985).

However, it is the first time that it came into

a house ! The pangolin was greenish-brown in

colour.

It was captured and sent to the Gwalior Zoo.

RAJIV SAXENA

EN CE

Saxena, Rajiv (1985): Indian Pangolin (Hindi).

Swadesh. 27 December. 1985.

660

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

8. OCCURRENCE OF THE GREAT CRESTED GREBE PODICEPS

CRIST AT US (LINNE) AT TADOBA, MAHARASHTRA

On December 4th, 1984 while watching a

group of Red Crested Pochards Netta rufina,

on Tadoba lake in Chandrapur district, we

saw a whitish thin necked bird having a black

crest far away at the center of the lake. Next

day while walking along the lake shore we

(IIT Wildlife Club) saw the same bird near

the pump house often diving into the water

and staying as long as twenty to thirty seconds

inside the water. It was immediately recognis-

ed as a large grebe. We went closed to have

a better look and identified it as the Great

Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus. This is the

first report of its occurrence in Maharashtra

(Checklist of the Birds of Maharashtra).

4, Modi Nivas,

Telang Road, Matunga,

Bombay 400 019,

January 10, 1985.

The southern most record of this bird is

from Puri (19°40'N and 86° E), in Orissa.

Tadoba is 45 kms from Chandrapur, almost

on the same latitude (20° N and 79°20' E),

but about 650 km to the west of Puri. It is

interesting to note that this species is accepted

as winter visitor entering from north-west and

going as far as Assam and Manipur in the

east and Gujarat in the south. This bird now

seems to be visiting new areas where it was

earlier unknown ( JBNHS 80: 414). Maha-

rashtra lies between Gujarat and Orissa. Hence

it would be interesting to find out whether it

is passage migrant at Tadoba. We were in

Tadoba during the next ten days and saw the

Grebe every day.

MEENA HARIBAL

9. SPOTTING OF HABSHI FLAMINGOS IN NANI- B ANN!

About 25 kilometres from Bhuj, on both

sides of the Road going to Khavda, rain water

had accumulated in considerable quantity. This

temporary water logging is because of heavy

showers in the second week of September,

1984. The water logged area which forms a

part of Nani-Banni and has now become a

temporary dwelling ground for the migratory

birds.

This is my third consecutive monsoon in

Kachchh but it is the first time I have seen

water and the bird life in this particular area.

The previous two have been low rainfall years

and not a trace of water was to be seen in

this tract of Nani-Banni immediately after

monsoon. It appears that the water accumu-

lated during the current year may remain till

the end of January, 1985 and I therefore

thought it wise to take observations at least

twice in a month. This was all the more neces-

sary for me as flamingos form one of the

largest populations here and I being one of

the members of the Committee appointed by

the Government to find out the reasons for

their disappearance, was interested in locating

the youn gones, if any, as the area is adjacent

to the Great Rann of Kachchh.

On 09-10-1984 when the first visit was made

to this area the count of flamingos was about

1500. Two small groups of demoiselle cranes

661

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol 83

and numerous Blackwinged stilts and sand-

pipers along with coots and few Avocets

were located. Careful observation on the

flamingos did not reveal the presence of chicks.

Whatever small birds were seen could be

safely classed as Lesser flamingos because of

their adult like movements. While we were

making the observations two individuals quite

close to the road were seen treading in the

water. Because of their dirty white or some-

what blackish-grey colour they attracted my

attention. These two individuals behaved exact-

ly like other adult flamingos. One was fully

grown while the other was of a slightly smaller

size. It had black beak and black legs with

dirty white or ashy appearance. The colour

was uniformly ash to blackish depending upon

the angle of sun’s rays. Attempts were made

to take a closer look but the birds got disturb-

ed and flew away.

In order to locate these abnormal, blackish-

grey flamingos again a visit was made on

20-10-1984 but such birds could not be locat-

ed. During this visit however the population

of flamingos was estimated as over 2000 and

number of cranes, coots, stilts and avocets had

increased. Dabchiks and cotton teals were spot-

ted during this visit. Osprey and Marsh

Harrier were also seen near the pools. A

further visit to this area was made on 29-11-1984

and to my great surprise a very high number

of blackish grey flamingos were located.

When the count was taken in a group of

exactly 400 birds, 21 turned out to be blackish

grey. These birds were exactly the size of

greater flamingos with the normal variations

in size as is seen in the latter. They were so

intimately mixed-up with others that they could

hardly be separated from the group by a

layman.

Because of the above encouraging findings

further search was made and to our astonish-

ment an altogether separate group of 16 birds

was located at one spot. This was a group of

grey or blackish-grey flamingos with blackish

beaks and legs. Except for the difference in

coloration no other difference could be seen as

compared to greater flamingo. These birds had

no trace of pink coloration. When observed

in flight through binoculars a few blackish in-

dividuals could be seen prominently. When

these birds were shown to the local inhabi-

tants who have been seeing flamingos all these

years they expressed surprise and said that

they were seeing such black or “Habshi

Flamingos” for the first time.

On going through some of the available

literature on flamingos I find that there is no

mention of such a blackish-grey flamingo ex-

cept for some abnormally large sized indivi-

duals which will be very few and rare. Here

in Nani-Banni area it is seen that every large

group has a few such individuals which are not

abnormally big but are of varying sizes as is

the case in greater flamingos.

I do not know whether any such spottings

of blackish-grey or “Habshi Flamingos” is in

your records. I would appreciate if I am enlight-

ened about it and if such spottings are not

recorded in past then the same may be brought

to the notice of the members of the Society

through your esteemed Journal.

A. A. VAIDYA

Conservator of Forests,

Kachchh Circle,

Bhuj,

January 4, 1985.

[I think the dark birds referred to are undoubt-

edly juveniles in various stages of the brown juv.

plumage. In size some brown individuals may be

nearly as big as adults. — Salim Ali]

662

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

10. RED SPURFOWL ( GALLOPERDIX SPADICEA CAURINA )

On 29th May, 1982 I witnessed on interest-

ing behaviour of spur Fowl. In Bhomat, a hilly

tract west of Udaipur there is a place called

Kiary covered by dry-deciduous miscellaneous

forest. I entered a narrow ravine strewn with

boulders and scrub jungle looking for Grey

Junglefowl ( Gallus sonneratii). When nego-

tiating a bend I startled a family of spurfowl

in front of me, near a fair sized boulder.

The cock started circling the boulder chuck-

ling and gave a spectacular display of its

feathers while the hen with her five chicks

started climbing the steep slope to my left

taking advantage of every bit of cover. The

chicks were very small and the side of the

ravine was very steep so the progress of the

hen was very slow. 1 changed my direction

41, Panchwati,

Udaipur - 313 001,

February 21, 1985.

and edged forward so as to reduce the dis-

tance between me and the boulder as well as

the hen. The cock increased its pace. It circled

the boulder thirteen times and on its last two

rounds it passed within a few feet of me. Mean-

while the hen and chicks reached a dense

patch of scrub and were hidden from my view.

The cock when it was on the other side of

the boulder flew away and joined its family.

To save its progeny the cock had diverted

the attention of the intruder by madly, circling

round the boulder while the hen led the chicks

to safety.

In these birds devotion of the cock towards

its offspring is very great and it takes consi-

derable risk to protect them.

RAZA H. TEHSIN

11. BREEDING OF THE PAINTED SNIPE ( ROSTRATULA

BENGHA LENS IS) IN TRIVANDRUM. KERALA

Since the days of H. S. Ferguson (vide

JBNHS 38: 694-5 & 39: 576), no one seems

to have recorded the breeding of the Painted

Snipe from Kerala. We would, therefore, like

to place it on record that we came across a

pair of Painted Snipe with a tiny chick in

paddy fields near Peroorkada, Trivandrum.

We first saw the Painted Snipe at this place

at 1700 hrs on April 23, 1984. Two adults

were feeding in a water-logged paddy field.

On the 17th of May, 1984, at 1730 hrs we

found a male and a female in a field. A few

yards away were another male and a tiny

chick. While the adult was wading through the

slush, the chick swam after it. On seeing us

approaching, the parent and the chick hid

themselves among the stubbles. When we went

closer, the adult flew off and alighted a few

yards away. It then put on a ‘wounded-bird

display’, crawling along with one wing raised

and the other trailing on the ground. Mean-

while the chick remained silent and motion-

less. We carried the chick home, took some

photographs and within twenty minutes re-

turned the chick to the place where we had

found it. We waited at a distance to see what

would happen and were greatly relieved to

find the parent (the male) coming to the place

where the chick was.

We are greatly obliged to Professor K. K.

Neelakantan for his help in identifying the

bird and for advising us to send this note to

the Journal.

663

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

“Padmalayam”, Indira Nagar, C. SUSANTH

Peroorkada, Trivandrum 695 005, C. SURESH

February 27, 1985. S. RAJEEVAN

12. RECOVERY OF A RINGED SANDWICH TERN, STERNA

SANDV1CENSIS SANDV1CENSIS FROM RAMESWARAM

ISLAND, TAMILNADU

Terns are known for their long inter-

continental wintering migration. Though the

sandwich tern Sterna s. sandvicensis Latham

has been known to frequent Sind and Makran

coast (Ali and Ripley 1981) and Sri Lanka

coast (Ceylon Bird Club Newsletter 1978), it

has not so far been recovered from the main-

land of India. However it has been sight re-

corded from Saurashtra (Dharmakumarsinhji

1958).

On 17.9.1983 a sandwich tern was recover-

ed from Kundukal point of Rameswaram

Island v/ith a metal ring having Russian in-

scription and a number P. 702628 on it. The

salient characters of the bird are as follows:

Crown black, a black stripe continues from

the eye back to the crown; body ash colour

dorsally, white ventrally; bill long, slender tipp-

ed with yellow; legs, web foot and the pri-

Regional Centre of Central

Marine Fisheries,

Research Institute,

Mandapam Camp, Tamil Nadu,

August 18. 1986.

Refer

Ali, Salim & Ripley, S. D. (1981): Handbook

of the Birds of India and Pakistan. Vol. 3, p. 70,

Oxford University Press, London.

maries black. The bird is locally known as

‘Katrenji’ in Tamil.

It may be mentioned that two other birds

of the species were also recovered from the

Pillaimadam lagoon, near Mandapam on

24.6.1983 and 7.11.83, indicating that the

bird is a common visitor to these areas. They

were found along with other common terns,

namely Hydroprogne caspia (Caspian tern),

Sterna aurantia and Gelochelidon nilotica.

It is of interest that the bird is found in

Rameswaram area from 24.6.1983 as indicat-

ed by its capture. It is much earlier than its

occurrence in the Sri Lanka coast in Decem-

ber. It is not known how much time these

birds stay in their wintering areas.

This recovery, the second of the sandwich

tern with a ring, confirms that the species is

a common migratory bird to the Southern

Peninsula.

R. S. LAL MOHAN

ENCES

Dharmakumarsinhji, R. S. (1958): Sandwich

tern Thalasseus sandvicensis sandvicensis (Latham)

in Saurashtra. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 55: 357.

664

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

13. LACK OF TRAFFIC SENSE AMONGST INDIAN ROLLERS

On 28th November 1984, we were travelling

on the Bombay-Goa Road. Halfway between

Vadakhal Naka and Mahad, our car passed

over an Indian Roller ( Coracias benghalensis)

sitting on the middle of the road. I immediate-

ly asked the driver to halt, and walked back

to the spot where the roller was still sitting

on the road.

Whilst I was walking back, five heavy

trucks, one Matador van and two cars either

passed over the bird or swerved to the side

to avoid hitting it. Only once did the bird

attempt to fly off, but only succeeded in hitting

the bottom of a truck as it passed overhead,

and again fell back on the road.

On reaching the roller, I discovered it was

an immature bird. Finding that it was still

13, Neel Tarang,

210 Veer Savarkar Marg,

Mahim, Bombay-400 016,

December 25, 1984.

alive, I picked it up. Thinking that it may be

critically injured, I placed it on the fork of

a large tree on the side of the road. However,

to my great surprise, as soon as I released

my grip on the bird, it immediately flew off,

totally unhurt, and apparently none the worse

for its experience.

While returning to the car I noticed a black-

winged kite ( Elanus caeruleus) that had been

sitting on an adjacent tree fly away in a

different direction. I am unable to say whether

the roller had sought the dubious sanctuary

offered by the road to escape the unwelcome

attentions of the kite, or whether the kite had

spotted the roller’s hapless plight and had

come to capitalise on the situation, or whether

the kite’s presence was merely coincidental.

DEBI GOENKA

14. OCCURRENCE OF THE LITTLE PIED FLYCATCHER

(MUSCICAPA WESTERMANN1) IN NARSAPUR, MEDAK

DISTRICT, ANDHRA PRADESH

On 11th November 1984, the Birdwatchers’

Society of Andhra Pradesh had gone on a

field outing to Narsapur Forest area (17°45'

N and 78°17'E) in Medak District of Andhra

Pradesh. Narsapur is approximately 60 km

North-West of Hyderabad city, at a height of

635 m above sea level. The vegetation of

the area is mainly deciduous with Tectona

grandis, Terminalia foment osa, Terminalia

arjuna, etc., as the main plant species.

While walking along a small stream-bed, (at

approx. 1100 hours) trying to locate the

whereabouts of a pair of Blackbacked Wood-

peckers Chrysocolaptes festivus which we had

seen a few minutes ago, our attention was

drawn towards a small (sparrow — ) flycatcher

in the canopy of a Terminalia tomentosa tree.

This little black and white bird was flitting

about and actively hunting in the upper storey.

The plumage was pied with white underparts,

a large white wing-patch and a broad, long,

white supercilium. The upper plumage was

black in colour and the sides of the tail, near

the base were white. We watched this bird

for a good ten minutes as it flittered about

above us. All identification marks pointed to

665

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

a male Little Pied Flycatcher Muscicapa

westermanni !

According to the handbook, Muscicapa

westermanni is an “altitudinal and short-range

migrant, not common.” It is found in North-

East India and “winters in the foothills upto

c 1 800 m, and over the plains as far as

Surguja (North-East M.P.), Manbhum (South

Bihar) and Midnapore (West Bengal).” . . .

In winter frequents the vicinity of well-wooded

streams.

14-7-370 Begum Bazar,

Hyderabad 500 012,

December 28, 1984.

The bird we saw was most likely a wintering

vagrant. Altitude does not seem to be an im-

portant criterion in its winter range, since it

has been already been reported from areas

with such diverse heights as 915 m above sea

level (Surguja) and sea level, i.e., 0 ft (Midna-

pore). Plowever the wintering habitat pre-

ferred by this bird is represented almost

exactly in Narsapur where we saw it in the

vicinity of a well-wooded stream.

AASHEESH PITT IE

Reference

Ali, Salim & Ripley, S. D. (1983) : Handbook of

the Birds of India and Pakistan — Compact Edition.

Oxford University Press, Bombay.

15. BLYTH’S REED WARBLER ACROCEPHALUS DUMETORUM

WITH AN ABNORMAL RECTRIX

(With a text -figure)

An unusual specimen of Blyth’s Reed

Warbler Acrocephalus dumetorum was caught

at Point Calimere, Tamil Nadu on 3 Novem-

ber 1983. On examination it was noted that

ringed and released. I am aware of only one

other instance of a similar abnormality, that

of a male Copper Pheasant Syrmaticus soem-

meringi, reported by Murie (1865).

Fig. 1. End-on view of tail of

the right centre rectrix was nearly upside-

down (Fig. 1). The feather was firmly attach-

ed to the bird and there was no evidence of

any damage. The rest of the plumage was

normal and in fresh condition, indicating that

the bird had recently completed a full moult

and this was an adult (Gaston 1976). It was

Acrocephalus dumetorum.

Acknowledgements

I thank Dr. Salim Ali and S. A. Hussain

for inviting me to join the BNHS Avifauna

Project team and Dr. R. Sugathan for his

hospitality and assistance.

666

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

BNHS Avifauna Project,

Hornbill House,

Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road,

Bombay 400 023,

February 25, 1985.

DAVID S. MELVILLE1

References

Gaston, A. J. (1976) : The moult of Blyth’s Reed Murie, J. (1865) : Note upon the abnormality of

Warbler Acrocephalus dumetorum, with notes on the a tail feather in a male Soemmering’s Pheasant. Proc.

moult of other Palaearctic warblers in India. Ibis Zool. Soc., Land., 12 December 1865.

118: 247-251.

1 Present address: WWF Hong Kong, GPO Box

12721, Hong Kong.

16. OCCURRENCE OF CROWNED LEAF WARBLER

(. PHYLLOSCOPUS OCCIPITALIS) IN BOMBAY

The Crowned Leaf Warbler ( Phylloscopus

occipitalis) winters in the peninsula from

Southern Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and East-

ern ghats, south to southernmost hills (Ripley

1982). This species is not included in the

‘Birds of Bombay and Salsette’ (Ali & Abdul-

ali 1941) and in the recent, ‘Checklist of birds

of Borivli National Park’. (Abdulali 1981).

I first came across this species in Borivli

National Park in January 1984 and in the

winter seasons of 1983-84 and 1984-85, I was

able to get more than 10 sightings of this

species in the Park. It seems that this species

is not an uncommon visitor to Borivli

National Park. I also saw a small flock

of this species in Karnala Bird Sanctuary on

2nd February 1985. In the National Park this

species seems to prefer denser parts of forest

with tangled vegetation with creepers etc. It is

always found in small flocks, mostly in hunt-

3, Rocky Hill,

Malabar Hill, Bombay 400 006,

February 6, 1985.

ing parties with fly-catchers, bulbuls etc., and

is silent.

This phylloscopus is one of the easiest to

identify in the field. The prominent coronal

bands distinguish it at once from other phyllos-

copus species that winter in this area. (Except

from P. reguloides which do not occur here.)

The yellow wingbar, yellow wing-bend and the

pinkish bill are also prominent. The undertail

coverts are creamish in colour and have curious

plumpish appearance. I am familiar with this

species in the W. Himalayas, where I was able

to spend two summer seasons (1983 and 1984)

watching the Phylloscopus genus. It is also in-

teresting to note that there is marked change in

the colour of the bill in breeding and non-

breeding season. The bright orange lower

mandible in summer changes to dull pinkish

in winter, and possibly plays an important role

in the breeding biology of this species.

NITIN JAMDAR

667

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Referen ces

Abdulali, Humayun (1981): Checklist of the

Birds of Borivii National Park.

Ali, Salim & Abdulali, Humayun (1941) : Birds

of Bombay & Salsette. Prince of Wales Museum.

Ripley, S. D. (1982) : Synopsis of the Birds of

India & Pakistan. Bombay Natural History Society,

Bombay.

17. NEW RECORDS OF SOME BIRDS FROM DIFFERENT PARTS

OF EASTERN INDIA

During faunistic surveys conducted by me

in different parts of eastern India since 1977,

I came across some birds which appear to be

new records from those areas. They are:

1 . The Himalayan Cuckoo, Cuculus saturatus

saturatus Blyth

As per extant literature the Himalayan

Cuckoo winters in the plains of Uttar Pradesh,

Rajasthan, Bihar and Assam. However, I

collected a male at Baj Baj, 24 Parganas dis-

trict, West Bengal, on 23 October 1977. The

presence of a few feathers with brown bars on

the chin and upper breast and an ashy spot

on the crown indicate, that it is a young bird.

Material : Id (23 Oct. 1977), Baj Baj, 24

Parganas, West Bengal; Srikumar Chatto-

padhyay, collector.

Measurement (in mm) : Wing 193, tail 163,

bill 97.

The species can be identified in the field

by its smaller size than the Asiatic Cuckoo,

Cuculus canorus, and the pure white edge of

shoulder which is clearly visible when the bird

is perched. After this collection I have observ-

ed this bird on two more occasions. Once

on 7 October 1981 on the eastern side of the

Dhakuria Lake in Calcutta, the bird was in

hepatic phase and was being chased by crows;

and again on 14 October 1984 in the Senpukur

Swamp at Baj Baj. On the last occasion there

were two birds foraging for rice moths in a

patch of Scirpus sp. in an inundated paddy

field. On both the occasions the birds were

completely silent. It is also to be noted that

these birds were seen only during October in

lower Bengal and all attempts to locate them

after October failed, which may indicate that

they were on passage.

2. Mandelli’s Yellowbrowed Leaf Warbler,

Phylloscopus inornatus mandellii (Baker)

Out of the three subspecies of the Yellow-

browed Leaf Warbler, Phylloscopus inornatus,

two are reported from lower Bengal, viz.,

Hume's Yellowbrowed Leaf Warbler, Phyllos-

copus inornatus humei (Brooks) and the

Siberian Yellowbrowed Leaf Warbler, Phyllos-

copus inornatus inornatus (Blyth). During a

bird collection trip around Baj Baj in Lower

Bengal, I collected an example of Mandelli’s

Yellowbrowed Leaf Warbler on 26 October

1977. It was collected from the first storey

of an old mango tree, while foraging and

producing a feeble, long-drawn, sweet si-i-ip.

This bird has a very prominent supercilium

which is pale yellow in the proximal part up

to the eye and whitish distally. Two promi-

nent wing bars are nearly white, and the

outer edges of scapulars are white with faint

greenish wash. Upper parts darker and rump

bright green, which confirms its identity.

Another specimen was collected on 14 Decem-

ber 1978, from an identical habitat in a

neighbouring village. This is a new record of

this bird from lower Bengal.

668

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

Material : Id1, 1? (14 Dec. 1978, 26 Oct.

1977), Vill. Barabagan and Vill. Senpukur,

Baj Baj, 24 Parganas District, West Bengal;

Srikumar Chattopadhyay, collector.

Measurements (in mm) :

It is also to be noted that both the speci-

mens have very narrow white edges on sixth

to 10th primaries, all secondaries and tertiaries.

3. The Himalayan Rubythroat, Erithacus

pectoralis (Gould)

During November 1979, I visited an island

locally known as Sahebdubir Chaur, c 5 km

south of Sagar Island, 24 Parganas District,

West Bengal. The island which is used as a

temporary fishing centre by local fishermen, is

mostly barren with small sand-dunes barring

some grasses, Ipomoea species and a few

stunted mangrove bushes.

The island attracts a large number of birds,

mainly gulls, terns and waders, and the stunt-

ed mangrove bushes attract a large number of

passerines. Among other birds, I have collected

an example of the Himalayan Rubythroat from

one such bush. The specimen was a female

with dark grey breast, tail tip white suffus-

ed with rufous; underwing grey, inner side of

the thighs grey and brown on the outer side.

Material : 1 $ (11 Nov. 1979), Sahebdubir

Chaur, off Sagar Island, 24 Parganas district.

West Bengal; Srikumar Chattopadhyay collec-

tor.

Measurements (in mm) : Wing 70, tail 56,

tarsus 29, bill 15.

The specimen had nonbreeding ovary.

Zoological Survey of India,

8, Lindsay Street,

Calcutta-700 087,

March 20, 1985.

4. Redwinged Crested Cuckoo, Clamator

coromandus (Linnaeus)

While bird watching in the western slope

of Susunia Hill, c. 11 km north of Bankura

town. West Bengal, in the afternoon of 18

August 1984, I heard a call, vaguely reminis-

cent of the call of the Green Magpie, Cissa

chinensis, from the other side of the hill. As

I approached towards the source, I inadver-

tently disturbed a group of the Common

Langur foraging on the top of the hill, and

the langurs rushed down the other side of the

hill and probably disturbed the bird which

came flying overhead, calling and alighted in

the Sal and Teak forest at the base of the

hill. In flight it resembled the Pied Crested

Cuckoo, but had very dark chestnut wing and

a white collar, which confirmed its identity as

the Redwinged Crested Cuckoo, Clamator

coromandus Linnaeus.

The bird was observed again in a patch of

Sal and Teak on the western side of the hill

on the next day in the morning. The bird was

very silent and therefore difficult to locate

when perched. It gives its klinck-klinck call in

rapid succession in flight, and also when dis-

turbed at rest.

According to the extant literature, this bird

breeds in the Himalayan foothills from

Garhwal east to Arunachal Pradesh and

south in the hills of Assam and the adjoining

states. The bird seen by me in Susunia Hill

was probably on passage to South India.

Acknowledgement

I am grateful to Dr. B. Biswas for his kind

help and constant inspiration in this study.

SRIKUMAR CHATTOPADHYAY

669

13

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

18. A NOTE ON A HAWKSBILL TURTLE ( ERETMOCHELYS

1MBR1CATA ) AT GAHIRMATHA BEACH OF

BHITARKANIKA WILDLIFE SANCTUARY, ORISSA

Gahirmatha beach, a stretch of 35 Km. long

in Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary of Orissa

is renowned for mass nesting or ‘arribada’ of

Olive Ridley Turtles, Lepidochelys olivacea .

No other species of marine turtles, except

Olive Ridley turtles have been observed nest-

ing at Gahirmatha beach. However, in March,

1984 one adult dead leatherback turtle ( Der -

mochelys coriacea) was recovered from

Shortt’s Island, not far from Gahirmatha turtle

nesting beach which was in an advanced stage

of decomposition. Again, in the night of 20.2.86

a sub-adult Hawksbill turtle ( Eretmochelys

imbricata) was seen crawling on the beach by

the Research Assistant and the Research

helpers, who were actively collecting data

Research Officer,

Saltwater Crocodile Research &

Conservation Centre,

Dangmal-754 248, RO. Iswarpur,

Dist. Cuttack, Orissa, India,

October 11, 1986.

on mass emergence, nest and nesting of olive

ridley turtles. It was captured and was brought

to the Gahirmatha Marine Turtle Research

and Conservation Centre and retained in capti-

vity for study on its food and feeding, growth

and behavioural aspects. Nesting of Hawks-

bill turtle in Orissa coast has so far not

been observed /reported. Sporadic nesting of

Hawksbill turtles along the Tirunelveli coast

of Tamilnadu has been reported by Fernando

(1983).

This Hawksbill turtle is now doing well at

the centre and has increased its weight of

5.5 Kg. and length of 0.5 m. (at the time of

capture) to 7.2 Kg. and 0.62 m. respectively

(15.9.86).

SUDHAKAR KAR

Reference

Fernando, A. Bastian (1983): Nesting site and veli coast of Tamilnadu. Mar. Fish Inf or. Serv.

hatchery of the Hawksbill turtle along the Tirunel- T.&.E. Ser. 50: 33-34.

19. CANNIBALISTIC BEHAVIOUR OF FRESH WATER TURTLES

IN KEOLADEO NATIONAL PARK, BHARATPUR,

RAJASTHAN

The Keoladeo National Park at Bharatpur

has an aquatic area of 8.5 sq. km. During

the summer of 1985 the aquatic area dried up

completely leaving a deep pond, Manasarovar

where the water was between 40-50 cm. A

massive concentration of about 358 turtles

were noticed in this pond. Most of them were

Lissemys punctata. The turtles very active

between 02.00 and 05.00 hrs, and 18.00 and

20.00 hrs.

On 2nd July 1985 at 07.00 hrs, I saw in

the water a big turtle catching by the neck

a small turtle of the same species. The

small turtle struggled for about ten minutes to

670

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

escape; but it was futile. The upside down

body of the small turtle was dragged above

the water level and the plastron could be seen

above the water. The dead, turtle was carried

along the pond slightly above the water level.

Almost a similar incident was noticed on 5th

July also.

On the morning of 6th July, I saw a dead

turtle in the shallow water on the shoreline

of the same pond. The fore and the hind limbs

on the left side of the body were completely

eaten. When I pushed the carcass slowly into

the deeper water 3-4 small turtles of the same

species appeared all of a sudden and started

feeding on the dead turtle. A big turtle came

about 5 minutes later and carried away the

dead turtle by holding it upside down above

the water level. Another big turtle was attract-

ed to this and there was a tussle between the

two for the carcass.

There is no previous record of cannibalistic

behaviour of fresh water turtles from the Park.

One of the possible reasons for this canni-

balistic behaviour could be the tough compe-

tition for space as there was no other water

body in the park during this period. Whether

it was for food is not clear as Daniel (1983)

has recorded that the turtle could survive

without food for 2 years.

Acknowledgements

I am thankful to Dr. V. S. Vijayan, Project

Scientist for encouraging me to write this note.

M. JOHN GEORGE

Junior Field Biologist,

BNHS Ecological Research Centre,

331, Rajendra Nagar,

Bharatpur (Rajasthan),

May 31, 1986.

Reference

Daniel, J. C. (1983) : The book of Indian Rep-

tiles. Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay,

pp. 141.

20. FRESH WATER TURTLE CAPTURING AQUATIC BIRDS

On the morning of 1st October 1985, I saw

a fresh water turtle capturing a cormorant

in an Ipomoea patch of the Keoladeo National

Park, Bharatpur. This observation was made

near the sluice gate in Sapan mori area, where

a large flock of cormorants were actively

feeding on fish. Suddenly quite close to the

road, a turtle grabbed the leg of one of the

little cormorants. The bird flapped its wings

and struggled to escape for more than 5

minutes, when at the approach of a tourist,

the turtle left the bird and disappeared. It had

crushed the leg of the bird upto the thigh.

Within an hour I observed similar incidents

but this time the species were the shag and

large cormorant. These are not uncommon

incidents in the Park as I have recorded turtles

capturing Indian moorhen, bronzewinged

jacana, gadwall, little grebe, coot and cotton

teal. I am not sure whether the turtle feed on

these birds or not. The fresh water turtle cap-

turing coot has been reported earlier by

Kannan (1985). But their observations on

other species has not been reported earlier from

this Park.

671

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Acknowledgements and Dr. (Mrs.) Lalitha Vijayan, Senior Field

Biologist, BNHS Ecological Research Centre,

I thank Dr. V. S. Vijayan, Project Scientist for their encouragement.

Junior Field Biologist, C. SIVASUBRAMANIAN

BNHS Ecological Research Centre,

331, Rajendra Nagar,

Bharatpur - 321 001,

Rajasthan, India,

August 30, 1986.

Reference

Kannan, R. (1985) : Fresh water turtle capturing

coot. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 82(1) : 244.

21. RECORD OF THE FUNGOID FROG RAN A MALABARICA

(BIBRON) IN NAVSARI (GUJARAT STATE)

A frog was collected from a temporary

flooded area at Navsari and was identi-

fied as Rana malabarica (Bibron) on the basis

of colour and other characters.

This frog appears to be rare in this area.

So far it could be located only at Navsari, a

town in South Gujarat.

The earlier records regarding its distribution

indicates its occurrence in Western ghats and

Department of Zoology,

Faculty of Science,

M. S. University of Baroda,

Baroda,

Department of Biology,

B. P. Baria Science Institute,

Navsari,

December 10, 1986.

low lands along west side of ghats from

Kasara Ghat in Nasik district of Maharashtra

to Edanad, Chenganur (Kerala). (J. C. Daniel

1975).

The occurrence of Rana malabarica (Bibron)

in Gujarat is being reported for the first time

with our finding a specimen of this species at

Navsari.

Y. M. NAIK

R. K. PATEL

Reference

Daniel, J. C. (1975): Field guide to the amphi-

bians of Western India. Part III. ibid. 72(2) : 506-

522.

672

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

22. OCCURRENCE OF WHIRLING DISEASE IN C1RRH1NA

M RIG ALA IN WARDHA

(With a photograph)

Information on occurrence of whirling

disease in the major carps in India is sparse.

During my visits to Fish Seed Farm, Kelzar

(District Wardha) in 1983. I collected a few

specimens of Cirrhina mrigala with deformed

spinal column. These were found to be similar

in appearance to European and American

salmonids suffering from whirling disease as

reported in Fish Culture by Marcel Huet. I

preserved one of them for the departmental

museum.

In August 1984 I brought about 100 finger-

lings of mrigal from the same farm for in-

tensive culture for study of their growth rate

many of them died by October end. In Nov-

ember 1984 one of the remaining fishes had

a similar deformed spine. It had grown to

about 10 cm. It was taken out of the culture

tank and kept separately in an aquarium for

observation. It was observed that the fish used

to take rounds in the same direction several

times, coming to the surface and then falling

to the bottom. It repeated the same process

after some time. This went on for two weeks

and then it died. The deformed spine and the

specific behaviour of the fish was a clear in-

dication of the whirling disease.

Head of the Zoology Dept.,

Jankidevi Bajaj College of Science,

Wardha,

September 28, 1985.

Photo. 1. Mrigal suffering from whirling disease.

I then contacted the Fisheries Development

Officer, Kelazar requesting him to give me

more information, if he had also come across

such deformities in the fishes left and reared

in the farm after the sale of seed every year.

In the last week he sent me one Twelve

inch specimen of mrigal with similar charac-

teristics. More information is yet to be col-

lected.

If the disease has invaded the farm it could

be very harmful, as once a fish is infected by

the causative agent, the protozoon Myxosoma

( Leptospora ) cerebralis, it cannot be cured.

And once a farm is infected it is difficult to

rid it of the disease.

S. C. MAHESHWARI

673

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

23. DEVELOPMENT AND SURVIVAL OF MYZUS PERSIC AE

(SULZER) ON TARAMIRA ( ERUCA SAT1VA LINN.)

INFLORESCENCE AT LUDHIANA*

I NTRODUCTION

Out of ten different species of insects re-

ported to attack taramira in Punjab, Myzus

persicae is the only insect which causes eco-

nomic damage (Sandhu et al. 1981). The

insect attacks 33 plant species belonging to

15 different families around Ludhiana (Pun-

jab). In addition to the loss caused by feeding,

the insect is capable of transmitting more

than one hundred virus diseases in India

(Nagaich and Agrawal 1969).

In the early stage of this crop the nymphs

and adults of this insect suck cell sap from the

leaves, but after the appearance of inflores-

cence developing buds are preferred. This leads

to reduction in the size and number of pods.

(Singh and Singh 1985). Since the aphid is

confined to the inflorescence after the bud

initiation stage, it was considered desirable to

study the development and survival of M.

persicae on inflorescence during the peak acti-

vity period, i.e. January-April. The results are

presented in this paper.

Methods and Material

The studies were conducted in the screen

house cages of the Department of Entomology,

Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana.

Various parameters, viz. nymphal instars, nym-

phal duration, nymphal survival, pre-reproduc-

tive, reproductive and post-reproductive

periods, fecundity and longevity were studied

* Based on the thesis of the senior author, ap-

proved for M.Sc. (Entomology) degree of Punjab

Agricultural University, Ludhiana,

for two generations. For this study the plants

of ITSA variety of taramira were grown in

earthen pots (14 cm dia.) and raised up to

inflorescence stage. A single apterous aphid

was released on the inflorescence under a

cylindrical alkathene microcage, 15 cm long.

In order to fix it on the inflorescence, it was

supported with the help of a wooden stick

using rubber band. It was closed by muslin

sleeves at its ends. Twenty five such plants

were kept for the study. The observations were

recorded daily.

Observations for one generation were re-

corded during third week of January to third

week of March (over temperature 13.2°C

and R. H. 62%) and for second generation

from first week of March to second week of

April (over temperature 21.1°C & R.H. 56%).

Results and Discussion

Duration of various nymphal instars: The

duration of first instar nymph (Table 1) varied

from 2-4 days from third week of January

to third week of March. It varied from 2-3

days from first week of March to second week

of April. The overall mean duration of 1st in-

star was 2.4 ± 0.31 days.

The duration of second instar nymph was

2-4 days from third week of January to third

week of March. It was only 2 days from first

week of March to second week of April. In

all the 2nd instar nymph took 2 . 5 ± 0 . 54

days.

The duration of third instar nymph varied

from 2-5 days from third week of January

to third week of March. The duration of this

instar was 1-2 days from 1st week of March

674

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

Table 1

Duration and survival of nymphal stage of M. persicae on inflorescence

Mean +S.D.

Table 2

Pre-reproductive, reproductive, post-reproductive period, longevity, period of generation and

fecundity of M. persicae on inflorescence

o *43

c3

•8 I

fi-8

§ £

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8g jf,

S .2 < <£

to second week of April. The overall mean

duration of this instar was 3.18 ± 1.37 days.

The duration of fourth instar nymph varied

from 2-8 days from third week of January to

third week of March, and 2-3 days from 1st

week of March to second week of April. On

an average, the fourth instar nymph was com-

pleted in 3 . 66 ± 1 . 48 days.

Total duration of nymphal instars : The

nymphal stage lasted for 13-19 days from third

week of January to third week of March. The

total nymphal period varied from 8-9 days

675

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

from first week of March to second week of

April. The overall mean duration of nymphal

instars was 11.88 ±3.79 days (Table 1).

Survival : The survival of nymphs varied

from 64 per cent during January-March to

73 per cent during March-April.

Pre-reproductive period : The pre-reproduc-

tive period varied from 1-3 days from third

week of January to third week of March but

it varied from 0-1 days from 1st week of

March to second week of April. In all, pre-

reproductive period was completed in 1.21 dz

0.67 days on inflorescence (Table 2).

Reproductive period : The duration of re-

productive period varied from 3-32 days from

third week of January to third week of March.

From 1st week of March to second week of

April, the reproductive period varied from

5-21 days. The mean reproductive period of

this aphid was 17.09 ±0.91 days (Table 2).

Post-reproductive period : The post-repro-

Department of Entomology,

Punjab Agricultural University,

Ludhiana.

Agricultural Assistant,

United Commercial Bank,

Nakodar (Jalandhar),

July 27, 1985.

ductive period varied from 0-9 days from third

week of January to third week of March and

0-23 days from first week of March to second

week of April (Table 2). On an average, the

post-reproductive period of this aphid on in-

florescence lasted for 9.05 zt 7.30 days.

Adult longevity : Mean longevity of adult

was 26.14 ± 8.21 days.

Period of generation : It ranged from 21-56

days from third week of January to third week

of March and 13-50 days from first week of

March to second week of April. The average

longevity of this aphid was 38.22 =f= 2.04 days

(Table 2).

Fecundity : The number of young ones laid

by a single female varied from 3-89 from

third week of January to third week of March

and 22-87 from first week of March to second

week of April (Table 2). Average fecundity

per generation in former case was 37 . 1 nymphs,

whereas in latter case it was 69.4 nymphs.

GURVINDERJIT SINGH

GURDIP SINGH

References

Nagaich, B. B. & Agrawal, H. O. (1969): Re-

search on potato virus in India. Indian J. agric. Sci.

39: 286-296.

Sandhu, G. S., Singh, B., Bhalla, J. S. & Brar,

K. S. (1981) : Insects, mites and birds associated

with Eruca sativa Mill, and Chemical control of

Myzus persicae (Sulzer) infesting flower buds in

India. Oilseeds J. 11 : 3-5.

Singh, G. & Singh, G. (1985) : Effect of dates

of sowing on the appearance and abundance of

Myzus persicae (Sulzer) and yield of tar amir a crop.

Indian J. agric. Sci. 55(4) : 287-289.

676

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

24. MORMON BUTTERFLY ( PAPILIO POLYMNESTER ) AND ITS

STATUS AROUND BOMBAY

I refer to Mr, J. S. Serrao’s note under this

heading (1978, JBNHS 75: 241), I wish to

present my observations on this butterfly in

Bombay.

I have seen this butterfly between August

and September every year since 1978 (1978,

3 sightings; 1979, 4 sightings; 1980, 5 sightings;

1981, 4 sightings) in IIT Powai. In 1982 this

butterfly seemed to be fairly common through-

out from July to March and it was also report-

ed by several of my colleagues. In all these

sightings the butterfly did not seem to be flying

in any particular direction.

It has also been observed several times in

4, Modi Nivas,

Telang Road, Matunga,

Bombay-400 019,

January 1, 1985.

Borivli National Park, around Tulsi lake dam

during monsoon months. On August 6th 1979,

one specimen was seen flying near Matunga

station at 10.00 hrs. It was flying towards

west and settled on Lantana flowers for few

seconds.

Several other observers also have seen this

butterfly on different occasions in and around

Bombay (Tungareshwar and Chinchoti Water-

falls). These observations show that this

butterfly is probably a seasonal migrant and

have become more abundant in recent years

or must have escaped the observation of com-

petent observers in the past.

MEENA HARIBAL

25. OCCURRENCE OF CYDIA SP. ? FUNEBRANA (TREITSCHKE)

AS APRICOT FRUIT BORER — A NEW RECORD FROM INDIA

In the year 1978-79, heavy infestation by

a lepidopteran fruit borer was observed on

apricot at several localities of Himachal

Pradesh stretching from 1500 to 2100 m above

mean sea level. Its incidence was 20 (Janjehli

area of Mandi district) to 100 per cent (Chopal

area of Simla district). In the following two

years, its attack remained low and

detailed investigations on the biology, beha-

viour and control of this pest were made

during 1981 to 1984 at Janjehli (2100 m)

where the pest had more preference to apricots

than to plums.

For obtaining the adult moth, infested fruit

were brought to the laboratory and kept in

jars containing seived sand. The moths were

identified by the Commonwealth Institute

of Entomology London as Cy dm sp.? fune -

brana (Treitschke), of the family Tortricidae

of order Lepidoptera.

The moths were seen on wing at dusk from

April end to May. Usually, eggs were laid

singly on developing fruit at dusk. Female

had a capacity to lay 40 to 60 eggs which

hatched in 9 to 14 days. The neonate larva

crawled over the fruit before boring into it

from any point. Depending upon stage of the

fruit development, 1 to 7 larvae per fruit were

observed. The caterpillar made galleries of

variable shape and size by feeding on meso-

carp, preferably around the stone. Sometimes,

the larva superficially gnawed the developing

677

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

stone. Presence of the caterpillar and its ex-

creta, as well as development of sooty moulds

on the deteriorating fruit render it unfit for

human consumption. The attack could easily

be detected by the presence of a brownish

ring around the minute entrance hole from

which juicy secretion oozes out. Such infested

fruit often fell down at slight disturbance. The

failing of infested fruit synchronized with the

physiological fruit-drop in June and hence the

pest attracts little attention from the orchardist.

Full grown larvae come out of the fruit in 21

to 24 days and form cocoon near the base

of the tree, on its bark or any other suitable

site on the ground and pupate inside. Moths

emerged from pupae in first week of June to

the June-end and lived for a week or so (8 to

10 days). Eggs laid by the impregnated females

hatched in 8 to 10 days. Developing larvae

of the second generation were found in the

ripened fruit. Such infested fruit usually drop-

ped down and larvae continued to feed on

the pulp. Under the climatic conditions of

Janjehli, almost completely developed larvae

were observed in such fallen rotting fruit until

end of August. Since some full fed larvae were

observed hiding under the silken web in cracks

and crevices of the bark, such larvae were

periodically observed in situ. They pupated by

the mid of April and moths emerged by the

April end to first week of May. Thus the pest

overwintered as full-fed larvae and had two

generations in a year.

Collection and destruction of fallen fruit and

debris harbouring cocooned larvae, and treat-

H. P. Govt., Deptt. of Horticulture,

Bagsiad-175 035, Mandi.

Department of Entomology &

Apiculture,

College of Agriculture,

Nauni-173 230, Solan (H. P ),

July 27, 1985.

ment of tree-basins with 200-250 g aldrin 5%,

or BHC 10% dust by end of August, reduced

the inoculum and incidence of the pest in the

ensuing year. Further, it was noticed that in

orchards where dormant spray oil (Hindustan

Petroleum Spray Oil E) 2% mixed with feni-

trothion. 0.05% was sprayed, a negligible

attack of the pest was noticed in the following

season. In preliminary field trials, spraying of

fenitrothion 0.05%, quinalphos 0.05%, mala-

thion 0.1%, or carbaryl 0.2% in first week

of May followed by a second spray by first

fortnight of June provided effective control of

the pest on apricot.

Cydia funebrana is a well known pest the

world-over of the plum and is known to occur

in France, Italy, Central Europe, Scandinavia,

North-Western and South-Western Russia and

Asia Minor (Vassiliev 1913). On apricot

fruit, Anarsia Uneatella Zell, has been record-

ed in Kashmir (Fletcher 1932) and Cacoecia

sarcostega Meyr. damaged fruit in Baluchistan

(Pruthi 1938). Atleast from India, occurrence

of Cydia sp.? funebrana on apricot is a new

report. Life history and behaviour of this

species resembles with that recorded from

Switzerland (Faes et ah 1934, Bovey 1936),

and Austria (Bohm 1948).

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Dr. J. D. Bradley and

Dr. D. J. Carter of Commonwealth Institute

of Entomology, London, for identification of

the apricot fruit tortricid.

S. K. SHARMA

P. R. GUPTA

678

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

References

Bohm, H. (1948): Unter suchungen iiber

Biologie Und Bekampfung des Pflaumenwicklers

( Grapholita funebrana Tr.). Pflanzenschutzberichte

2(1-2): 1-15.

Bovey, P. (1936): Sur la biologie du carpocapse

des prunes ( Laspeyresia funebrana Tr.). Mitt,

schweiz. ent. Ges. 16 ( 12) : 730-732.

Faes, H., Staehelin, M. & Bovey, P. (1934): La

lutte contre les ennemis des arbres fruitiers, insectes

et champignons en 1932. Landw. Jb. Schweiz 48(3) :

241-280.

Fletcher, T. B. (1932) : Life histories of Indian

Microlepidoptera (Second Series). Alucitidae (Ptero-

phoridae), tortricina and Gelechidae. Sci. Monogr.

imp. Coun. agric. Res. (India) No. 2, 58 pp.

Pruthi, H. S. (1938): The distribution, status and

biology of codling moth ( Cydia pomonella, L.) in

Baluchistan with notes on some other insects infest-

ing apples. Indian J. agric. Sci. 5(4) : 499-547.

Vassiliev, Eug. M. (1913): The latest data con-

cerning caterpillars which injure the principal fruit

crops in Russia and Western Europe. Reprint from

(Horticulturist and Market Gardenar) Kiev, nos.

46-47, 12 pp.

26. MULBERRY, MORUS ALBA LINNAEUS, A NEW HOST PLANT

FOR THE BLUE PUMPKIN BEETLE, RHAPHIDOPALPA

INTERMEDIA JACOBY (CHRYSOMELIDAE : COLEOPTERA)

Mulberry (Morus alba L.) has been report-

ed as host for four leaf beetles, Chirida

bi punctata Linnaeus, Cryptocephalus schestedti

Fabricius, Aspidomorpha miliaris Fabricius

and Rhaphidopalpa abdominalis (Fabricius)

(Chrysomelidae: Coleoptera), which feed on

the leaf of the mulberry (Kotikal 1982).

Studies conducted at Agricultural College

campus, University of Agricultural Sciences,

Dharwad on various insect pests of mulberry

Department of Sericulture,

College of Agriculture,

Dharwad-580 005.

July 26, 1985.

revealed the occurrence of the blue pumpkin

beetle, Rhaphidopalpa intermedia Jacoby on

mulberry during the months of September-

October, 1984. The beetles fed on the leaves

and flowers of all three cultivated varieties of

mulberry, i.e. Mysore local, M-5 and S-54. The

beetles were mostly found on the tender

leaves and damaged them by making small

holes. The average population of adults per

plant was two.

R. RAJASHEKHAR GOUDA

M. C. DEVAIAH

R. H. PATIL

Reference

Kotikal, Y. K. (1982): M.Sc. (Agri.), thesis

submitted to the University of Agricultural Sciences,

Bangalore.

679

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

27. CAREX HEBECARPA MEY. — A NEW RECORD FOR

NORTH-WEST HIMALAYA

While studying the specimens of the genus

Carex L. in the herbarium of Forest Re-

search Institute, Dehradun (DD) for the

‘Flora India Project’, a specimen collected

from Himachal Pradesh and labelled as C.

foliosa was found to be different. On critical

examination and matching it with type and

authentic specimens, it was identified as C.

hebecarpa, not known from N.W. Himalaya,

earlier. C. foliosa and C. hebecarpa are repre-

sentatives of two different subgenera of Carex.

The main differences are in the nature of style

and inflorescence. In C. foliosa the style is 2

fid and inflorescence is spicate while in C.

hebecarpa the style is 3 fid and inflorescence

is clearly racemose type.

The up to date nomenclature of C. hebe-

carpa alongwith flowering and fruiting period,

distribution, ecology and specimens examined

is as follows

Botanical Survey of India,

Northern Qrcle,

Dehra Dun 248 001,

August 17, 1985.

Carex hebecarpa Mey. in Mem. Acad. St.

Petrsb. 1: 223, t. 12. 1831; Clarke in Hook. f.

FI. Brit. Ind. 6: 747. 1894 excl. syn. C. lachno-

sperma Kuekenth. in Engl., Pflanzenr. heft 38:

744. 1909; Koyama in Hara et al., Enum. FI.

PI. Nepal. 1 : 102. 1978, Rao et Verma Cyper.

N.E. Ind. 85. f. 62-62 b. 1982. C. kunthii

Drejer, Symb. Caric. 22. 1844.

FIs. and Frts. : March-Sept.

Distribution: India: Arunachal Pradesh,

Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur.

Indo china, Nepal.

Specimens examined : Himachal Pradesh,

Shille, 4,850 ft. (1,478 m), 23.9.1950, Range

officer 50 (DD).

I am thankful to Dr. U. C. Bhattacharyya,

Deputy Director, Central National Herbarium

Howrah for encouragement. Thanks are also

due to Shri B. M. Wadhwa, Regional Botanist

at Kew for sending the photographs of type

and authentic specimens.

NEELAM GHILDYAL

28. VEGETATION OF THE KAPILAS HILLS IN DHENKANAL

DISTRICT, ORISSA

I NTRODUCTION

The Kapilas, a short range of hills is located

in the district of Dhenkanal which lies bet-

ween 20°29' and 21°42' N latitudes and 84° 16'

and 86°2'E longitude. The term “Kapilas”

might have been derived from “Kailas”, the

abode of Lord Siva, now called as Chandra-

sekhar. The temple is situated on the slope

of the peak at a height of 1500 ft. A zigzag

motorcycle path leads upto the temple front

from Deogan which is 15 miles east of Dhen-

kanal. Kapilas is regarded as a summer

resort of Orissa. This has also been declared

as a Wildlife Sanctuary by the Govt, of Orissa

(vide Notification No. 1443 dt. 22.6.83).

Principal animals of the sanctuary are

Panther, Spotted Deer, Wild Boar etc. The

680

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

main objective of this sanctuary is to protect

the forest ecosystem and hill ranges alongwith

the typical life-forms.

There are numerous peaks in the Kapilas

hill range, the loftiest being 2280 ft. at Devasava.

There is also a spring which has attained reli-

gious sanctity. The climate is moderately

salubrious with temperatures not exceeding

35 °C in Summer and not less than 13°C in

Winter. The average rainfall is 55 inches. Soil

is mostly lateritic.

Botanical Work: Past and Present

Haines (1961) while botanising in Bihar

and Orissa reported 227 species of Angio-

sperms from Dhenkanal district. However, he

reported only 6 taxa from the Kapilas hills

though it is floristically very rich. It seems, he

had visited Kapilas only once during his survey.

Mooney (1950) who concentrated on the hilly

tracts of Western Orissa had not collected in

the Kapilas hills. Thereafter, records reveal

that very few collections have been made. In

the Orissa District Gazetteer on Dhenkanal

(Senapati & Tripathy 1972) there is scanty

information regarding the vegetation of the

district as a whole. Realising the meagerness

of floristic information we undertook a de-

tailed floristic survey of this region under the

District Flora Scheme sponsored by Botanical

Survey of India. Through regular field trips,

plants were collected in different seasons.

Phenology, sociability, ecological aspects we

studied with critical observations on vegeta-

tional pattern.

Vegetation :

The vegetation mainly falls under Tropical

Semi-evergreen mixed type of forest. The top

canopy is mostly composed of large decidu-

ous/evergreen trees like Adina cordifolia,

Bridelia tomentosa, Mitragyna parviflora, Xylia

xylocarpa , M allot us philippensis, Mangifera

indica, Shorea robusta, Callicarpa arborea,

Anogeissus latifolia, Artocarpus heterophyllus,

Cassia fistula, Ochna obtusata, Kydia calycina,

Polyalthia cerasoides, Ardisia solanacea, Maca-

ranga peltata, Dalbergia sissoo, Semecarpus

anacardium, Pterospermum heyneanum Pro-

tium serratum etc. Of these Shorea robusta is

found in pure stands on the hill top. Caryota

urens is also met with occasionally. The chief

climbers associated with the top storey plants

are Schefflera venulosa, Bauhinia vahlii, Caly-

copteris floribunda, Combretum roxburghii,

Acacia pennata, Millet tia racemosa etc. The

ground flora is composed of Flemingia chappar,

Clausaena excavata, Flemingia bracteata, Des-

modium pule helium, Murray a koenigii etc.

which are characteristic elements of sal forest.

However, during dry season most of them

wither away as such the ground becomes

barren except for a few hardy and xeric species.

The plants like Lagerstroemia parviflora,

Bixa orellana, Aspidopterys indica, Grewia dis-

perma, Wrightia arborea, Trema orientalis,

Wrightia tinctoria, Stereospermum tetragonum

form the second storey. At lower heights on

the hill the gregarious growth of plants like

Boehmeria macrophylla, Colebrookea oppositi-

folia, Micromelum integerrimum, Pavetta to-

mentosa, Glycosmis arborea, Leea macrophylla

are very conspicuous. Scandent shrubs and

twinners like Opilia amentacea, Celastrus

paniculatus, Clematis smilacifolia, Cynoglos-

sum lanceolatum, Ipomoea eriocarpa, Crypto-

lepis buchananii are also found in association

with these plants. This association forms the

micro-ecological niche which provides cogenial

habitat for shade-loving plants like Psychotria

adenophylla, P. curviflora, Thysanolaena

maxima, Ecbolium viride, Petalidium barlerioi-

des, Phaulopsis imbricata.

681

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST . SOCIETY, Vol. 83

The notable epiphytic taxa are Dendroph-

thoe falcata, Viscum nepalense, Vanda tessel-

lata, Bulbophyllum triste which are mostly

found in the higher elevation chiefly growing

on Shorea robusta and Mangifera indica.

Ferns like Drynaria quercifolia, Pyrosia num-

mularifolia growing on mango trees are also

common. Along the edge of the spring hygro-

phillous plants are abundant, alongwith some

pteridophytic species such as Doryopteris

ludens, Pleopeltis linearis, Adiantum caudatum,

Pteris biaurita and Adiantum capillus -veneris.

Succulent herbs like Rhynchoglossum obli-

guum, Begonia picta, Epithema carnosum grow

along with Elatostema cuneatum, Biophytum

sensitivum in abundance on moss-covered rock

steps in early Winter.

Terminalia alata, Terminalia bellerica, Shorea

robusta, Madhuca longifolia var. latifolia, Xan-

tolis tomentosa, Azadirachta indica, Aegle

marmelos etc. form a thick belt around the hill

base and represent a mixed category mostly

associated with Combretum roxburghii as a

dominant climber. The shrubby elements are

poor in respect of variety. However, Holarr-

hena antidysenterica, Clerodendrum viscosum,

Chromolaena odorata, Cipadessa baccifera,

P. G. Department of Botany,

Utkal University, Vani Vihar,

Bhubaneswar-751 004,

August 17, 1985.

R EFE

Haines, H. H. (1961): The Botany of Bihar and

Orissa. Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta (Rep.

Edn.).

Mooney, H. F. (1950) : Supplement to th© Botany

of Bihar and Orissa. Catholic Press, Ranchi

Saxena, H. O. & Brahmam, M. (1984) Rare

and endemic flowering plants of Orissa. In : An

Woodfordia fruticosa etc. are occasionally met

with in this zone.

Interestingly, Natsiatum herpeticum (Icaci-

naceae) has been collected during the present

survey which is listed as a rare plant (Saxena

and Brahmam 1984) for Orissa state. Aegle

marmelos, Michelia champaca, Nyctanthes

arbortristis are found in abundance in Kapilas.

The leaves, flowers and fruits of these plants

are used for the ritual activities connected with

Lord Chandrasekhar. In addition to these,

Artocarpus heterophyllus, Mangifera indica

etc. are gregarious in the area which provide

fruits to the nearby inhabitants as well as to

the wild animals. In all 30 tree species 65

shrubs and 92 herbs have been collected,

identified and catalogued. All these plants have

been preserved and are housed in the herba-

rium of P. G. Dept, of Botany, Utkal Univer-

sity, Bhubaneswar.

Ack nowledgements

We thank the Professor & Head, P. G. Dept,

of Botany, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar for

providing facilities for this work. Financial

assistance from the Botanical Survey of India

is also gratefully acknowledged.

B. C. PATRA

B. P. CHOUDHURY

EN CES

assessment of threatened plants of India. Botanical

Survey of India, Calcutta (Ed. S. K. Jain & R. R.

Rao).

Senapati, N. & Tripathy, P. (1972) : Orissa Dis-

trict Gazetteers — Dhenkanal. Orissa Government

Press, Cuttack.

682

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

29. ADDITIONS TO THE PTERIDOPHYTIC FLORA OF

NAINI TAL

During the course of the preparation of the

Pteridophytic flora of Naini Tal six ferns and

fern allies were collected and identified with

the help of available floras. A perusal of earlier

literature and records indicate that these

species were neither collected nor reported by

earlier workers from Naini Tal. This note,

records these addition to the Pteridophytic

flora of Naini Tal along with other relevant

informations.

The voucher specimens are housed in the

Herbarium, Botany Department, D. S. B.

College, Kumaun University, Naini Tal. Field

number of each species along with collector’s

name is given in brackets.

Lycopodiaceae

1 . Lycopodium setaceum Buch.-Ham., Prodr.

FI. Nepal 18, 1825; Spring, Monogr. Lycopod.

42. 1847; Clarke, Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond.

2 (Bot.) 1 : 590, 1880. L. pulcherrimum Wall,

ex Hook, et Grev., Bot. Misc. 2: 367, 1831.

L. gramineum Spring, Monogr. Lycopod. Part

2: 19, 1848.

Occurs frequently on shady - moist moss

laden boulders. Rarely as an epiphytic on

Pinus roxburghii and Quercus leuchotricho-

phora trees between 1,300-1,400 m. Bajoon

(YPSP 105).

POLYPODIACEAE

2. Drynaria propinqua (Wall, ex Mett.) J.

Smith, Journ. Bot. 4: 62, 1842; Bedd., Handb.

Ferns Brit. India Suppl. 339, t. 189, 1892.

Polypodium propinquum Wall, ex Mett., Farn-

gatt. Polypod. 120, 1857; Clarke, Trans. Linn.

Soc. Lond. 2 (Bot.) 1: 556, 1886.

Extremely rare species occurring at 1,400 m.

Usually growing on moss covered tree trunks.

Bajoon (YPSP 198)

Thelypteridaceae

3. Pronephrium nudatum (Roxb.) Holttum,

Blumea 20 (1): 111, 1972. Polypodium nuda-

tum Roxb., Calcutta Journ. Nat. Hist. 4: 491,

1844. P. multilineatum Wall, ex Hook. Sp. Fil.

5: 11, 1863. Thelypteris multilineata (Wall, ex

Hook.) Morton, Amer. Fern Journ. 49(3):

113, 1959; Nayar, Rec. Bot. Surv., India 20

(2): 16, 1973. Nephrodium moulmeinense

Bedd., Ferns Brit. India 18, 1876 et Handb.,

Ferns Brit. India Suppl. 73, 1892. Dryopteris

moulmeinsis (Bedd.) C. Chr., Index Fil., 278,

1905. Abacopteris multilineata (Wall.) Ching,

Bull. Fan. Mem. Inst. Bot. 8: 253, 1938.

A rare species occurring at 600 m by the

side of streamlets in deep shady ravines in

sal forest. Bhujia Ghat (YPSP 172).

Nepeirolepidaceae

4. Neplirolepis cordiiolia (Linn.) Presel.,

Tent. Pterid. 79, 1836; Clarke, Trans. Linn.

Soc. Lond. 2 (Bot.) 1: 540, 1880: Bedd.,

Handb. Ferns Brit. India Suppl. 282, t. 144,

1892. Poly podium cordifolium Linn., Sp. PI.

1098, 1753. Aspidium tuberosum Bory, Willd.

Sp. PI. 5: 234, 1810. Nephrolepis tuberosa

Presl., Tent. Pterid. 79, 1836.

This species is commonly cultivated for

indoor and outdoor decoration. Naini Tal

(YPSP 98).

Aspidiaceae

5. Polystichum Ientum(D. Don) Moore, In-

dex Fi, 86, 1858. Aspidium lentum D. Don,

683

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Prodr. FI., Nepal 4, 1825. A. auriculatum

Swartz var. lenta Clarke, Trans, Linn. Soc.

Lond. 2 (Bot.) 1: 507, 1880. Polystichum

auriculatum (Linn.) Presl. var. lenta Bedd.,

Handb. Ferns Brit. India 204, 1883.

A rare species. Grows on moist, shady

rocks in ravines at 1,300 m. Bajoon (YPSP

85).

V ITTARIACEAE

6. Yittaria flexuosa Fee, 3 We Mem., 16.

1851-52; Clarke, Trans. Linn, Soc. Lond. 2

(Bot.) 1: 572, 1880; Bir, Res. Bull. Punjab

Department of Botany,

D. S. B. College, Kumaun University,

Naini Tal - 263 002 (U.P.),

July 20, 1985.

30. FLORAL BIOLOGY OF CA

Introduction

Cassia an gust i folia Vahl. (Caesalpineaceae)

a perennial plant indigenous to Somaliland

and Arabia, which is now grown extensively

in South India. It grows wild in certain parts

of Kutch. The leaves and pods of the plant

contain glycosides called ‘sennosides’ and have

been long used for laxative purpose by allo-

pathic and indigenous medical practitioners.

India has been the exporter of the crude drug

(leaves and pods). The agronomical, phyto-

chemical and pharmacological aspects of

‘Senna’ have been studied in detail. Other

botanical aspects such as floral biology, gene-

tics, etc. have not received attention. The floral

biology of Senna is described here.

Material and Methods

Floral biological studies were conducted

during the years 1983-84 on Senna plants

Univ. (n.s.)., 13: 22. f. 20-23, 1962. V. lineata

sensu Bedd., Ferns South India, t. 54, 1883;

et Handb., Ferns. Brit. India 407, 1883.

Ecology : - A rare species and grows on moss

covered tree trunks in deep shady ravines at

1,300 m. Jeolikote (YPSP 102).

Acknowledgement

We are thankful to Prof. B. S. Mehrotra,

Head, Botany Department, D.S.B. College,

Kumaun University, Naini Tal for providing

facilities and encouragement.

Y. P. S. PANGTEY

G. S. RAWAT

S. S. SAMANT

SSIA ANGUSTIFOLIA VAHL

raised at Central Research Farm, Jodhpur.

Observations were recorded from tagged

flowers on bud development, anthesis and

dehiscence. Stigma receptivity was studied by

visual observation and experimentation by hand

pollination. Observations on pollens, pollina-

tors, fruit set and post-fertilisation development

were also recorded.

Results and Discussion

a) Flower bud development : In Indian

Senna plants, initial flowering starts when they

are 90 to 100 days old. A succession of

blossoms appear at periodic intervals there-

after. In Russia, senna is reported to commence

flowering earlier, at the age of 50 to 60 days

(Nikolaeva 1973). The inflorescence buds

appear in the axils of the pinnately compound

leaves. The smallest recognisable size of in-

florescence bud is 5 mm., when the young leaves

684

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

are 2.5 to 3.7 cm. long (mature leaf mea-

sures 15 cm). A fully mature inflorescence

(raceme) is lOdtl cm long, normally bearing

13 to 15 floral buds spirally on the rachis. The

smallest individual floral bud measuring 3 mm

becomes 13 mm (a day before anthesis) in

an interval of about 15 to 20 days. Few upper

most buds on the rachis do not reach anthe-

sis. Young buds are pale yellowish green and

bright yellow when mature. A thin membran-

ous bract protecting the bud falls off when the

bud matures.

b) Anthesis and dehiscence : Anthesis pro-

ceeds basipetally, from basal flowers towards

apex, in order of maturity. It is observed that

86 per cent flowers opened between 4 a.m.

and 6 a.m., while 14 per cent opened from 6

a.m. to 8 a.m. Russian senna flowers are

reported to open during night in warm weather

and during day in autumn (Nikolaeva 1973).

It takes about 15 days for all the flower buds

on the inflorescence axis to complete anthesis.

Anthers are variable in size and three of them

are staminodes. Two largest anthers and the

style are curved. Dehiscence is apical and

commences within 1-3 hours of anthesis. The

release of pollen is slow and gradual extend-

ing for over about 24 hours. Pollen grains are

triangular and 3 . 8/x to 4.1//, in size. Pollen

fertility is about 98%. The buds and the bright

yellow flower attract ants, flies, wasps and

moths ( Pieris brassicae, especially), due to a

sugary secretion. These insects help in cross

pollination as pollens have been observed on

their bodies. It takes 10 to 14 days for com-

pletion of anthesis.

Division of Plant Studies,

Central Arid Zone Research

Institute, Jodhpur,

July 4, 1985.

c) Fruit set and Post fertilisation develop -

ments : Experimental study shows that stigma

becomes receptive soon after anthesis. No fruit

set was recorded when hand pollinated 24

hours before anthesis. It is also evident that

both self and cross pollination exists. Under

normal and natural conditions, fruit set was

found to be 74.48%. The carpel is 7.5 mm

long a day before anthesis, 10 mm on the

day of anthesis and 12 mm long on a

day after anthesis. Soon after fertilisation, the

sepals bend backwards, wither and fall away

along with stamens within 48 hours. The

bright yellow petals which are more persistent,

bend downwards, yellow colour gradually

bleaching to white. Within one week of

anthesis, all parts are shed. Style is most per-

sistent, dried on the tip of pod. Fruit

is a legume, about 5x2 cm in size and takes

about 25 ±3 days to mature. After this period,

the mature green pods start turning dark

brown to black (ripening). Nikolaeva (1973)

reported that fruit development took 12 days

and seed ripening occurred after 40-45 days

of anthesis. Each pod contains upto 8 seeds

normally. The rachis (inflorescence axis) grows

from 10 ±1 cm (at the time of anthesis) to

13=fcl cm., when the pods mature, so that the

pods are well apart.

Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to Dr. K. A. Shankamara-

yan. Director, Central Arid Zone Research

Institute for suggestions and providing faci-

lities.

V. A. AMALRAJ

685

14

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol 83

Reference

Nikolaeva, I. G. (1973): Cassia angustifolia, south of the Turkmen SSR. Izv. Akad. Nauk.

biology of blooming and seed formation in the Turkm SSR Ser. Biol. Nauk. 4: 17-22.

31. NEW DISTRIBUTIONAL RECORDS FROM CHAMOLI

DISTRICT IN N. W. HIMALAYAS

Introduction

The district of Chamoli, lies between 29°

55' 32" and 31° 4' 22" latitude and 78° 54'

26" and 80° 6' 14" longitude, covering an

area of 9,125 Sq. Km. The district is bounded

on the east by the district of Almora and

Pithoragarh, on south by the district of Pauri

Garhwal, on west by districts of Uttarkashi

and Tehri and on the north by the snowy

ranges of Tibet.

Enumeration

We have been engaged in a study of the

flora of Chamoli district for some time and

report here 10 species for the first time from

this part of N.W. Himalayas. The flowering

and fruiting time together with range of alti-

tude of occurrence is also given. The numeral

given immediately after the place of collection

indicates the collection number of the plant

from the locality concerned.

The herbarium specimens cited are depo-

sited in the herbarium of Botany department,

Meerut University, Meerut.

Nymphaea alba Linn. Hook. f. FI. Brit. Ind.

1: 114, 1872, LN Kamal. (Nymphaeaceae)

Aquatic herb with thick, creeping rhizomes.

Flowers, white, solitary on long peduncles.

FI. & Fr. June-Oct.

Coll: Benital. Alt. 1830 m.

Anaphalis aristata DC. Hook. f. FI. Brit.

Ind. 3: 285. (Asteraceae) Erect, wooly herb.

Heads turbinate, in globose, corymbose clus-

ters.

FI. & Fr. Aug.-Oct.

Coll: Way to Kedarnath 4115. Alt. 2438-

3048 m.

Bidens cernua Linn. Hook. f. FI. Brit. Ind.

3: 309 (Asteraceae) Erect, glabrous herb with

fistular stems. Leaves opposite, auricled. Heads

yellow, erect or drooping. Outer involucre

leafy. Achenes cuneiform, truncate, margins

recurved, spiny; apex with 1-4 bristly pappus.

FI. & Fr. Aug.-Oct.

Coll: Benital 3335. Alt. 1830 m.

Parthenram hysterophorus Linn. Sp. PL,

988, 1753. (Asteraceae) An erect, tufted, leafy

herb. Stem scabrid hairy, grooved. Heads

heterogamous, in axillary or terminal, leafy,

corymbose cymes. Achenes obovae, black.

FI. & Fr. Aug.-Nov.

Coll : Near Gwalior 4290. Alt. 800 m.

Commelina suffruticosa Blume, Enum. 3,

1830; Hook. f. FI. Brit. Ind. 6: 374, 1892

(Commelinaceae) Scandent herb. Leaves large,

lanceolate, scabrid-pubescent. Sheath auricled,

hairy-fringed on the mouth. Flowers white, in

ovate-cordate spathe. Seeds 2, ellipsoid, rugose,

puberulous.

FI. & Fr. May-Nov.

Coll: Tigaddi 2012. Alt. 1350 m.

Ceratophyllum demersum Linn. Hook. f. FI.

Brit. Ind. 5: 639 (Ceratophyllaceae) Submerg-

ed, aquatic herb. Leaves pinnatisect, segment

filiform. Flowers solitary axillary, monoecious.

FI. & Fr. Aug.-Oct.

Coll: Near Gauchar 2674. Alt. 700 m.

686

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Wolffia arrhiza (Linn.) Horkel ex Wimm.

FI. Schles. 140, 1857; FI. Brit. Ind. 6: 306

(Lemnaceae). Small, floating herb. Fronds

sub-globose beneath.

FI. & Fr. Aug.-Oct.

Coll : Karankund 1089. Alt. 305-914 m.

W. microscopia (Griff, ex Voigt.) Kurz.,

Jour. Linn. Soc., Bot. 9: 265, 1867; FL Brit.

Ind. 6: 558. (Lemnaceae) Minute, floating,

aquatic herb. Frond subglobose, tapers into

conical appendage beneath.

FI. & Fr. Sept.-Nov.

Coll: Langasu 4798. Alt. 305-762 m.

Najas graminea Del. Hook. f. FI. Brit. Ind.

Botany Department,

G. M. V., Rampur,

Maniharan (Saharanpur).

6: 569. (Najadaceae) Submerged, aquatic herb.

Leaves linear to subulate, with dentate mar-

gins. Flowers solitary or 2-4 together. Seeds

areolate.

FI. & Fr. Aug.-Oct.

Coll : Hailuri 4674. Alt. 610-1200 m.

Brachiaria villosa (Lam.) A. camus var.

barbata Bor. Var. Nov.; Bor in Grass. Bur.

Cey. Ind. Pak. 286, 1960 (Poaceae) Erect,

decumbent, villous-hairy annual grass. Spike-

lets in hairy panicles. Upper glume, hairy

tipped, equalling the spikelet.

FI. & Fr. Aug. -Nov.

Coll: Gwaldam 4218. Alt. 1200 m.

K. N. NAUTIYAL

Botany Department, Y. S. MURTY

Meerut University,

Meerut,

May 30, 1985.

32. UROCHLOA PANICOIDES P. BEAUV. (POACEAE) IN

SOUTH INDIA

(With a plate)

JJrochloa panicoides, an annual ruderal

serves as an excellent fodder for cattle. A

scrutiny of literature reveals its wide distri-

bution in India both in plains and on the

Himalayas upto about 5000 ft. It contributes

much to the greenness of disturbed waste

lands and is also a dominant weed in culti-

vated dry lands during monsoon. In Australia

it was used in 1940s to smother weeds on

black soils (Buckley 1959). The species

occurs with four morphologically distinct

varieties (Bor 1960) viz., Urochloa panicoides

P. Beauv. var. panicoides, var. pubescens

(Kunth) Bor, var. marathensis (Henr.) Bor

and var. velutina (Henr.) Bor. While collect-

ing the species of Urochloa for Biosystematic

studies, all four varieties were collected from

various parts of South India. All the floristic

accounts record and describe the species with

var. panicoides and/or var. pubescens, while

the var. velutina and var. marathensis are not

properly recognised in regional herbaria such

as MH and BSI.

Taxonomic Status

Urochloa panicoides belongs to the tribe

Paniceae of Panicoideae. The species was first

described by de Beavois (1812). Various

classificatory exercises have been made on the

687

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

species by different authors. Kunth (1829)

described the pubescent variant as Urochloa

pubescens. In view of the common occurrence

of glabrous and pubescent spikelets and sub-

marginal fringe of hairs in the lower lemma

in most of the species of the genus Urochloa,

Stapf (1929) abstained from giving these

states varietal names and preferred to distin-

guish to them as forms. But Henrard (1922)

raised the var. marathensis to species Urochloa

marathensis and placed the var. velutina as a

variety under this new species. In 1960 Bor,

made a new combination of four varieties

under U. panicoides.

The species is very similar to Brachiaria

ramosa with which it can be rather easily

confused. Its distinguishing characters are com-

paratively large abaxial spikelets and a short

fine mucro from the obtuse apex of the upper

lemma. Species description is given in many

Population Studies

The previous studies clearly show the exist-

ing confusion in the taxonomic position of

these taxa. Hence an attempt has been made

to answer these. About 400 collections were

made from various parts of South India, which

include all the four varieties. Minor differences

in number of tillers per plant, leaf size, leaf

pubescens, number of racemes, raceme length,

number of spikelets, spikelets size etc., were

noted between the varieties in different popu-

lations.

Variations observed in spikelet size and

degree of pubescens in three populations where

all the four varieties were growing intermixed

are illustrated here. Habit of the species is

shown in fig. 1 (Plate) and the varieties can

be distinguished by the spikelets on the

racemes (Plate, fig. 2). Mean length and width

Table 1

Mean spikelet length (mm.) and width (mm.) of four varieties of U. panicoides in three populations

floristic accounts. The key for identification

of the varieties on the basis of additional

characters (Bor 1960) is as follows;

Lower lemma without a fringe of bristles.

Spikelets glabrous U. panicoides

var. panicoides

Spikelets pubescent var. pubescens

Lower lemma with a conspicuous fringe of bristles.

Spikelets glabrous var marathensis

Spikelets pubescent var. velutina

of spikelets of all the four varieties of three

populations are given in Table 1.

The collections (Basavaiah 233-236) from

Agriculture college fields, Poona exhibit the

largest spikelets in all the four varieties and

conspicuous pubescence in the pubescent

varieties (Plate, fig. 3a-3d). The collections

Basavaiah 273-276) from Agriculture College

fields, Dharwar showed medium sized spikelets

688

Plate

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc.SJ

Basavaiah & Murthy: Urochloa panic oides

Fig. 1. Urochloa panicoides P. Beauv. Fig 2. Racemes of four varieties of U. panicoides.

a) var. panicoides ; b) var. pubescens\ c) var. marathensis ; d) var. velutina.

Fig. 3a-3d. Spikelets of four varieties collected from Poona.

Fig. 4a-4d. -do- Dharwar.

Fig. 5a-5d. -do- Mysore.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

with moderate pubescence (Plate, fig. 4a-4d).

Similarly some of the collections (Basavaiah

52, 53, 60 & 100) of Manasagangotri, Mysore

showed smaller spikelets and inconspicuous

pubescence (Plate, fig. 5a-5d). Such collections

from Mysore pose difficulty to differentiate the

varieties with the existing key. Hence other

aspects of Biosystematic study of this exomor-

phic complex have to be made to delimit the

taxa. The herbarium specimens cited, are lodged

Department of Post-Graduate

Studies and Research in Botany,

Univ. of Mysore, Manasagangotri,

Mysore-570 006, Karnataka,

in the herbarium (MGM), University of

Mysore, Manasagangotri, Mysore.

Acknowledgements

We thank the authorities of MH and BSI

for herbarium and library facilities. The senior

author thanks UGC, New Delhi, for the

award of a Research fellowship.

BASAVAIAH

T.C.S. MURTHY

References

Beavois, A.M.F.J., Palisot de (1812): Urochloa

panicoides. Essai d’une nouvelle agrostographie.

Paris.

Bor, N. L. (1960) : Grasses of Burma, Ceylon,

India and Pakistan. London. Pergamon Press, pp.

371-373.

Buckley, K. S. (1959) : Plant testing for soil

conservation at Inverell. /. Soil Conser. Serv. N.S.W.

15: 327-345.

Henrard, J. Th. (1922) : Urochloa marathensis.

Meded van’s. Rijks Herb. Leiden, n. 43, 2.

Kunth, C. S. (1829) : Urochloa pubescens. Revi-

sion des Graminees. 1, 31.

33. A CONTRIBUTION TO THE MOSS FLORA OF NORTH

WESTERN GHATS, INDIA

Although the moss flora of Eastern India,

Himalayas and the Nilgiris in the South are

well known, there are comparatively few re-

ports of mosses for the bryologically rich area

of the Western Ghats. This is specially true

for Mahabaleshwar and surrounding areas in

Northern Western Ghats. Dabhade (1966,

1969, 1970) reported 10 mosses from the

Western Ghats while Tixier (1979) listed 21

species from Mahabaleshwar. Barring these

reports, only sporadic references to mosses

exist for this region.

On 27th to 29th January, 1984, a collection

of bryophytes were made by us at three loca-

lities Mahabaleshwar, Poona and Khandala

in North Western Ghats, the outcome of which

is this report.

The Western Ghats are geologically formed

of basaltic lava of varying thickness, the top

part of which is laterite. Mahabaleshwar re-

ceives an annual rainfall of 700 cm, mostly

during the South West Monsoon months of

June to September. The hottest months are

April and May.

Collection and list of localities’.

Voucher specimens are deposited at the

Bryophyte Herbarium of the Botany Dept.,

Universiti Malaya (KLU), Bryophyte Herba-

rium of the Botany Dept., Poona University

689

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , VoL 83

and occasional duplicates at Missouri Botani-

cal Garden (MO). A list of collection sites by

collection numbers follows:

400-424 Khandala, Alt. 850 m., January 27th.,

1984.

425-454 Mahabaleshwar, Alt. 1382 m.

Along road from Mahabaleshwar

Town to Pratapgad Road, January

28th., 1984.

446-470 Mahabaleshwar, Alt. 1320 m.

Road from Pratapgad to Lodwick

point, January 28th, 1984.

471-473 Poona University Campus, 1000 m,

January 29th, 1984.

List of species.

Species marked with a single asterisk are

new to the moss flora of Western Ghats.

Fissidentaceae

1 . Fissidens ceylonensis Dozy & Molk. - 432.

2. *F. diversifolius var. rubricaulis (DIX.)

Norkett in Gangulee — 470.

3. F. mitteni Par. — 468b.

4. *F. poly set ulus C. Muell. ex Gangulee &

Norkett — 468a

5. *F. pulehellus Mitt. — 433.

6. F. ranchiensis Gangulee - — 4216, 434, 437.

7. F. sylvaticus Griff. — 460, 463, 464, 465a.

8. *F. zollingeri Mont — 431, 435.

Dicranaceae

9. Campylopus aureus Bosch & Lac. — 438,

451, 452.

10. *C. durelli Gangules — 456.

11. C. gracilis (Mitt.) Jaeg. — 458.

12. C. richardii Brid. — 446, 450.

Leucobryaceae

13. Octoblepharum albidum Hedw. — 408.

POTTIACEAE

14. Barbula indica (Hook.) Spreng — 402,

403, 410.

15. *Gymnostomum calcareum Nees &

Hornsch. — 405b, 420.

16. Gymnostomiella vernicosa (Hook.)

Fleisch. — 403.

17. Hymenostylium recurvirostre var. auran-

tiacum (Mitt.) Gang. — 460, 465a, 466,

473.

18. Ilyophila involuta (Hook.) Jaeg. — 400,

401, 405a, 418a, 428.

Funariaceae

19. F unaria hygrometrica Hedw. — 426.

Bryaceae

20. Anomobryum auratum (Mitt.) Jaeg - 441.

21 . Brachymenium acuminatum Harv. — 4186.

22. B. indicum (Dozy & Molk.) Bosch & Lac.

442, 459.

23 . *B. longidens Ren. & Card. — 454.

24 . Bryum coronatum Schwaegr. — 407a, 427.

25. *B. plumosum Dozy & Molk. — 417.

26. B. porphyroneuron C. Muell. — 420, 421b.

27. B. nitens Hook. — 471, 473.

28 . B. wightii Mitt. — 445, 456, 465b.

Bartramiaceae

29. Philonotis hastata (Duby) Wijk & Marg.

— 422.

30. *P. leptocarpa Mitt. — 407a.

31. P. longicaulis (Hampe) Mitt. — - 418b.

32. P. mollis (Dozy & Molk.) Mitt. — 405b,

421a, 421b.

Erpodxaceae

33 . Er podium mangiferae C. Muell. — 472.

690

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

Orthotrichaceae

34. Macromitrium sulcatum (Hook.) Brid. —

430a, 439, 451.

Trachypodaceae

35. Diaphanodon procumbens (C. Muell.)

Ren. & Card. — 413, 419a, 429, 430a,

438a, 461, 469.

Endemic to Western Ghats.

Pterobryaceae

36. *Pterobryopsis acuminata (Hook.) Fleisch.

— 461.

37. *P. flexipes (Mitt.) Fleisch. — 413, 416,

432.

38. P. walked (Broth.) Broth. — 407 b.

Meteoriaceae

39. Meteodopsis squarrosa (Hook.) Fleisch.

ex Broth, var. longicuspis Nog. — 462.

Daltoniaceae

40. *Daltonia adstifolia Ren. & Card. — 443.

Botany Dept.,

Universiti Malaya,

Malaysia.

Dept, of Botany,

Poona University,

Poona 411 007,

India,

Apdl 6, 1985.

Refer

Babhade, G. T. (1966): Some interesting mosses

of Western India. Proc. Autumn School in Botany.

Mahabaleshwar, 91-97.

(1969) : Investigation of the

genus Bryum (Hedwig.) Schimp. from Western

India. Maharashtra. Vig. Mandir Patrika 4: 13-21.

Entodontaceae

41 . *Entodon laetus (Griff.) Jaeg. — 458a.

Plagotheciaceae

42. *Stereophyllum ligulatum (C. Muell.)

Jaeg. — 411, 429b, 430b, 433.

Sematophyllaceae

43. *Tdchosteleum boschii (Dozy & Molk.)

Jaeg. — 453.

Hypnaceae

44. *Ectropothecium monumentorum (Dub.)

Jaeg. — 414.

Rhytidiaceae

45. *Okamurea hakoniensis (Mitt.) Broth. —

412.

AcK NO WLEDGEM E NTS

We thank Dr. Robert E. Magill for assis-

tance in the identification of the mosses and

The Missouri Botanical Garden for financial

assistance and facilities provided to one of us

(M.A.H.M.) during the preparation of the

manuscript.

M. A. HAJI MOHAMED

N. V. BIRADAR

J. G. VAIDYA

EN CES

(1970) : New records of F una-

rm (Entosthodon) nutans (Mitt.) Broth, from West-

ern India. Bull. Bot. Soc. Bengal 24: 83-85.

Tixier, P. (1979): Bryophytes exotiques (IV). Les

Mousses et les limites du domaine des oceans Indien

et Pacifique. Bull. Mus. natn. Hist, nat., Paris 4e ser,,

1: 107-125.

691

JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

34. ON THE IDENTITY OF HEDY OTIS ERECT A MANILAL &

SIVARAJAN (RUBIACEAE)

We have been working on the taxonomy of

the genera Hedyotis L. and Oldenlandia L. for

the last 6-7 years and have published notes

(Deb & Dutta 1983, 1985 a, b) on nomen-

clatural and taxonomic changes involving

about 15 species.

Hedyotis erecta Manilal & Sivarajan in

Bot. Notiser 129(2): 191. 1976. was distin-

guished from H. corymbosa (L.) Lamk. for

(1) invariably erect main shoot with fasti-

giate branches, (2) stipule with 2 or 3 filiform

appendages and (3) testa cells with straight

walls.

It is apparent that the authors did not give

due consideration to variability and the pre-

sent circumscription of H. corymbosa. The

original description of this species has under-

gone changes from time to time at the hands

of different workers, which deserve due con-

sideration to ascertain its differences from other

species. It is now generally admitted that H.

corymbosa is highly polymorphic in habit,

shape and size of leaves, number of flowers in

a cyme, length of peduncle and pedicel and

capsule shape and size, J. D. Hooker, FI. Brit.

Ind. 3: 64. 1880 treated this species under

Oldenlandia and considered it as very varia-

ble. He further observed that “various forms

of the plant are distinguished by botanists as

species; but these run so much into one

another that it is impossible to correlate des-

criptions exactly with the specimens in

Wallich’s and Wight’s herbaria”. It is obvious

that Hooker f. (l.c.) reduced to its synonymy

several species described by different workers.

Verdcourt in Kew Bull. 30: 296-298, 1975

& FI. Trop. E. Africa (Rubiaceae part 1):

308-310, 1976 treated under O. corymbosa L.

4 varieties, namely, var. corymbosa , var.

linearis (DC.) Verde., var. nana (Bremek.)

Verde, and var caespitosa (Benth.) Verde.

J. D. Hooker (l.c.) treated O. linearis as

synonymous with O. heynii G. Don. Breme-

kamp (1952) and Hepper (1963) observed

that O. linearis differs widely from O. heynii

in arrangement of flowers and testa cells struc-

ture, but is closer to O. corymbosa being

distinguishable by narrow leaves and straight

wall of testa cells. Verdcourt (l.c.) considered

these variations as of varietal rank and treated

O. linearis as a variety of O. corymbosa.

H. erecta Manilal & Sivarajan does not dif-

fer from O. linearis DC. in any respect and

agrees with it both in description and illus-

trations. Thus this new species cannot be sus-

tained, and is synonymous with O. corymbosa

var. erecta. Since the genus Oldenlandia L. is

treated as synonymous with Hedyotis L. by

the authors of the present note a new combi-

nation at varietal rank under the genus Hed-

yotis is proposed as follows.

Hedyotis corymbosa (L.) Lamk. var. linearis

(DC.) Deb et Dutta comb. nov.

Basionym: Oldenlandia linearis DC. Prodr.

4: 425. 1830 (Type: Senegal, Bay of St. Louis,

Perrottet s.n. (G. holo, P, K iso, DC. micro-

fische!); Bremek. in Veh. Kon Netherl. Akad.

Wet. Afd. Natuurk. Ser. 2, 48(2): 258. 1952;

Hepper in FI. West Trop. Afr. ed. 2, 2:211.

1963. O. biflora auct., non L., Roxb. FI. Ind.

1: 422. 1820 & 1: 445. 1832. (Type: Cour-

tallum, Heyne s.n , in Wall Cat. 868, pro parte

CAL!); Roxb. Icon. 1342 CAL!, H. burman-

niana R. Br. ex Wall. Cat. 868, pro parte,

1829, non Schult. 1827. H. biflora Smith in

Rees Cycl. 17: 15. 1811, non Lamk. 1792

(Type: E. Indies, 1804, N.E. Kinder sley s.n.

LINN microfische!). O. burmanniana (Wall.)

692

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

G. Don, Gen. Syst. Gard. Bot. 3: 529. 1834.

H. linearis (DC.) Steud. Nom. Bot. 728. 1840.

O. corymbosa L. var linearis (DC.) Verde, in

Kew Bull. 30: 296. 1975 & FI. Trop. E. Afr.

Rubiac. 1 : 309. 1976. H. erect a Manilal &

Botanical Survey of India,

Howrah,

May 5, 1986.

R E FE

Deb, D. B. & Dutta, R. (1983): Nomenclatural

changes in the genus Heclyotis (Rubiaceae) of South

Asia. Taxon 32(2): 284-285.

(1985a) : Further nomen-

clatural changes in Hedyotis (Rubiaceae) of South

Sivarajan in Bot. Notiser 129(2): 191. 1975

(Type: Kerala State, Idimuzhikhal, Sivarajan

491 LWG), Syn. nov.

Distribution : Tropical E. Africa and India

(Throughout).

D. B. DEB

RATNA DUTTA

EN CES

Asia. Taxon 34(2): 296-297.

(1985b) : On the identity of

2 species of Oldenlandia L. (Rubiaceae). J. Bombay

nat. Hist. Soc. 78 ( 1) : 232.

693

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY

SOCIETY FOR TFIE YEAR 1984-85

Executive Committee

President

Dr., Salim Ali, d.sc., f.n.a.

Vice-Presidents

Mr. D, J. Panday

Dr. C. V. Kulkarni

Prof. P. V. Bole

Ex-Officio

Member

Secretary, Dept, of Science & Technology,

Government of India

Elected Members

Mr. Humayun Abdulali

Mr. M. D. Agharkar

Mr. M. R. Almeida

Dr. S. R. Amladi

Mr. H. K. Divekar ( Honorary Treasurer )

Mr. R. E. Hawkins

Dr. Ashok Kothari

Mrs. Phillippa Mukherji

Dr. A. N. D. Nanavati ( Honorary Secretary)

Mr, Ulhas Rane

Mr. Bittu Sahgal

Mrs. Dilnavaz Variava

Advisory Committee

694

HONORARY SECRETARY’S REPORT FOR THE YEAR 1984

101st Year

Membership

The membership continue to show a slow

but steady increase but there is certainly a

pressing need to increase the membership.

Your Committee is examining the con-

straints which restrict the membership and

how best these can be removed to accelerate

member recruitment.

The cost of member facilities and the strain

it puts on the administration of the Society

are also under consideration. The possibility

of journal and non-journal membership and

more realistic membership dues is being exa-

mined. The journal for instance costs the

Society Rs. 55 per member plus Rs. 11 to-

wards postage out of a current subscription

of Rs. 60 !

Details of membership for the past quin-

quennium, showing members fully paid up on

31st December of each year are given in the

statement below:

Members’ Activities

Field trips'.

During the year one day field trips were

arranged largely within the San jay Gandhi

National Park for Bombay members. These

were bird watching treks and included treks

from Kanheri Caves to Mamma Bhanjhan,

and Chunabatti village to Tulsi Lake. The field

trips were well attended and enabled us to

introduce members to birds and bird habitats,

including vegetation studies and information

on other aspects of natural history.

The monthly roadside bird count continues

to be operated by a hard core of enthusiastic

bird watchers, who have over the years be-

come quite competent in bird identification.

Weekend field trips :

A few limited capacity field trips were

organised to acquaint members with nature

reserves and habitats within an overnight jour-

ney distance of Bombay.

695

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Nature Camp :

The Centenary Nature camp was organised

at Chopta (10,000 ft) in Garhwal Himalayas.

The Natural beauty of this area is comple-

mented by the variety of its birdlife includ-

ing such spectacular forms as the Monal

Pheasant.

There were two batches of 25 persons each

from 27th September to 6th October. Members

were taken to Dungalbetta, a trek of 4 km and

on the way they saw varieties of Himalayan

flowers and birds. Members were also taken

to the Musk Deer breeding Centre at Karchula

Khark.

Member Field Surveys and Projects

Study of Nilgiri Langur in Mundanthurai,

Tamil Nadu :

Dr. Johnsingh initiated this project. The

study is broadly divisible into two categories,

i.e. (1) Survey of the distribution of the Nilgiri

Langur troops on Mundanthurai Plateau and

(2) an indepth study on the feeding ecology

and ranging patterns of troop which lives in

the Gallery Forest to the east of the conflu-

ence of the river Tambiraparani and Servelar

in Tamil Nadu. (Supported by the Salim Ali

Nature Conservation Fund).

In search of the Malabar Civet'.

Mr. E. R. C. Davidar undertook this pro-

ject to rediscover the Malabar Civet. No

attempt has been made recently to ascertain

the status of the Malabar Civet.

Mr. Davidar conducted an enquiry in the

Wynaad and Malabar areas to determine if

the civet still existed. Posters were prepared

and circulated in the former areas of distri-

bution of the species. (Supported by the

Salim Ali Nature Conservation Fund). Report

available.

Karvi observations at Mahabaleshwar area:

The strobilanthes which flowers every eighth

year synchronously flowered in 1984. Obser-

vations on flowering period, pattern mecha-

nism of pollination, period of fruit setting and

maturation were made by a team led by Prof.

P. V. Bole. (Supported by the Salim Ali

Nature Conservation Fund.) Report available.

Status survey of Honey-Guide at Bhutan :

Mr. Sunjoy Monga undertook this project.

Most of the information currently available on

I. xanthonotus is from occasional notes pub-

lished in various journals. A preliminary sur-

vey was done at Bhutan for a possible long

term study of the ecology of this species.

(Supported by the Salim Ali Nature Conser-

vation Fund.) Report available.

Bastar Buffalo Study :

Mr. H. K. Divekar initiated a project to

survey and study the status of the wild buffalo

in Bastar district. This is the only population

of the species in peninsular India and is under

considerable stress. (Supported by the Pirojsha

Godrej Fund).

Natural History of the Garhwal Himalayas :

A team of young members of the Society

namely Dr. (Miss) Meena Haribal, Mr. Nitin

Jamdar, Mr. Hemant Shinde and Ms. Arti

Kaikini trekked in the Garhwal Himalayas

studying the natural history of the hills. The

expedition was supported by the Pirojsha

Godrej Fund. Report available.

Malshej Ghat Bird study:

Mr. Abdulali carried out a study of birds

at Malshej Ghat at the foot of the Harischandra

Gadh. During monsoon this area is covered

with thick mist. Due to poor visibility several

birds while flying through this area hit the

wall of the rest house and die. The causative

factors were examined. (Supported by Charles

McCann Fund.)

696

A.G.M. 1984-85— PROCEEDINGS AND ACCOUNTS

Avifauna of plantations :

Agriculture demands large areas of land

and creates changes in ecosystems. With the

current emphasis on social forestry planta-

tions of quick growing species of trees have

come up, which have their own ecosystem

quite different from the ecosystem of natural

forests. Mrs. Tara Gandhi is studying the com-

parative ecology of bird populations of plan-

tation with those of natural forest habitats

in the same area. (Supported by the Salim

Ali/Loke Wan Tho Ornithological Research

Fund).

Publications

Journal :

During the year the August and December

issues for 1983, Vol. 80 (2) & (3) and the

April and August issues for 1984, Vol. 81 (1)

& (2) were published. The 959 pages of these

journals held 224 articles and notes. We re-

ceived from members and others 257 articles

and notes for publication in the journal in

1984.

Hornbill :

The Hornbill continued to maintain its popu-

lar appeal to members and is a reflection of

member talent in different fields of natural

history. A special issue of the Hornbill giving

the complete history of the Society was

published during the year.

the book of Indian birds continued to be

the best seller among the Society’s Publica-

tions followed by the book of Indian ani-

mals. Both publications were reprinted during

the year.

The year also saw the release of the book

of Indian reptiles, the latest addition to the

Society’s list of natural history books.

Sales statement

The Book of Indian Birds

The Book of Indian Animals

Some Beautiful Indian Trees

Glimpses of Nature in India Booklet

Snake Chart

Checklist of the Birds of Maharashtra

(2nd edition)

Checklist of the Birds of Delhi, Agra &

Bharatpur

A synopsis of the Birds of India and Pakistan

Grasses of Western India

Some Beautiful Indian Climbers & Shrubs

A Pictorial Guide to the Birds of the

Indian Sub-continent

A Century of Natural History

The Book of Indian Reptiles

* including 2063 copies sold by OUP.

697

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. 83

Book under preparation :

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF INDIAN NATURAL

HISTORY

Centenary Publication 1883-1983

Owing to various problems the Encyclopedia

is still pending publication. The major portion

of the work has been completed and we hope

to publish this volume in 1986.

THE BOOK OF INDIAN TREES

The preparation of the material for this

book by Prof. K. C. Sahni is in hand and

photographs /transparencies of the 150 common

trees in India which will be described are be-

ing collected.

Conservation

The Society continues to be recognised by

the Central and State Governments in India

and by International Organisations abroad as

an authoritative source for information on con-

servation of wildlife and natural resources.

The recognition is expressed in the form of

association of its officials with State and

Central Wildlife Advisory Boards and repre-

sentation on the specialist groups of the

Species Survival Commission of the Inter-

national Union for the Conservation of Nature

and Natural resources.

The Curator represented the Govt, of India

at the Conference at Groningen, Netherlands

of the parties to the Convention on the Con-

servation of Wetland Habitats.

At the instance of the Govt, of India, the

Curator assisted by Dr. R. B. Grubh and Mr.

Hussain visited the Gir Forest on a fact find-

ing survey with reference to the disposal of

trees felled by the 1982 cyclone. The report

examined this problem as well as status of

wildlife particularly the Lion.

University Department

Recognition for M Sc and Ph D in Plant

Studies :

The University of Bombay recognised the

Bombay Natural History Society under section

46 of the Bombay University Act, 1974 for

guiding student for M Sc and Ph D degrees

in the subjects of Botany (Field Botany) for

a period of 3 years.

Additional seats'.

The University was requested to consider

the possibility of increasing the number of

students, we can register from 10 to 50 for

M Sc and Ph D in Field Zoology (Ornitho-

logy, Mammals, and Herpetology).

We have the following students registered for

M Sc and Ph D at the Society.

698

A.G.M. 1984-85— PROCEEDINGS AND ACCOUNTS

699

JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. 83

Nature Education Scheme

During the year 475 schools in Bombay,

Thane and Kalyan were contacted and about

six thousand students participated in our

different activities. Besides school students 280

trainee teachers from 4 B.Ed. colleges and

110 trainee teachers from 2 D.Ed. colleges

participated in our activities.

Orientation programme on environmental

education for the trainee teachers of P.V.D.T.

college was arranged. This included lectures

and a visit to the Society. As a part of

National Sponsorship Programme for 150

Municipal school students at R.C.F., Chembur,

a slide talk on birds around Bombay was deli-

vered and the students were taken out for

birdwatching. The World Forestry day cele-

brations included a wildlife quiz programme

for the students of 8th, 9th standard. Six

schools participated. The programme was later

broadcast on AIR in their ‘‘Wonderland-

world” programme.

Field trips continued to be a major activity

and 37 field trips to the Sanjay Gandhi

National Park were organised as also one trip

to Karnala Bird Sanctuary and two field trips

to Khandala. 1500 students participated.

Throughout the year talks illustrated with

slides on birds, animals, insects and plants

were arranged in different schools and colleges.

Films on wildlife were shown in a number of

schools and colleges including Range Forest

School at Chandrapur.

Tree planting was organised during the

World Environmental Day with the help of

World Wildlife Fund-India and 10 schools

participated.

Research Funds

Salim Ali Nature Conservation Fund :

Assistance from this source was given to

members for field projects (see under Mem-

ber’s activities).

Salim AlijLoke Wan Tho Ornithological

Research Fund :

Assistance in the form of fellowships was

extended to field researchers in ornithology

(see under University Department).

Godrej Fund:

Assistance was given to members for field

activities in Bastar and the Himalayas (see

under Member’s activities).

Charles McCann Fund:

Assistance was given to a member to study

birdlife in the Malshej Ghat area of Maha-

rashtra (see under Member’s activities).

Donations

The Society is deeply grateful to the follow-

ing Institutions, Organisations and individuals

for substantial donations towards the activities

and welfare of the Society.

General donation:

Rs. P.

Calcutta Tea Trading Co. 1,500.00

Ostrum Enters Trust 1,064.40

Bombay Exports 1,000.00

Mr. Sidharaj Hamirmal Bafna 750.00

Mrs. Kanak Kumari H. Bafna 750.00

Mr. Harshand H. Bafna 750.00

Mr. Ajit Kumar Bafna 750.00

Tehmina K. Katrak Charitable Trust 500.00

Mr. J. P. Elijah 123.00

Mr. Prabhakar Thakur 101.00

Centenary donation:

Mr. A. K. Stuart 801.69

Mr. C. V. Rajeevan 251.00

Nature Education Scheme:

Mr. Trevor Price 500.00

700

A.G.M. 1984-85— PROCEEDINGS AND ACCOUNTS

Salim Ali Nature Conservation Fund :

M/s. Firdos S. Cambatta 100.00

Mr. C. Ramakrishna 100.00

Mr. J. R. Codho 100.00

Mr. D. Ranganathan 100.00

Mr. Shaik Samasul Huda 100.00

Mr. Sikandar Futehally 100.00

Mr. O. S. Fernandes 100.00

Mr. C. F. Hawilloy 100.00

Mr. David Ferguson 100.00

Total amount received during 1984 65,302.35

And also there were 107 donations which were

below Rs. 100/.

For Field Studies & Scholarships :

Watanmal Bookhand Charitable

Trust 15,000.00

For Photographic Exhibition :

Mr. M. Y. Ghorpade 10,000.00

We are particularly grateful to M/s. Larsen

and Toubro Limited for the donation of 16000

greeting cards.

Research Funded by Government and

Governmental Agencies

Studies on the movement and population

structure of Indian Avifauna :

The project continued with bird ringing and

related studies. Rajasthan government, at a

meeting of the Wildlife Advisory Board, dis-

cussed the matter of granting permission for

ringing at Bharatpur. But since the permit was

not issued during the year, there was no ring-

ing activity in the sanctuary.

Seasonal ringing stations were conducted at

Mundanthurai and Kalakkad in Tamil Nadu,

Jamnagar and Khijadia in Saurashtra, Chilka

in Orissa and Harike in Punjab.

701

15

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Endangered species project staff undertook

ringing in Karera (M.P.) on exploratory basis.

Total number of birds ringed during the

year are as follows:

Point Calimere 8538 birds of 90 species;

Chilka 2414 birds of 47 species; Harike 4327

birds of 65 species; Jamnagar and Khijadia

294 birds of 26 species.

Highlights of the Recovery Data :

The following countries have reported re-

covery of our ringed birds:

1. E. Africa — 1 (Reeve); 2. S. Africa — 1

(Reeve); 3. China — 1 (Redcrested Pochard);

4. U.S.S.R. — 46 (Pintail, Common Teal,

Gadwall, Kigeon, Common Pochard, Tufted

Duck, Coot, Ruff and Reeve, Little Stint,

Curlew, Sandpiper) (through Prof. Gavrilov),

2 (Little Stint, Curlew, Sandpiper).

An Ecological Study of Bird Hazards at

Indian Aerodromes Work at Aerodromes:

Field study has been completed at Gwalior,

Jodhpur, Trivandrum and Bangalore. Work

started at Dundigul and Gorakhpur. Reports

will be prepared for all these aerodromes.

The remaining aerodromes are Patna, Nagpur,

Kalaikunda, Calcutta, Tezpur, Chabua, Madras,

Jammu, Srinagar, Adampur and Chandigarh.

The ARDB has requested us to take up

Hyderabad also for study; for which we have

agreed.

Banding vultures to study their movement :

The work was held up due to shortage of

research hands and non-availability of num-

bered wing tags.

Vulture Aviary experiment at KVIC premises:

This was delayed as it took a long time

to get a favourable response from the Khadi

and Village Industries Commission who own

the premises.

Publications :

a) The first Annual Report under Phase-2

covering Delhi, Bombay and Hindan aero-

dromes was produced.

b) Guide booklet on “Potential Problem

Birds at Indian Aerodromes” was pub-

lished for the ARDB.

Ecology of Certain Endangered Species of

Wildlife and Their Habitats Great Indian

Bustard :

The year 1984 saw the achievement of all

the objectives of this project namely:

1 . Present distribution

2. Examinations of the habitats

3 . Determination of transient or resident

nature of the bird

4 . Determination of breeding areas and

season

5. Study of the biology

6. Dispersal and seasonal movement

7 . Management Plan

Future Plans:

We still have one and a half year of the

project. During this period, in addition to

continuing our ongoing studies, we plan to do

the following studies:

a) Establishment of a field station at Rolla-

padu

702

A.G.M. 1984-85— PROCEEDINGS AND ACCOUNTS

b) Study of the movement of the banded

bustards at Nanaj

c) Study of the individual behaviour of the

colour-banded birds at Karera with spe-

cial reference to intra-specific interaction.

d) More surveys in Gujarat, Rajasthan and

Karnataka for determining the exact

population of the bustards.

Second annual report has been published.

Elephant :

Extensive studies were conducted in Tiru-

nelveli and Kanya Kumari districts. The areas

covered were Thirukkuremgudi range, Nam-

bikoil area Nadugani, Kodaikolasharmottai,

Panagudi hills, Balamore Tea Estate, Keeri-

perai area, Sengalltheri (Kalakkadu Wildlife

Sanctuary), Naiaikadu and Mundanthurai

Wildlife Sanctuary. These surveys were aimed

at collecting food plants and studying the

feeding habits of elephants. Preliminary work

was also carried on in Bandipur and Mudu-

malai Sanctuaries. Intensive studies at Mudu-

malai and Bandipur Sanctuaries have been

planned for 1985.

Hydrobiological ( Ecological ) Research Station

at Keoladeo Ghana National Park , Bharatpur :

Data was collected in various disciplines to

determine factors influencing the ecosystem.

New areas under study during the year were:

1 . Silica content in water, 2. Biological

oxygen demand in the lake, 3. Diurnal cycle

of Planktons, 4. Impact of guano on the aqua-

tic life, 5. Sarus Crane studies, 6. Raptor

studies, 7. Wintering ecology of Siberian

Cranes.

Cattle grazing in the park was stopped

during the year and its effect on the ecology

of the Sanctuary is being studied.

Meetings & Field Trips

January : Slide show : “A trip across

Tibet” by Dr. Lawrence Swan, on 4th January

1984.

February : Festival of films : “A property

in the country” and “Missing Monsoon”, on

6th February. “The Great one-horned Rhino-

ceros” and “Round Robin”, on 7th February.

“The Hidden World” “The Last Roundup”

and “Adventure has wings”, on 8th February.

“The Leopard that changed its spots” and

“Operation Osprey”, on 9th February. “Tiger

Tiger” and “Flight for survival”, on 10th

February.

March: Talk : “Nisarg Yatra around Kon-

kan” by Oswald Thayil, on 22nd March.

April: Talk : “Nandur-Madhmeshwar” by

Debi Goenka St Oswald Thayil, on 12th April.

Film Show: “A Robe of White” and “The

Language of Birds”, on 21, 23 St 24th April.

May: Musical concert : By Smt. Kishori

Amonkar at Birla Matushri Sabhaghar, on 6th

May.

The Society is indebted to Smt. Kishori

Amonkar for generously donating her time and

talent for this fund raising programme.

June: Slide show : “Birds of Indian Wet-

land” by Pakshi Mitra Mandal, Nasik, on 8th

June. Nature camp : At Malshej Ghat, on

23rd & 24th June. Slide show: “Identification

of common butterflies” by Meena Haribal, on

30th June.

July: Field trip: “Field identification of

butterflies at I IT Powai Camp, Slide show:

“Bird community structure around the world”

703

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

by Dr. David L. Pearson, on 2nd July. Nature

walk : At Borivli National Park, on 29th July.

August: Slide show : “A visit to Garhwal

Himalayas” by Meena Haribal, on 10th August.

Nature walk : From Forest Checknaka to

Bhoot Bangla, on 12th August. Nature camp :

At Pal Yawal (Jalgaon disk), from 25th to

29th August.

September: Slide show : “Recent Measures

to Save Certain South-east Asian Endangered

Species” by Major Ian Grimwood, on 4th

September. Nature walk : “Monsoon Flora”

at BNHS Land, on 9th September. Film show :

“The making of a Natural History Film”, on

17th September.

October: Film show : Nature films sponsored

by Sanctuary Magazine, on 1, 3, & 5th Octo-

ber. Nature walk : At Nag-phani & Tiger’s

Leap, on 13th & 14th October. Slide show:

On butterflies by Mr. N. D. Mulla, on 17th

October.

December: Nature camp : At Chanderi, on

2nd December. Nature walk: At IIT Powai,

on 9th December.

Reference Collection

During the year 139 specimens were regis-

tered into the collections.

139

Interesting additions are the Spoonbilled

Sandpiper and the Skink Dasia haliana.

During the year Mr. Humayun Abdulali

continued the cataloguing of the bird collec-

tion. Part 30 of the catalogue, which covers

1141 specimens of 107 species and sub species.

Nos. 1471-1571 ( Tesia cyaniventer to Sylvia

nana nana) in Indian Handbook and Synop-

sis, and 15 extra-limitals was completed in

1984.

Revenue and Accounts

The financial situation of the Society is a

cause for concern. The year’s working showed

a deficit of Rs. 28,807.46.

Staff

The Committee wishes to record its appre-

ciation of the willing co-operation of the staff

in the activities of the Society.

704

A.G.M. 1984-85— PROCEEDINGS AND ACCOUNTS

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Schedule

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Bombay, 8fft December, 1986.

BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY

SOCIETY WAS HELD ON TUESDAY, 31ST DECEMBER 1985, AT HORNBILL

HOUSE AT 6.00 P.M. WHEN THE FOLLOWING MEMBERS WERE PRESENT:

1 . Mr. Humayun Abdulali

2. Mr. M. R. Almeida

3. Mr. M. K. Mistry

4. Mr. J. C. Daniel

5. Mr. A. T. Faria

6. Mr. Archie D’Souza

7. Dr. A. N. D. Nanavati

8. Mr. Nigam R. Pandya

9. Prof. P. V. Bole

10. Dr. C. V. Kurkarni (in the chair)

1 1 . Mr. A. G. Newalkar

12. Mr. S. A. Hussain

13. Mr. H. K. Divekar

14. Mr. K. Naoroji

15. Dr. Robert B. Grubh

16. Mr. Sarosh Bana

17. Dr. V. S. Vijayan

18. Mr. Shyam Chainani

19. Mrs. P. Mukherjee

20. Ms. Meena Haribal

21 . Mr. Nitin Jamdar

22. Mr. Virendra Kumar Seth

23. Mr. D. P. Banerjee

24. Mr. S. K. Tadvi

25. Mr. Susheel Borkar

26. Mr. G. S. Malwankar

27. Ms. Heta Pandit

28. Mr. Debi Goenka

29. Mr. Kiran Srivastava

30. Mr. Sunjoy Monga

The Honorary Secretary, Dr. A. N. D.

Nanavati, requested Dr. C. V. Kurkarni, Vice

President of the Society to conduct the

meeting.

1. The Honorary Secretary hoped that

members had collected the cyclostyled copies

of the report for 1984, and it could be taken

as read.

In his supplementary report, covering 1985,

he drew attention to the salient features such

as recognition of Prof. P. V. Bole and Mr. M.

R. Almeida for guiding post graduate students

in Plant Study, donation of a bus by Telco,

a donation of Rs. 25,000 for the publication

of Hornbill by Seth Purshottamdas Thakurdas

Devaliba Trust and a donation of Rs. 50,000

for Plant Study Fund by United Phosphorus

Pvt. Ltd. As regards activities under the So-

ciety’s field projects, he advised that the

reports of these projects are under prepara-

tion.

The report was then discussed. Mr. Shyam

Chainani requested the Chairman to inform

the General Body about the offer of land to

the Society by the Karnataka Govt, for setting

up a Tropical Research Centre and requested

him to explain the steps taken by the Society

and if the offer of the Karnataka Government

has been accepted or rejected. The Honorary

Secretary explained to the General Body that

the offer of the Karnataka Govt, had been

accepted in principle. He stated that our pro-

posal for setting up a field research station

at Goregaon had not yet been finalised. Any

peripheral station would have to be planned

after the form of the Centre for ornithology

is decided. Hence the matter is kept pending.

However, the offer of the Karnataka Govt,

stands open until we reply and tell them of

724

MINUTES OF THE A.G.M. OF THE B.N.H.S .

our intentions. Mr. Chainani suggested that

we should not lose this opportunity of getting

land from the Karnataka Govt, and every effort

should be made to set up the Tropical Forest

Research Centre.

Dr. Grubh stated that we should not neces-

sarily wait for the finalisation of the Centre

proposal but that land must be cleared for

the Society as today’s government may change

and the offer of the land to the Society may

be lost.

Mr. Abdulali stated that it was not brought

to the Executive Committee’s notice that such

a proposal had been made to the Karnataka

Govt, and it was done without the Executive

Committee’s authorisation.

The Curator explained to the General Body

that this offer was conveyed through Mr.

Hussain to the Society when he was in Banga-

lore by the Chief Minister of Karnataka. No

proposal was made by the Society.

Mr. Hussain stated that when he was in

Bangalore he had the opportunity to meet the

Chief Minister of Karnataka through the

Secretary to Govt, of Karnataka (Forests)

and in the discussion the Minister had offer-

ed the land for the Society to set up a Tropi-

cal Forest Research Centre. The offer had

been immediately conveyed to the Society.

Mr. Abdulali stated that despite his objec-

tion to the wrong information given in Dr.

Sugathan’s article on the Birds of Point Cali-

mere it was published by the Society. He also

stated that his frog report which was sub-

mitted for publication in the Journal was

kept pending for six years.

Mr. Hussain emphasised that there was

nothing wrong in the article published by

Dr. Sugathan. The controversy had started on

the identification of a bird on which Mr.

Abdulali differed though he had not seen the

bird himself. The Society had published the

article along with Mr. Abdulali’s comments

as well as Mr. Hussain’s clarification on the

points raised by Mr. Abdulali. There was

nothing wrong in this system.

The Curator stated that Mr. Abdulali did

not submit his frog report for publication in

the Journal six years back as claimed by him.

The fact was that he had submitted his report

to the ICAR, who were funding the project,

six years ago and the article was not sent to

the Society for publication then.

Mr. Goenka asked for details of the date

of submission of the article for publication,

on which the Curator mentioned that he could

not be specific but the article was not sub-

mitted for publication more than two years

ago. He assured that he will let the members

know the details, (see letter from Curator,

circulated to members).

Thereafter Mr. H. K. Divekar proposed

acceptance of the report and Mr. Naoroji

seconded it. The report was adopted by the

meeting.

2. The Chairman advised that since the

auditor’s report and the audited statement of

accounts & balance sheet were not ready due

to the auditor being out of station this item

required to be postponed.

Mr. Debi Goenka wanted to know why the

audited statement of accounts and the audi-

tor’s report was not ready and when the

accounts will be ready. The Chairman stated

that accounts were ready but the auditor, not

being accessible, having gone out of station,

his report was not available. The report would

now be available within two week’s time.

The Honorary Secretary stated that certain

persons had written to the Auditors conveying

numerous baseless accusations about use of

Society’s funds. To protect himself in this

situation, the auditor was compelled to go

725

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

through every item and every voucher in de-

tail. This took time.

Mr. H. K. Divekar Honorary Treasurer,

advised that the Society’s accounting period

should be changed to April to March so as to

be in line with the Government’s accounting

year, and auditing should be started as early

as possible. Several suggestions were made.

Finally the Chairman stated that Honorary

Treasurer should make every possible effort to

complete the audit and prepare the statement

of accounts well in time and positively before

end of June each year.

Mr. Nitin Jamdar wanted to know if the

meeting v/as adjourned for consideration of

accounts, whether any other matters could be

discussed. To this the Chairman advised that

this could be done under the item ‘Any other

business with the permission of the Chair’.

Mr. Debi Goenka wanted to know about

the outcome of the enquiry conducted by the

Enquiry Committee formed for the purpose of

looking into the matter of defalcation of pro-

ject money at Bharatpur and whether any

report had been prepared and what progress

had been made regarding the recovery of the

amount.

The Curator advised that the matter is

pending with the Police, and the report is yet

to be submitted.

The Honorary Treasurer stated that after

we have received the auditor’s report we can

discuss this matter.

Mr. Goenka also wished to see the report

submitted by the Project Scientist before the

adjourned meeting commences.

3. The Chairman stated that since the

auditor’s report and the audited statement of

accounts were not available, consideration of

this matter be postponed for the adjourned

meeting.

4. Election of the Committee for the year

1985-86

The consideration of this item was post-

poned for the adjourned meeting since nomi-

nations from the members were not received

due to lack of time available to them. The

despatch of the notice was delayed due to the

accounts and hence it was not possible for the

office to give sufficient time to the members to

enable them to send nominations for the Exe-

cutive Committee. The Chairman proposed that

this item also be adjourned. At the adjourned

meeting, even when held in 1986, all members

eligible to attend the present meeting would

automatically remain eligible to attend and

vote, i.e. all members paid up for 1985.

The Honorary Secretary proposed to hold

the adjourned meeting on the 31st of January

1986 at 6.00 p.m.

5. Mr. Nitin Jamdar stated that the So-

ciety’s name had been degraded due to the

non-cooperation by the Society. He reported

the instance of the letter from Friends of

Birds, Nasik who had requested a list of mem-

bers of the Society, to which the Society had

refused to comply.

Mr. Abdulali stated that M/s, Natraj Pub-

lishers were allowed to have a copy of members

list and also to send circulars on the Society’s

letterhead. He wished to know as to who is

paying for the expenditure on this account.

The Curator explained that M/s. Natraj

Publishers were sending the circular themselves

and all stationery was at their cost. The list was

provided to them as they were corporate

members, and as they were giving discounts

to the Society’s members on natural history

publications.

In this context Ms Meena Haribal stated

that the Society should make available list of

members to any member of the Society who

726

MINUTES OF THE A.GM. OF THE B.N.H.S.

wishes to obtain one on payment, if necessary.

The Chairman advised that the list of mem-

bers are made available to members on a

nominal charge.

Mrs. Phillippa Mukherjee stated that the

publications of the Society should be publi-

cised widely and a brochure should be pre-

pared to give publicity to this effect. The

Honorary Secretary informed that it would

be good idea to bring out a brochure illus-

trating the natural history publications by the

Society presently does not have. However, the

the Chairman assured that efforts will be made

to prepare a brochure.

Mr. Archie D’Souza suggested that the So-

ciety’s Hornbill Newsletter should be put on

sale to bring revenue for the Society and the

Govt, should be asked to provide subsidised

paper for its publication. Chairman agreed

that this could be examined.

Mr. Debi Goenka wanted to know about

the progress made on the Centenary Seminar

Proceedings. The Curator advised that pro-

gress has not been rapid as he had only one

person working on this. He hoped to bring out

the proceedings next year.

The meeting terminated with a vote of

thanks to the Chair.

727

THE ADJOURNED ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE BOMBAY NATURAL

HISTORY SOCIETY TO CONSIDER ACCOUNTS AS ON 3 1ST DECEMBER 1985

WAS HELD AT HORNBILL HOUSE, AT 6.00 P.M. ON 3 1ST JANUARY, 1986, WHEN

THE FOLLOWING WERE PRESENT:

1 . Mr. Debi Goenka

2. Ms. Heta Pandit

3. Shri Jayesh Y. Vadhavkar

4. Mr. S. K. Tyagi

5. Mr. N. D. Mulla

6. Mr. Sumant R. Shah

7. Dr. M. R. Almeida

8. Dr. P. J. Deoras

9. Mr. Shyam Chainani

10. Mr. Nitin N. Jamdar

1 1 . Mr. Suresh G. Bhatkal

12. Mr. Humayun Abdulali

13. Mr. N. D. Sethna

14. Mr. Sunil R. Zaveri

15. Dr. Robert B. Grubh

16. Mr. Goutam Narayan

17. Mr. Nigam R. Pandya

18. Mr. Anthony G. T. Carter

19. Mr. Vasant N. Raiji

20. Mr. Vasant Gandhi

21 . Mr. Archibold T. Faria

22. Mr. Archie D’Souza

23. Mr. Bansi Mehta

24. Dr. (Mrs.) Saraswati Unnithan

25. Mr. Ranjit Manakadan

26. Ms. Arati A. Kaikini

27. Mr. G. B. Nadkarni

28. Prof. P. V. Bole (in the chair)

29. Dr. A. N. D. Nanavati,

30. Mr. J. C. Daniel

31. Mr. H. K. Divekar

32. Dr. C. V. Kulkarni

33. Mr. Ulhas Rane

34. Mr. M. D. Agharkar

35. Ms. Uma Roy Choudhury

36. Mr. Sam N. Mistry

37. Dr. Usha Shah

38. Mrs. D. S. Variava

39. Mr. J. P. Irani

40. Mr. Sarosh Bana

41. Mr. Sunjoy Monga

42. Mr. Premchand T. Dabrai

43. Mr. Deb Priya Bannerjee

44. Ms. Lima Rosalind

45. Ms. Meena H. Haribal

46. Commd. Elotan Panthakee

47. Mr. Jayant A. Shah

48. Mr. Cyrus J. Guzder

49. Shri N. Vaidyanafhan

50. Dr. A. K. Joshee

51. Mr. Sorab D. N. Gandhi

52. Dr. S. H. Dandekar

53. Mr. Anand Khatau

54. Mr. Ranvir Singh

55. Mr. Sharad A. Ruparel

56. Commander GVK Unnithan

57 . Mr. Chandrakanth G. Wakankar

58. Mr. Parvish Pandya

59. Mr. Sudhir R. Paradkar

60. Mr. S. A. Hussain

61 . Mr. Kiran Srivastava

62. Mr. A. L. Hegde

63. Mr. Dinshaw J. Panday

In the absence of the President who was

out of town, Mr. D. J. Panday proposed Prof.

P. V. Bole Vice President to the Chair. The

proposal was seconded by Dr. A. N. D. Nana-

vati.

At the outset Prof. P. V. Bole advised mem-

728

MINUTES OF THE A.G.M. OF THE B.N.H.S.

bers of the demise of M. K. Dharmakumar-

sinhji of Bhavnagar, a long-standing and valued

life member of the Society. Members observ-

ed a minute’s silence, all standing, as mark

of respect to the memory of the deceased.

Dr. P. J. Deoras referred to a press note

concerning Dr. Salim Ali’s resignation as

President of the Bombay Natural History So-

ciety, and asked whether it has been accepted.

He was told that the Executive Committee of

the Society has not yet taken a decision.

Agenda item 1. Statement of Accounts for

the year 1984.

The Honorary Treasurer advised that there

was an unfortunate delay in auditing of the

accounts as the auditors were busy owing to

other preoccupations.

The Honorary Treasurer stated that there

were some plus as well as minus points in the

Balance Sheet. He pointed out that the Society

has created out of the income for 1984 an

Education and Research Fund amounting to

Rs. 96,196.16. The minus point was the defi-

cit of Rs. 21,119.76 which is the excess of

expenditure over income.

The Auditor’s report was then considered.

The Honorary Treasurer drew attention to the

defalcation of Rs. 27,860.15 in the accounts

of the Hydrobiology Studies Project at

Bharatpur.

On Dr. P. J. Deoras enquiring whether a

report has been filed with the Police, Mr. M.

D. Agharkar gave a resume of the incident,

and the steps taken for the recovery of the

amount. Briefly, the defalcation was by Nara-

simha Raju Pakalapaty, Account /Administra-

tive Assistant in the Bharatpur Centre who

had absconded with amounts drawn from the

bank towards payment of salaries not dis-

bursed but kept overnight in a steel cupboard.

The key unfortunately had been left with

Narasimha Raju Pakalapaty by the Research

Biologist, Shri Natarajan, who was in charge

in the absence of the Project Scientist on leave.

The complaint lodged with the Police has

not produced results so far, and the last inti-

mation from the Police received in October

1985 is that investigations are in progress, and

that R.aju has not yet been traced. Mr. Nata-

rajan went on home leave on the plea that

his father was seriously sick, and subsequent-

ly resigned from his post on 4.4.1985.

Mr. Sumant Shah enquired about steps be-

ing taken to prevent recurrences in the future,

and suggested that persons handling cash

should be insured. The Honorary Treasurer

replied that the Society investigated the possi-

bility of insuring the staff under fidelity cover.

However, such cover is available only to

permanently employed staff. The Society’s

Project Staff, except the Project scientists, be-

ing temporary this facility of Fidelity cover

was not available.

Mr. Debi Goenka drew attention to Rule

No. 63 of the Society requiring employees to

provide a surety as a condition of appoint-

ment on the staff. The Honorary Treasurer

informed members that though such a rule

exists in the book, it has not been operative

during the 100 years of the Society’s existence,

and it was felt unnecessary to invoke the same

in the future. Mr. N. D. Mulla felt that surety

was necessary and should be asked from the

Society’s staff. Mrs. D. S. Variava felt that:

(1) surety could not be asked from staff now

long employed with the Society; (2) a new

temporary appointed may not be in a posi-

tion to furnish such a surety; and (3) the only

thing that could be done is to see that there

is no recurrence of such acts in the future by

being careful about who handles cash.

Mr. Shyam Chainani suggested that Rule

63 be scrapped, and some other measure be

729

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

taken to ensure safety of the cash at the

Projects.

The Honorary Secretary pointed out that

among measures taken to prevent recurrence,

monthly salaries to the staff are now being

posted to the employees individually by de-

mand drafts made out for payee’s account.

All permanent staff handling cash are now

covered by Fidelity Insurance.

In reply to Mr. Nitin Jamdar’s query if

the defalcated amount would be written off,

the Chairman replied that the Society is await-

ing the report from the Police.

Mr. Humayun Abdulali stated that he was

not satisfied with the disbursal of the amounts

received from the Tata Press for a Desk Diary

for 1985 for which he had provided expert

advice. Two cheques had been received

one as honorarium for his work which he asked

the Society to credit to Charles McCann Re-

search Fund, and the other for payment to

the photographers. His complaint was that the

Honorary Secretary had not accepted his sug-

gestion that the photographers be paid only

at the rate of Rs. 500/- per picture, and the

balance kept for the Society.

The Honorary Secretary replied that he

had paid the photographers the full amount

of Rs. 750/- as Mr. Abdulali had not provided

copies of written agreement with the photo-

graphers, without which he had no authority

to dispose of their fees.

Mr. Ulhas Rane, one of the photographers

involved, pointed out that Mr. Humayun

Abdulali had no authority to decide what the

photographers should receive by way of pay-

ment for pictures they had given to Tatas.

Mr. N. D. Mulla stated that though the

Auditors had accepted the accounts of the

Chopta Camp organized by the Society in the

Centenary year, he was unhappy with the

expenditure incurred where large amounts had

been spent without proper supporting vouchers

but had been accepted on the basis of signed

statements by the staff involved in organizing

the camp. He particularly drew attention to

expenditure on transport. He felt that over-

heads charged to camp expenses were exces-

sive.

Mr. Sumant Shah felt that the expenses

were high because the camp catered to mem-

bers who were not prepared to rough it out,

and required certain facilities. Thus the ex-

penses may have been a little on the higher

side. Arising out of this discussion it was felt

necessary that suitable voucher forms may be

prepared and supplied to staff for giving de-

tails of expenses.

Members put forth various views on con-

trolling expenses, and it was felt that members

who were willing to rough it out if it meant

less cost should not be overlooked as students

and younger members who required to be

shown the gift of nature can then be catered

to. The consensus of the meeting was that

there should be two types of camps organised

for members.

Mr. Raiji expressed the opinion that some

of the members appeared to be unduly agitated

over the defalcation and administrative ex-

penses and since the Auditors have expressed

opinion where necessary there was no need

for the members to be unnecessarily perturbed.

The proposal that in future the Auditors’

Report should be made available with the

accounts of the Annual General Meeting was

accepted.

The accounts were then put to vote and

were accepted, 23 voting for, and 11 against.

Appointment of Auditors : Messrs Habib

& Co., Auditors, were reappointed for the

ensuing year.

Agenda item 2. The Executive Committee

Mr. Shyam Chainani proposed and it was

730

A.G.M. 1984-85— PROCEEDINGS AND ACCOUNTS

agreed to that while circulating the names of

the candidates to be elected to the Executive

Committee, the names of the President and

Vice-Presidents need not be circulated as they

were not concerned in the election process. It

was also agreed that biodata of persons who

may be co-opted to fill vacancies occurring

during the term of office of a Committee

should be published for the information of

the members.

Agenda item 3: Other business

The Resolutions submitted by members were

taken up for consideration.

1 . “RESOLVED that Accounts of the So-

ciety be finalised within 3 months of

closure of the books of accounts, and that

the Annual General Meeting of the mem-

bers be held within one month of the

same.” Proposed by: Sunil Zaveri and

Seconded by: Parvish Pandya.

was considered and after discussion was

accepted in the revised form given below:

“RESOLVED that the Accounts of the

Society be finalised and submitted for

auditing by the end of June”.

2. “RESOLVED that the Nett Sales Pro-

ceeds realised by the Sale of Greeting

Cards and Calendars be credited to the

Members’ Activities Corpus Fund.” Pro-

posed by: Parvish Pandya; Seconded by:

Nosherwan Sethna.

This was considered along with a similar

Resolution proposed by Ms. Heta Pandit, and

seconded by Debi Goenka reading:

“RESOLVED that the nett sale proceeds

realised by the sale of Greeting Cards

and Calendars be credited to a ‘Members’

Activities Corpus Fund”, the interest from

which shall be used solely to finance Mem-

bers’ Activities.”

Both these Resolutions were withdrawn when

Mrs. D. S. Variava explained to the members

the purpose for which these funds were set

aside.

During the discussion it was suggested

by Ms. Heta Pandit that New Activities

(reference to Greeting Cards) if undertaken by

the Society should be reported in the Horn-

bill.

3 . “RESOLVED that the Balance amount

of Rs. 89,340.39 in the Centenary Fund

be transferred to the Library Corpus

Fund.” Proposed by: Nosherwan Sethna

and Seconded by: Sunil Zaveri.

This was considered along with a similar

Resolution proposed by Mr. Debi Goenka and

seconded by Ms. Heta Pandit.

“RESOLVED that the balance amount in

the Centenary Celebrations Fund be trans-

ferred to the Library Fund.”

were withdrawn following the explanation that

these funds would be used for the publication

of the Centenary Seminar Proceedings.

The Resolution put forward by Ulhas Rane,

reading

“RESOLVED that the following correction

to be made in Agenda Item No. 2:

“Election of the Executive Committee for

1986-87 as provided under Rule 32.

“The list of names of persons nominated

should be also for the term 1986-87.

“It is further RESOLVED that the

General Body confirms and approves that

the outgoing committee elected for 1983-

84 had also worked for the year 1985.”

was put to vote and accepted.

The following resolutions put forward by

Mr. Debi Goenka, Ms. Heta Pandit and N. D.

Mulla.

“RESOLVED that the sum of over

Rs. 27,000/- that was stolen at Bharatpur

because of the negligence on the part of

the Project Authorities and which is now

irrecoverable because of flagrant viola-

731

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

tions of Rule 63 on the part of the Exe-

cutive Committee, should be reimbursed

to the Society by the members of the

Executive Committee of 1983-84.”

Proposed by: Debi Goenka and Seconded by:

Ms. Heta Pandit was withdrawn on the con-

dition that Rule 63 would be deleted during

the revision of rules and the members advised

at the next Annual General Meeting.

2. “RESOLVED that a Board of Editors be

appointed by the Executive Committee

for the Journal comprising of at least two

experts in each of the following fields:

mammals, birds, reptiles, invertebrates, in-

sects, plants, fishes and wildlife.” Propos-

ed by: Ms. Heta Pandit and Seconded by:

Mr. N. D. Mulla.

The Curator explained the mode of opera-

tion of the Journal and advised that all papers

were reviewed by referees who were experts

in their fields and only accepted for publica-

tion if approved by the referees. In some

instances referees advised revision. This pro-

cedure has been found quite effective. The

resolution was put to vote and was lost by

11 voting for and 14 against.

It was, however, agreed that the Executive

Committee should reconsider the Editorial

policy.

5. “RESOLVED that the draft minutes of

the Annual and Extraordinary General

Meetings be circulated within three weeks

to all members of the Society present at

the Meeting; the Minutes should be ap-

proved formally by the members present,

at the next Annual Meeting”, Proposed

by: N. D. Mulla and Seconded by: Ms.

Heta Pandit.

was finalised in two parts at Mrs. D. S.

Variava’s instance. The first part was amend-

ed to read:

“RESOLVED that the draft Minutes of

the Annual and Extraordinary General

Meetings be circulated within six weeks

to all members of the Society present at

the meeting.”

“RESOLVED that the draft of the

minutes be confirmed at the next Annual

General Meeting”.

Put to vote the amended Resolutions were

passed with 20 members voting for with one

voting against.

A Resolution of appreciation moved by

Mrs. D. S. Variava and seconded by Mr. D.

J. Panday at the rediscovery of Jerdon’s

Courser was unanimously accepted.

The meeting terminated with a vote of thanks

to the Chair.

732

MINUTES OF THE

EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING OF THE SOCIETY HELD FOR

DISCUSSING THE PROPOSED CHANGES IN THE RULES

An Extraordinary General Meeting of the

Bombay Natural History Society was held on

Thursday, the 19th December 1985, at Horn-

bill House at 6 p.m. when the following were

present :

1 . Mr. Humayun Abdulali

2. Mr. Nitin Jamdar

3. Ms. Heta Pandit

4. Mr. N. P. Behramfram

5. Mr. Debi Goenka

6. Dr. (Mrs.) S. Unnithan

7. Dr. Robert B. Grubh

8. Mr. Parvish Pandya

9. Dr. A.N.D. Nanavati

10. Mr. Dilip Patil

1 1 . Mr. D. J. Panday

12. Mr. M. D. Agharkar

13. Dr. C. V. Kulkarni (in the chair)

14. Mr. D. C. Balsara

15. Mr. S. A. Hussain

16. Ms. Uma Roy Choudhury

17. Mr. S. N. Mistry

18. Mr. Sunil R. Zaveri

19. Mrs. D. S. Variava

20. Mr. Bansi Mehta

21 . Mr. Cyrus J. Guzder

22. Mr. N. D. Mulla

23. Mr. D. P. Bannerji

24. Mr. Sorab D. N. Gandhi

25. Cdr. GVK Unnithan

26. Dr. A. K. Joshee

27. Mr. Suresh Bhatkal

28. Mr. G. L. Kalro

29. Mr. A. V. Ghangurde

30. Mr. Ulhas Rane

31 . Ms. Sumati Sampanene

Mr. D. J. Panday proposed Dr. C. V.

Kulkarni to the Chair and was seconded by

the Honorary Secretary.

Dr. C. V. Kulkarni explained to the audience

the purpose for which they had assembled,

namely to discuss the proposed amendments

to the Rules and Regulations of the Society.

He pointed out that the amendments were

based on the suggestions received by the

Executive Committee from members and have

been circulated to all members. He further

stated that Mr. M. D. Agharkar headed the

sub-committee which worked on the sugges-

tions made by the members, and drafted the

present amendments which were to be dis-

cussed.

Dr. Kulkarni also explained to the meeting

that the suggestions made by Mr. Ulhas Rane

were inadvertantly omitted to be included in

the papers submitted to Mr. M. D. Agharkar,

and as such had to be considered at the

current meeting.

Mr. Agharkar then explained that a sub-

committee went through the amendments and

he examined all the suggestions made by

different members and then drafted the pre-

sent amendments after discussing them with

the Executive Committee.

The draft of the rules to be amended were

sent to 2350 members of the Society (exclud-

ing student members, and members overseas),

and the approval or otherwise received from

75 individuals is summarized in the paper put

before the members.

A discussion followed. Mr. Humayun

Abdulali pointed out the inadvisability of the

members present for the current Extraordinary

733

m

JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

General Meeting to approve or otherwise the

views of 75 members who responded to the

circular; and the most that could be done was

to discuss the rules to be amended one by

one without any resolutions being passed

thereon.

The Chairman pointed out that this meet-

ing was called for discussion of all the amend-

ments and to ascertain the views of members

thereon, and it was not proposed to pass any

resolutions at the meeting.

Mr. Abdulali also told the audience that

his several queries as to whether the amend-

ments of rules would be done by referendum

or otherwise, had failed to elicit a response

from the Society’s Executive Committee for

reasons unknown. Mr. Abdulali was support-

ed by Messrs Debi Goenka, N. D. Mulla,

Ulhas Rane, Sunil Zaveri, and Bansi Mehta.

Mr. Nitin Jamdar pointed out that the Society

had stated in the monthly programme sheet

circulated among members that the Special

General Body Meeting called for on 19th

December 1985 was “for the amendments of

BNHS rules”. It was explained that the pro-

gramme notice was not an official notice of

the meet and the error was regretted. Mr.

S. A. Hussain informed the audience that

many of the overseas members he met wanted

to know the reason why they are not able

to vote in the meetings of the Society of

which they are members. It was explained that

this was due to logistic factors which would

usually prevent our receipt of the replies in

time. Mr. Hussain then suggested that air

mail communications should be sent to those

members willing to pay the air mail charges,

and it was agreed that this would be consi-

dered.

The meeting then proceeded with the dis-

cussion on the rules one by one and the

suggestion made were recorded by Mr. M. D.

Agharkar for consideration and final adoption.

The Honorary Secretary asked whether

members had objections to a referendum when

it was obviously in the interest of the Society

to get a response from all rather than from

a small number able to attend the meeting.

Several members opined that a referendum

may be acceptable provided that all amend-

ments proposed, and not merely those approv-

ed by the Committee, were voted on in such

a referendum. This was agreed to.

After going through all the rules listed in

the circular the meeting terminated with a

vote of thanks to the Chair.

734

THE SOCIETY’S PUBLICATIONS

The Book of Indian Animals, by S. H. Prater, 4th edition (reprint). 28 plates in

colour by Paul Barruel and many other monochrome illustrations. Rs. 85.00

( Price to members Rs. 65)

The Ecology of the Lesser Bandicoot Rat in Calcutta, by James Juan Spillett.

Rs. 10

The Book of Indian Birds, by Salim Ali. 11th (revised) edition. 74 coloured and

many monochrome plates. Rs. 75.00

( Price to members Rs. 60)

A Pictorial Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent, by Salim Ah & S.

Dillon Ripley (available to members @ Rs. 115.00)

A Synopsis of the Birds of India and Pakistan, by S. Dillon Ripley H. An up-to-

date checklist of all the birds resident and migrant, including those of Nepal,

Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. 2nd edition. -Rs. 100.00

( Price to members Rs. 80)

Checklist of the Birds of Maharashtra, by Humayun Abdulali, 2nd edition. Rs. 4

Checklist of the Birds of Delhi, Agra and Bharatpur, by Humayun Abdulali &

J. D. Panday. Rs. 3.00

The Book of Indian Reptiles, by J. C. Daniel Rs. 85.00

( Price to members Rs. 65)

Identification of Poisonous Snakes, Wall chart in Gujarati, and Marathi. Rs. 5

Some Beautiful Indian Trees, by Blatter and Millard. With many coloured and

monochrome plates. 3rd edition (Reprint). Rs. 40.00

{Price to members Rs. 35)

Some Beautiful Indian Climbers and Shrubs, by Bor and Raizada. With many

coloured and monochrome plates. 2nd edition. Rs. 100.00

(Price to members Rs. 75)

Grasses of Western India, by Toby & Patricia Hodd. With 64 monochrome plates.

Rs. 50.00

(Price to members Rs. 37.50)

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CONTENTS

ISSN 0006-6982

Page

The birds of Kanha Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, India. By Paul N. Newton,

Stanley Breeden and Guy J. Norman .. 477

Immobilizing Gaur with an Etorphine and Tranquilizer mixture. By Paul

J. Conry . . 499

Ecology of larger mammals of Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. By K. K. Rama-

chandran, P. Vijayakumaran Nair and P. S. Easa . . 505

Some ecological aspects of Mangrove forest of Andaman Islands. By V. P.

Singh, L. P. Mall, A. Garge and S. M. Pathak . . 525

Survey of the Freshwater Turtles of India Part I: The Genus Kachuga.

By Edward O. Moll . . 538

Basic diurnal activity pattern of Blackbuck, Antilope cervicapra Linn, of

Ballavpur Wildlife Sanctuary, W.B. and its seasonal variation. By Bratin-

dranath Chattopadhyay and Tanmay Bhattacharya . . 553

Ichthyofauna of Bijnor District (Uttar Pradesh). By M. K. Sharma and

D. B. Rajput . . 562

Material for the Flora of Mahabaleshwar-7. By P. V. Bole and M. R. Almeida 570

The birds of the Kedarnath Sanctuary, Chamoli District, Uttar Pradesh:

Status and Distribution. By Michael J. B. Green . . 603

Taxonomic studies on the Marine Ostracoda from India. Family: Leptocy-

theridae Hanai, 1957. By C. Annapurna and D. V. Rama Sanna . . 618

Fossil bird egg shell fragments from Karewas of Kashmir Valley (J&K),

India: a scanning electron microscope study. By Ashok Sahni, V. J. Gupta,

Bhuvan Prakash and B. S. Kotlia. . . 623

■

New Discriptions . . 632

Reviews . . 650

Miscellaneous Notes . . 653

Annual Report of the Bombay Natural History Society for the year 1984-85 694

Statement of Accounts of the Bombay Natural History Society . . 705

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting . . 724

Minutes of the Extraordinary General Meeting of the Society . . 733

RN 5685/57

Printed by Bro. Leo at St. Francis Industrial Training Institute, Borivli, Bombay 400103

and published by Editors: J. C. Daniel, P. V. Bole, and A. N. D. Nanavati for Bombay

Natural History Society, Hombill House, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road, Bombay 400023.

Natural History

1986

f URNAL of the

B695

’l mhay

Natural History

Society^

V * « \\ * 1

1886-1986 1

centenarV

SUPPLEMENT

JOURNAL

OF THE

BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY

SOCIETY

CENTENARY SUPPLEMENT

1886 - 1986

Edited by.

J. C. Daniel

A. N. D. Nanavati

P. V. Bole

VOLUME 83 (Supplement)

CENTENARY ISSUE 1886-1986

Date of Publication : 13-4-1987

CONTENTS

Page

The Journal: Its role in Indian Natural History. By Salim Ali ... 1

A review of infanticide among Hanuman Langurs and other primates. By Y.

Sugiyama ... 7

A note on Rhinolophus pearsonii Horsfield, 1851 and Rhinolophus yunanensis

Dobson, 1872 (Chiroptera: Rhinolophidae). By J. E. Hill ... 12

Consequences of seed dispersal by birds: a case study from Central America.

By Henry F. Howe. ( With a plate and six text-figures ) ... 19

Phytochorology of Kodagu (Coorg) District, Karnataka. By J. P. Pascal and

V. M. Meher-Homji. {With three text-figures ) ... 43

Reflections upon the distribution of Indian mammals. By T. J. Roberts ... 57

Conservation of wildlife in Tamil Nadu. By E. R. C. Davidar ... 65

Adaptive specialization in relation to niche diversity in Phytophagous and

Mycophagous Thrips. By T. N. Ananthakrishnan. {With three plates and a

text- figure) ... 72

Breeding biology of some Indian Bats — A review. By A. Gopalakrishna and

V. M. Sapkal. {With eleven text- figures) ... 78

High frequency cinematography studies on location and preying in Indian

Skitter Frogs Rana cyanophlyctis Schneider, 1799. By Rudolf Altevogt,

Hiltrud Holtmann, and Norbert Kaschek. {With two plates and three text-figures) 102

Redescription of the Cane Turtle with notes on its Natural History and

Classification. By Edward O. Moll, Brian Groombridge and J. Vijaya.

{With a colour plate and three text-figures) ... 112

On the taxonomic status of Psittacula intermedia (Rothschild). By S. R. Sane,

P. Kannan, C. G. Rajendran, S. T. Ingle and A. M. Bhagwat. {With a text-

figure) ... 127

An overview of the Amphibian Fauna of India. By Robert F. Inger and Sushil

K. Dutta ... 135

An experience of Wildlife Photography. By M. Y. Ghorpade. {With fourteen

plates) ... 147

Automimicry and Batesian mimicry in Uropeltid Snakes: Pigment pattern,

proportions, and behavior. By Carl Gans. {With two colour plates) ... 152

Photographic record of the Jerdon’s or Double-banded Courser Cursorius bitor-

quatus. By Bharat Bhushan. {With a colour plate) ... 159

The earliest record of a White Tiger {Panthera tigris). By Divyabhanusinh.

{With a colour plate) ... 163

Status of wildlife and habitat conservation in Karnataka. By K. Ullas Karanth.

{With a map) 166

Blacknecked Crane {Grus nigricollis) in Ladakh — 1986. By Goutam Narayan,

Asad Akhtar, Lima Rosalind and Eric D’Cunha. {With three colour plates) 180

Miscellaneous Notes:

Mammals: 1. Painted Bats and nests of Baya Weaver bird. By Satish Kumar Sharma

(p. 196); 2. A note on the Rhesus Macaque ( Macaca mulatia ) feeding cn Calotes. By C.

Sivasubramanian (p. 197); 3. A Panther’s misadventure. By J. Mangalraj Johnson (p. 197).

Birds: 4. Imprinting in Spotbill Duck Anas poecilorhyncha. By Manjit S. Dhindsa and

Jaswinder S. Sandhu (p. 198); 5. Duck migration across the Himalaya — Tufted Duck

Aythya fuligula at 13,700' on Rohtang Pass, Himachal Pradesh. By Lavkumar Khacher

(p. 199); 6. Communal gathering of Blackwinged Kites ( Elanus caeruieus vociferus). By

Rishad Naoroji (p. 200); 7. The Pariah Kite Milvus migrans (Boddaert) feeding on

flowers! By Lavkumar Khacher (p. 201); 8. Peculiar feeding behaviour of the Shikra

Accipiter badius (Gmelin) and the Honey Buzzard Pernis ptilorhyncus (Temminck). By

Himmatsinhji (p. 201); 9. A Crested Hawk-eagle Spizaetus cirrhatus (Gmelin) killing a

Peafowl Pavo cristatus Linnaeus. By Amrut S. Dhanwatey (p. 202); 10. Predation attempt

by Black Eagle ( Ictinaetus malayensis perniger ) on Giant Squirrel ( Ratufa indica elphin-

stonii ). By Renee Borges (p. 203); 11. A large roost of harriers in Andhra Pradesh, India.

By Asad R. Rahmani and Ranjit Manakadan (p. 203); 12. Pre-migratory flocking of

the Demoiselle Crane, Anthropoides virgo (Linnaeus). By Mukund Shah, Malay Shah

and Arun Kumar Banerjee (p. 204); 13. Feeding method of Spoon-billed Sandpipers on

a mudflat in South Korea. By Theunis Piersma (p. 206); 14. Strange diversion enacted

by a Nightjar. By E. K. Bharucha (p. 208); 15. Mass courtship display by Great Pied

Hornbill, Buceros bicornis. by Angus F. Hutton (p. 209); 16. De-ticking by a Large Grey

Shrike, Lanlus excubitor. ( With a plate). By Ravi Sankaran and Asad R. Rahmani (p. 210);

17. Recovery of an Indian Golden Oriole ( Oriolus oriolus kundoo ) in the U.S.S.R. (With

a text-figure). By V. C. Ambedkar (p. 211); 18. Additional records of the Black Drongo

(Dicrurus adsimilis) feeding on birds. By U. Sridharan and C. Sivasubramanian (p. 212);

19. Display of thickbilled flowerpecker Dicaeum agile. By. S. G. Madge (p. 213); 20. Colour

selection by the Blackthroated Weaver bird Ploceus benghalensis. By Satish Kumar Sharma

(p. 214); 21. Some comments on the distribution of the Ostrich in Asia and North Africa.

By Michael Walters (p. 217); 22. Mortality from a hail-storm at the Karera Bustard

Sanctuary, Madhya Pradesh. (With a plate). By E. P. D’Cunha and Asad Akhtar (p. 218);

23. Intimidation among waterbirds at Bharatpur. By Debi Goenka and Heta Pandit (p. 219).

Reptile: 24. Note on the strange behaviour of a Marsh Crocodile (Crocodylus palustris).

(With a plate). By Divyabhanusinh (p. 220).

Botany: 25. Identity of “Bahel Schulli” of Hortus Malabaricus. By M. R. Almeida and

S. M. Almeida (p. 221); 26. Notes on identification of some unidentified plant-species in

Hortus Malabaricus. By M. R. Almeida and S. M. Almeida (p. 222); 27. Proliferation in

Opuntia d’llenii (Ker-Gawler) Haw. (With a photograph). By K. Gcpalakrishna Bhat

(p. 224); 28. A new exotic Solanaceous weed in old world tropics. (With a plate and

three text-figures). By M. V. Viswanathan and H. B. Singh (p. 226); 29. Rediscovery of

Blechnidium melanopus (Hook.) Moore (Blechnaceae) — A rare Fern from Arunachal

Pradesh, India. (With four text-figures). By G. D. Pal. (p. 230).

Appendix ... 233

RN 5685/57 ISSN 0006-6982

Printed by Bro. Leo at St. Francis Industrial Training Institute, Borivli, Bombay 400 103

and published by Editors: J. C. Daniel, P. V. Bole, and A. N. D. Nanavati for Bombay

Natural History Society, Hornbill House, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road, Bombay 400 023.

JOURNAL

OF THE

BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY

SOCIETY

December 1986 Vol. 83 Supplement

THE JOURNAL:

ITS ROLE IN INDIAN NATURAL HISTORY

Salim Ali

By 1886 — three years after the founding

of the Bombay Natural History Society — the

largely attended monthly meetings of its fast

growing membership had become very popu-

lar but were tending to become more like

social get-togethers than scientific seminars. To

give the Society’s serious activities meaningful

significance it was considered desirable to

publish a quarterly journal for maintaining a

permanent record of the business transacted

at the meetings — of the papers read and

discussed and of the natural history specimens

collected, exhibited and described by mem-

bers, and hunting experiences of discerning

sportsmen. Such a publication, it was felt,

would also help to stimulate an intelligent and

well-informed interest in Nature among the

many who, though naturalists in the truest

sense of the term, lacked a formal biological

background. It would, moreover, keep the

scattered outstation members in touch with

the Society and with each other and encourage

their participation in its activities. Up to that

time there was no publication devoted to natu-

ral history in Bombay Presidency nor indeed

in the Subcontinent as a whole. Little was

known and recorded, and vast tracts of the

country lay unexplored for their animals and

plants. Additional reading matter for the

journal would be contributed by members

with specialized interests such as mammals,

birds, insects etc. and by perceptive sportsmen-

naturalists recording their observations on the

animals they hunted — their habits, food,

behaviour, reproduction and other facets of

their ecology. To gather representative material

for building up the reference collections and

for the journal, five sections were formed each

of members specially qualified in the different

branches of natural history: Mammals, Birds,

Reptiles and Fishes, Insects and other inverte-

brates, and Botany. The secretaries of the

respective sections would invite members to

communicate their observations and also impel

them to collect biological specimens for the

Society’s fast developing museum. How richly

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

the decision to publish a journal paid off is

evident from the popularity and scientific

prestige it has developed for itself and the

Society over the years.

The consistent and growing demand for

complete sets of the Journal by the burjeoning

educational institutions and libraries of colleges

and universities within the country and scien-

tific institutions abroad is a tacit recognition

of the prestige and importance the Journal

enjoys as a repository of Indian biology. In-

deed for students of biology and wildlife con-

servation, and for a proper understanding of

the ecology and bionomics of the subconti-

nent’s prolific animal and plant life, the Jour-

nal has become indispensable. Since the cost

of reprinting the earlier volumes — either out

of print or brittled by age — would be un-

economical under prevailing financial con-

straints, and in order to meet the growing

demand for complete sets as far as possible,

it was decided to have the volumes reproduced

in microfiche which would be economical in

cost as well as in storage space which latter

has become a serious problem for modestly

endowed institutions. Microfiche films of Vols.

1-64 are now available and stocks of the

printed subsequent volumes are as yet suffi-

cient to meet a reasonable demand.

The first issue of the Journal Vol. 1(1),

saw the light in January 1886 under the capa-

ble editorship of E. H. Aitken (EHA) who

was the Honorary Secretary of the Bombay

Natural History Society at the time. Another

energetic naturalist-member, R. A. Stemdale,

took over the editorship soon afterwards upon

EHA leaving for England on home leave. Part

1 of Vol. 1 consisted of a total of 30 pages

1 The first journal of its kind to be established in

India. Published quarterly between 1840 (or *41)

and February 1848.

in all. It contains an Introduction and a list

of the 236 members that stood on the rolls

of the Society at the time, only 15 of whom,

be it noted, were Indian. These pages are

followed by a Catalogue of the Mammal and

Bird specimens in the Society’s collection and

a pathetically skimpy list of books in its

library — 27 titles in all, comprising Mam-

mals, Birds, Reptiles, Fishes, Insects and other

Invertebrates. Among them are 8 titles on

Botany and 12 on general natural history, the

last including 7 volumes of the rare Calcutta

Journal of Natural History 1 and file Vols. I-VI

of the Asian newspaper, both containing a

wealth of invaluable archival references per-

taining to shikar and wildlife in India of over

a hundred years ago. Of literary contributions

the very first is a “Note on an undescribed

Hamalopsida” by Rev. F. Dreckmann. This

is followed by a “Note on a probable new

species of Ibex” by R. A. Sterndale and “A

Note on the spider My gale fasciata” by Capt.

T. R. M. Macpherson. The issue closes with

a note by EHA himself “On the mimicry

shown by Phyllornis jerdoni” in the felicitous

pithy style that characterizes all of this gifted

naturalist’s writings.

In the early days of the Journal, and until

fairly recently — more or less all through the

British period — the emphasis was largely on

game animals and shikar. But the recorded

experiences and field observations of well-in-

formed and discerning sportsmen have helped

substantially to build up our knowledge of the

life histories not only of quarry species but

also others of lesser interest to the sportsman.

A large proportion of the natural history of

our game animals, both mammal and bird, has

been acquired in this way, especially since the

Journal made its appearance. Most of such

knowledge is seminal and would have remain-

ed unavailable but for the published notes and

2

THE JOURNAL IN INDIAN NATURAL HISTORY

articles of observant sportsmen. The latter

consisted chiefly of British district officials.

Army personnel and planters dispersed in re-

mote backwoods lacking social amenities and

congenial company, who had therefore taken

to natural history and shikar by way of relaxa-

tion and recreation, a few of them developing

into reputable authorities in their special sub-

jects. One of the most prolific of such sports-

men-naturalists was E. C. Stuart Baker whose

long and popular serial on “Indian Ducks and

their Allies”, illustrated with beautiful colour-

ed plates of waterfowl by some of the finest

European bird artists of the day, started in

1897 and continued almost without any inter-

ruption for the next 10 years or more. The

articles were highly appreciated by sportsmen

all over the country and added substantially

to the popularity of the Journal and to the

strength of the Society’s membership.

The second number of Vol. 1, containing a

heterogeneous variety of articles and notes on

plants and animals — taxonomical, ecological

and anecdotal — set the pattern which the

rest of the volumes up to the present have

more or less followed. The Miscellaneous

Notes section which follows the main articles

has always been the most popular feature with

readers whose scientific interest is marginal;

but many an anecdote casually recounted for

its novelty for the writer has often proved of

sufficient significance to be meaningful to a

scientist as corroborative or supplementary

evidence for some pet theory of his own.

From chiefly shikar in the early days of

the Society the accent in the Journal has

steadily shifted to conservation on the growing

realization that all was not well with our wild-

life and that the once teeming game was

vanishing fast throughout the country. This

was partly due to excessive hunting by unethi-

cal sportsmen and organized poaching for

commercial gain by local shikaris, but mainly

to the destruction of wildlife habitats by the

thoughtless clearing of forest in later days and

to large scale illicit encroachment of forest

land by squatters and refugees or repatriates,

often with the connivance of crooked politi-

cians. Latterly the modern craze for mono-

culture, mostly of exotic fast-growing tree

species to pander to the needs of industry, has

also been responsible for the destruction of

natural mixed forests which supported most

of our wildlife.

Throughout its existence the Society has

been deeply concerned about wildlife and

environmental conservation, and the Journal

has functioned as its main “mouthpiece” and

an effective vehicle for its campaign against

public and official apathy. All these destruc-

tive forces had to be resisted and countered

by creating a healthy public opinion and pre-

ssurizing and persuading government to insti-

tute adequate legislative measures.

The special volume published in 1933 to

commemorate the Jubilee year of the Society

gives an excellent account of the Journal and

its editors and functioning up to the 36th

volume. These volumes represented the So-

ciety’s contribution to the advance of our

knowledge of the botany, zoology and nature

conservation of the Subcontinent and adjoining

countries. They point out how, apart from the

results of scientific researches and field sur-

veys, the Journal is unique in that it contains

a vast amount of data — the notes and obser-

vations contributed by perceptive field natu-

ralists which have helped significantly in

promoting the refreshing trend of Indian

biology from the museum to the field — from

the study of the dead to the living : from taxo-

nomy to ecology.

The need for protecting wildlife against

unregulated hunting and large scale commer-

3

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

cial poaching by village shikaris was increas-

ingly felt by forest officials and discerning

sportsmen even since the early years of the

20th century. Sporadic efforts had been made

by far-sighted individuals to arouse the con-

cern of the discerning public and the autho-

rities to the deteriorating status of forests

and wildlife — game animals in particular —

and some local legislation was also enacted

by Provincial governments for their own

forests. But the absence of an influential non-

governmental central forum for disseminating

a consensus of the views of enlightened and

knowledgeable naturalists and sportsmen on

conservation problems on a countrywide scale

stood in the way of introducing any compre-

hensive legislation applicable to British India

as a whole. The Bombay Natural History So-

ciety, founded in 1883 by a group of percep-

tive naturalists, provided just such a forum.

Its membership constituted the nucleus of the

sporting fraternity in India at the time, the

majority of whom were British officials and

professional men zealously interested in the

preservation of game animals even though

maybe sometimes not from purely altruistic

motives !

The wildlife protection movement visibly

began in 1869 and culminated in The Wild

Birds and Game Protection Act of 1887 (Act

XX of 1887), shortly after the Journal was

launched. Most of the individuals responsible

for ushering in this legislation had joined the

Society by then, helping thus to present a

consolidated demand. Although this Act was

intended to cover all animals in the whole of

British India, it was in fact directed chiefly

against the destruction of Birds, and was at

first restricted only to Local Governments

(Municipalities, Cantonments) who were em-

powered to apply its provisions to any other

game within their limited jurisdictions. It was

in this context that the Journal fired the first

shot in its conservation campaign, as early as

1888 (Vol. 3) when, in response to a refer-

ence made to it by the British President of

Ahmedabad Municipality the Society’s Com-

mittee recommended that all wild animals in

the neighbourhood of Ahmedabad, including

game birds as well as all others, should be

protected by law between 15 July and 15

October — the general breeding season. Criti-

cisms and dissatisfaction as to the inadequacy

of the Act resulted in a new all-India Act 25

years later “to make better provision for the

protection and preservation of certain species

of wildlife” called The Wild Birds and Ani-

mals Protection Act, 1912, which received the

assent of the Governor-General on 18

September 1912 and remained in force till

superceded by a newer and more comprehen-

sive legislation.

This was a distinct step forward in the

recognition by the Central Government of the

importance of wildlife to the country. It was

the Journal that published some useful criti-

cisms and suggestions for emendations in the

Act for considerably simplifying the implemen-

tation of various provisions and rendering it

more practical and effective. Some of these

suggestions were accepted by Government,

especially as to the inclusion of correct verna-

cular names of animals listed in the Schedule

for non English-knowing persons. The Act of

1912 was a marked advance on its 1887 pre-

decessor which it replaced. But in the year

from immediately after World War I great

disorganization was caused through many of

the conservation-minded British forest officers

having left the country on war service and

the general slackening in the law and order

situation. Through all these vicissitudes the

Journal kept plugging away in its campaign

to create an awareness among the public of

4

THE JOURNAL IN INDIAN NATURAL HISTORY

wildlife and the growing need for nature con-

servation. But it was not till the Golden Jubilee

of the Society in 1933 that wildlife preserva-

tion really came into sharp focus. It was the

masterly address delivered by Mr. S. H.

Prater, the Society’s Curator, on that occasion

on “The Problems of Wildlife Protection in

India” that seriously set the ball rolling and

paved the way for the calling by the Viceroy

(Lord Willingdon) — the Patron of the So-

ciety — of the all-India meeting at Delhi of

prominent naturalists and sportsmen to review

the deteriorating situation and suggest practi-

cal methods for effective conservation of

wildlife. Though a follow-up was much delay-

ed owing to the interruption caused by World

War II (1939-46), the formation of the Indian

Board for Wildlife in 1951 — as soon as

conditions became more or less stabilized after

Independence and Partition — was a direct

result of the Delhi meeting. The disorganiza-

tion of the services during the war and its

political aftermath had aggravated the wildlife

situation alarmingly and in certain areas, erst-

while famous for game and shikar such as

many of the princely states, wildlife, particu-

larly ‘prime’ species like the tiger, had been

completely wiped out. It was chiefly during

this depressing period that the Journal proved

the most effective champion for the cause.

And it was the untiring and dedicated advo-

cacy of the Society’s stalwarts like Col. R. W.

Burton, E. P. Gee and R. C. Morris, who

through their authentic well-researched articles

in the Journal, kept the subject in sharp focus

with government and the discerning public,

leading to the establishment of most of the

National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries and nature

reserves that exist today, and to protective

legislation culminating in the comprehensive

Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972. With proper

implementation, this central legislation — itself

based on the provincial Bombay Wild Birds

and Wild Animals Preservation Act of 1951

(for which again BNHS was largely respon-

sible) — should go a long way to saving what

can still be saved of the splendid wealth and

diversity of our once teeming wildlife and its

natural habitats.

A succint account of the Journal and its

editors and achievement in the way of popu-

larizing Indian natural history and arousing an

interest in nature in the ‘common man’ in the

first 36 volumes published between 1886 and

1932 will be found in the special volume com-

memorating the 50th anniversary of the So-

ciety and does not need repeating here. It had

become an unwritten convention for the Hono-

rary Secretary of the time to be the editor;

though in later days after appointment of the

first stipendiary Curator (N. B. Kinnear) in

1907, most of the actual editing and donkey

work connected with the publication of the

Journal fell to the lot of the professional

Curator. The Curator at the completion of

Vol. 36 and for the next 15 years, till he retired

in 1948 to settle down in the U.K.. was Mr.

S. H. Prater. Prater remained the de facto

editor of the Journal, associated for varying

periods from time to t:mc with the Honorary

Secretary of the day. Followed an ‘interregnum’

while the search for a worthy successor to

Prater was on, during which the Journal was

edited by the ‘reigning’ Honorary Secretary

assisted by one or two, or a small panel, of

knowledgeable members : thus vols. 48-57

were edited by Salim Ali (who simultaneous-

ly also acted as Curator for a brief period),

58 & 59 by Humayun Abdulali & Rev. Fr.

Santapau, 60 & 61 by Zafar Futehally &

Santapau, 62 by H. Santapau, D. E. Reuben,

Zafar Futehally & J. C. Daniel, the last named

having meanwhile been appointed Curator

of the Society. Thereafter Vols. 63-66 were

5

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

edited by Santapau, Futehally & Daniel. After

Vol. 66 and to date J. C. Daniel and the

Honorary Secretary (Dr. A. N. D. Nanavati)

and one or two specialist members took over

the editorship.

It is no exaggeration to say that the

Journal reached the peak of its reputa-

tion and credibility during the editorship of

Prater especially while associated with Sir

Reginald Spence as Honorary Secretary. Spence

was an influential and dynamic personality

and took a more active part in the affairs of

the Society and in editing the Journal than

most others. As executive editor Prater’s name

had become synonymous with the Bombay

Natural History Society and he is largely res-

ponsible for the international recognition the

Journal has acquired as the foremost natural

history publication in Asia. Prater’s flair for

guzzling through heavy scientific literature and

translating its essentials into simple jargon-

free language for the layman was outstanding.

He was, moreover, blessed with a phenomenal

memory which enabled him to comment

rationally on whatever he was editing or by

immediately recalling what he had read on

the subject, maybe years before, and could lay

his hands on the source for reference without

hesitation or fumbling.

Prater set the trend followed to this day in

the editing and presentation of the best in

natural history writing and research in the

Indian Sub-continent.

6

A REVIEW OF INFANTICIDE AMONG HANUMAN

LANGURS AND OTHER PRIMATES

Y. SUGIYAMA1

1 . First Discovery and Response to it

The first discovery and the scientific descrip-

tion of the conspecific infanticide among larger

mammals in their own habitat was recorded

on the Hanuman langur {Presbytis entellus)

at Dharwar (or Dharwad), Karnataka, south

India (Sugiyama 1965). Before this study there

might have been facultative observations by

naturalists on conspecific killings among lan-

gurs or other animals and there was an inten-

sive field study on the Hanuman langur (Jay

1962, 1965). However there was no record of

conspecific killing which made clear the rela-

tion among killer, victim and the particular

situation with special reference to the group

structure and ecology of the species. The

reason why the above study made the first

discovery is found in its methodology. First,

the individual identification of all animals of

a group or even of a local population. Second,

continuous observations on them through

long term studies. They are common, at pre-

sent, for sociobiological studies in free-ranging

as well as in captive colonies.

The first report on the conspecific infanti-

cide written in an European language was

published in 1964 (Sugiyama 1964), however,

there was little response. In late 1964 I present-

ed a paper at an international symposium on

primate communication at Montreal organized

by Dr. S. A. Altmann. In this paper, I describ-

ed the regular occurrence of conspecific infan-

1 Kyoto University Primate Research Institute,

Inuyama 484, Japan.

ticides in Hanuman langurs and discussed its

relation to sexual drive of surplus (extra-troop)

males, effect of incidents and the long-term

continuation of one-male troop structure of

this species at Dharwar (Sugiyama 1967). But

the chairman of the session concluded that,

“the periodic liquidation of the baby langurs

impresses me as being potentially dysgenic in

its consequences” (Warren 1967).

For about 10 years a similar responses con-

tinued, that is, the conspecific infanticide was

thought to be very special, exceptional and

abnormal behavior. Only the response of Japa-

nese field primatologists was different from the

first publication. They recognized the regularly

occurring conspecific infanticide of langurs as

a part of adaptive mechanism to maintain the

one-male troop structure (Itani 1972).

At the 2nd All India Congress of Zoology

held at Varanasi (or Benares), Uttar Pradesh,

in 1962 Dr. M. D. Parthasarathy and I pre-

sented a paper of our field study on the langur

social structure with special reference to re-

peated infanticides. Dr. M. L. Roonwal,

Director of the Zoological Survey of India,

showed much interest in our study and after

he was promoted to the Vice Chancellor of

the University of Jodhpur, Rajasthan, he began

to work with his student, S. M. Mohnot, on

the field study of langurs which live near

Jodhpur. Therefore, the second scientific report

on the infanticide of langurs came out in 1971

(Mohnot 1971). The basic social structure and

the process of the infanticide were almost same

as those found at Dharwar. That is, the bisexual

7

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

troop consisted of a male and some females

with their offspring, surplus males in an all-

male group attacked the former, they ousted

the troop male and his sons, only a dominant

male from among the attackers took over the

females, he bit and killed all infants and, then,

mated with females including the victims’

mothers.

Rudran (1973) reported from Ceylon (Sri

Lanka) on the purple-faced langurs ( Presbytis

senex) and Hrdy (1974) from Abu, Rajasthan,

on the Hanuman langur. Furthermore, on the

lion (P anther a leo) of Serengetti, East Africa

(Bertram 1975) and on a south American

monkey, the red howler ( Alouatta seniculus)

(Crockett & Sekulic 1984) very similar in-

fanticides by a new male after the usurpation

of the troop (or dominant status) were re-

peatedly confirmed. Other than the repeated

and regular occurrences of infanticides mainly

by an invading male after the replacement of

the resident male, mentioned above, facultative

infanticide have been confirmed at least in 13

species of non-human primates (Itani 1982,

others) .

2. From “Maladaptive” to “Adaptive”

Accompanying the increasing observa-

tions of conspecific infanticides much interest

came to be concentrated on the factors which

lead animals to kill infants.

Curtin & Dolhinow (1978) stated that

“langurs of Dharwar (and other infanticidal

areas) concentrated in what little remained

and greatly disturbed habitat by human acti-

vities”. Boggess (1979) also believed that the

“infant killing in association with troop social

change represents maladaptive behaviors occur-

ring in isolated and rare situations or in popu-

lations characterized by extreme crowding”.

Finally they concluded this behavior as “social

pathology”. These responses were the last

flame of the old candle which tried to lock

this abominable behavior of our relatives in a

special box labelled dysgenic, abnormal, mal-

adaptive and pathological behavior without

recognition of details of incidents and environ-

ment.

Actually the forest of western Dharwar

during the studies was well grown secondary

forest for the climate of the given area with

minor effect of human activities. The forest of

about 400 km2 was connected with adjacent

forests through scrub forest and patchy culti-

vated field with gallery forest which are also

favourable habitat for langurs.

From the time of the first discovery I have

never stated that this behavior is either normal

or abnormal, or, pathological or not. Be-

cause once a given behavior is labelled

“abnormal” or “pathological”, one tends to

stop searching for more exact reasons why a

male langur killed all infants of the troop he

has usurped and why victim’s mother soon

mated with him. Nevertheless I (Sugiyama

1967) pointed out that, “because a female langur

usually delivers an infant every 2 or 3 years,

the loss of the infant has the effect of advanc-

ing the estrus of the female”.

I also said that the local difference of occur-

rence and non-occurrence of troop usurpation

and infanticide is related to the ecological

characteristics of the habitat, population den-

sity, troop type (one-male or multi-male) and

other sociological characters (Sugiyama 1976).

Hrdy (1979) classified the factors of con-

specific infanticide among animals and care-

fully examined them. Then, she refined my

preliminary hypothesis and concluded that the

infanticidal male increases his fitness through

elimination of his predecessor’s infants and she

raised the sexual selection hypothesis. She also

paid attention to the local difference of the

same species, that is, infanticide may occur in

8

INFANTICIDE AMONG HANUMAN LANGURS

some areas but not in others and concluded

that the most obvious factor influencing facul-

tative expression of the infanticidal trait is

population density.

In fact Vogel & Loch (1984) confirmed that

the infanticidal male exactly gets his own off-

spring earlier than non-infanticidal male in a

same situation if he eliminates a dependent

infant from its lactating mother. Most succes-

sors reconfirmed the above reproductive advan-

tage of the infanticidal male who kills infants

after the troop usurpation and then, mates with

the mothers of victims in most cases as seen

at Dharwar when first reported. Therefore the

hypothesis is now called the male reproductive

strategy hypothesis.

Before Hrdy (1979) most of hypothesis

which searched the factor of conspecific infan-

ticide tried to find out the direct factor of the

infanticide or motives of the behavior and

possible factors. There were common motives

in many cases and research areas, however,

some motives were not seen in other non-human

primate species.

All conspecific infanticides of langurs occurr-

ed after troop usurpation. Infants of the troop

were killed by the usurper who had had no

chance to mate with females before it. After

infants were eliminated their mothers soon

mated with the infanticider and, then, they gave

birth to infants sired by him. Many other

species of non-human primates in which in-

fanticide occurs also showed similar process.

They were mostly folivores, they had one-male

troop structure and the population density was

rather high. However, only the male reproduc-

tive strategy hypothesis does not have excep-

tion and this hypothesis could explain the

ultimate factor how infanticidal males repro-

duced more offsprings than non-infanticidal

ones in the same population and how this

behavior evolved. After 1980 all studies on

the infanticide emphasised effectiveness of this

hypothesis. The book edited by Hausfater and

Hrdy (1984) collated the results.

Today, however, some studies reject coexist-

ence of any hypothesis focusing on proximate

factors with the ultimate factor in emphasis

of the male reproductive strategy or place

proximate as well as ultimate factors in the

same category and pick up only the male re-

productive strategy as the correct factor (e.g.,

Sommer & Mohnot 1985). Here, I wish to

comment only on one point. That is, proximate

factors and ultimate factor (s) work at diffe-

rent levels of the biological mechanism and

they must be examined separately.

3. Necessity to search for Proximate Factors

Boggess (1979) and Bishop (1979) empha-

sised that male langurs of Himalayan high

altitude with low population density, Solu re-

gion, Nepal, neither take over the bisexual

troop nor kill infants of the troop but freely

emigrate from the natal troop and join other

troops. Most of bisexual troops are multi-male

type. Population density of langurs at the

Kanha forest, 46.2/km2, is lower than that

of Dharwar, 85. 3 /km2 (Sugiyama 1964), and

higher than that of Simla of Himalayan high

altitude. 24.6/km2 (Sugiyama 1976). Recent-

ly at Kanha infanticides by invading males

were confirmed to occur in a low frequency

after troop usurpation (Newton 1985).

It is not possible to explain the total figure

of infanticide of langurs and other animals

only by the male reproductive strategy hypo-

thesis. In other words, if we consider the

reason of the local difference of the infanticidal

frequency or the reason why it does not occur

in some populations, we have to find out the

proximate factors which depend on difference

of environmental and social conditions; such as

the topography and vegetation of habitat, food

9

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

distribution, population density, troop type

(one-male or multi-male) and male tenure

length in a one-male troop.

Furthermore, when we consider the origin

of this behavior there must be proximate fac-

tors or direct motive for invading males which

led them to attack and kill infants of resident

females of his usurped troop. Repeated occur-

ence of infanticide might have led all or most

invading males of a given population to kill

infants as their evolutionary stable strategy

pressing down the number of offsprings of

non-infanticidal males. Even if the first infan-

ticidal male had the benefit in his reproductive

success he must have his own direct motive or

reason to perform this violent attack on infants.

The second and third infanticidal males must

have too. In some populations of langurs where

there is few or no infanticide most surplus

males may gain cycling females and succeed

to reproduce without killing infants. This must

be the important cause for local and individual

difference for infanticide among non-human

primates.

Hrdy (1979) herself recognized the ultimate

factor as well as the factor which influences

the local differences, however, some of her suc-

cessors in 1980’s reject each of the proximate

factors presenting an episode which is not

related with a particular example of the sug-

gested proximate factors.

Today, it is not possible to reject “social

pathology hypothesis” without presenting and

examining the exact definition and details of

“pathology” and this kind of argument does

not contribute to the solution of the problem.

If one could suggest in late 1960’s or early

1970’s that the repeated infanticide of non-

human primates after male replacement is the

vivid and effective strategy for them specifically

related with their social structure his article

would have been ten times more valuable than

recent such articles.

Conclusion

For establishing a certain behavior pattern,

e.g., infanticide, as an evolutionally stable one

may give benefits measured by reproductive

success to the performer. However, in the pro-

cess of evolution proximate factor or direct

motive leads animals to repeat it. Basically

depending on differences of environment and

life form of each species existence or non-

existence of the proximate factor strongly

works in some populations and does not work

much in other populations. Then, the local

difference develops. Therefore the ultimate

factor which may be common throughout a

certain taxonomic group and the proximate

factors which may be different to populations

according to environment must be considered

separately.

Acknowledgements

The Japan-India Joint Research, 1961-1963,

through which we first found infanticides in

the Hanuman langur was sponsored by the

Rockefeller Foundation and assisted by the

Bombay Natural History Society. I wish to

express again my heartfelt gratitude to both

organizations and assistance given by Dr. Salim

Ali, J. C. Daniel and Dr. Harold Trapido.

10

INFANTICIDE AMONG HANGMAN LANGURS

Refer

Bertram, B. C. (1975) : The social system of lions.

Scientific American, May: 54-65.

Bishop, N. H. (1979) : Himalayan langurs: tem-

perate colobines. J. Hum. Evol., 8 : 251-281.

Boggess, J. (1979) : Troop male membership

changes and infant killing in langurs ( Presbytis

entellus). Folia Primatol., 32: 65-107.

Crockett, C. M. & Sekulic, R. (1984): Infanti-

cide in red howler monkeys ( Alouatta seniculus).

In: “Hausfater, G. & S. B. Hrdy eds., Infanticide”

pp. 173-191, Aldine, New York.

Curtin, R. & Dolhinow, P. (1978): Primate

social behavior in a changing world. Amer. Sci., 66:

468-475.

Hausfater, G. & Hrdy, S. B., eds. (1984) : In-

fanticide — Comparative and evolutionary perspec-

tives. 39+598 pp. Aldine, New York.

Hrdy, S. B. (1974): Male-male competition and

infanticide among the langurs ( Presbytis entellus )

of Abu, Rajasthan. Folia Primat., 22: 19-58.

Hrdy, S. B. (1979): Infanticide among animals:

A review, classification, and examination of the im-

plications for the reproductive strategies of females.

Ethol. SociobioL, 1: 13-40.

Itani, J. (1972) : A preliminary essay on the

relationship between social organization and incest

avoidance in nonhuman primates. In: “Poirier, F. ed.,

Primate socialization”, pp. 165-171. Random House,

New York.

Itani, J. (1982): Intraspecific killing among non-

human primates. /. Social Biol. Struct., 5: 361-368.

Jay, P. C. (1962) : Aspects of maternal behavior

among langurs. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci., 102(11):

468-476.

Jay, P. C. (1965) : The common langur of north

India. In: “Devore, I. ed., Primate behavior”, pp.

197-249. Holt-Rinehart-Winston, New York.

Mohnot, S. M. (1971): Some aspects of social

e n c E s

changes and infant-killing in the Hanuman langur,

Presbytis entellus (Primates: Cercopithecidae) , in

western India. Mammalia, 35: 175-198.

Newton, P. N. (1985): The behavioural ecology

of forest Hanuman langurs. Tiger Paper, 12: 3-7.

Rudran, R. (1973): Adult male replacement in

one-male troops of purple-faced langurs ( Presbytis

senex senex ) and its effect on population structure.

Folia Primat., 19: 166-192.

Sommer, V. & Mohnot, S. M. (1985) : New ob-

servations on infanticides among hanuman langurs

( Presbytis entellus ) near Jodhpur (Rajasthan /India).

Behav. Ecol. SociobioL, 16: 245-248.

Sugiyama, Y. (1964) : Group composition, popu-

lation density, and some sociological observations of

hanuman langurs ( Presbytis entellus ). Primates, 5

(3-4): 7-48.

Sugiyama, Y. (1965) : On the social change of

hanuman langurs ( Presbytis entellus ) in their natural

condition. Primates, 6(3-4) : 381-418.

Sugiyama, Y. (1967) : Social organization of

hanuman langurs. In: “Altmann, S. A. ed., Social

Communication among Primates”, pp. 221-236. Univ.

Chicago Press, Chicago.

Sugiyama, Y. (1976): Characteristics of the eco-

logy of the Himalayan langurs. /. Hum. Evol., 5 :

249-277.

Vogel, C. & Loch, H. (1984) : Reproductive para-

meters, adult-male replacements, and infanticide

among free-ranging langurs ( Presbytis entellus ) at

Jodhpur (Rajasthan), India. In: “Hausfater, G. &

S. B. Hrdy eds., Infanticide: Comparative and evo-

lutionary perspectives”, pp. 237-255. Aldine. New

York.

Warren, J. M. (1967) : Discussion of social dyna-

mics. In: “Altmann, S. A., ed., Social communica-

tion among primates”, pp. 255-257. Univ. of Chicago

Press, Chicago.

11

A NOTE ON RH1NOLOPHUS PEARSON1I HORSFIELD,

1851 AND RH1NOLOPHUS YUNANENSIS DOBSON, 1872

( CHIROPTERA : RHINOLOPHIDAE)

J. E. Hill1

The Asian horseshoe bats Rhinolophus pearsonii Horsfield, 1851 and R. yunanensis

Dobson, 1872 are reviewed, defined and discussed, with confirmation of their status

as distinct species.

Introduction

Classifications of the Asian bats of the genus

Rhinolophus often reflect the pioneer work of

Dobson in the decade 1871-1880 and its sub-

sequent refinement by Andersen some thirty

years later. Thus R. yunanensis Dobson, 1872

was put into synonymy by its author (1876,

1878) shortly after its description, a view

confirmed by Andersen (1905). Since then it

has been rarely used and following these

authors was synonymized for many years with

R. pearsonii Horsfield, 1851. However, Hinton

& Lindsay (1927) employed it for a specimen

from Meghalaya (Assam), and more recently

specimens from Thailand led Hill (1975) to

revive it again, but without detailed explana-

tion, and to suggest in Lekagul & McNeely

(1977) that it should be considered a distinct

species. Modern compilers (Corbet & Hill 1982,

1986; Honacki et al 1982) have adopted this

opinion.

Systematic Section

Rhinolophus pearsonii Horsfield, 1851

Rhinolophus pearsonii Horsfield, 1851: 33. Darjee-

ling, West Bengal, NE India.

1 Department of Zoology, British Museum (Natural

History), Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, United

Kingdom.

Rhinolophus larvatus Milne-Ed wards, 1872: 248, pi.

37a, fig. 1, pi. 37c, fig. 1. Moupin, Sichuan

(Szechuan), S China. Not of Horsfield, 1823.

(?) Rhinolophus pearsoni chinensis Andersen, 1905:

289. Kuatun, Fujian (Fukien), SE China.

Description. Size medium to large (length

of forearm 48-57 mm) for the genus; anterior

noseleaf or horseshoe very large, completely

covering the muzzle, anteriorly deeply emargi-

nated and with a moderate covering of short

hairs; internarial region slightly expanded, a

little wider than the base of the sella, slightly

cup-shaped; sella contiguous with internarial

expansion, its basal third widened, upper two

thirds a little constricted to form a parallel-

sided structure with rounded apex; connecting

process originating from rear of sella at or near

its apex, in profile rounded, low, its height

little more than that of the apex of the sella;

posterior leaf triangular, cellular, high, its late-

ral margins very slightly concave, with pointed

tip. The connecting process does not invariably

arise from below the apex of the sella as is

implied by Allen (1938) or by Sinha (1973).

More often than not the point of origin on

the sella is at or very near the summit of this

structure: the assumption may arise from

Andersen (1905) who in allying pearsonii to

the Rhinolophus macrotis group gave as an

essential external character for the group

“rounded connecting process, starting from a

point below the summit of the sella”.

12

RHINOLOPHUS PEARSONII AND RHINOLOPHUS YUNANENSIS

Ears large, more or less triangular, bluntly

pointed, the anterior margin of the ear convex,

the posterior margin slightly concave just below

the tip, then convex, with a deep, narrow

emargination separating a large, rounded anti-

tragal lobe; wing inserted at the ankle; third

metacarpal the shortest, fourth metacarpal very

slightly shorter than fifth; first phalanx of third

digit not shortened, the second phalanx less

than one and one half times its length; tibia

long; foot small; calcar extending along about

one third of the uropatagial margin.

Skull with short, wide braincase; strong

sagittal crest bifurcating anteriorly to enclose

a moderate frontal depression; rostral expan-

sions well developed, inflated, wider than deep;

zygomata strong, massive, zygomatic expansion

greater than mastoid width; length of palatal

bridge one third or a little less than one third

the length of the maxillary toothrow; palate

rounded, mesopterygoid fossa not widened;

basioccipital narrow. Upper incisors (i2-2)

bicuspid, inwardly directed; anterior upper

premolar (pm2) large, with small cusp, usually

in toothrow, sometimes very slightly extruded;

second lower premolar (pm3) small, almost

entirely extruded from row or extruded with

the anterior (pm2) and posterior (pm4) pre-

molars in contact.

Measurements appear in Table 1. Those

provided by Sinha (1973) for R. pearsonii as

it is represented in the collections of the

Table 1

Measurements (number of specimens, minimum, maximum, in mm) of Rhinolophus pearsonii

13

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST . SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

Zoological Survey of India apparently refer in

part to a composite series that includes a

specimen of R. yunanensis. The list of material

examined by Sinha includes a male example in

alcohol from Hotha, Yunnan, SW China, col-

lected in 1868 (misprinted 1863): this is appa-

rently one of the original specimens of yunan-

ensis (see below). Thus at least the values for

external measurements (length of forearm,

length of tibia) given by Sinha (loc. cit.) for

R. pearsonii have as their maxima dimensions

that most probably correctly refer to R.

yunanensis.

Distribution. India: N Uttar Pradesh

(Wroughton, 1914); N West Bengal (Hors-

field, 1851; Wroughton, 1916); Sikkim (speci-

men in British Museum (Natural History));

Meghalaya (Assam) (Hinton & Lindsay,

1927); Nepal (Hinton, 1923); Bhutan (Saha,

1980) ; Burma (Andersen, 1907); Thailand

(Hill, 1975; Lekagul & McNeely, 1977); china:

S Xizang Zizhioqu (Tibet) (Cai & Zhang,

1981) ; Yunnan (Thomas, 1923); Sichuan

(Szechuan) (Milne-Edwards, 1872); Guangxi

(Kwangsi) (Shih, 1930a); Hunan (Shih,

1930b); Guangdong (Kwantung) (Shih, 1930c);

Fujian (Fukien) (Thomas, 1898); Guangzhou

(Canton) (Mell, 1922); Anhui (Anwhei)

(Honacki et al, 1982); Vietnam: Tonkin

(Osgood, 1932); malaya (Honacki et al., loc.

cit.)

The species is known to occur at relatively

high altitudes, having been obtained at 6000 ft

at Lwarkhet, north of Almora, Uttar Pradesh,

N India (Wroughton, 1914), at 10000 ft in the

Li-Kiang Range, Yunnan, China (Thomas,

1923) and at 11000 ft at Parchung, about 40-

50 miles N of Katmandu, Nepal (Hinton,

1923).

subspecies. The subspecies R. pearsonii

chinensis Andersen, 1905 was based originally

on a single specimen (BM(NH)) 98.11.1.2

from Fujian (Fukien), SE China which accord-

ing to its describer could be distinguished from

the nominate subspecies (specimens from

Darjeeling and Masuri, West Bengal, NE

India) by its shorter tibiae, slightly smaller

skull, narrower maxillary width and shorter

mandible and toothrows. Subsequently Ander-

sen (1907) reported chinensis from Taho, in

the Karen Hills, northeast of Tounghoo, S

Burma, and more recently Shih (1930b, c) re-

corded it from Hunan and Guangdong (Kwan-

tung), China, while Osgood (1932) reported

specimens from various localities in Tonkin,

Vietnam. The limited sample of specimens

from China, Burma and Vietnam (including

the holotype of chinensis and the specimen

from Taho) in the collections of the British

Museum (Natural History) does not support

this division, current measurements with a dial

reading micrometer failing to agree in every

instance with those recorded by Andersen

(1905, 1907) for the Chinese and Burmese

specimens. The holotype of chinensis is similar

in size in most respects to specimens from

Darjeeling and Masuri and moreover many of

its dimensions exceed those of specimens

obtained in Nepal and Meghalaya since Ander-

sen wrote. However, a similarly restricted sam-

ple of specimens from Thailand is a little

smaller on the whole than those from the re-

mainder of the range as represented in the

collections in London. In these circumstances

the continued maintenance of chinensis as a

valid subspecies seems doubtful.

Remarks. Dobson (1876, 1878) placed R.

larvatus Milne-Edwards, 1872 in the synonymy

of R. pearsonii (see below) where it has since

remained, this opinion being supported by

Andersen (1905). The original description and

illustrations of larvatus indicate that particu-

larly with regard to size of skull it is indeed

synonymous with pearsonii. Anderson (1881)

14

RHINOLOPHUS PEARSONII AND RHINOLOPHUS YUNANENSIS

reported R. mitratus Blyth, 1844 from Darjee-

ling, West Bengal, on the basis of a specimen

(105c) in the Indian Museum, Calcutta (the

collection of the Zoological Survey of India).

According to Sinha (1973) this specimen is

however an example of R. pearsonii, subse-

quently recorded from the Darjeeling District

by Wroughton (1916).

Rhinolophus yunanensis Dobson, 1872

Rhinolophus yunanensis Dobson, 1872: 336.

Hotha, Yunnan, S China.

Diagnosis and Description. Externally

exactly like R. pearsonii but larger: similarly,

the skull precisely resembles that of pearsonii

in its structural features but is larger and more

massive, with correspondingly heavier teeth.

Measurements appear in Table 2.

Distribution. India: Meghalaya (Dobson,

1874, Hinton & Lindsay, 1927); n Burma

(specimens in British Museum (Natural His-

tory); THAILAND (Hill, 1975; Lekagul &

McNeely, 1977); china: Yunnan (Dobson,

1872).

In Meghalaya Dobson (loc. cit.) records the

species from Tupai Mukh in the Lushai Hills

while Hinton & Lindsay (loc. cit.) report it

from Dening, in the Mishmi Hills, at 2250 ft,

these latter authors also recording R. pearsonii

from the Jaintia and Khasi Hills. Burmese

specimens of yunanensis are from the Nam

Tamai Valley (27° 42' N, 97° 50' E), Kajihtu

Table 2

Measurements (number of specimens, minimum, maximum, in mm) of Rhinolophus yunanensis

15

JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, VoL 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

(26° 18' N, 97° 50' E) and Mahtum (26° 06'

N, 97° 58' E), Andersen (1907) having record-

ed pearsonii from the Karen Hills to the south.

In Thailand yunanensis is reported from the

provinces of Chiang Mai, Nan, Sara Buri and

Rat Buri by Hill (loc. cit., who also reported

pearsonii from Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Nan,

Lop Buri, and Kanchanaburi) and from Chiang

Dao by McFariane & Blood (1986). The type

locality, Hotha, in Yunnan, SE China is not far

distant from the Li-Kiang Range whence

Thomas (1923) reported pearsonii.

Original Specimens. According to Dobson

(1876: 44, 1879) the original series of R.

yunanensis consisted of two male specimens

and one female example. However, although

Dobson (1876: 194) and Anderson (1881)

recorded both males in the collections of the

Indian Museum, Calcutta, neither of these

authors mentioned the female specimen and

its fate is unknown.

The collections of the British Museum

(Natural History) include a male specimen

(in alcohol, its skull extracted), BM(NH)

9. 4. 4. 3, labelled ‘Cotype’ of yunanensis, re-

ceived from the Indian Museum, Calcutta.

That this is one of the original specimens is

clear from its labels: it has attached metal

tags with the numbers 147 and 107B, and a

paper label in its bottle states “Rhinolophus

yunanensis, cotype. 107B = 147. Hotha, Yunan,

1868. Yunan Exp. (Dr. J. Anderson coll.).

Calcutta Mus. [P].” Clearly this is specimen

147 of Dobson (1876: 194) and specimen

107b of Anderson (1881).

The other specimen, 146 of Dobson (loc.

cit.) or 107a of Anderson (loc. cit.), remains

at the Indian Museum, in the collection of the

Zoological Survey of India (Sinha 1973), but

is not recorded as a ‘cotype’ by Khajuria et al.

(1977). According to Dobson (loc. cit.), speci-

men 146 is in alcohol, 147 likewise but without

skull, and a further number, 148 is allocated

to the skull of 147: Anderson (loc. cit.) listed

but two numbers, “107a &b, two adult males

in alcohol, and the skull of b”. However,

Andersen has annotated p. 195 of a copy of

Dobson (1876) (Monograph of the Asiatic

Chiroptera and Catalogue of the species of

bats in the collection of the Indian Museum,

Calcutta) in the Library of the British Museum

(Natural History) to the effect that the entry

“without skull” refers to specimen 146 on the

preceding line, and that the skull 148 is in

fact that of the specimen listed by Dobson

as 146.

The archive in London shows that the type

specimens of bats in the Indian Museum were

loaned to Andersen in 1907-1908 and it seems

possible that he found that it was the skull of

specimen 146 that had been extracted, that

of 147 then remaining in situ. This specimen

remained in London and is now BM(NH)

9. 4. 4. 3; its skull bears a label appropriate to

that period and may have have been extracted

and labelled after its accession to the collec-

tions, the Accessions Register indicating mere-

ly that it was then a specimen in spirit, not a

specimen in spirit with skull. For the present

both specimens seem best regarded as syntypes :

the measurements given by Dobson (1872,

1879) conform closely to those of BM(NH)

9. 4. 4. 3.

History. Rhinolophus yunanensis Dobson,

1872 has been rarely employed. Soon after

proposing the name, Dobson (1874) remarked

that Rhinolophus larvatus Milne-Edwards,

1872 was most probably identical with yunan-

ensis, and reported a specimen (a dried skin,

Dobson, 1876: 194) from Tupai Mukh, Megha-

laya, collected by the Lushai Expedition. Later,

Dobson (1876, 1878) synonymized yunanensis

and larvatus with Rhinolophus pearsonii Hors-

field, 1851, explaining that the type of the last

16

RHINOLOPHUS PEARSONII AND RHINOLOPHUS YUNANENSIS

had been inaccessible for many years in the

collection of the Museum of the East India

Company, a circumstance that had led to other

names being applied to the species. Subsequent-

ly, Dobson (1879) gave a further account of

the material upon which yunanensis was based,

but as R. pearsonii. Andersen (1905) consider-

ed that from published descriptions and

figures of yunanensis and larvatus both were

indistinguishable from typical pearsonii but

certainly different from R. pearsonii chinensis.

Howevev, Hinton & Lindsay (1927) referred a

specimen from the Mishmi Hills, Meghalaya

to yunanensis with the comment “It is prefer-

able to refer this specimen definitely to yunan-

Refer

Allen, G. M. (1938) : The mammals of China

and Mongolia. In Granger, W., Natural History of

Central Asia. Vol. 10, Part 1. New York.

Andersen, K. (1905) : On the bats of the Rhino-

lophus macrotis group, with descriptions of two

new forms. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (7), 16: 289-292.

(1907) : Chiropteran notes. Ann.

Mus. civ. Stor. nat. Genova (3), 3, (43): 473-478.

Anderson, J. (1881): Catalogue of the Mamma-

lia in the Indian Museum, Calcutta. Part I. Primates,

Prosimiae, Chiroptera, and Insectivora. Calcutta.

Blyth, E. (1844): Notices of various Mammalia,

with descriptions of many new species. Part I. — The

Primates, Lin. /. Asiat. Soc. Bengal 13 : 463-494.

Cai, G.-q. and Zhang, N.-z. (1981): On mamma-

lian fauna in Medog region, Xizang. In Liu, D.-s. (Ed.

in chief). Proceedings of Symposium on Quinghai-

Xizang (Tibet) Plateau (Beijing, China). Vol. 2.

Environment and ecology of Quinghai-Xizang

Plateau, pp. 1021-1026, 3 tabs. Beijing; New York.

Corbet, G. B. and Hill, J. E. (1980): A world

list of mammalian species. 1st. ed. London; Ithaca.

(1986) : A world

list of mammalian species. 2nd. ed. London; New

York.

Dobson, G. E. (1872) : Brief descriptions of five

new species of Rhinolophine bats. /. Asiat. Soc.

Bengal 41(2): 336-338.

(1874) : List of Chiroptera inha-

biting the Khasia Hills, with description of new

ensis, since its measurements are distinctly

greater than for pearsonii ” and so revived it

as a distinct species, while Osgood (1932)

pointed out that the status of yunanensis was

uncertain, although later Ellerman & Morrison-

Scott (1951) and Sinha (1973) treated it as

a synonym of R. pearsonii. More recently the

name has been employed by Hill (1975) and

Lekagul & McNeely (1977) for specimens

from Thailand, and following these authors is

listed as a distinct and valid species by Corbet

& Hill (1980, 1986) and Honacki et al. (1982).

McFarlane & Blood (1986) also employed

yunanensis for specimens from northern

Thailand.

EN CES

species. J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal 43, (2) : 234-236.

(1876) : Monograph of the Asiatic

Chiroptera and catalogue of the species of bats in

the collection of the Indian Museum, Calcutta.

London.

(1878): Catalogue of Chiroptera

in the collection of the British Museum. London.

(1879) : Chiroptera. In Anderson,

J., Anatomical and zoological researches comprising

an account of the zoological results of the two ex-

peditions to Western Yunnan in 1868 and 1875: and

a monograph of the two cetacean genera Platanista

and Orcella. Part 1. Mammalia. London.

Ellerman, J. R. and Morrison-Scott, T. C. S.

(1951) : Checklist of Palaearctic and Indian mam-

mals 1758-1946. London.

Hill, J. E. (1975) : Taxonomic background,

systematic section, summary of taxonomic work,

bibliography, gazetteer. In CTNRC Staff, Hill, J. E.

and McNeely, J. A., The bats and bat’s parasites

of Thailand. U. S. Army Research and Develop-

ment Group Far East, Report No. FE-516-1 (Final

Report), pp. 3-40, 79-84.

Hinton, M. A. C. (1923): Bombay Natural His-

tory Society’s Mammal Survey of India, Burma and

Ceylon. Report No. 37. Nepal. J. Bombay nat. Hist.

Soc. 29: 399-428.

and Lindsay, H. M. (1927) :

Bombay Natural History Society’s Mammal Survey

of India, Burma and Ceylon. Report No. 41. Assam

17

2

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST . SOCIETY, Vol. 83 (, SUPPLEMENT )

and Mishmi Hills. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 31 :

383-403.

Honacki, J. H., Kinman, K. E. and Koeppl, J.

W. (1982) : Mammal species of the world. A taxo-

nomic and geographic reference. Lawrence, Kansas.

Horsfield, T. (1851): A catalogue of the Mam-

malia in the Museum of the Hon. East- India Com-

pany. London.

Khajuria, H., Chaturvedi, Y. and Ghoshal, D.

K. (1977): Catalogue Mammaliana. An annotated

catalogue of the type specimens of mammals in the

collections of the Zoological Survey of India. Rec.

Zool. Surv. 'India Misc. Pub. Occ. Pap. No. 7 : 1-44.

Lekagul, B. and McNeely, J. A. (1977) : Mammals

of Thailand. Bangkok.

McFarlane, D. A. and Blood, B. R. (1986):

Taxonomic notes on a collection of Rhinolophidae

(Chiroptera) from northern Thailand, with a des-

cription of a new subspecies of Rhinolophus robin-

soni. Z. Saugetierk. 51: 218-223, 2 figs.

Mell, R. (1922) : Beitrage zur Fauna Sinica. I.

Der Vertebra ten Sudchinas; Feldlisten und Feldnoten

der Sauger, Vogel, Reptilien, Batrachier. Arch. f.

Naturgesch. 88, sect. A, No. 10: 1-134, 1 fig., 4 pis.,

map.

Milne-Edwards, M. H. (1872): Recherches pour

servir a l’histoire naturelle des mammiferes compre-

nant des considerations sur la classification de ces

animaux. 2 vols. Paris.

Osgood, W. H. (1932) : Mammals of the Kelley-

Roosevelts and Delacour Asiatic Expeditions. Publ.

Field Mus. nat. Hist. Zool. Ser. 18: 193-339, 2 figs.,

2 pis., map.

Saha, S. S. (1980) : A supplementary note on some

mammals recently collected in Bhutan. J. Bombay

nat. Hist. Soc. (1979), 76: 155-156.

Shih, C. McA. (1930a): Preliminary report on

the mammals from Yaoshan, Kwangsi, collected by

the Yaoshan Expedition of Sun Yatsen University,

Canton, China. Bull. Dept. Biol. Sun. Yatsen Univ.

Canton No. 4: 1-10.

(1930b) : Note on the mammals

from south-western Hunan. Bull. Dept. Biol. Sun

Yatsen Univ. Canton No. 9: 1-4.

(1930c) : Further note on mammals

of Yaoshan, North-River, Kwangtung. Bull. Dept.

Biol. Sun Yatsen Univ. Canton No. 12: 1-8, 2 figs.

Sinha, Y. P. (1973): Taxonomic studies on the

Indian horseshoe bats of the genus Rhinolophus

Lacepede. Mammalia 37: 603-630, 1 fig., 9 tabs.

Thomas, O. (1898): On mammals collected by

Mr. J. D. La Touche at Kuatun, N. W. Fokien,

China. Proc. zool. Soc. Lond. 769-775.

(1923): On mammals from the

Li-Kiang Range, Yunnan, being a further collection

obtained by Mr. George Forrest. Ann. Mag. nat.

Hist. (9), 11: 655-663.

Wroughton, R. C. (1914): Bombay Natural His-

tory Society’s Mammal Survey of India, Burma and

Ceylon. Report No. 15. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc.

23: 282-301.

(1916) : Bombay Natural His-

tory Society’s Mammal Survey of India, Burma and

Ceylon. Report No. 26. Darjiling District. J. Bombay

nat. Hist. Soc. 24: 773-782.

18

CONSEQUENCES OF SEED DISPERSAL BY BIRDS :

A CASE STUDY FROM CENTRAL AMERICA

Henry F. Howe1 * *

( With a plate & six text-figures)

Introduction

Many ecological questions can only be

answered through an analysis of plant and

animal interactions. This is best recognized for

pollination. Because the vast majority of tropi-

cal angiosperms require animals for effective

fertilization (Bawa 1974), explanations of

floral biology require an understanding of

animal perception and behavior (Jones and

Little 1983). By comparison, the effective dis-

persal of viable seed is all but unexplored.

Thirty-five to 95% of tree and shrub species

in Old and New World tropical forests bear

fleshy fruits which vary enormously in size,

color, presentation, and structure (Howe and

Smallwood 1982). These fruits attract birds

and mammals, ranging in size from 10 to 107

grams, which may disseminate, digest, or sim-

ply destroy seeds (Howe 1986). Beyond bio-

geographic studies of long-distance dispersal

(Ridley 1930), and the classic natural history

of birds which scrape the seeds of parasitic

mistletoes onto the bark of host plants (e.g.

Darwin 1859, Davidar 1978), the ecological

implications of these vast arrays of fruit mor-

phology and frugivore function are virtually

unknown. Here I explore the local advantages

to bird dispersal of a New World nutmeg,

1 Program in Evolutionary Ecology and Behavior,

Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa

City. Iowa 52242, U.S.A.

Virola surinamensis (Rol.) Warb. (Myristica-

ceae), which are so decisive as to suggest that

certain vertebrate dispersal agents can be

critical for reproduction of canopy trees.

The objective of my study of Virola suri-

namensis seed dispersal is to explore the

mutual benefits gained by fruit-eating animals

and this common tree of the forest canopy.

The perspective is the study of the Virola

surinamensis “dispersal system,” or the Barro

Colorado population of trees and the animals

which disseminate, digest, or simply waste its

seeds. Each “focus” of field study bears on

two central questions. Do Virola surinamensis

trees secure the services of some fruit-eating

animals that have a far greater influence on

tree reproduction than others? If so, is depen-

dence on especially efficient dispersal agents

mandatory, or can Virola “make do” with

inefficient dispersal by a variety of species?

Answers have much to say about the possi-

bility of coevolution between plants and birds,

as well as for the implications of ecological

dependence for conservation of small forest

reserves.

One focus has been on “reliability” of

animal use of plants. “Reliability” implies

both frequency and effects of visits to plants

(Howe and Estabrook 1977). I document

which species ignore Virola fruits, which eat

them, and whether those that eat them are

or are not dispersal agents. The point is to

distinguish potentially reliable dispersal agents

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

from animals that digest seeds, and from “fruit

thieves” that consume edible pulp, but drop

seeds under the tree crown.

A second focus concerns tree competition

for dispersal agents. Some Virola trees secure

fruit removal, while others do not. Variations

in phenology, crop size, and the sizes and

rewards of fruits from different trees are ex-

plored to uncover the sources of intraspecific

differences in fruit removal. The rationale is

to pinpoint possible sources of natural selection

by dispersal agents through study of variation

in a correlate of plant fitness, seed removal

(see Maynard Smith 1978). Differential fruit

removal implies differential reproduction.

The third and last focus probes the conse-

quences of seed dispersal for seed and seedling

survival, and ultimately Virola recruitment.

Janzen (1970) and Connell (1971) hypothe-

size that insects or rodents find and eat seeds

or seedlings in aggregations under the crowns

of fruiting trees, but fail to find those scatter-

ed by animals. I confirm this “escape” hypo-

thesis for Virola surinamensis, and further

show that patterns of seed dissemination by

some birds are far more conducive to “seed

escape” than those of other species. A con-

tinuing study attempts to tease apart the rela-

tive importance of “seed escape” and chance

dissemination to edaphic conditions suitable

for germination and growth.

This short review highlights work in Central

America which undoubtedly has important

implications for many other “dispersal systems”

in the Old and New World tropics. Similar

details of natural history for a variety of other

dispersal systems will help ecologists and

managers understand how frugivory evolved,

and how tropical plants and animals can be

preserved. A tight bond of dependence bet-

ween plant and particular bird species makes

coevolution possible, whereas a loose bond

precludes coevolution (Howe 1984a). Perhaps

of more immediate concern, the degree of

ecological dependence between plants and birds

also has consequences for refuge management

(Howe 1984b). Natural reserves without a key

dispersal agent may doom one or more tree

species to local extinction, just as reserves

lacking a key fruiting tree are unlikely to

support birds or mammals dependent on it for

a critical food resource.

Study Site

My collaborators and I have studied Virola

surinamensis dispersal since May 1979 at the

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute field

station on Barro Colorado Island (9°09'N,

79°51'W), Panama. This island of 15 square

kilometers was separated from the mainland

by the flooding of Gatun Lake during the

building of the Panama Canal in 1914. Appro-

ximately two square kilometers on the top of

the island are a flat basaltic cap; the remain-

der is heavily dissected with ravines. The 25

Virola surinamensis trees discussed here are

scattered throughout a 23 hectare study area

in remnants of Old Forest on these ravines

and surrounding ridges. The climate is that of

seasonal moist forest, with virtually all of the

annual rainfall of 2500 mm falling between

late April and mid December. Details of

climate and other physical and biotic features

of the Barro Colorado forest are explored in

Leigh et al (1982).

The Barro Colorado forest harbours nearly

400 species of trees (Croat 1978) and over

300 species of birds and mammals (Enders

1935, Willis 1980). Nearly half of the island,

cleared and occupied by workmen during the

canal construction, is now covered with

advanced second growth forest. The other half

is mature “old forest,” thought to be at least

20

SEED DISPERSAL BY BIRDS

450 years in age (Foster and Brokaw 1982).

Some insectivorous birds have become extinct

since the formation of the Panama Canal

(Willis 1974), but no frugivorous birds known

to eat Virola are known to have disappeared

in recent decades. Most families of frugivorous

birds (e.g. Cotingidae, Cracida, Picidae,

Psittacidae, Ramphastidae) and mammals

(e.g. Cebidae, Mustelidae, Phyllostomatidae,

Procyonidae, Tapiridae) with members large

enough to eat Virola fruits are well-represented.

Background natural history

Virola surinamensis is a dioecious tree of

moist and wet forests from Costa Rica and

Panama south to the Guianas and Brazil, with

disjunct populations in the Antilles (Croat

1978). This is a canopy species, with repro-

ductives ranging from 19-80 cm dbh and 14-34

m in height. Fruits fit the classic avian dis-

persal syndrome (van der Pijl 1972). A fibrous

capsule dehisces in the morning to expose the

unit of dispersal, a grey seed c. 2 cm

long by 1.5 cm wide, surrounded by a bril-

liant red laciniate aril 1 mm thick (Plate I;

Table 1). Individual trees may be found with

fruits during any month of the year, but the

Table 1

Generic components of Virola surinamensis fruit

parts. The sample consists of 20 fruits from a

TREE FELLED BY WIND. VALUES ARE FOR DRY MASSES

Carbo-

Mass Ash Protein Lipid hydrate* Energy

* Nonstructural carbohydrate.

From Howe and Vande Kerckhove (1981).

greater majority bear fruit between March and

September, with a distinct peak in July or

August. Crops of individual trees are mode-

rate in size, always falling at the lower end

of a continuum of animal-dispersed plants in

this forest from the rodent-dispersed Gustavia

superba (Lecythidaceae) with only a dozen or

so compound fruits of 5-50 seeds (Sork 1985),

to bird- and mammal-dispersed figs (Ficus;

Moraceae) with hundreds of thousands of

fruits, each containing hundreds to thousands

of seeds (Morrison 1978, Wiebes 1979). As a

population, Virola surinamensis bears fruit

each year. As individuals, some trees of this

species bear fruits each year, while others

miss one or two years in five.

The Barro Colorado forest harbours appro-

ximately 256 species of resident and migrant

birds and 55 species of mammals. Of these,

62 bird species and 18 mammal species eat

fruits (Willis 1980 and Enders 1935, respec-

tively). Spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) are

conspicuous visitors to the trees, and were

once thought to be the principal dispersal

agents (White 1974). More careful observa-

tions show that eight bird species also visit the

trees regularly, including the Black-crested

Guan (Penelope purpurascens) , Slaty-tailed

Trogon ( Trogon massena ), Rufous Motmot

( Baryphthengus martii), Collared Aracari

( Pteroglossus torquatus ), Chestnut-mandibled

Toucan ( Ramphastos swainsonii). Keel-billed

Toucan ( R . sulfuratus), and Masked Tityra

(Tityra semifasciata ) (Howe and Vande Kerck-

hove 1981). Perhaps most notable, several large

and abundant frugivores are never seen eating

Virola surinamensis fruits. For instance, Willis

(1980) estimates 250 Purple-throated Fruit-

crows (Querula querula; 110 g) on the island;

one to three pairs were always present in the

Virola study area. Milton (1977) reports 1200

largely frugivorous Howler Monkeys

21

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

( Allouatta palliata: 5-8 kg) on Barro Colorado

Island; at least three troops with a total of

30-45 animals were always in and near the

Virola study site. Yet neither of these species,

nor several other large and conspicuous frugi-

vores, were ever seen eating Virola surinam-

ensis fruits in the course of seven years of field

study.

Frugivores swallow the seed and aril, and

normally regurgitate (most species) or defecate

( Ateles , Penelope) the seed intact. Seeds fall

to the forest floor and germinate in two or

three weeks. Many seeds are eaten by mam-

mals; weevils ( Conotrachelus New Species;

Curculionidae) oviposit on others as the radicle

penetrates the seed coat, resulting in destruc-

tion of the seed by the larvae (Plate I).

Seedlings drop the seed coat at about 12

weeks of age, and persist as surpressed juve-

niles 10-15 cm high until a tree fall or branch

fall allows light to reach the forest floor.

Seedlings and saplings are moderately common

in the preferred habitat of steep ravines and

streamsides, but are rare in the immediate

vicinity of fruiting adults.

Animal visitors

An initial objective of the Virola study is

to determine which animal visitors were relia-

ble dispersal agents, and which are not. A

“reliable” dispersal agent is one that consis-

tently disseminates viable seeds to sites suitable

for germination and growth (Howe and

Estabrook 1977). The first step in assessing

reliability is to distinguish vertebrate visitors

that actually disperse seeds from those that

either digest them or drop them under the

fruiting tree. A second step is to ensure that

intact seeds dropped by different animals are

actually viable.

Observations of the activities of dispersal

agents are subject to several biases which make

much of the published literature uninterpret-

able. Casual observations rarely reflect actual

visitation frequencies; even extensive notes

gathered without a systematic method favor

large or raucous animals over silent foragers

(see Table 2 in Howe 1980). Even more mis-

leading, extensive documentation of animal

diets rarely suggests the relative importance

of different dispersal agents, from the plant

perspective. For instance, a primatologist that

follows one monkey species from tree to tree

may have a false impression that it is a prin-

cipal dispersal agent of the plant, when other

birds or mammals actually remove more viable

seeds or take them to sites more favorable

for germination and growth.

Quantitative data have their own biases.

Censuses, timed throughout the day or night,

can provide comparable quantitative data for

several to many individual trees over several

years with a minimum of effort. Even careful

censuses, however, disproportionately list frugi-

vores with long visits over those that stay

only a short time (Howe 1980). Unless the

number of fruits eaten bears a constant rela-

tion to visit time, for all species foraging in

the tree, a census cannot estimate relative im-

portance of different dispersal agents to a tree

species. Finally, extended watches of select trees

permits an evaluation of frequency of fruit

use by different animal species, and allows

an observer to tabulate the numbers of fruits

consumed, dropped, regurgitated, or defecated

for visits by each frugivore. But such obser-

vations are so time-consuming that only a few

trees can be watched; frugivores that visit

some trees may ignore others of the same

species. Finally, observations at the beginning

or end of a season often distort interpretations

because visitors common during some months

are entirely absent in others (Howe 1977). A

22

■: 1

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83 (supplement)

Howe: Seed dispersal by birds

Plate I

Above left : Virola surinamensis fruit at dehiscence. Above right : Keel-billed Toucan

( Ramphastos sulfuratus). Below left : Conotrachelus weevil on germinating V. surina-

mensis seed. Below right: Fatal damage of Conotrachelus larva on V. surinamensis

seed 8 weeks after fruit fall. See Howe et al. (1985).

SEED DISPERSAL BY BIRDS

“reliable” dispersal agent must be consistent

throughout a season, as well as from one

season to another.

Birds and mammals visiting Virola Surinam -

ensis trees were evaluated with a combination

of extended observations and censuses.

Watches of five hours duration documented

frugivore activity in detail at a limited number

of trees; censuses allowed comparisons of dis-

perser assemblages across years.

Extended watches during 1979 involved 40

hours of observation in five hour blocks at

each of eight trees. Observations at each tree

were between 0600 and 1100 hours in the

morning, and were spaced throughout the

fruiting season. Two observers alternated five

hour blocks. Censuses involved 15-30 second

scans of Virola crowns with binoculars. Each

census walk took one hour, covered 1.5 km,

involved 19-22 fruiting trees, and were under-

taken between early June and late August in

1979, 1980, 1981, and 1982. Five hours bet-

ween 0600 and 1700 were randomly selected

for each day from a random-number table

(Rohlf and Sokal 1969); these censuses were

walked two days each week.

Extended watches during daylight hours

revealed that only seven of 62 frugivorous

birds, and one of 18 frugivorous mammals,

consistently ate Virola surinamensis fruits

(Table 2). Trees were devoid of animals for

most of the day, but experienced heavy use

early in the morning and during periodic spates

of activity (Fig. 1). Extended watches in the

morning sample the period of greatest use of

Virola trees by animals, although censuses later

Table 2

Number of frugivores observed eating Virola surinamensis fruits. Censuses involved 180 rounds

of 19 trees (3420 scans); watches included 40 h of observacion at each of 8 trees (320 h)

* Distributions of sightings from the two methods differ (Z2 = 37.7, 7 df, P < 0.005).

From Howe and Vande Kerckhove (1981).

23

Visits (n)

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

Crested Guan

20

0

Slaty-tailed Trogon

Rufous Mot mot

Chest nut -mandibled

Toucan

Keel-billed Toucan

6 8 10

Time of Day (am)

Fig. 1. Visitation times of eight common frugivores seen foraging at

Virola surinamensis during 40 h of observation at each of eight trees.

(Howe and Vande Kerckhove 1981).

24

SEED DISPERSAL BY BIRDS

Table 3

Relative contributions to dispersal and waste of arillate seeds handled by frugivores visiting

Virola trees. “Waste” includes seeds dropped under tree crowns as well as those facing inevitable

MORTALITY IN FECAL CLUMPS OF MONKEYS (SEE TEXT)

* Includes seeds dropped as well as those doomed to sibling competition in droppings,

f Estimated number of seeds dispersed = number of droppings = number of seeds removed/number of seeds

per dropping.

From Howe and Vande Kerckhove (1981).

showed that some activity extends through the

afternoon and into the evening hours.

Rate of fruit consumption and waste per

visit could be tabulated when a visitor was

in continuous view from entry to departure.

These complete records show the peril of

treating visits of different species as equiva-

lent, from the plant perspective (Table 3).

For instance, two large toucans, the Chestnut-

mandibled and Keel-billed, had equivalent

visitation rates but different rates of fruit re-

moval. Because the larger Chestnut-mandibled

Toucan foraged methodically and often ate

one to five fruits in a visit, while the smaller

and peripatetic Keeled -bill Toucan rarely ate

more than one or at most two fruits per visit,

the large bird was nearly four times as likely

to remove Virola seeds as the smaller. Chest-

nut-mandibled Toucans did not actively chase

smaller species, as they do at some other

species of trees (Howe 1977, 1981; see Pratt

1983). Likewise spider monkeys once thought

to be primary dispersal agents of this tree,

actually ate few seeds and knocked down

more than they consumed (cf. White 1974).

One small cotinga, the Masked Tityra, was a

“fruit thief” because it peeled off arils without

consuming or otherwise removing seeds. The

large size of the fruit undoubtedly limited the

tityra’s ability to swallow the seeds. This bird

is an effective dispersal agent of the much

smaller-seeded Virola sebifera (Howe 1981)

and of other small-seeded trees (Howe 1977,

Howe and De Steven (1979).

Censuses revealed the same assemblage of

dispersal agents, throughout the day and

season for four years (Table 4). A compari-

son of watch and census data for 1979 shows

that visitors which snatch one seed at a time

are under-represented in census data (e.g.

trogons and motmots), while monkeys that

forage slowly, rest, and even sleep in the trees

25

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

Table 4

Table 5

Annual differences in census counts of

frugivores at 19-23 V. surinamensis trees

(standardized to 3400 tree checks each)*

Annual differences at night census counts at

twenty-two V. surinamensis trees (standardized

at 308 tree checks)

Number of sightings Frugivore Number of sightings

* From 1980 to 1982, 4 trees were added to the 19

censused in 1979.

** Not dispersal agents.

Augmented from Howe (1983).

are over-represented (Table 2). Annual varia-

tion in assemblage character can be seen in

comparing census data from one year to the

next. Of special note is the addition of white-

faced monkeys ( Cebus capuchinus) from 1980

through 1982. This species is a fruit thief

when it nips the base of the aril and drops

the seed, and is a “seed predator” when it

peels and discards the aril and eats the seed.

White-faced monkeys are apparently not con-

sistent dispersal agents of Virola surinamensis.

Night censuses were also conducted between

1930 and 2100 hours, at the peak of nocturnal

frugivore activity (Glanz 1982), with an elec-

tric spotlight and binoculars. Nocturnal acti-

vity was negligible during two years, but sub-

stantial during 1980 and 1982 (Table 5). Of

the four species of nocturnal mammals seen,

only the kinkajou (Procyonidae) was a fre-

quent visitor.

* Not dispersal agents.

Augmented from Howe (1983).

All members of this disperser assemblage

defecate or regurgitate viable seeds, except

the white-faced monkey. Seeds covered with

an aril rot in the field, as they do on top of

the soil in a screened growing house (Table

6). Those with arils removed by me or by

regular dispersal agents germinate. Seeds are

not scarified, but they must be free of a moldy

aril to germinate.

Table 6

Germination of Virola surinamensis processed and

NOT PROCESSED BY FRUGIVORES

* Observed for 15 wk; germination occurred in 2-3

wk.

From Howe and Vande Kerckhove (1981).

26

SEED DISPERSAL BY BIRDS

Finally, field observations give some hints

as to the disposition of seeds. Birds which

have eaten Virola fruits generally fly to a

non-fruiting tree nearby, where the aril is

stripped and the seed regurgitated in 10-25

minutes (most species) or defecated in 30-45

minutes (guans). Perch sites vary in distance

from fruiting Virola trees (Table 7). Smaller

from fruiting trees. Other species are potential

dispersal agents, but are less reliable from

the plant perspective because they eat relative-

ly few fruits, are wasteful foragers (i.e. spider

monkeys), drop seeds near Virola crowns

(motmots, trogons), or defecate seeds in large

piles from which few or none survive (kinka-

jous). In the Barro Colorado forest, three large

Table 7

Minimum estimates of the percentages of seeds dropped by birds at different distances from Virola

surinamensis trees

* Each carry refers to a seed taken from a tree to some point at which it is regurgitated (most birds)

or defecated (i.e, guans).

Augmented from Howe and Vande Kerckhove (1981).

trogons and motmots leave approximately

80% within 20 m of the feeding tree, whereas

much larger guans and toucans take at least

half > 40 m away. Spider monkeys scatter

seeds widely in groups of two to four per

dropping. Kinkajous defecate viable seeds, but

often leave them in heaps directly under

hollow tree cavities where they sleep during the

day. Four years of observations at one such

hollow showed >> 500 Virola seeds each

season, but no seedlings; all seeds were killed

by insects and rodents as they germinated.

In sum, only a small proportion of fruit-

eating animals on Barro Colorado Island eats

Virola fruits. Of these, only the Chestnut-

mandibled Toucan is both a consistent visitor

and takes most seeds a substantial distance

birds are the best potential dispersal agents

and only one, the Chestnut-mandibled Toucan,

actually does the job well.

Competition for dispersal agents

Dispersal agents are in limited supply if

many fruits remain undispersed; differences in

fruit removal among plant species suggest that

some compete for fruit-eating animals better

than others (McKey 1975). Similarly, a high

variance in number or proportion of fruits

removed from trees of the same species sug-

gests that some individuals vie more effec-

tively for dispersal agents than others (Howe

and Estabrook 1977). To determine the likely

sources of natural selection, one must evaluate

27

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

sources of variance in dispersal. This distin-

guishes chance differences in fruit removal

from those which might be under the control

of parent trees, and consequently subject to

natural selection.

An evaluation of “dispersal success” re-

quires estimates of both the number of fruits

produced and the number removed by ani-

mals for each Virola surinamensis individual

(see Howe 1980, Howe and Vande Kerckhove

1981). These estimates were achieved from

1979 through 1983 with 1 m2 fruit traps con-

structed of plastic (PVC) tubing, with plastic

insect netting fastened to a square frame with

nylon fishing monofilament. Each square was

raised off of the ground 0.5 to 1 m, depend-

ing on topography. Traps were placed in a

randomized design (coordinates chosen from a

random number table; Rohlf and Sokal 1969)

in quarter circle sampling areas under each

tree crown, where the radius of the circle (r)

was the distance from the trunk to the crown

edge. A sum of four sample areas, each 0.25

t t r2, defined the total area under of crown of

each tree. One to 10 fruits traps were random-

ly assigned to each quarter, with the intention

of sampling 10% of the crown area. In prac-

tice, 12±4% S.D. of the crown areas actually

were sampled with 5-18 (10±4 S.D.) traps

per tree. A unique estimate of individual fruit

production is possible by dividing the number

of items (e.g. capsules or seeds) caught by

the proportion of the crown sampled (e.g. 507

capsules /0. 125).

Fruit traps sample empty capsules and un-

dispersed seeds that fall directly under the tree

crowns. The difference between the two esti-

mates the number of seeds taken away. Capsule

debris shows that individual Virola surinam-

ensis trees produce as few as 100 to more

than 30,000 fruits in a season, with the median

individual crop ranging from 2,000 to 8,600

Table 8

Annual variation in fruit production at

V. surinamensis trees

Augmented from Howe (1983).

(Table 8). Such fecundity is much lower than

that of many forest trees, such as figs ( Ficus ),

but apparently satiates available dispersal

agents; only 40 to 65% of the fruits in this

population are removed by animals in a given

year (Table 9). A plot of census data (pre-

Table 9

Annual variation in the percentage of fruits

taken from 15 V. surinamensis trees

Year Range Mean (± S.D.)

Augmented from Howe (1983).

vious section) against individual production

over the 1979 season suggests one reason why

fruits are wasted; the number of individual

birds and mammals censused at a tree in-

creases with its crop size (r2 = 0.62,

P < 0.0005), but the number of species does

not (P>0. 1). Unlike some trees with smaller

fruits (e.g. Casearia, Howe and Vande Kerck-

hove 1979; Tetragastris, Howe 1980), Virola

28

SEED DISPERSAL BY BIRDS

surinamensis does not have a virtually infinite

assemblage of potential dispersal agents to

draw upon. Census data show that large and

small trees use the same small “gallery of

connoisseurs,” and fruit traps suggest that this

limited coterie of species often has more fruits

available than can be consumed.

Data from fruit traps also suggest intense

competition for dispersers among trees within

the Virola population (Table 9). As many as

91% or at few as 13% of the fruits are taken

by animals, leaving 9% to 87% directly under

the tree crown. Five or six times the percentage

of fruits taken from some trees are taken from

others, sometimes in the same stand. Average

removal is low enough to indicate disperser

limitation, while variance in removal is high

enough to suggest active competition for dis-

persal agents. If consistent over the lives of

these trees, such differences would translate

into a differential dispersal success of tens or

even hundreds of thousands of seeds.

Trees with large crops virtually always dis-

perse more seeds than those with small ones,

indicating an ultimate numerical advantage in

high fecundity within a tree population (Howe

and Vande Kerckhove 1981). But small trees

grow into large ones; the lifetime dispersal of

a tree is the sum of the proportion of fruits

taken in each season multiplied by the number

of fruits available in each season. An evalua-

tion of the proportional advantage in fruit

removal that some plants have over others of

their species provides a glimpse into differen-

tial reproduction during a five-year time frame.

Firstly, crop size does not influence the pro-

portion of fruits removed by animals. If birds

had difficulty finding small trees and easily

found large ones, the proportion of fruits

taken should increase with crop size. If birds

had difficulty finding small plants and were

satiated at large ones, a curvilinear relation-

ship between proportion taken and crop size

would exist. Neither a linear nor curvilinear

relationship holds, or even approaches statisti-

cal significance (Howe 1983). Whatever in-

fluences proportional dispersal is independent

of individual crop sizes.

Secondly, the nutrient content of arils does

not influence dispersal. Tremendous variation

does occur from tree to tree in the nutritive

content of arils (Table 10). But none of these

Table 10

Percentage of aril components for individual

Virola surinamensis trees, in percent dry mass*

26.2-29.5 kJ/g (27.9±0.8).

From Howe and Vande Kerckhove (1981).

differences are significantly correlated with the

proportion of or the absolute number of fruits

taken from different trees (Howe 1983). These

results might reflect coarse techniques that in-

volve composite analyses of several arils from

each tree. Results are so overwhelmingly nega-

tive, however, that it seems safe to conclude

that birds simply do not discriminate intra-

specific differences in aril composition, or that

their discrimination is so subtle that it is easily

obscured by other sources of variance in the

data (see Sorensen 1981). My colleagues and

I have noticed that spider monkeys ( Ateles )

consistently smell and reject more than half of

the fresh fruits that they encounter, and Virola

arils from some trees are far too astringent for

29

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

me to eat (Howe and Vande Kerckhove 1981).

This fruit is apparently protected against some

primates, which are often exceedingly wasteful

foragers (Howe 1980). Possibly, volatile com-

pounds not analyzed in the laboratory would

account for some variation in fruit removal

by birds (see Sorensen 1983).

Finally, birds might discriminate between

trees with different investments in edible aril,

as compared with bulky and indigestible seeds.

Birds are aerodynamically stressed if they

must carry much more than 5% of their body

weight, and indigestible Virola seeds averaging

3-4 g in weight would seem to be unwelcome

ballast. In fact, Virola seeds vary four-fold in

weight; 78% of this variance is attributable

to differences between trees, and 22% is attri-

butable to differences within trees (Howe and

Richter 1982). A plot of the proportion of

fruits removed against the average weight of

aril plus seed from different trees shows a

clear negative correlation; dispersal agents

tend to avoid trees with heavy fruits (Fig. 2).

A further test shows that the proportion of

fuits taken is strongly correlated with the

average ratio of aril to seed for a sample of

trees (Fig. 3A), and is negatively correlated

with the mean weight of seeds from indivi-

dual trees (Fig. 3B). For the year shown,

the aril/ seed ratio accounted for 52% of the

variation in dispersal success. Dispersal agents

are capable of assessing the profitability, or

the energy benefit as contrasted with the

energy cost, of eating Virola fruits from

different trees.

The question arises whether this potential

for selection on trees is consistent from year

to year. A repeated analysis confirms that

differential fruit removal occurs, but differs in

magnitude (Table 11). Highly significant cor-

relations between proportion taken and the

aril/seed ratio occurred during 1979 and 1983,

Table 1 1

Correlation of proportion of seeds removed and

THE RATIO OF ARIL TO SEED WEIGHT IN

V. surinamensis

* 2 tail test.

when Virola surinamensis crops were small

(medians under 2,500 fruits per tree)

and fruits were scarce in the population. Less

significant results were obtained for other

years, when Virola fruits were more plentiful.

This implies that dispersal agents seek out

the “best” trees when fruits are scarce, but do

not bother to find them when fruits are super-

abundant in the forest. This interpretation

gathers support from an ad hoc analysis of

fruit depletion in 1980 and 1981, when weak

correlations existed between fruit removal and

the aril/seed ratio. Trees bearing fruit early in

those seasons, when fruit was generally scarce,

showed a strong positive correlation between

dispersal and aril/ seed ratio; the same trees

lost those correlations in mid and late season

when fruits were far more common (Howd

1983). Apparently, Virola trees are potentially

under selection by dispersal agents when fruits

are scarce but not when fruits are common,

whether the time scale is an entire season or

simply a few weeks of dearth. But there is no

particular advantage to large aril or small seed

size when fruits are so superabundant that

birds need not travel far to find them.

In sum, natural variation in dispersal suc-

cess can in part be explained by fruit charac-

30

Seeds Removed (%)

SEED DISPERSAL BY BIRDS

100 “

80 -

60 »

40 “

S

*

§

r=-.675 p < .002

“n — " —

2.5 3.0 3.5

Arillate Seed Wt. (g)

Fig. 2. Seeds taken by animals plotted against the mean dry weight of seed plus

aril (Howe and Vande Kerckhove 1981).

31

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

teristics. Birds sensitive to weight avoid heavy

fruits when they must fly substantial distances

to feed. Under such conditions of scarcity,

they prefer Virola trees with an unusually

high ratio of nutritious pulp to seed ballast.

Other sources of variance on which selection

might act are not yet clear. Proximity of

productive neighbors can sometimes depress

fruit removal (Manasse and Howe 1983), and

highly destructive monkeys can obscur rela-

tionships which might otherwise show through

(Howe 1983). At present, however, neighbor-

hood effects and monkey depredations are best

considered stochastic effects on fruit removal.

Consequences of seed dispersal

What are the consequences of frugivory by

different dispersal agents for Virola surinam-

ensis reproduction? Most visitors regurgitate

or defecate viable seeds (Table 6), but tend

to drop them at different distances from fruit-

ing Virola trees (Table 7). Do small differ-

ences in dispersal distance have consequences

for seedling establishment and growth, as

Janzen (1970) and Connell (1971) speculated?

Natural seed fall in Virola surinamensis is,

as is typical of other plants in central Panama

(Augspurger 1983), characterized by high

and variable densities of seeds under fruiting

trees, and very low densities beyond the edge

of the tree crown (Fig. 4). A rain of seeds

untouched or knocked down by animals

ensures that seed densities under the crown

can be over 1000 times as high as densities

only 10 metres from the base of a tree. In

fact, seed fall beyond the crown can only be

estimated with sampling wedges (10°) that

dramatically increase the area sampled as one

moves away from a tree; the dilution of seeds

that occurs at a rate of t r r2 as one moves

radially from a central point makes scattered

seeds very difficult to find. The natural seed

fall in this species offers ample potential for

devastating insect or rodent attacks on densely

clumped seeds or newly germinated seedlings.

The far lower densities even a few metres from

the trunk might, as Janzen (1970) suspected,

make local dispersal extremely important. The

question asked here is, simply, whether a seed

dropped directly under a Virola crown has a

different probability of survival than one drop-

ped at some specified distance away.

The “seed escape” hypothesis was tested

with experimental plantings of seeds, germi-

nating seeds, and established seedlings at 5,

15, 25, 35, and 45 m from trunks of fruiting

Virola trees. Practical considerations prevented

one “clean” experiment. Rates of seed and

early seedling death were so high that 250,000

seed plantings would have been required to

produce as few as 500 yearlings. As an alter-

native, my colleagues and I placed three co-

horts in randomly chosen spots on circles at

each distance. The first placement, in 1982,

involved 3,400 seeds in groups of 40 scattered

on each of the five circles, for each of 17

female trees. Forty seeds at five metres

around each of 13 male Virola trees (a total

of 400 seeds) provided a partial control for

possible effects of inevitably higher densities

of experimental seeds in small circles under

females. Males do not normally have seeds

under or near them. Another planting of seeds

germinated in a screened growing house was

made at six weeks in 1983. Space in the grow-

ing house reduced this sample to 2,000 ger-

minating seeds, which were placed in sets of

25 on the perimeters established in 1982 for

13 females and 15 males. The experiment was

repeated for fully established 12 week old

seedlings in 1984, using 25 plants for each

perimeter at 7 female and 7 male trees. In

each year, plants were checked each two weeks

after planting.

32

SEED DISPERSAL BY BIRDS

Overall, this series of experiments provide

a dramatic confirmation of the prediction that

local dispersal should help seeds escape dis-

proportionate mortality near parent trees.

Fewer than 20% of the seeds survive the first

six weeks, ranging from < 4% under the

crowns to 16% at 45 m (Fig. 5). During the

second experiment, survival was 1% under the

crown and approximately 11% at 45 m (Fig.

6). Overall, over 99% of the seeds and seed-

lings die within the first 12 weeks after fruit

fall. Even with such high overall mortality,

A

100

75

E

*o

<D

</)

Q. 50

</)

'S

(/>

■u

0)

w 25

*

o -f- — s 1 — r-

0 02 0.4 0.6

there is a 10 fold advantage to dispersal only

15 m, as compared with 5 m, and more than

a 40 fold advantage to dispersal 45 m.

Mortality under female trees is far higher

than that under male controls. In 1983, as

many seeds survived to 12 weeks 5 m from

males as survived 45 m from females. This

suggests that effects of aggregating seeds under

trees in the experimental design are minor

compared clumping produced by natural seed

fall (Fig. 4).

Major sources of mortality include inges-

B

• ••

1“ —i 1 r"

0 1.5 2.0 2.5

Aril wt/seed wt Seed wt (g)

Fig. 3. (A) Strong positive correlation of the proportion of seeds taken from

individual trees and the mean ration of dry aril to dry seed weight at each tree

(r = 0.71, P<0.001). (B) Strong negative correlation between the proportion of seeds

taken and seed dry weight (r= -0.77, P< 0.0002). See Howe and Vande Kerckhove

(1980).

33

3

SEEDS PER 10 METER

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

150 —

100 —

CM

weevil, which oviposites on seeds from germi-

nation at 2-3 weeks through 8-10 weeks of age.

This is easily seen during the first two weeks

after fruit fall, when nearly half of the seeds are

eaten by mammals, with no noticeable effect

of distance from the fruiting trees (Fig. 5).

Dramatic effects of distance are evident from

J TWO WEEKS

: + + + + +

30

25

20

L -p r — — r r

0-3 12-15 27-30 42-45

METERS FROM TRUNK

Fig. 4. Natural seed fall around five fruiting Virola

surinamensis trees. Seeds were sampled over 2 wk

for each tree by randomly directed wedges encom-

passing 707 m2. Means ± 1 standard error. See

Howe et al. (1985).

tion by mammals, such as paca ( Agouti paca)

and deer ( Dama virginiana), and larval feed-

ing by a curculionid weevil ( Conotrachelus ,

new species; Plate I). During the first 12

weeks, approximately half of the mortality is

attributable to mammals, and half to the

weevils. Interestingly, disproportionate morta-

lity near fruiting trees is almost all due to the

15

12 -| FOUR WEEKS

. +

8 H

4

SIX WEEKS

8

6

4

2

0 T

+

t r

+ +

— t r t r r

5 15 25 35 45

DISTANCE FROM TREE (m)

Fig. 5. Survival as a consequence of distance from

17 fruiting Virola surinamensis trees during the first

6 wk after fruit drop. Two hundred freshly fallen

seeds were placed in concentric rings around each

tree, with 40 seeds per ring per tree. Means ± 1

standard error. Patterns are significant at four weeks

(F = 5.96, P < 0.0005) and six weeks (F = 9. 02,

P <0.0001). See Howe et al (1985).

34

NO. SURVIVING SEEDLINGS

SEED DISPERSAL BY BIRDS

4-12 weeks, when Virola seeds and young

seedlings are vulnerable to Conotrachelus. A

more detailed investigation shows that mam-

0

EIGHT WEEKS

4 -

+

2 -

+

TEN WEEKS

o J r

5 15 25 35 45

DISTANCE FROM TREE (m)

Fig. 6. Survival as a consequence of distance from

13 fruiting Virola surinamensis trees. One hundred

and twenty-five germinating seeds 6 wk after fruit

drop were placed around each tree in the design

used for Fig. 4, but with 25 seeds per ring per tree.

Means ± 1 standard error. Patterns are significant

at each age (Friedman’s tests; X2V— 11.9, 27.7, and

16.6, all 4 df, all P < 0.02 or better). See Howe

et al. (1985).

mals, if anything, eat more seeds and seedlings

away from Virola trees than under them

(Howe et al 1985). There is no evidence that

rodents bury these seeds. Seedlings are not

found pushing up from the subsoil, and piles

of seed dust testify to direct consumption.

Some rodents thought to play a major role in

seed dispersal, such as the agouti ( Dasyprocta

punctata ; see Janzen 1970), eat Virola suri-

namensis arils, but neither eat nor transport

the seeds (Larson and Howe, in press).

While early seed and seedling mortality show

a 40 fold advantage to short-distance seed

dispersal away from fruiting trees, patterns of

survival and mortality after independence from

parental seed stores show no such advantage.

Approximately 60% of the 12 week old seed-

lings planted in concentric rings around fruit-

ing Virola trees in 1984 died within six

months; within 12 months 70% were dead.

This mortality appears to be random with

respect to distance from fruiting trees, although

markedly non-random with respect to light

and edaphic conditions within the forest ravines

inhabited by the species. For instance, seed-

lings surviving the first dry season were those

planted on steep slopes (36±13° S.D.). This

might indicate intolerance of desiccation; Run-

dell and Becker (manuscript) find higher water

stress in seedlings on flat than steeply sloping

ground. Similarly, this species is shade tole-

rant, but grows best under a broken canopy

(Howe et al 1985). The combined effects of

slope, light, and death or decapitation by

browsers are currently under investigation.

In short, a strong early advantage to escape

from high seed and seedling densities does

favor local seed dissemination by birds. Be-

cause toucans carry seeds further than small

trogons or motmots, the larger birds are from

the plant perspective four to 40 times as

effective as the smaller species. This effect is

35

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

entirely due to devastating attacks by weevils

that infest otherwise viable seeds and seedlings

under and near fruiting Virol a trees during

the first few weeks after fruit fall.

General Discussion

Mutually beneficial interactions between

plants and animals may or may not be obli-

gate, may or may not result from coevolution

of particular plant and animal taxa, and may

or may not have consequences for tropical

forest conservation and management. If only

because it is better known than others, the

Virola surinamensis dispersal system does offer

insights into general issues likely to be impor-

tant in other relationships between plants and

fruit-eating animals.

The Virola Dispersal System

The three foci of this investigation each

have implications for other dispersal systems

in the Old and New Worlds.

First, fruiting trees may depend upon, and

perhaps be important for, a small proportion

of the total frugivore fauna in a given tropical

forest. Though it produces one of the most

energy-rich arils known, Virola surinamensis

consistently attracts only seven of 80 (9%)

potential dispersal agents on Barro Colorado

Island. Some birds, such as manakins (Pipri-

dae) weighing 12-20 g, are simply too small

to swallow the fruits. That size is not the key

issue is clear from the fact that the much

smaller seeded Virola sebifera attracts the same

frugivores in the same forest (Howe 1981).

Many mammals eat fruits, but the most abun-

dant fruit-eating monkeys and bats in the

Barro Colorado forest shun Virola. Whether

this is due to inaccessibility or to chemical

defenses against wasteful foragers is not known.

Whatever the reasons that 90% of the availa-

ble frugivores always or usually ignore Virola

fruits, the plant and its small “gallery of con-

noisseurs” show a certain degree of speciali-

zation.

On closer examination, frugivore use of

Virola is even more particular. On the average,

half of each Virola crop drops underneath

the fruiting trees and is killed by insects or

mammals, and half is scattered through the

forest. Over half of the seeds transported more

than 15 or 20 m are taken by two large

toucans or a guan, or by wasteful spider mon-

keys. Of these relatively regular dispersal

agents, only one large toucan ( Ramp hast os

swainsonii) both takes a large proportion of

the fruits eaten by animals (35%), and habi-

tually carries a large proportion of those that

it eats (60%) more than 20 m from the trees.

On Barro Colorado Island, observations of the

feeding activity of frugivores suggest that

Virola surinamensis is at least potentially de-

pendent on this toucan species. Similar depen-

dence on one or two dispersers has been

inferred for other Central American trees

(Howe 1977, 1980, 1981; Greenberg 1981),

but the numerical evidence for Virola suri-

namensis is much more complete.

Secondly, Virola trees compete for dispersal

agents. The proportion of fruits that are not

disseminated by any animal varies annually

from 35 to 60%, and in any given year the

failure of different trees may range from 9 to

87%. Much of this variation is unexplained,

especially during years of fruit superabun-

dance. But in lean years as much as 60% of

this variation can be explained by the mean

ratio of edible aril to indigestible seed of in-

dividual trees, and by proximity of heavily

fruiting neighbors (Howe 1983). Variation in

individual dispersal occurs in other trees, such

as Casearia corymbosa (Howe and Vande

Kerckhove 1979), Tetragastris panamensis

36

SEED DISPERSAL BY BIRDS

(Howe 1980), and Virola sebifera (Howe

1981), but the components of variance re-

main unknown.

The influence of aril/ seed ratio on dispersal

is consistent with some theoretical expectations,

but is anomalous for others. As expected,

“seediness” counts. Foragers take more fruits

from trees with a high benefit in edible pulp

for the cost of carrying bulky seed ballast

than they do from others (see Herrera 1981).

Unexpectedly, this pattern shows up in years

or in portions of seasons in which Virola

fruits are scarce. Theory predicts that animals

favor the most “profitable” food (here with

the highest aril /seed ratio), the more common

it is (MacArthur 1972). The apparently

anomalous result is probably due to the fact

that fruit-eating birds face several contin-

gencies which most insect-eating birds, such as

the ones modelled by MacArthur, do tiot.

Accessibility of superabundant fruits overrides

inherent preferences in several small manakins

and tanagers (Moermond and Denslow 1983,

Levey et al. 1984), and probably accounts for

the lack of apparent selectivity by Virola

visitors when fruits are abundant. Birds must

often travel hundreds of metres from n£sts,

territories, or other food sources to feed in

the rare “best” trees; it is not worth their

while when Virola fruits are common. When

fruits are scarce, these same birds rapidly

deplete trees with the “best” aril/seed ratios,

and then forage for other foods. This inter-

pretation is consistent with the general view

that birds compete for fruits only during

times of scarcity (R. Foster 1982b,

Fleming 1979). Explicit tests of such hypo-

theses are only now becoming possible, as

foraging models become available which give

realistic weight to competition for fruits and

to long-distance foraging costs (Martin 1985).

Thirdly, some tropical trees are heavily

dependent on seed transport for normal

seedling recruitment. Disproportionate morta-

lity from pathogen attack clearly makes seed

dissemination by wind important for Platy -

podium recruitment (Augspurger 1983, Aug-

spurger and Kelly 1984), and a variety of

investigations of varying depth suggest the

same for animal dispersed species (see Clark

and Clark 1984). The Virola study is unique

in demonstrating a 40 fold advantage to local

dispersal by known seed vectors, and in sort-

ing out the various sources of mortality. While

mammals and weevils each account for half

of Virola seeds and young seedlings killed

shortly after fruitfall, only the insects have a

decisive effect on the advantage to seed escape

(see Janzen 1970, contra Connell 1971). In

Virola surinamensis , the 99.96% mortality of

seeds and seedlings directly under crowns of

fruiting trees makes it very unlikely that the

species could reproduce without dispersal

agents.

Implications for Coevolution

Many or even most angiosperms produce

fruits adapted for animal consumption, and

many birds and mammals eat fruits and dis-

seminate viable seeds. Do plants and particular

dispersal agents “coevolve,” or influence each

other’s evolution? In theory, coevolution of

species pairs is possible even among non-

symbiotic mutualists (Roughgarden 1983).

Both pollination and seed dispersal of some

mistletoes (Loranthaceae) by flowerpeckers

(Dicaidae) may reflect coevolution of species

pairs (Docters van Leeuwen 1954, Davidar

1978, 1983). A legitimate question is whether

conditions of coevolution are met for Virola

surinamensis and the animals that eat its fruits,

or for similar dispersal systems. An alterna-

tive is that plants evolve means of attracting

an array of animals, which may or may not

37

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

be closely related, that provide more or less

similar services (Janzen 1980, Herrera 1982,

Howe 1984a). Similarly, fruit-eating animals

may evolve general adaptations for finding and

processing fruits, without regard to species of

food plants (Moermond and Denslow 1985;

Wheelwright 1985). Specialization might only

limit the range of dispersal agents used by

plants or the range of food items preferred

by animals.

The Virola system has some, but not all,

preconditions for coevolution of species pairs.

The plant appears to be entirely dependent on

animals for seedling recruitment; on Barro

Colorado Island one Ramphastos toucan is a

far more reliable dispersal agent than others.

The degree of dependence of the toucan on

Virola is not well known, but heavy use of

these trees over many years suggest the proba-

bility of a close, if not obligate, relationship.

Furthermore, the distaste of many mammals

of Virola arils, and the distaste of even con-

sistent visitors like spider monkeys for the arils

of some Virola trees, suggests that the plant

has defended itself against some wasteful visi-

tors (see Howe 1980, 1983). Based on studies

on Barro Colorado Island alone, coevolution

between nutmegs and toucans might seem

reasonable. Several points argue against this

interpretation, however.

First, unrelated birds perform similar dis-

persal functions for Virola surinamensis', diffe-

rences in “reliability” probably reflect different

abundances more than different adaptive poten-

tials. Guans (Cracidae) are not at all closely

allied with toucans (Ramphastidae), yet they

disperse these seeds as well as the much more

common toucans. Similar potential among dis-

tantly related dispersal agents has also been

noted for other bird-dispersed trees (e.g. Howe

and Vande Kerckhove 1979, Wheelwright and

Orians 1982), as well as for one monkey-

dispersed tree (Howe 1980). The close depen-

dence of Virola surinamensis and Ramphastos

swainsonii is probably a local relationship,

which may or may not be as strong elsewhere.

Second, geographical ranges do not closely

overlap. Ramphastos swainsonii occurs north

of the Virola surinamensis range, and the tree

occurs well south of the toucan range. Con-

geners of both do overlap throughout Central

and South America, and some scattered obser-

vations show that toucans eat nutmegs of other

species in quantity (Bourne 1977; Howe 1977,

1981). It may be that these food preferences

represent a long common history between New

World nutmegs and toucans, although the

plants are dispersed by other animals, and the

toucans certainly eat fruits of many other

plants.

Third, ecological variation makes coevolu-

tiop of species pairs highly unlikely (Howe

1984a). Normal variation in Virola spatial dis-

tributions, densities, size and fecundity distri-

butions, and weather all affect the fruit re-

sources available to toucans or other animals

in any given time or place. Similar factors,

affecting other fruit-bearing tree species, as

well as the relative abundances of other fruit -

eating animals, quite likely influence toucan

loyalty to nutmegs. Such variation will clearly

alter selective intensity of birds on plants, and

plants on birds, over time and space.

Fourth, assymmetries in mutualisms preclude

coevolution. Asymmetries in dependence

appear to be common in both pollination

(Schemske 1983) and seed dispersal (Howe

1984a). A rare plant with low fecundity may

require common birds with generalized food

habits. More commonly, a plant provides a

critical resource for animals which do not

disperse its seeds. To the degree that a plant

or animal relies on another species less than

38

SEED DISPERSAL BY BIRDS

the other species relies on it, evolutionary rates

in the two species will differ.

Finally, there is as yet little evidence that

plant and particular bird taxa have coexisted

for long. Snow (1981) comments that many

African tree taxa existed long before their

contemporary dispersal agents evolved. Herrera

(1985) finds that, in general, angiosperm

shrubs and trees average 27 and 38 million

years in the fossil record, while mammals and

birds average 0. 5-4.0 and 0.5 million years,

respectively. Given that plant fossils are more

common than those of small vertebrates, and

that the taxonomic status of plant and animal

fossils may be only roughly comparable, it still

seems likely that evolution modifies fruit struc-

ture far more slowly than it modifies animals

that eat fruits. Animals appear to adjust, both

behaviorally in a local community and evolu-

tionary over millenia, to whatever fruit re-

sources are at hand. Plants that find themselves

without adequate dispersal agents for any con-

siderable length of time probably become

locally extinct (Howe 1985).

Implications for Conservation

Networks of ecological interdependence pose

hazards for forest management. A chance ex-

tinction or omission of a keystone tree or

frugivore species from a forest reserve could

in theory precipitate a chain reaction of local

extinctions, leading to abrupt changes in over-

all species composition (Howe 1977, 1984b;

Gilbert 1980). In this context a “keystone”

species is one which is critical for the survival

of several other species in the community. The

potential for such losses always exists because

isolated reserves always lose species from

random extinction (MacArthur 1972). The

potential for interconnected extinctions is

especially high in diverse seasonal tropical

forests in which most species are rare (see

Hubbell and Foster 1982), and which often

experience wide variations in fruiting pheno-

logies (see Foster 1982a, 1982b).

At present, no one knows whether keystone

mutualists are common in nature because few

dispersal systems are known in enough detail

to allow a strong inference. Some do fit the

keystone mould. For instance, an uncommon

Casearia in one Costa Rican reserve helps

maintain its dispersal agent, Tityra semifasciata,

and 21 other species of fruit-eating birds

through an annual scarcity of fruit production

in December (Howe 1977, see Frankie et al.

1974). Failure of this tree would undoubtedly

decimate several bird species which are disper-

sal agents of other plants at other times of the

year. On Barro Colorado Island, the small-

seeded Virola sebifera supports at least three

obligate frugivores, including two critical to

Virola surinamensis, through seasonal scarcity

in November and December (Howe 1981).

But this plant is common on the island. It is

a “keystone” ecologically, but is both abun-

dant enough and consistent enough in its fruit-

ing phenology that its failure is unlikely.

Virola surinamensis requires seed dispersal for

its reproduction, and attracts several of the

same birds that use its small congener. How-

ever, V. surinamensis bears fruits in June,

July, and August, when many other trees are

also productive (Foster 1982a). Chance failure

of this species would be unlikely, and would

in any case not affect frugivores that could

switch to other fruits during an emergency.

In short, keystone or pivotal species may

be critical features of tropical forests (Howe

1977, Gilbert 1980). Their chance extinction

or omission from natural reserves is most likely

in refuges of small area, highly diverse biota

and seasonal climate (Howe 1984b). The key-

stone concept is only partially relevant to

39

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

Virola surinamensis. The tree would undoubt-

edly vanish if its dispersal agents disappeared,

but at least some of its dispersal agents might

be capable of switching to other foods if the

tree failed or became locally extinct. But per-

manent disappearance of this plant from Barro

Colorado Island probably would reduce popu-

lations of toucans and guans, with as yet un-

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42

PHYTOCHOROLOGY OF KODAGU (COORG) DISTRICT,

KARNATAKA

J. P. Pascal1 and V. M. Meher-Homji2

{With three text-figures)

This study on phytochorology attempts to explain the vegetation patterns in

relation to climatic conditions. Three main types distinguished are (1) potential

evergreen forests, sub-divided into three types according to elevation, (2) potential

moist deciduous and (3) dry deciduous forests.

The potential evergreen forests enjoy a rainfall of over 2000 mm, a tropical

regime with a single peak of rains in July and 4 dry months; it is the elevation and

the factor most closely linked to it — the temperature — which distinguish the three

types: (a) Dipterocarpus-Kingiodendron-Humboldtia upto 750 m altitude, (b) Mesua-

Palaquium from 750 to 1400 m and (c) ScheftleraAGordonia-Meliosma above 1400 m.

The disturbed forests, woodland, savanna-woodland and coffee plantations within

the potential evergreen forest belt occur within the range of 2000 to 5000 mm rainfall;

below this lower limit of rainfall dominate the moist {Lagerstroemia-Tectona-Dillenia)

and dry deciduous ( Anogeissus-Tectona-Terminalia ) forests; they occur below 900 m,

the former with a rainfall of 1400-2000 mm and a dry season of 4-5 months, the

latter within 900-1400 mm belt with 5 months dry.

Introduction

Chronology is the term used to describe

the sequence of events in time. Chorology is

the scientific study of the geographical extent

or distribution in space. It also means causal

study of the distribution of organisms. The

term was used in 1883 by von Richthofen to

mean the explanatory distribution of areas

(Dudley Stamp 1966). Phytochorology thus

refers to the spatial distribution of vegetation

depicted on a map.

Location.

The Kodagu (Coorg) district forms the

south-west part of Karnataka State. It lies

1 Institut de la Carte Internationale de la Vege-

tation, 39 allees Jules Guesde, Toulouse, France.

2 French Institute, Pondicherry.

between latitude 11°56'-12°52' North and

longitude 75°22'-76°ir East, bounded on the

north by the Hassan district, on the west by

South Kanara, on the east by Mysore district

and in the south by the Cannanore district of

Kerala.

Coorg is the anglicized form of the word

Kodagu, which according to one version is

derived from Kodimalenad meaning dense

forest-land on steep hills; the other view is

that Kodagu means the country of millions

of hills as the district has a mountainous

configuration. The main range of the Western

Ghats extends to about 100 km from the

Brahmagiris in the south to the Subramanya

in the north-west. Several long and elevated

ridges run west to east from this portion of

the Western Ghats (Anonymous 1965).

The southern section of the Ghats, the

Brahmagiris (average elevation 1360 m) forms

43

JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

the southern boundary with the Wynad plateau

of Kerala. Incidentally, there is also another

Brahmagiri peak near Bhagmandala which is

the source of the Kaveri. The highest peak of

the district, Tadiandamol, is at 1734 m. Other

notable peaks are in the Pushpagiri hill at

1700 m and at Kotebeta (1600 m) which is

one of the ridges that branches off from the

Subramanya range.

Madikeri (Mercara) plateau at an average

elevation of about 1050 m extends northwards

as far as Somwarpet, a distance of 30 km but

on the east slopes down to the Kaveri.

This hilly district may broadly be divided

into two, — the uplands in the west and the

lower land in the east.

Previous studies.

Among the studies on the evergreen forests

of the Western Ghats in Karnataka, the most

complete synthesis is that of Pascal (1984).

Earlier, there have been some good attempts

notably by Kadambi (1939). Rai (1981) has

given a good account of the production aspect.

As to the vegetation of Kodagu district itself,

mention may be made of the investigations

of Arora (1960, 1964a, b). Lakshmana and

Subramanyam (1976, 1977) have provided in-

formation on the grassy patches of the district.

Climate.

The climate has been summarised in Fig. 1

after Pascal (1982). Three classes of tempe-

rature have been recognised on the basis of

the mean temperature of the coldest month (t) :

(1) t > 23 °C

(2) t between 16°C and 23 °C

(3) t between 13.5°-16°C, which class

* A month is defined as dry when its mean

monthly rainfall in mm is less than twice its mean

monthly temperature in °C (Bagnouls and Gaussen

1953).

corresponds to the higher elevations of

the Ghats.

From point of view of annual average rain-

fall, five classes have been distinguished rang-

ing from over 5000 mm per annum to 900-1200

mm.

The combination of the above temperature

and rainfall ranges result in 8 climatic classes

as given in the legend of Fig. 1. On the basis

of length of dry season, two categories have

been formed:

— 4 months dry*

— 5 months dry

The five dry months category corresponds

to the two lower rainfall classes (1200-1500

mm and 900-1200 mm). The map in Fig. 1

is accompanied by climate diagrams depicting

the rainfall curves. Meher-Homji (1979) has

analysed the inter-annual variability of the

climate of Madikeri (Mercara).

The district may clearly be divided into two

vertical halves, a wider western elevated por-

tion with rainfall of over 1500 mm and dry

season of 4 months and a narrower lower

eastern fringe with rainfall ranging from

900 to 1500 mm and a longer dry period of

5 months.

To these distinct climatic-physiographic

divisions correspond vegetational differences.

Vegetation.

The western rainy portion is potentially a

zone of evergreen forests whereas the drier

eastern fringe is a zone of deciduous forests.

Evergreen forests.

Earlier workers recognised essentially one

main evergreen type, as for example Mesua-

Calophyllum-Dipterocarpus type of Arora

(1960) with mention of “mixed communities

with three or more codominant species” and

“mixed associations of evergreen species”.

44

PHYTOCHOROLOGY OF KODAGU

SCALE

10 15 20

Legend of the diogrom

Rain

foil curve

Temperolure curve

P = Annual average rainfall(mffi)

t = Mean temperature of the coldest

month (°c )

^ sT Wo of dry months

Fig. 1. Bioclimatic map:- Kodagu district (After J. P. Pascal 1982).

45

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

Table 1

Bioclimatic characteristics of the forest types

In the present work, three distinct ever-

green forest types have been distinguished on

floristic basis, linked with altitude and climatic

factors (Table 1; Fig. 2).

(1) Dipterocarpus indicus — Kingiodendron

pinnatum — Humboldtia brunonis type occurs

at lower elevation, under 750 m with rainfall

of over 2000 mm and dry season of 4 months.

The mean of the coldest month is over 20°C

and the mean of the minimum of the coldest

month over 14°C.

(2) Mesua ferrea — Palaquium ellipticum

type prevails at medium elevation between 750-

1400 m. The rainfall amount and distribu-

tion remain the same as in the preceding type

but the mean temperature of the coldest month

is lower: 16°-23°C, and mean of minimum of

the coldest month is under 15°C.

The Dipterocarpaceae and the Ebenaceae

which dominate at low altitude have a minor

role to play. The Qusiaceae {Mesua, Calo-

phyllum, Garcinia ), the Sapotaceae (P ala-

46

PHYTOCHOROLOGY OF KODAGU

raw Disturbed forest

Logerstroemia-Tectona-Dillenio

Anogeissus - Tectona- Terminal 'ia

}©

}®

Potential moist

deciduous type

Potential dry

deciduous type

PLANTATIONS

V Coffee H Rubber

E E Eucalyptus $s Sandal

Woodland to savanna-woodland

Sw Softwood T T Teak

Elil Thicket

! I Tree savanna to scattered shrubs

Limits of Potential types

Fig. 2,. Vegetation map of Kodagu (Coorg) District.

(After Pascal. Shyam Sunder & Meher-Homii 1982)

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

quium), the Meliaceae ( Aglaia ) and the

Euphorbiaceae ( Agrostistachys , Mallotus, Dry-

petes ) gain importance.

(3) A montane type develops at higher ele-

vation of over 1400 m in the Western Ghats.

This type is termed Schefflera spp. - Gordonia

obtusa-Meliosma. Mean of the coldest month

is 13°-16°C and that of minimum of the

coldest month 9° to 13°C.

The nomenclature of the type Schefflera-

Gordonia-Meliosma is that of Gaussen et al.

(1965). However, it does not bring out the

essential floristie features: the dominance of

Lauraceae ( Litsea , Cinnamomum, Alseodaphne,

Actinodaphne, Neolitsea), particularly conspi-

cuous from 1400 to 1600 m in the W. Ghats

and of Myrtaceae (Eugenia, Syzygium , Rhodo-

myrtus). The Araliaceae is also well repre-

sented with five species of Schefflera among

which some begin their existence as epiphytes

like certain species of Ficus.

Among other important families are the

Anacardiaceae ( Holigarna , Mangifera,

Meliosma),

Celastraceae (3 species of Elaeocarpus) ,

Euphorbiaceae ( Agrostistachys , Glochidion,

Mallotus ...),

Flacourtiaceae ( Casearia , Flacourtia, Hydno-

carpus, Scolopia),

Myrsinaceae ( lxora , Lasianthus, Psychotria...),

Staphyleaceae ( Turpinia ),

Symplocaceae ( Symplocos ) .

The detailed floristie composition of the three

evergreen types is given in Table 2.

Disturbed Forests in Evergreen types.

They appear over the entire area of the

evergreen forests when exploitation is very in-

tensive. Considerable removal of commercial

trees and numerous and extensive openings

have brought about a profound change in the

climatic conditions and in the populations of

certain species. It is this state of structural and

floristie disturbance that characterizes the dis-

turbed forests.

The emergents have disappeared and the

upper storey is relatively low and disconti-

nuous.

The understorey is invaded by young subjects

on account of openings made for exploitation.

In the upper storey are found evergreen light

tolerant species with a large ecological ampli-

tude, which are common to all disturbed

forests. Among these may be mentioned.

Alstonia scholaris

Artocarpus heterophyllus

A. hirsutus

Canarium strict um

Carallia brachiata

Cinnamomum spp.

Dimocarpus longan

Dysoxylum malabaricum

Elaeocarpus serratus

Holigarna arnottiana

H. grahamii

Hopea ponga

Knema attenuata

Mangifera indica

Myristica dactyloides

Persea macrantha

Polyalthia fragrans

Syzygium cumini

Woodland to Savanna-woodland.

These are open forests. There is a conti-

nuous cover of tall grasses in the savanna-

woodland, in absence of which the formation

is referred to as woodland.

In the tree savanna are seen twisted low-

branched fire-resistant individuals of less than

8 m height like

Wendlandia notoniana

Ziziphus rugosa

Z. oenoplia

Careya arborea

Emblica officinalis

Gardenia turgida

G. gummifera

Glochidion sp.

Phoenix humilis (dwarf palm)

A few low deciduous trees are also encountered:

Terminalia paniculata,

T. chebula,

Buchanania lanzan,

Bridelia sp.,

Butea monosperma.

48

PHYTOCHOROLOGY OF KODAGU

Table 2

Floristic lists of evergreen forests

49

4

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 (, SUPPLEMENT )

Table 2 (contd.)

Dry petes oblongifolia (Bedd.) Airy Shaw +

MIDDLE STOREY

Aphanamixis polystachya (Wall.) Parker +

Artocarpus gomezianus Wall. +

Cryptocarya bourdilloni Gamble +

50

PHYTOCHOROLOGY OF KODAGU

Table 2 (contd.)

Diospyros crumenata Thw. +

D. pruriens Dalz. +

D. stricta Roxb. +

Garcinia talbotii Raizada ex Sant. +

Madhuca neriifolia (Moon) Lam. +

Pajanelia longifolia (Willd.) Schum. 4-

Trewia nudi flora L. +

Walsura trifolia (A. Juss.) Harms. +

Agrostistachys indica Dalz.

Apodytes benthamiana Wt.

Apollonias arnottii Nees

Daphniphyllum neilgherrense Ros.

Eugenia mooniana Wt.

Euonymus crenulatus Wall.

E. dichotomus Heyne

Isonandra montana Gamble

Litsea oleoides Hk. f.

Mallotus tetracoccus (Roxb.) Kurz

Neolitsea zeylanica Merr.

Phoebe wightii Meissn.

Symplocos cochinchinensis (Lour.) Moore

ssp. laurina (Retz.) Noot

.S', macrophylla Wall, ex DC.

Syzygium arnottianum Walp.

S. rubicundum W. & A.

Carallia brachiata (Lour.) Merr. 4-

Garcinia indica Choisy +

G. morel la Desr. -f

G. pictorius (Roxb.) D’Arey -I-

Otonephelium stipulaceum (Bedd.) Radik. +

Fagraea ceilanica Thunb.

MIDDLE & UNDER STOREY

Aglaia anamallayana (Bedd.) Kost. 4-

Aporosa lindleyana (Wt.) Baill. +

Baccaurea courtallensis Muell. +

Polyalthia cerasoides (Roxb.) Bedd. +

Elaeocarpus tectorius (Lour.) Poir.

Casearia coriacea Thw.

C. rubescens Dalz.

Glochidion ellipticum Wt.

G. fagifolium Hk. f.

G. neilgherrense Wt.

G. zeylanicum A. Juss.

Gomphandra coriacea Wt.

Ligustrum gamblei Ramam.

Rhodomyrtus tomentosa Wt.

Hydnocarpus alpina Wt. +

Elaeocarpus munroii (Wt.) Mast.

+

4

+

51

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

Table 2 (contd.)

UNDER STOREY & UNDERGROWTH

Blachia umbellata Baill. +

Gomphandra tetrandra (Wall.) Sleumer 4-

52

PHYTOCHOROLOGY OF KODAGU

Table 2 (contd.)

Mollotus beddomei J. Hk. +

Memecylon angustifolium Wt. +

Canthium dicoccum (Gaertn.) T. & B.

Goniothalamus cardiopetalus (Dalz.) J. Hk.

Meiogyne ramarowii (Dunn.) Gandhi +

Antidesma menasu Miq. ex Tul.

Leea indica (Burm.) Merr. +

UNDERGROWTH

Atalantia wightii Tanaka +

Croton malabaricus Bedd. +

lx or a n ;gr icons W. & A. +

Ochlandra travancorica Gamble +

Psychotria nigra (Gaertn.) Alst. +

Eurya japonica Thunb.

Lasianthus acuminatus Wt.

Maesa indica (Roxb.) DC.

Psychotria daizeltii J. Hk.

Apama siliquosa Lam. +

Debregeasia longifolia (Burm.) Wedd. +

Dendrocnide sinuata (Bl.) Chew. +

Ixora elongata Heyne +

Pandanus thwaitesii Mart. +

HERBS

Elettaria cardamomum (L.) Maton -f

Hedychium coronarium Koenig -f

Lepianthes umbeHata (L.) Raf. +

Schumannianthus virgatus (Roxb.) Rolfe +

Aeschynanthus perrottetii A. DC.

Elatostema cuneatum Wt.

Arisaema leschenaultii Bl.

EJatostema lineolatum Wt.

Hedy otis stylo sa Br.

Sopubia delphinifolia (L.) Don

LIANAS

Asparagus racemosus Willd. +

Bauhinia phoenicea W. & A. +

Canthium angustifolium Roxb. +

Combretum latifolium Bl. +

Coscimum fenestratum Colebr. +

Entada pursaetha DC. +

Calamus thwaitesii Becc. ex Beee. & J. Hk.

Erythropalum populifolium (Arn.) Mast.

Ventdago madraspatana Gaertn.

Calamus huegelianus Mart.

Celastrus paniculata Willd.

Clematis gouriana Roxb.

+

-t

-l-

+

53

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

Table 2 (contd.)

The grass stratum is composed of species

of Andropogon, Arundinella, Chrysopogon,

Cymbopogon, Heteropogon, Pollinia and

Themeda.

Deciduous Forests.

The deciduous forests occur under an ele-

vation of 900 m and rainfall of less than 2000

mm. Another point of difference compared to

the evergreen forests is whereas in the former

the rainfall regime is tropical with a single

peak in July, the areas under deciduous forests

also exhibit a secondary peak in October

besides the main July peak (Table 1).

Along the west-east increasing gradient of

dryness, the deciduous forests are divided into

two types: the moist deciduous Lagerstroemia

microcar pa-T ectona grandis-Dillenia pentagyna

type with rainfall of 1400-2000 mm and dry-

ness of 4 to 5 months and the dry deciduous

Anogeissus latifolia-T ectona grandis-Terminalia

alata type (rainfall of 900-1400 mm and 5

months dry).

The following species of the moist decidu-

ous forest tend to disappear in the dry deci-

duous type as they cannot tolerate lower rain-

fall prevailing in the zone of the dry deciduous

forest.

Dillenia pentagyna

Lagerstroemia microcarpa

Alstonia scholaris

Vitex altissima

Anthocephalus cadamba

Mallotus philippensis

Callicarpa tomentosa

Clerodendrum viscosum

Bambusa arundinacea.

On the other hand, some species like

Anogeissus lad folia become more frequent in

the dry deciduous forest.

Thickets, tree savanna to scattered shrubs

constitute different stages of degradation of

moist and dry deciduous forests. Savanna

physiognomy with tall grasses forming the

ground-cover is the result when fire is a fre-

quent phenomenon passing through the forest

floor. The fire stimulates the growth of grasses.

In a tree savanna, there are a few trees left

amidst the grasses.

The other mode of degradation of the

forest is through overgrazing and overbrow-

sing. All the palatable species including grasses

have been eliminated. Due to dearth of in-

flammable material, fire can no longer pass

through the formation. Thorny and spiny

shrubs and stragglers predominate forming a

thicket. The thicket may be reduced to a stage

of scattered shrubs because of intensive

anthropic activities.

Fig. 3 depicts a West-North-West — East-

South-East oriented climate-vegetation transect

54

DRV

™ I ' I 1 EVERGREEN FOREST - MOIST DECIOUOUS FOREST - DECIDUOUS

Dipterocorpus- § E Schefflero- —J fQ*isT

Kingiodendron* o 5 « Gordonio. AnoLeissus-

Humboldtio- gf^Meiiosmo Disturbed forest ond coffee plontotions Logerstroem.o-Tectono T ?

fore8t- so-^rest D"leni0 T|rminolio

PHYTOCHOROLOGY OF KODAGU

shinow Aya jo on

55

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vo\. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

in relation to relief. The transect extends from

Mundrote in WNW to Murkal in ESE (see

Fig. 1) covering a distance of 80 km. The

altitude increases from Mundrote to reach the

high elevation of the Padinalknad Ghat at

about 1500 m. Another peak is Kabinakad

estate at 1400 m, east of which the topography

is in form of a slightly undulating plateau with

elevation under 900 m.

The rainfall curve which is over 5000 mm

in the WNW decreases drastically in the lee

of the crest of the Kabinakad estate. Over the

Refer

Anonymous (1965): Gazetteer of India-Mysore

State-Coorg district. Govt. Press, Bangalore.

Arora, R. K. (1960): The botany of Coorg

forests. 1-General. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 50B(III):

289-305.

(1964a) : The botany of Coorg

forests-II. ibid. 54B(II) : 100-112.

(1964b): Ecological notes on the

vegetation of Coorg district, Western Ghats, Indian

For. 97(10): 722-742.

Bagnouls, F. and Gaussen, H. (1953) : Saison

seche et regime xerothermique. Documents pour les

cartes des productions vegetates 5(1): 1-47.

Dudley Stamp, L. (1966): A glossary of geogra-

phical terms. Longman Group Ltd., London.

Gaussen, H., Legris, P., Viart, M. and Meher-

Homji, V. M. (1965): International map of vege-

tation and environmental conditions. Sheet: Mysore.

ICAR, New Delhi and Inst. Fr. Pondichery. Tr. Sect.

Sci. Tech. Hors Serie No. 7.

Kadambi, K. (1939): The montane evergreen

forest, Bisale region. Indian For. 65(4): 189-201.

plateau there is a gradual decline from 2707

mm at Karada to 1491 mm at Murkal. Parallel

to this, the length of the dry season increases

from 4 months (up to Gonicoppal) to 5 at

Tittimati and Murkal. The rainfall regime (i.e.

season of occurrence of rains) is tropical with

a single peak in July up to Gonicoppal but

Tittimati, Nagarhole and Murkal reveal a

secondary rainfall peak in October besides the

main peak in July. The vegetation pattern link-

ed to these climatic factors (mentioned in

Table 1) is depicted at the top of Fig. 3.

EN CES

Lakshmana, A. C. and Subramanian, C. K.

(1976): Grassy patches in the Western Ghats of

Karnataka with particular reference to Coorg. My

Forest 72(4) : 179-181.

(1977):

Grassy patches in the Western Ghats of Karnataka.

Part II. ibid. 75(2): 125-139.

Meher-Homji, V. M. (1979) : A biometeorolo-

gical assessment of climate : Case studies of Bombay

and Mercara. Indian Geogr. J. 54(2) : 43-54.

Pascal, J. P. (1982): Bioclimates of the Western

Ghats. Inst. Fr. Pondichery.

(1984): Les forets denses humides

sempervirentes des Ghats Occidentaux de l’lnde.

Inst. Fr. Pondichery. Tr. Sect. Sci. Tech. 22: 1-365.

Pascal, J. P., Shyam Sunder, S. and Meher-

Homji, V. M. (1982): Forest Map of South India.

Sheet: Mercara-Mysore. Forest Depts. of Karnataka

and Kerala & French Institute, Pondicherry.

Rai, S. N. (1981): Productivity of tropical rain-

forests of Karnataka. Ph.D. Thesis, Bombay

University.

56

REFLECTIONS UPON THE DISTRIBUTION OF

INDIAN MAMMALS

T. J. Roberts1

The study of the world-wide distribution

of present day animals and extinct forms, has

developed into the science of zoogeography.

Why various creatures got where they are to-

day, yet are not found in apparently suitable

areas elsewhere, and why there are striking

similarities between populations of animals

occurring in widely separated places, are pheno-

mena which have always intrigued biologists.

As our understanding of this planet has in-

creased, zoogeographers have developed more

refined theorems to explain present day

patterns of distribution.

The Indian sub-continent (taken here to

include Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangla-

desh, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan), poses many

fascinating problems because of its complicat-

ed geological history, and existing land con-

nections with both southeastern Asian coun-

tries and also central Asian and western

countries, at either end of the great Himalayan

mountain barrier. In looking at the sub-con-

tinent’s mammalian fauna from this perspec-

tive, it is helpful to keep in mind both the

region’s geologic history as well as some of

the related fields of scientific study upon which

zoogeographers depend.

Taking the first, one is at once aware of

how many great time span gaps there are, in

our knowledge of what has happened in the

past. Mammals are of comparatively recent

evolutionary origin compared with other life

1 Cae Gors, Rhoscefnhir, Nr. Pentraeth, Anglesey.

LL75 8 YU, North Wales, U.K.

forms, with the first fossil evidence of mammal-

like reptiles and primitive true mammals during

the Jurassic period of the Mesozoic era, 180

million years ago (Davis & Golley 1963). But,

most of the present day surviving taxa of

mammals, especially at the present day generic

level, arose much later during the later part

of the Tertiary period, especially from the

Pliocene (13 million years ago), up to the

Pleistocene (less than 1 million years ago).

During the Tertiary period, the region was a

separate island (the so-called Gondwana

land), divided from the Asian land-mass by

the great sea of Tethys in the northwest and

a much more extensive northward stretching

Bay of Bengal in the northeast. There were

three great upheavals in the earth’s crust dur-

ing the Tertiary period. The first is believed

to have resulted in the partial raising of the

northern Himalayan regions, particularly in the

eastern part, and is thought to have occurred

during the Eocene epoch 50 million years ago.

The result of this raising of the land was the

creation of a land bridge between Gondwana

and southeast Asia, particularly the Malaysian

region, and this is considered to have enabled

many of the present day mammals to colonise

the sub-continent and to have given the region

its predominantly Oriental Faunal character-

istics. Later, a second upheaval occurred during

the middle Pliocene epoch, about 13 million

years ago and it is thought that this was of

a more violent nature, creating the present

day very high jagged Himalayan ranges (as

well as the Alps in Europe). One result of this

57

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

upheaval, was to create a physical barrier for

the dispersal or movement of mammals north-

wards into central Asia, and also a climatic

barrier for the warm moist monsoon winds,

which resulted in the gradual dessication of

the Tibetan plateau region, giving Ladakh and

Baltistan their distinctive mammalian fauna,

much of which is desert adapted. During the

late Pliocene, less than 4^ to 3 million years

ago, smaller upheavals or movements of tecto-

nic plates, created an uptilting of the Hima-

layan foothill zone and thus produced the

region known as the Siwaliks. These were

originally sedimentary deposits laid down 25

million years ago by rivers draining into the

sea of Tethys from the Himalayas. It is fortu-

nate for Palaeontologists and zoogeographers

that the richest source of fossil remains espe-

cially of mammals and birds, have always

been found in water laid sediments and

exploration in the Siwaliks have revealed a

varied and fascinating range of fossils, showing

that the sub-continent was once populated by

mammals which are mostly extinct or whose

modern descendants survive only within the

continent of Africa. There were no less than

11 kinds of Elephants or Mastodons, six kinds

of Rhinosceros as well as Giraffe-like mammals

and Hippopotamuses (Prater 1965). Also many

forms from the late Miocene which still have

living counterparts in the sub-continent, such

as Langurs (earliest fossil record, 5 million

years ago). Macaques, true Cats, Foxes, Jackals,

Sloth Bears and Ratels (Pilbeam 1979). Also

such Rodents as the Bamboo Rats (Rhizo-

myidae). Bush Rats ( Golunda ) and Climbing

Naked-tailed Rats ( Rattus sp.) from the

Pleistocene epoch (Jacobs 1978). There is

evidence that the Sea of Tethys did not sud-

denly disappear, but continued as pockets of

water, as a fossil whale from the late Pleisto-

cene has recently been found near Kohat in

the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan

(Kidwai 1984), in a region which is on the

western rim of the Siwalik zone. Also in the

Punjab Salt Range (geologically part of the

Siwaliks), fossil remains of Ramapithecus

have been found, possibly the oldest recogni-

sable ancestor of present day man (Pilbeam

1979).

During these epochs, it is also known that

there were major climatological changes. Up

to the Miocene epoch, 20 million years ago,

the whole of the sub-continent was much

milder and probably more humid than at the

present time, with much more favourable con-

ditions for life forms extending over the

Tibetan plateau and the great Indian desert of

Rajasthan.

Subsequently as the Himalayas rose, they

became colder and in the late Pleistocene

epoch the whole planet cooled down and there

were successive periods of glaciation when

parts of the Himalayas were covered by an

ice cap and sea levels sank, due to lack of

water run-off. It is presumed that many

Palearctic mammals were forced to retreat

southwards down to warmer climates, or

perish, and that much of the Siwalik fauna

disappeared due to climatic changes during

this period.

Turning now to the second area of know-

ledge upon which the zoogeographer must

draw, besides the fossil evidence of Palaeon-

tology and a knowledge of stratographic

geological history, our understanding has been

sharpened by developments in the study of

evolution and of taxonomy. Such relatively

modern sciences as Ethology with interpreta-

tion of animal behaviour and biochemical

systematics, particularly critical microscopic

examination of chromosome numbers and egg

albumen morphology etc. by the use of Gel

electrophoresis has enabled the taxonomists to

58

DISTRIBUTION OF INDIAN MAMMALS

determine inter-specific relatedness, much

more closely, sometimes between outwardly

dissimilar species (Vuilleumier in Lack &

Campbell 1985). The Palaeontologist con-

stantly improves his ability to classify fossil

remains, or recognise the probable ancestors

of present day forms as our knowledge of

taxonomy improves. Likewise the theory of

tectonic plates has helped zoogeographers in

our understanding of continental drift and

geographic changes, which have in turn pre-

vented or enabled animals to colonise diffe-

rent areas. Our increasing knowledge of

genetics and evolution has also enabled us to

realise that relatively small isolated popula-

tions can change quite rapidly, due to the

selective pressures of the environment and the

minute genetic changes which have more

chance to persist in relatively small popula-

tions.

The Indian sub-continent is characterised as

belonging to the Oriental faunal realm and this

major zoogeographic sub-division lies mainly

between 68° and 135° East and between

10° South and 32° North, being bounded on

the west by Pakistan (mostly those parts east

of the Indus River), in the north by the great

Himalayan chain and including in the east,

regions beyond the Himalayas such as south-

west China, the Malaysian archipelago,

western parts of Indonesia, the Philippines and

Taiwan. All the land masses in this faunal

realm show a certain degree of homogeneity

in their higher vertebrate fauna. Though the

Indian region has many mammals which are

endemic or unique to the sub-continent, the

majority share Malaysian affinities and typical

examples are the Hog Badger ( Arctonyx

collaris). Tree Shrews (Tupaiidae), Lorises

(Lorisidae), Lesser Panda ( Ailurus fulgens),

the Chevrotain (Tragulidae) (Mouse Deer),

and the Serow ( Capricornis sumatraensis) . All

these are typically Oriental faunal mammals

not found in the Siwalik beds and presumed

to have colonised India through that newly

created northeastern corridor.

Compared with the Palearctic region to the

north, the sub-continent has a more diverse

fauna than Eurasia, but a much less varied

fauna than the Ethiopian faunal realm. This

illustrates an important principle determining

species diversity and distribution. It is greatest

in warm moist regions, such as the tropical

and sub -tropical forest belts, and it is lowest

in high cold (tundra and alpine), or hot dry

(desert and arid zone) regions. The greater

diversity of African mammals and birds is

partly accounted for by its bigger land surface

area, straddling both sides of the equator and

providing a more varied rainfall and climate

pattern, encouraging to some extent nomadism,

which is typical of many of the African ante-

lope species. About 40 percent of the distinc-

tive mammalian groups in the Oriental region

are shared with the Ethiopian faunal realm,

whereas only 21 percent are shared with the

Palearctic and a further 20 percent such as

the Canidae (dog family), Mustelidae (Weasel

family). Cats (Felidae) and Squirrels (Sciu-

ridae), are considered to be world-wide in

distribution (Davis & Golley, op. cit.).

Consequently, within the Indian sub-continent

itself we see the greatest diversity of mammal

species in the moist tropical and sub-tropical

forest belts, and the poorest numbers in the

dry north-western regions. Among mammals

adapted to mountain forest, we also see the

greatest diversity in the eastern Himalayas,

whilst the fauna of the colder dryer north-

western Himalayas is much more restricted.

Another important principle governing

distribution is that of barriers. These can

be physical, such as sea or high moun-

tains, or they can, on a longer time

59

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

scale, be climatic barriers. Thus many

oriental mammals of wide distribution in

mountain forest could spread westwards along

the Himalayas but could not penetrate the

colder dryer extreme western forests nor down

into the plains of India. The Goat Antelopes

(Rupicaprinae) such as the Goral ( Nemorhae -

dus goral), Serow ( Capricornis sumatraensis)

and Takin ( Budorcas taxicolor) are examples,

with all three occurring in the eastern Hima-

layas, but only the Goral extending as far

west as Pakistan. Sri Lanka provides many

fascinating examples of the ‘island barrier’

effect upon the distribution of higher animals.

The sea was apparently too great a barrier

for the Tiger to have reached, but the smaller

hardier and more adaptable Leopard did so,

as well as the Indian elephant, known to be

a powerful swimmer. Sri Lanka has a less

diverse and more limited bird and mammal

population than the mainland, yet it has a

higher proportion of endemic (unique) species,

due to genetic isolation of relatively

populations. There are seven endemic

mammals, S uncus zeylanicus , Crocidura miya,

Solisorex pearsoni. Ferulas ferulus, Leolomys

mayor i, Srilankamys ohiensis, Mas fernandoi

and Rattus montanus, with three more confined

only to Sri Lanka and the southern Deccan

rain forest zone viz. Loris tardigradus, Presby-

tis senex and Macaca sinica (McKay 1984).

Its bird fauna, with only 251 resident species

compared with over 1,750 resident bird species

in the rest of the sub-continent (S. D. Ripley

1982), is at the same time quite unique with

no less than 21 endemic species (De Zylva

1984). For much the same reasons, we find

that the two great faunal realms of Australasia

and Neotropical, both have a much higher

proportion of endemic species than the Oriental

region. Moreover, as these regions are huge

continent sized “islands”, (South America was

separated from North America by a water

gap during the Tertiary), they have a very

large and diverse fauna which shares practi-

cally nothing in common with the land mass

of Eurasia.

Besides the isolating effect of islands or

geographic barriers, we can see a converse

effect in the former or continuing existence of

land or water bridges, which actually aid in

distribution. Typically Himalayan species such

as the Himalayan Black Bear ( Selenarctos

tibetanus) and the Markhor Wild Goat ( Capra

falconeri ) have been able to migrate south-

wards along the mountain ranges of Swat and

Waziristan down into central Baluchistan and

thus colonise a region much more arid and

harsh than the rest of the Himalayas. Other

examples of Himalayan species penetrating

into central Baluchistan are such birds as the

Streaked Laughing Thrush ( Garrulax linea-

tus), the Black-crested Tit ( Parus rufonu-

chalis ) and Bar-tailed Tree Creeper ( Certhia

himalayana). Where mammals occur, as iso-

lated disjunct populations, the causal reasons

are often difficult to determine, but two or

three previous conditions must have obtained

in earlier times. Firstly, during an era of more

equable climatic conditions, there must have

been a continuous and widespread distribution

of that particular species with no intervening

gaps in its range. Secondly, competition with

other species caused that mammal population

to adapt and evolve specialised features

enabling it to exploit a less competitive ecolo-

gical niche. Thirdly, some geographic or

physical barrier has intervened, such as un-

favourable climatological changes. We know

that the Alps and Himalayas both evolved in

their present form in fairly recent geologic

times. Presumably during an earlier period of

more equable, possibly warm and moist clima-

tic conditions, there was a continuous distribu-

60

DISTRIBUTION OF INDIAN MAMMALS

tion of such mammals as Marmots {Mar mot a

spp.) and Ibex Wild Goats right across

southern Europe and Central Asia.

Subsequent climatic changes are presumed

to have forced populations to retreat to high

mountain plateau regions, possibly where there

was less competition from other grazing

mammals. Here in the European Alps and

Himalayas quite disjunct populations continu-

ed to survive and gradually evolved into dis-

tinct species or sub-species. Anyone who has

been fortunate enough to visit both the Alps

and the Himalayas within the space of a few

weeks, as I was this summer, would be struck

by the very close resemblance in voice, habits

and appearance of the Alpine. Marmota mar-

mota, and the Himalayan Marmota caudata

as well as C. ibex ibex of the Alps and C.

ibex sibirica found in the Himalayas and Altai

mountains. A third population of Ibex (C.

ibex nubiana) has also survived in the high

plateau regions of northern Sudan and south-

ern Egypt. The classical case of the Tahr is

less easy to understand. Ethological studies

clearly demonstrate that this is one of the

more primitive goats, from which the true

goats of Capra genus are thought to have

developed (Schaller 1973 & 1974).

There is no doubt that in earlier times

before the late pleistocene, that the Tahr

occurred widely as a continuous population.

Fossil remains have been found in the Siwaliks

and on Perim island near Bombay (Meinert-

zhagen 1928). Perhaps competition with more

adaptable ungulates forced these goats to re-

treat and adapt to relatively precipitous

mountain faces and later a period of unfavour-

able climate, probably of dry heat, forced

them to retreat to higher mountain ranges

where micro-climatic effects created some

greater humidity and coolness. Whatever the

causal reasons, one population was able to

survive in the comparatively low hot mountain

ranges of Oman and Saudi Arabia (recently

rediscovered in that country), where a distinct

species, the Arabian Tahr {Hemitragus jaya-

keri) has evolved. Another population retreat-

ed to the Nilgiri hills of south India

{Hemitragus hylocrius), whilst a third, known

as the Himalayan Tahr {Hemitragus jemlaicus ),

was able to survive in the Himalayas. Because

of their comparatively earlier isolation they

have evolved into three distinctive species in

contrast to the 3 geographically isolated but

closely similar sub-species of C. ibex.

Another important principle or theorem

determining distribution is that of dispersal.

This is based upon the known ability of living

mammals to spread from their centre of origin,

which can be studied from recent recorded

human history. A good example is the spread

during the 14th and 15th centuries of the Roof

or Ship Rat {Rat t us rat t us) from the oriental

region to western Europe and throughout

many islands of the Pacific, with the advent

of larger sized ships and intercontinental sea

trade. Dispersal is only possible within a

mammals ecological and physiological tole-

rances. Whereas a land tortoise can float on

the sea and survive without food for as long

as a month (and may have reached the Aldabra

Islands that way), the example of Sri Lanka

shows that many mammals cannot survive long

sea crossings.

During one of the four glaciation periods of

the Pleistocene, many mammals having a con-

tinuous distribution from the western Palearctic

to Ethiopian regions, were probably forced to

retreat southwards where they survived in

warmer regions of the Middle East and the

Mediterranean bordering countries. Probable

examples were the Lion {Panthera leo). Cara-

cal Cat {Felis caracal ), Cheetah ( Acinonyx

jubatus) and Red Sheep {Ovis orientalis).

61

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

These animals were able to extend their range

eastwards into the Indian sub-continent. The

Cheetah became extinct in India as recently as

1948 (Van Ingen & Van Ingen 1948) and the

Lion as is well known, now survives in an

isolated pocket in the Gir forest with no in-

tervening populations outside of Africa. It was

not uncommon in the present regions of Israel

and Jordan in Biblical times, whilst the last

authentic specimen to be shot in Sind pro-

vince, in what is now Pakistan, was killed in

1810 near Kot Diji (Kinnear, N.B., 1920). The

disappearance of the lion from the intervening

countries, in comparatively recent historic

times, was undoubtedly due to competition

with man and his domestic stock, in an other-

wise comparatively arid and unfavourable

ecological zone.

The comparatively cool climatic conditions

with coniferous forests or sub-alpine scrub,

which are found in the higher western parts

of the Himalayas, have also enabled many

palearctic mammals of the Boreal forest zone

to colonise these regions. Examples of such

mammals are the Lynx ( Felis lynx), the Stoat

(M us tela erminea), the Red Bear ( Ursus

arctos isabellinus) and the widely distributed

Red Deer or Hangul of Kashmir ( Cervus

elaphus hanglu), which has evolved into a

very large and distinctive sub-species.

Another important theorem developed by

zoogeographers is called the “Centre of Origin”.

This states that animals disperse, or spread

outwards, from a particular region which can

be identified from the presence of the greatest

number of related fossil forms (which are

usually very limited), or from the present day

greatest variety of living species. It is argued

that such a centre is an area which provided

the widest range of ecological niches and was

a region of optimal habitat for that particular

taxon. Over a period of time, evolutionary

pressures and competition with other fife forms,

resulted in the greatest possible taxonomic

diversity within that particular group of ani-

mals. There is some disagreement in the

interpretation of this theory with one school

of thought arguing that the most advanced and

specialised, or adapted species, within a group,

would occur in the centre of origin whilst the

more primitive unspecialised members would

occur mainly around the periphery of the

centre of origin. Another school argues, more

persuasively in my opinion, that as animals

spread outwards they would encounter less

favourable climatic or ecological conditions,

which would exert upon them greater evolu-

tionary pressure to adapt and modify their

physical attributes. This would result in the

more advanced or highly specialised forms

occurring furthest away from their centre of

origin (Darlington 1957). Probably both sets

of factors have influenced animal dispersal and

the resulting pattern of distribution is more

complicated than can be explained by any

single theorem.

The Himalaya, quite evidently, has the

greatest species diversity in its Eastern range

and it is logical to assume that plant and

animal forms spread westwards from the

northeastern comer, gradually diminishing in

diversity as they reached the western boundary

of the Himalayas (Meinertzhagen 1928). It is

easier to draw upon examples of this pheno-

menon from the plant and avian kingdoms, as

the variety of mammal species is so much

smaller, and mammals themselves have more

ability to adapt to different conditions. For

example, there is only one Rhododendron

species ( Rhododendron ferrugineum) found

wild in the European Alps and only two in

the Pakistan Himalayas ( Rhododendron lepi-

dotum & R. arboreum) (R. Stewart 1958),

whilst Nepal has over 30 different species

62

DISTRIBUTION OF INDIAN MAMMALS

(Polunin & Stainton 1984). Similarly there are

only 3 species of Laughing Thrush of the genus

Garrulax found in Pakistan today (G. linea-

tum, G. variegatum & G. albogularis) , whilst

there are 15 in Nepal (Inskipp & Inskipp 1985).

Amongst mammals, perhaps the best example

are the Goat-antelopes of the tribe of Rupi-

caprinae, which has already been cited at the

beginning of this article.

It would be difficult in a short article of

this nature to cover all factors which have

contributed in India’s unique pattern of

mammalian distribution and an excellent

summary of zoogeographic origins and history

of the sub-continent is given in the Introduc-

tion to Volume I of Handbook series (Salim

Ali and S. D. Ripley 1968).

The great riverain systems of the Indus and

Brahmaputra /Ganges undoubtedly provided

favourable habitat for the evolution of swamp -

dwelling animals during periods of drier climate

and there has arisen a number of endemic

species unique to this region. Quite early on,

human settlement coupled with subsequent

changes in the course of rivers has led to

diminution of suitable swampy areas and the

division into two similar but widely separated

tracts of tall cane grass and seasonal swamp.

One, along the Indus river and the other now

mainly confined to the more eastern Himalayan

sub -foothill zone, known as the Duars or

Terai. Here distinct sub-species have evolved

such as the Blind Dolphins, Platanista gauge -

tica and Platanista indi (Roberts 1977) as

well as birds like the Long-tailed Grass

Warbler ( Prinia burnesii burnesii) of the

Tndus and Prinia burnesii cinarescens of the

Terai. Even in recent times the Great Indian

Rhinoceros ( Rhinoceros unicornis) survived

in the riverain tracts of the upper Indus, as

revealed in the diaries of the great Moghul

Emperor Babur who hunted this animal in

1526 on the Kabul river near Peshawar and in

the area which today forms part of lower

Swat in Pakistan (Babur-i-Nama, trans. Beve-

ridge 1921). Today it survives only in pockets

along the Duars and Terai in the foot of the

eastern Himalayas.

There are many intriguing facets of mam-

malian distribution still difficult to explain.

Why does the sub-continent have compara-

tively few, (5, if we include the Tibetan Chiru

Panthelops hodgsoni) antelope related species,

four of which are uniquely endemic to the

region? These are the Nilgai ( Boselaphus

tragocamelus), the Blackbuck ( Antelope

cervicapra) and the Four-horned Antelope

( Tetracerus quadricornis) and the more wide-

ly distributed Chinkara gazelle ( Gazella gazella

benneti), all adapted to rather arid savannah

or thorn forest ecosystems. By contrast the

Ethiopian region has over 72 different species

of gazelle, antelope and Reed-buck (Dorst &

Dandelot 1970). Except for the Barbary Stag

(Cervus elaphus barbarus) which occurred in

Algeria, north Africa, outside of the true

Ethiopian realm, Africa has no deer species

(Cervidae). Yet the Indian sub-continent has

nine, if the primitive Chevrotain and Musk

Deer are included. Undoubtedly deer are of

ancient origin, with fossil forms first appear-

ing in the lower Miocene (Prater 1965), and

they are believed to be mainly of old world

origin, and to have developed in Eurasia

rather than in tropical regions. Moreover,

most are adapted to live in forest, or a more

sheltered vegetative cover than the open grass-

lands typically favoured by antelopes.

As will be seen, this account raises more

questions than it provides answers and our

conclusions about mammalian distribution in

the region still remain highly speculative. Every

step forward in our knowledge about the

63

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

physiology and habits of present-day Indian will undoubtedly throw more light on these

mammals and their ecological requirements fascinating questions.

References

Ali, Salim and Ripley, S. Dillon (1968) : Hand-

book of the Birds of India & Pakistan, Vol. I.

Oxford University Press, Bombay.

Beveridge, Annette S. (1921) : ‘Babur-i-Nama’

(Memoirs of Babur). Vol. II. London, Reprint 1975

Niaz Ahmad, Sangemeel, Lahore.

Darlington, P. J. (1957) : Zoogeography: The

Geographical Distribution of Animals, John Wiley,

New York, 675 pp.

Davis, David & Gglley, Frank B. (1963) : Prin-

ciples in Mammalogy. Reinhold Publishing Corpo-

ration, New York, USA.

De Zylva, T. S. U. (1984) : Birds of Sri Lanka,

Trumpet Publishers, Colombo, 133 pp.

Dorst, Jean and Dandelot, Pierre (1970) : A

Field Guide to the Larger Mammals of Africa.

Collins, London.

Jacobs, Louis L. (1978): Fossil Rodents (Rhizo-

myidae and Muridae) from Neogene, Siwalik Depo-

sits — Pakistan. Museum of Northern Arizona

Bulletin Series 52.

Kidwai, Azim (1984) : Fresh Insight into Geo-

dynamics of Pakistan. Dawn Newspaper, Oct. 5th.,

1984.

Kinnear, N. B. (1920): The Past & Present Dis-

tribution of the Lion in Southeast Asia. J. Bombay

nat. Hist. Soc. 27(1) : 33-39.

McKay, G. M. (1984): Ecology and Biogeography

in Sri Lanka in Dumont H. J. (Edit.) Monographiae

Biologicae, Vol. 57, Dr. W. Junk Publisher the

Hague.

Meinertzhagen, R. (1928) : Some Biological Pro-

blems Connected with the Himalaya. Ibis, July 1928,

pp. 480-533.

Pilbeam, David R. (Edit.) (1979) : Miocene

Sediments and Faunas of Pakistan, Postilla No. 179,

Peabody Museum of Nat. History, Yale.

Prater, S. H. (1965): The Book of Indian Ani-

mals. 2nd Edit. Bombay Natural History Society.

Polunin, Oleg and Stainton, Adam (1984):

Flowers of the Himalaya, Oxford Univ. Press, Delhi,

580pp.

Ripley, S. Dillon (1982) : A Synopsis of the

Birds of India and Pakistan. (Revised Edit.). Bom-

bay Natural History Society. Bombay.

Roberts, T. J. (1977): The Mammals of Pakis-

tan. Ernest Benn Ltd., Tonbridge, 384 pp.

Schaller, G. (1973) : Observations of Himalayan

Tahr ( Hemitragus jemlahicus) . J. Bombay nat. Hist.

Soc. 70 ( 1): 1-24.

Schaller, G. and Laurie, A. (1974) : Courtship

Behaviour of the Wild Goats, Zeit fur Saugetierk-

unde Vol. 39, pp. 115-127.

Stewart, R. R. (1957, 1958) : The Flora of Rawal-

pindi District. Pakistan Journal of Forestry, Rawal-

pindi.

Van Ingen and Van Ingen (1948): Interesting

Shikar Trophies. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 47(4 ) :

718.

Vuilleumier, Francois (1985) : Article ‘Zoogeo-

graphy’. In\ Campbell, B. & Lack, F. (Eds.) Dic-

tionary of Birds, Calton & Vermillion.

64

CONSERVATION OF WILDLIFE IN TAMIL NADU

E. R. C. Davidar1

The recent history of Wildlife Conservation

in Tamil Nadu dates back to the Nineteenth

Century when the State was part of the Madras

Presidency. This Province encompassed within

its boundaries the whole of Tamil Nadu and

parts of Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra

Pradesh until the Indian Union was reorga-

nised into smaller linguistic units in 1956.

Conservation began with the implementation

of the Madras Forest Act of 1882. The objec-

tive of this enactment was to declare and

define the boundaries of Government forests

and safeguard them. Affording protection to

the habitat of wildlife, the first step in any

conservation programme, was achieved thus.

Wild birds and animals protection 1912 was

the next step.

The emphasis then was not so much on

conservation, as the concept has come to be

understood, as on exploitation. But then there

was a method to such exploitation. Forests

were divided into blocks and worked and

rested at regular intervals. Similarly, wild

animals and birds, particularly those that were

classified as “game” were allowed to be har-

vested. Apart from the written rules, there was

an unwritten ‘Sportsmen’s Code’ that was

observed fairly strictly. There were revenue

and private forests where free hunting was to

be had. Rulers of Indian States and Zamin-

daris exercised control over their forests; the

degree of such control varied depending upon

the ruler’s interest in shikar. Compared to

some parts of India, the extent of this class

1 David Nagar, Padappai, Madras - 601 301.

of forests was small in the Madras Presidency.

The bulk of wild animals and birds lived with-

in the confines of reserved forests and enjoyed

a fair degree of protection.

However, as far as predators were concern-

ed, apart from the general protection, they

received by residing within reserved forests,

they were at the mercy of game licence holders.

There was a notion at that time that predator

and prey cannot co-exist and that the predator

must be eliminated if game animals and birds

were to thrive. Tigers and leopards were

classified as vermin and rewards were paid

for their destruction. And dhole were out and

out outcastes. The same applied to the lesser

cats, mongooses etc. But predators managed

to survive mainly because the methods em-

ployed against them were generally fair and

sporting.

Wild elephants came in for special protec-

tion under the Wild Elephants Protection Act

of 1 876, a Central Act. However, during

World War II, crop raiding elephants were

allowed to be shot freely in cultivated areas

as they were believed to interfere with the

‘Grow More Food’ campaign.

Poaching fell into three categories, namely,

the Village poacher with his blunderbuss, the

poacher from urban area who had local

influence and the official poacher. There was

no large scale poaching. Poisoned baits and

the like were unknown. It was after the war

with the advent of jeeps and spotlights when

hunting became safe and easy that armed

gangs from cities went into forests and ravaged

65

5

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

them. And hunting ceased to be a sport ex-

cept for the diehards from the old school.

This was more or less the general situation

that obtained in South India and for that

matter throughout the Indian sub-continent.

Some areas in Tamil Nadu enjoyed a

special status, which was unique in many

respects and deserve special mention.

Nilgiris : The Nilgiri mountain did not come

to the notice of the British and the outside

world until the eighteen twenties. Its salubrious

climate and scenic beauty brought a proces-

sion of European settlers and vacationers. The

hunters among them called it a ‘Sportsman’s

paradise’ and unleashed a war on its wild

animals and birds on a scale never equalled

before or since. As weapons improved it

became a slaughter and for miles around each

hill station in ever widening circles game was

annihilated. Some species such as the Nilgiri

tahr were brought to the brink of extinction.

Appalled at the state of affairs a band of fair

minded sportsmen decided to act to stem the

rot. In 1877 they established the Nilgiri Game

Association with the object of preserving game

and fish in the Nilgiris. Their very first action

established their bona tides. It was to impose

restrictions upon themselves by way of close

seasons, bag limits, banning hunting of females,

calves and immature males. Then they

approached the Governor to give legislative

form to their action. The Duke of Buckingham,

the Governor not only accepted the NGA’s

recommendations, but acted promptly. In

1879, the Nilgiri Game and Fish Preservation

Act, a state enactment, the first of its kind in

India was passed. The rules empowered to the

Collector (the head of the district) to admi-

nister the Act. He invited the NGA to advise

and assist him in implementing the Act. The

District Forest Officer was elected Honorary

Secretary of the Association and the adminis-

trative functions were carried out by an

Honorary Superintendent, who was elected

from among the members of the Executive

Committee. In this manner, an ideal working

arrangement in which officials and non-officials

co-operated, was brought about. This happy

situation was soon reflected in the field. Nilgiri

tahr, for instance, were brought back from the

brink to a state where it was possible to permit

the hunting of saddle backs. Game showed

allround improvement in status. Despite un-

restricted hunting of predators these too seem-

ed to thrive. Preservation of game was

achieved through management of hunting.

Palani hills : An Association known as the

Palani Hills Game Association was formed on

the lines of the NGA. It functioned well for a

while, but soon lost its vigour as it lacked

dedicated membership and ceased functioning

altogether.

Game associations promoted sportsmanship

and fair play in hunting which contributed in

no small measure to the preservation of game.

These values have endured.

When Tamil Nadu State came into being

ten years after Independence, the post war rot

had already set in. It became fashionable for

the new rich, who lacked sporting values and

tradition to indulge in shikar to satisfy their

egos. Jeeps and spot lights made things easy.

To make matters worse the State Government

closed some well stocked forests to hunting

to give them rest, but without strengthening

the protection machinery. What happened in

fact was the opposite of what was planned.

Another shortsighted move was the banning

of hunting of tigers and leopards without

preparing the ground for such a move. Affected

cattle owners were left with no option but

to take the law into their own hands to protect

their property. Folidol, a potent insecticide

was freely available and cattle owners resorted

66

CONSERVATION OF WILDLIFE IN TAMIL NADU

to poisoning kills. Tigers and leopards that

had learnt to outwit the hunter could not

cope with poisons and whole families perished.

However, before it became too late, the

Tamil Nadu Government took certain steps

that arrested the trend and they went a long

way towards promoting wildlife conservation. A

Wildlife Advisory Board was set up in the

Nineteen sixties. It was a representative body

on which people and organisations holding

a wide range of views were accommodated.

A separate officer designated. State Wildlife

Officer, was appointed to look after the in-

terests of wildlife. Steps to promote wildlife

preservation consciousness were initiated.

Sanctuaries were established and protection

tightened up. A scheme for compensating

villagers who lost their cattle to tigers and

leopards was introduced.

Most States are ostrichlike in their attitude

towards hunting. They ban hunting, bury their

heads in their paper orders and pretend that

all is well. Tamil Nadu is one of the few

States that follows a pragmatic policy. Wild

pigs and small game in some Reserved Forests

and outside are allowed to be shot by game

licence holders. This policy has eliminated

poaching to some extent.

National Parks and Sanctuaries'.

Tamil Nadu has a land area of 1,30,069 sq.

kms. of which only 20,910 sq. kms. or 16%

is forest and sanctuaries occupy about 2,500

sq. km. or 12%. Although the area under

sanctuaries and some sanctuaries themselves

are small, the range is truely remarkable. Coral

reefs, mangrove swamps, coastal forests, fresh

water lakes, open plains, mountains and forests

of various kinds including tropical wet ever-

green forests and evergreen sholas are included

in this range. As may be expected, the range

in wild animal and plant life is equally wide.

To describe some of the principal sanctuaries

briefly.

The Guindy National Park : This tiny park

of 2.8 sq. km. which forms part of the

Government House Estate within Madras City

limits is the only National Park in the State.

It has an overflowing black buck and spotted

deer population.

The Mudumalai Wildlife sanctuary : Situat-

ed in the Nilgiris, 65 Km from Ooty on the

Ooty-Mysore highway, Mudumalai, established

in 1940, is the oldest sanctuary in the State

and one of the first to be set up in India. Its

present area is 321 sq. km. The average

elevation is 1,000 m. Mudumalai is contiguous

with the Bandipur Tiger reserve in Karnataka

and the Wynaad Wildlife sanctuary in Kerala.

Moist and dry deciduous forests predominate.

Teak, naturally grown as well as raised as

plantations is the principal tree species. Ele-

phant and gaur are the main attractions. Tigers,

leopards and wild dogs are the large preda-

tors. the last named is by far the most visible

and destructive of the three.

Anamalai Wildlife Sanctuary : This is the

largest wildlife refuge (958 sq. km.) in the

State. From the plains of Coimbatore, the

sanctuary ascends all the way to Grass Hills

in Valparai Taluk situated at a height of over

2,000 m. Topslip is the focal point. Nilgiri

tahr and lion-tailed macaque both endangered

are the main attractions. Birds of the plains

as well as hill birds are found in this sanctuary.

Mundanthorai and Kalakadu sanctuaries :

Mundanthorai (567 sq. kms.) and Kalakadu

(223 sq. kms.) are contiguous. Different forest

types including tropical wet evergreen forests

occur. Kalakadu is well known for its popula-

tion of liontailed macaques.

Point Calimere : Calimere is the point pro-

jecting into the Bay of Bengal on the south

eastern coast line of India just above Sri

67

JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

Lanka. Point Calimere was made into a

sanctuary mainly to protect the herds of black

buck and spotted deer inhabiting the coastal

forests and plains there. After the N. East

monsoon the place comes alive with water

birds as flocks of waders and ducks species

some from up country and the rest from

across the Himalayas, in some cases from as

far north as Siberia congregate to spend winter

or to use it as a staging point in their migra-

tion to Sri Lanka.

Mukurti : The wild country along the western

edge of the Nilgiri plateau consisting of rolling

grass hills interspersed with evergreen sholas

of the southern montane wet temperate type

and bounded on the west and south by

awesome precipices, the home of Nilgiri tahr

has been made a sanctuary and named after

the most striking physical feature there, the

Mukurti peak. It has great scenic beauty,

unique animal and plant life and a cold brazing

climate. Some plants, animals and birds of

this region have their nearest congeners in

the Himalayas lending support to the theory

that at one time in the earth’s development

there was a connection between the two regions.

Yedanthangal : This is a waterbird sanctuary

situated 70 km from Madras. It is one of the

best heronries in the country, patronised by

cormorants, grey herons, open billed storks,

spoonbills and others. Many species of migrant

water birds choose Vedanthangal for their

winter sojourn.

There are some more water bird sanctuaries

in the State. Megamalai in Madurai district

to protect giant squirrel of the grey variety

(Rat ufa macrura) and Nilgiri tahr; Gulf of

Mannar (Kurusadi islands) to protect coral

beds; and rich marine life there; Pichavaram,

to protect mangrove swamps, are some of the

recently formed sanctuaries.

Status of wild life :

primates: Lion-tailed macaque — The small

populations found in the State in Kalakadu

and Anamalais are well protected. They have

been the subject of intensive research.

Nilgiri langur — In well protected areas

they are on the increase. Poaching is a pro-

blem in remote areas. Common langur — In

the south these monkeys are confined to forest-

ed hills where due to predation and other

causes their numbers have not increased.

Bonnet macaque — They are proliferating and

need some form of control particularly since

they destroy crops or orchards.

elephant: According to the April 1983

count there were 2179 elephants in Tamil

Nadu. The trend shows a steady increase. As

against this situation, the problems faced by

elephants are many. Shrinking habitat due to

destruction and degradation of elephant forests

and fragmentation leading to ‘pocketing’ of

sub-populations are the most serious among

the problems. Ivory poaching besides being

an evil by itself is causing anxiety because of

the scale of such poaching and the long term

effect it is bound to have on elephant popu-

lations such as, imbalance in sex ratio and

genetic degradation due to loss of fine breed-

ing bulls. At this rate it is feared that in a

few years time hardly any tuskers will be left.

gaur: Gaur are on the increase in suitable

areas. Habitat destruction and denudation is

a problem they share with elephants. Gaur

are subject to periodic outbreaks of rinderpest

in epidemic form, no doubt brought into the

jungle by domestic cattle. And there seems

to be no way of keeping cattle out of even

sanctuaries because of political pressures. A

good development is the practice of protect-

ing domestic cattle against rinderpest.

nilgiri tahr: Nilgiris and Grass hills in the

Anamalai hills hold largest populations. Popula-

68

CONSERVATION OF WILDLIFE IN TAMIL NADU

tion trends reveal that optimum levels have been

reached. There are small populations scattered

over isolated hill tops and ridges. These face a

bleak future. There are a few populations on

the eastern face of the Western Ghats in the

Anamalais hills which are thriving in low level

habitats where the vegetation is of the dry

deciduous scrub type. Protection is a problem

where isolated, outlying populations are con-

cerned. Tahr have had to yield ground before

Hydroelectric projects, eucalyptus and wattle

plantations and developmental work in the

name of hill area development.

deer: Sambar — In well protected areas

sambar are on the increase. Spotted deer —

where wild dogs are operating, numbers have

declined. Barking deer — They seem to be

holding their own in suitable country. Mouse

deer — As they are nocturnal it is difficult to

make an assessment. Indications are that they

are doing alright.

antelope : Black buck — The status of these

antelopes has improved and they are expand-

ing their range. Four-horned antelope — They

are rare and always have been.

wild boar: In many areas their natural

enemy, the leopard has disappeared leaving

only man. Cultivators have been protesting

against giving protection to pigs. However, the

Government by permitting hunting of pigs

on licences in some areas has been taking the

pressure off the demand to scrap the Wildlife

(Protection) Act itself.

tiger: In spite of official claims, there has

not been any significant improvement in the

status of tigers. But there has been a rather

slow and steady improvement since the nineteen

sixties. Easy access to potent pesticides conti-

nues to be a cause for concern.

leopards: Leopards are on the increase in

well protected areas and frequently wander

outside reserves into towns and villages and

cause problems for themselves and humans.

wild dogs (dhole) : In certain areas such

as Mudumalai, they are fairly numerous and

have been causing havoc among spotted deer.

They have also taken to killing domestic stock

and invite retribution usually through poison-

ing of kills.

sloth bear : Bears have few natural enemies

and habitat destruction is the main obstacle

standing in the way of their conservation.

Where bear habitat has been left undisturbed,

these animals have increased.

striped hyena: It is not difficult to locate

hyenas through their dens. This makes hyenas

highly vulnerable to attack particularly where

their habitat is subject to degradation. The

once common hyena is uncommon now.

lesser predators: No serious attempt has

been made to census or survey small mamma-

lian predators, such as jungle cats, leopard

cats, the various mongooses and others. Official

records where they exist are open to question.

Ratels are rare. Less is known about the

distribution and status of the high elevation

fauna, such as the Nilgiri marten. Status

survey of the different species of otters has

also not been attempted.

pangolin: Reports show that they continue

to be rare. Jackals, fox: Foxes are fewer;

pressure on land being the cause. Jackals are

adaptable and have been managing to survive.

black -n aped hare. Tribals, both resident as

well itinerent have been exerting pressure on

the hare through hunting and netting. These

adaptable animals have been managing to

survive where adequate cover is available.

birds: Game birds such as partridges and

quail and waders continue to be hunted and

netted by Narikoravas, an itinerant tribe. And

game birds and hare are openly sold by them

in towns and villages. Peafowl enjoy greater

69

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

protection due to sentiment and are increasing.

Grey jungle fowl are generally on the decline,

but are thriving in suitable localities. The same

is the case with the red spur fowl. Painted

spur fowl are rare. Fruit eating birds are the

worst sufferers when forests and groves are

felled. Their decline in number is apparent.

reptiles :

Marsh crocodile or muggur — There are

still a few places in the State where crocodiles

are found in the wild. Crocodile breeding

through collection of eggs of wild crocodiles

and hatching them in hatcheries has been

successfully tried out in Tamil Nadu.

Snakes — Tanneries in the State have proved

to be collection, curing and despatch centres

for snakes skins from all over the country.

In spite of periodical raids and seizures, the

trade has not come to a stop. Some tribals

also indulge in the trade as snake catchers.

For how long snakes will be able to stand

this onslaught is anybody’s guess.

Turtles, terrapins and tortoises — Fortunate-

ly for the sea turtle, few people in the State

have developed a taste for its flesh. This

cannot be said for terrapins in tribal areas.

Olive Ridley is the commonest sea turtle.

Fewer tortoises are met with. Habitat destruc-

tion is the principal reason for the fall in

numbers of terrapins and tortoises.

The Chief Wildlife Warden, a senior forest

official is the enforcing authority under the

Wildlife (P) Act. He has his office at No. 571

Trichy Road, Coimbatore. Each major sanc-

tuary is under the control of a Wildlife Warden.

Regrettably dual control still exists.

The Wildlife Department has set up croco-

dile farms at Mettur, Amarvathi, Sathanur and

other places where crocodiles are bred and

reared. Crocodiles have been brought from the

brink of extinction to a state where they have

put officials in a quandary due to over produc-

tion. Sea turtle eggs are collected when gravid

females come ashore and lay eggs saving them

from predators such as dogs, jackals and

humans. The eggs are hatched in a central

place and hatchlings released into the sea. This

scheme has been in operation for the past

five years or so and has been quite successful.

Tamil Nadu is fortunate in having dedicated

local conservation organisations to augment

the Government’s efforts in this direction. To

name the important ones — Nilgiri Wildlife

and Environment Association, the Madras

Snake Park, the Madras Crocodile Bank, the

Irula Snake Catchers Co-operative (which has

been established to wean away Irulas from

killing snakes for their skins, to catching them

for the extraction of venom; the snakes being

released into the wilds after venom extraction),

Madras Naturalists Society, Tirunelveli Wild-

life Preservation Society, Ramanathapuram

Wildlife Society etc. There are colleges in the

State offering marine biology and wildlife

biology degree courses.

It must be said to the credit of the Tamil

Nadu Government that it has been following

an enlightened policy by encouraging natura-

lists and wild life researchers to work in its

sanctuaries. It can take credit for providing

facilities to the Bombay Natural History Society

to run a bird banding and research centre at

Point Calimere which has been doing excel-

lent work. The Tamil Nadu Government is

one of the few Governments to appoint hunters

as Honorary Game Wardens thus associating

hunters in conservation efforts.

The Forest Conservation Act, the Nilgiris

Biosphere Reserve proposal, the policy deci-

sion of the Tamil Nadu Government to abandon

clear felling and in some cases even selection

felling in sanctuaries and other progressive

measures augur well for the conservation of

70

CONSERVATION OF WILDLIFE IN TAMIL NADU

wildlife. The Wildlife (Protection) Act deserves

to be better known. Most of the offenders are

not aware of the implications of the Act. Tree

felling laws applicable to privately owned trees

and groves are negative in character. What is

needed is a positive thrust to encourage raising

trees through private initiative.

The mounting pressure on forests and forest

produce due to unbridled increase in human

population is going to be the real challenge

in the years to come. To meet this challenge,

not only are imaginative measures needed, but

the strength of the wildlife staff needs to be

increased in proportion to the wide scope and

ambit of the law which is their responsibility

to enforce.

71

ADAPTIVE SPECIALIZATION IN RELATION TO

NICHE DIVERSITY IN PHYTOPHAGOUS AND

MYCOPHAGOUS THRIPS

T. N. Ananthakrishnan1

{With three plates and a text-figure)

Thrips species like many other insects tend

to maintain an understandable degree of

stability, irrespective of their habits — whether

phytophagous, mycophagous, cecidicolous or

predatory, through evolving optimal behaviou-

ral strategies or adaptations in view of their

ability to compete for resources, as well as for

mates, emphasising the importance of resource

utilisation and mating competition in the suc-

cessful survival of a species (Ananthakrishnan

1984). As the number of locally coexisting

species tend to differ from place to place, their

abundance tends to fluctuate with time, and

the distribution of individuals among these

species also varies with different localities,

communities and populations. Natality /morta-

lity schedules also play a pivotal role in

maintaining the stability and survival proba-

bilities of fluctuating populations. Studies on

other phytophagous /mycophagous insects like

other animals have also shown that fluctuations

in the environment, predation /parasitisation,

presence and availability of food, are related

to community structure. The operation of ‘r’-

selection in an uncrowded or unstable environ-

ment is evident when a species can maximize

its growth rate, while k-selection at the other

extreme involves maximizing its competitive

ability when in a crowded state. Both are

1 Entomology Research Institute, Loyola College,

Madras 600 034.

equally typical of thrips species inhabiting

diverse habitats. The tendency for generalist-

specialist demarcation is equally well evident,

the specialist being more restricted in its

niche-width, the generalist having a wider

niche-width, more intraspecific competition and

polymorphism and better utilisation of food

and consequently of increased reproductive

success.

An interesting aspect of thrips is their

ability to adapt to varying environments, the

abundance of phytophagous species being

correlated with particular types of plant

formations. Many terebrantian species infest-

ing leaves of plants show a vertical distribution

or stratification, inhabiting different nodes

thereby avoiding competition. Many others are

known to form galls or malformations in plants

and yet others are predatory feeding on aphids,

coccids, thrips, mites etc. Some are essential

elements of the edaphon occurring as prepupae

and pupae upto a depth of 10-30 cms. in the

soil, while dead and decaying vegetation, bark,

litter harbour several mycophagous species.

For an understanding of the behaviour of

phytophagous thrips communities, a pre-

requisite is an understanding of their distri-

butional patterns on the leaves or flowers of

the concerned plants. Very often adult and

nymphs of a single species are known to occupy

different nodal leaves of the same plant. It is

also known that as many as seven species of

72

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Sqc. 83 (supplement) Plate 1

Ananthakrishnan : Thrips

Thrips in pollination.

A — Ail immature stage carrying pollen. B, C — Scanning Electron Micrographs showing

pollen attachment to setae. D — Adult thrips with a mass of pollen.

Primitive mycophagous Terebrantia.

Uzelothrips. B — Erotidothrips. C — Merothrips.

ADAPTIVE SPECIALIZATION IN THRIPS

thrips occupy different nodes of single host

plant avoiding competition and this is evident

in the common castor plant Ricinus communis

(Ananthakrishnan 1984). Added to this, eco-

logical succession of different thrips species in-

festing flowers is also known, leading to the

recognition of primary, secondary and tertiary

inhabitants as evident in the flowers of Ruellia

tuberosa (Viswanathan & Ananthakrishnan

1976). The phenology of thrips assemblage in

terms of abundance and flower preference is

equally typical of several species. Ecological

succession as well as species packing with as

many as four species within a single flower or

inflorescence is also known. The ability of thrips

to carry sufficient quality of pollen grains

of a variety of flowers during their flight tends

to promote cross pollination, the efficiency of

pollination naturally depending on the size,

viscosity of the pollen grains, attractiveness of

the flowers as well as the number and species

of thrips present. The number of individuals

present in the flower as well as the amount of

pollen grains per insect would determine the

pollen load or the total amount of pollen that

they carry, on the thoracic and abdominal

setae as well as on the wing setae, fringes

and antennae. As such species with; well-

developed setae such as those of Frankliniella

tend to be more efficient carriers of pollen.

The maximum number of pollen grains carried

is around 200 per thrips in Frankliniella

schultzei inhabiting Compositae flowers

(Ananthakrishnan 1982) (Plate 1).

It: is now well presumed that the Thysa-

noptera evolved from insects in which both

the mandibles were reduced and the asymmetry

resulting from the enlargement of the left

mandible was associated with pollen feeding.

In view of the fact that most thripids feed

on vascular plants and pollen, a correlation

of the development of the left mandible with

the corresponding reduction of the right, so

that the single mandible served as a more

efficient tool for piercing the pollen. It was

therefore inferred that the evolution of thrips

occurred through pollen feeding and until the

angiosperms evolved, thrips could have fed

only on gymnospore pollen and spores. In this

evolutionary advancement, the tubuliferan

thrips developed longer maxillary stylets, in-

vaded the saprophytic fungal zone and pro-

liferated within diverse fungal niches. Of

particular interest is the recognition of three

groups of mycophagous species, the first which

retained the short maxillary stylets, the second

developed the tendency for flexible maxillary

stylets, developing complex convolutions and

third producing thicker stylets, developing the

tendency to feed on spores, so that we have

the mvcetophagous and sporophagous species

among the mycophagous group (Ananthakrish-

nan 1979, Mound 1977a, 1977b; Mound and

O’Neill 1974).

Such microhabitats invaded by mycophagous

species enjoy a relatively constant environ-

ment, more particularly in the Tropics, so as

to enable easy mingling of individuals. In such

situations the rate of speciation is reduced,

besides increasing the chances of survival of

relict species such as the more primitive fungus

feeding Uzelothrips, Erotidothrips and species

of Merothrips. (Plate 2). The impact of habitat

fluctuations and food combined with other

related factors, both internal and external have

contributed to the evolution of wing poly-

morphs as well as the production of a structu-

rally diverse series of forms, the gynaecoid

and oedymerous males and major and minor

females favouring equally diverse mating

patterns and associated differences in fecundity.

What is striking about the incidence of sex-

limited polymorphism is the degree of pheno-

typic flexibility which is more typical of

73

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

mycophagous species and the ability of the

genotypes of the concerned species to produce

a range of varying phenotypes, through varia-

tion in the degree of expression and suppression

of one or more characters, which could pos-

sibly be explained as due to pleiotropy and

polygeny (Ananthakrishnan 1973, 1979, 1984).

Several species of mycophagous Tubulifera

have developed the tendency to aggregate, the

nature of aggregation and population size

mostly depending on fungal food availability

which in turn depends upon the environment

(Plate 3). As for their food, the phlaeothripines

feed on fungal mycelia imbibing their con-

tents, while the idolothripines consume spores

and so are essentially sporophagous. Feeding

on spores involves contraction and dilation of

cibarial and pharyngeal muscles followed by a

rapid wafting action through the development

in many species of a ‘wafting comb’ compris-

ing diverse types of long or short inward pro-

cesses of the muscular wall of the foregut,

especially in species feeding on large, single to

many celled, thick-walled spores with dense

pigment. The maxillary stylets in the myceto-

phagous species range from 0.85-1.7 p wide

with pointed apices, while in sporophagous

idolothripines they are 5-14 p wide exhibiting

considerable variation distally. As such feed-

ing diversity in respect of fungal resource

utilization in diverse ecological niches is very

typical of sporophagous idolothripines, enabling

recognition of the following distinct fundamen-

tal categories.

(a) Species which exploit various hosts for

fungal food resources, but feed only on

the spores of one and the same fungus.

Example: Dinothrips sumatrensis feeds

only on the spores of Lasiodiplodia

theobromae.

(b) Species which are host specific, but feed

on a wide variety of fungi present, in-

volving all the major categories, Asco-

myctes, Coelomycetes and Hyphomyce-

tes. e.g. Tiarothrips subramanii feeding

on Ant host omella consanguinea, A. sepi-

libilis, A. phoenicicola, Pestalozzia

algeriensis , Melanographium citri,

(c) Species with a restricted host range and

restricted feeding, e.g. Elaphrothrips

denticollis, occurring in large numbers in

drying leaves of Areca catechu and

Tectona grandis feeding on the spores

of Pestalozzia algeriensis and Phomopsis

tectonae and Bactrothrips idolomorphus

on dry leaves of Shorea robusta feeding

on Pestalozzia and Lasiodiplodium.

(d) Species occurring on a wide range of

hosts, mostly drying grass clumps, feed-

ing on a wide range of fungal spores

as in Loyolia indica.

Adaptive diversity in terms of reproduction

is well developed in sporophagous species, all

phytophagous species reproducing only by

oviparity involving both sexual and partheno-

genesis reproduction in many cases, mostly in

Terebrantia and only by the sexual method

in the others. While oviparity is very typical

of mycophagous species, several sporophagous

species show varying degrees of oviparity,

ovoviviparity and viviparity. The type of re-

production, whether oviparous or ovovivipa-

rous, is determined by factors such as

environment, fungal food availability, aggrega-

tion and oviposition behaviour (Fig. 1). Ovipa-

rity occurs during the more-moist months when

sufficient fungal food is available and a longer

incubation period does not result in dessicca-

tion, the patterns of oviposition varying with

species. Tn the drier summer months, repro-

duction involves the graded types of ovovivi-

parity and viviparity thus enabling protection

of the eggs from desiccation and overcoming

the fungal food scarcity. Viviparity and

74

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. S3 (supplement) Plate 3

Ananthakrishnan : Thrips

Aggregation patterns of adults and oviposition patterns in some mycophagous thrips.

A — Egg mass of Ecacanthothrips. B— Egg laying pattern of Tiarothrips. C — Egg laying

pattern of Ethirothrips. D — Adult and immatures of Ecacanthothrips on bark. E— Adult

of Priesneriana on bark. F — Aggregation of insects of Tiarothrips .

BEHAVIOURAL TRENDS IjN REPRODUCTION

ADAPTIVE SPECIALIZATION IN THRIPS

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

ovoviviparity are also adaptations to shorten

the life-cycle, enabling the young ones to

complete development before the food dis-

appears (Ananthakrishnan et ai 1983).

Of particular interest is the adaptative

specialization of some of the phytophagous

species taking to a cecidogenous habitat pro-

ducing malformation or galls. It is well known

that the initiation and exploitation of plant

tissues leading to the formation of galls

is a highly developed form of phyto-

phagy. Different kinds of tissue reorga-

nization result when a gall is formed and the

basic strategies for successful survival within

the gall environment is hyperplasy and hyper-

trophy and incidental cell realignment so as

to establish the gall form. Transformation of

such differentiated tissues into actively dividing

meristematic tissues as well as the organization

of a nutritive zone in the form of highly

specialised patches of cells are further adapta-

tions for survival by gall thrips as of other

gall insects. The occurrence of polymorphism

is equally typical of gall thrips and such

polymorphism induces intraspecific competition

(interspecific when more than one species is

involved), which considerably influences the

patterns of mating and fecundity. Rarely

as in Thilakothrips bahuJi forming the leaf

rosette galls in Acacia Ieucophloea, there is

the ability to switch over to the formation of

the inflorescence gall from the leaf rosette gall,

with accompanying changes in the duration

of the life cycles, being shorter in the inflo-

rescence galls and longer in the leaf rosette

galls. Gall insect-host plant association there-

fore exemplifies an advanced level of ‘trophic

strategy’ (Ananthakrishnan 1984).

Studies involving the role of larvae, adult

males, and adult females on gall development

and induced morphological variations by main-

taining a constant population of each of them

on the leaves of host plants of varying ages

reveal the efficiency of larvae and adult females

towards a faster development of the galls

together with significant morphological and

internal structural variations involving maxi-

mum tissue responses, indicating the signifi-

cance of the role of the cumulative feeding effect

of larvae and adult females in the galling

phenomena (Ananthakrishnan 1981). Adult

females when compared to the males spend

more energy by laying eggs for the build-up

of populations resulting in continuous feeding

to compensate for the energy lost. The adult

males which spend less energy, exhibit poor

feeding responses. Larvae being voracious

feeders also contribute much to the galling

phenomena. Another interesting feature is the

change of feeding sites by adult thrips to the

lower epidermis due to competition among in-

dividuals under high population densities. The

host plant is a part of the essential framework

within which intraspecific competition between

the insects must take place to limit the number

when it rises above a critical density, while

at the same time the growing insect population

makes increased demands on the plant, thereby

affecting its growth and quality. As disclosed

by van Emden and Way (1973), that limita-

tion through complete utilization of available

food supply may occur more commonly when

the insect is severely restricted to a particular

part of the plant or by a ‘resistance’ mecha-

nism to a particular growth stage, appears

significant in the galling phenomena.

76

ADAPTIVE SPECIALIZATION IN THRIPS

References

Ananthakrishnan, T. N. (1973): Mycophagous

Tubulifera of India. Occl. Publ. 2. Madras: Loyola

College Entomol. Res. Unit. 144 pp.

— — — — — (1979) : Diversity in-

dices in relation to intrapopulation variation in two

species; of Mycophagous tubuliferan Thysanoptera.

Proc. Symp. zool. Surv. India, 1 : 19-26.

— (1982): Thrips and

Pollination Biology. Curr. Sci., 57(4) : 168-172.

(1984): Adaptive

strategies in cecidogenous insects. In : Biology of gall

insects. Ed. Ananthakrishnan, T. N., (Oxford & IBH

Publishing Co., New Delhi), 1-9 pp.

— (1984): Bioecology of

Thrips. Indira Publishing House, Michigan, USA,

233 pp.

Mound, L. A. (1977a): Species diversity and the

systematics of some New World leaf litter Thysa-

noptera (Phlaeothripidae: Glyptothripini) . Syst. Ent.

2: 225-244.

(1977b) : Leaf-litter Thysanoptera

of the subtribe Williamsiellina (Phlaeothripidae).

Bull. Br. Mus. (Nat. Hist.). Ent. Ser., 36: 171-192.

Mound, L. A. and O’Neill, K. (1974): Taxo-

nomy of the Merothripidae with ecological and

phylogenetic consideration. J. Nat. Hist. 8: 481-509.

van Emden, H. F. and Way, M. J. (1973): Host

plants in the population dynamics of insects. In :

‘Insect Plant Relationships’ Ed. V. F. van Emden,

Symposia of the Royal Entomological Society, Lon-

don, Number VI, 181-199.

V ISWANATHAN, T. R. AND ANANTHAKRISHNAN, T.

N. (1976) : Aspects of host preference and succes-

sion in thrips infesting Ruellia tuberosa. Entomon,

7: 71-77.

77

BREEDING BIOLOGY OF SOME INDIAN BATS

— A REVIEW

A. Gopalakrishna and V. M. Sapkal1

{With eleven text-figures)

Introduction

A reviews of earlier literature on the repro-

duction of bats have been made by Baker and

Baker (1936), Baker and Bird (1936),

Gopalakrishna (1947) and more recently by

Gustafson (1979), Krutzsch (1979), Oxberry

(1979), Jerrett (1979) and Racey (1979) on

certain aspects of the breeding biology of the

bats. The present article highlights the repro-

ductive patterns of some Indian bats. However,

references to the work on bats in other parts

of the world will be made where pertinent.

The first discovery by Pagenstecher (1859)

in Germany of the presence of large numbers

of live spermatozoa in the genital tract of the

females of Pipistrellus pipistrellus throughout

winter months, even though ovulation had not

occurred in these specimens, drew the atten-

tion of several workers in Europe to this

curious fact. Several subsequent workers

(Eimer 1879, Benecke 1879, Fries 1879,

Rollinat and Trouessart 1895a, b, c, 1896, 1897;

Grosser 1903, Courrier 1924, 1927; Rendez

1929 and Matthews 1937) confirmed that

copulation in several European vespertilionid

and rhinolophid bats occurs during autumn and

the spermatozoa remain alive and viable

throughout winter and fertilise the ova released

during the following spring. Such a phenome-

1 Department of Zoology, Institute of Science,

Nagpur.

non was also reported to occur in several bats

inhabiting cold and temperate regions (Gaisler

1965, Dwyer 1966, A1 Rabaake 1968, Kitchener

1975, Hiraiwa and Uchida 1955). The crucial

experiment of keeping inseminated females

isolated from the males throughout winter were

carried out by Gates (1936), Folk (1940),

Wimsatt (1942, 1944), Hiraiwa and Uchida

(1956) and Racey (1973, 1975) who affirmed

that in several European, American and

Japanese bats the spermatozoa inseminated

during autumn remain viable and fertilise the

ovum released during the following spring. A

few other workers (Guthrie 1933, Caffier and

Kolbow 1934, Miller 1936, 1937, 1939; Pearson

et al 1952), however, indicated that, although

copulation in the bats inhabiting temperate

regions occurs during autumn, subsequent

copulations also occur during winter and spring

either as a general rule or in those females

which had missed or had unsuccessful copu-

lation during autumn.

In spite of the fact that the seasons are not

very well demarcated in the tropical regions,

most bats inhabiting these regions have a strict

reproductive periodicity (Baker and Baker

1936, Baker and Bird 1936, Gopalakrishna

1947, 1948, 1949; Brosset 1962a, b, c, 1963;

Gopalakrishna et al 1975, Gopalakrishna and

Choudhari 1977, Gopalakrishna and Rao 1977,

Gopalakrishna and Madhavan 1978, Gopala-

krishna et al 1979, Gopalakrishna and Bhatia

1983, Gopalakrishna et ah 1985, Ramaswamy

78

BREEDING BIOLOGY OF SOME INDIAN BATS

1961, Kumar 1965, Madhavan 1971, 1978, 1981;

Sapkal and Khamare 1984, Sapkal and

Bhandarkar 1984, Sapkal and Deshmukh 1985,

Kashyap 1980), and undergo copulation

which is immediately followed by fertilisation

and pregnancy. Storage of inseminated sperma-

tozoa, and fertilisation by the stored sperma-

tozoa of the ova released several weeks later,

have been reported only in a few tropical

species (Gopalakrishna and Madhavan 1971,

1978; Medway 1972, 1973; Racey et al. 1975,

Krishna and Dominic 1978).

The foregoing account presents only two

main patterns of reproduction in bats, namely,

where there is no sexual synchrony between the

male and the female (mostly in species in-

habiting cold and temperate regions) and

where the sexual activity is synchronous in the

two sexes (mostly in tropical species).

Reproductive patterns in the female

Anatomy of the female genitalia

Although in all Indian bats the uterus is

constructed on a bicornuate plan, there are

interesting variations in the details of the in?

ternal anatomy. Ashfaque and Tungare (1960)

studied the anatomy of the female geni-

talia of a few bats and indicated that they

exhibited an evolutionary pattern from a

condition, where the two sides are nearly

completely separate, to a condition where the

partial atrophy of one of the uterine cornua

gives the genitalia a nearly unicornuate

appearance. In Pteropus giganteus giganteus

the vagina is septate for more than three

fourths of its length and the two uterine

cornua open into the vaginal canal of the

respective side. Thus, the two sides of the

genitalia in this animal are nearly completely

separated — almost recalling the condition

occurring in Metatheria. In Cynopterus sphinx

gangeticus the septum in the vagina extends

to about half the cranial length of the vagina.

In Rousettus leschenauld (Choudhari 1968,

Karim 1975) the lumina of the two uterine

cornua remain separate and open by indepen-

dent canals at the tip of a bulbous cervix

which projects for a short distance into the

vagina. In Taphozous longimanus (Gopala-

krishna et al. 1979), whereas the two cervical

canals open independantly at the tip of an

elongated cervix in the nonparous females, the

tip of the cervix seems to break away during

the first parturition. Hence, in adult females

the two cervical canals, although independent,

join just before opening into the vagina at

the tip of the cervix. In most of the bats

(Gopalakrishna and Karim 1980), the two

uterine cornua become confluent and open into

to cervix by a common opening. In Tadarida

plicata plicata (Pendharkar 1981) and Miniop -

terns schreibersii fuliginosus (Chari 1980,

Gopalakrishna and Chari 1984) the left uterine

cornu is markedly smaller than the right.

Physiology of the female genitalia

Most vespertilionids are polytocous and the

two uterine cornua are physiologically symme-

trical and the two sides of the genitalia are

functional during every breeding cycle (Gopala-

krishna 1947, Madhavan 1971, 1978, 1981).

Bats belonging to other families are usually

monotocous and exhibit varying degrees of

physiological dominance. In Taphozous longi-

manus (Gopalakrishna 1954, 1955), Rousettus

leschenauld (Gopalakrishna 1964, 1969;

Gopalakrishna and Choudhari 1977) and

Cynopterus sphinx (Sandhu 1984), while the

two sides of the genitalia have equal physio-

logical potentiality, only one side functions

during each cycle, and there is a physiological

alternation of the two sides of the female

genitalia in successive cycles. Among hipposi-

derid bats (Madhavan et al. 1977, Gopala-

79

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

krishna and Bhatia 1983, Sapkal and Bhandar-

kar 1984) the left side of the genitalia exhibits

a distinct physiological dominance over the

right side — about 65 to 75% of ovulation

and pregnancy occurring on the left side. In

Megaderma lyra lyra (Ramakrishna 1951,

Ramaswamy 1961, Gopalakrishna et al. 1979)

the left side of the genitalia is completely

dominant, and ovulation and pregnancy in

every cycle occur only on the left side, the

right ovary not even producing mature follicles.

Two cases of twinning have been reported in

this bat, but only in one case it was proved

conclusively that both the cornua had a foetus

each (Ramaswami and Kumar 1963); in the

case of the other twin embryos (Gopalakrishna

et al. 1974) there was no mention regarding

the location of the two twin embryos. In both

cases the authors could not identify the ovary,

which had ovulated, due to the absence of

the corpus luteum in the ovaries since the

corpus luteum in this bat disappears at an

early stage of pregnancy (Gopalakrishna and

Badwaik — in press). In contrast to this con-

dition, the right side of the genitalia is com-

pletely dominant in Rhinolophus rouxi

(Gopalakrishna and Rao 1977), Taphozous

melanopogon (Gopalakrishna and Karim 1980,

Sapkal and Khamare 1984, Sandhu 1986),

Taphozous kacchensis (Sapkal and Deshmukh

1985), Tadarida aegyptiaca (Kashyap 1980,

Sandhu 1986) and Tadarida plicata plicata

(Pendharkar 1981). In parous females of the

two species of Tadarida the left uterine cornu

is markedly smaller than the right, and the

left ovary does not even produce mature

follicles. Miniopterus schreibersii fuliginosus

presents the most extraordinary condition of

the female genitalia. In this species, while ovu-

lation as a rule occurs from the left ovary,

and fertilization of the ovum and the early

development of the embryo take place in the

left Fallopian tube, the embryo in the morula

stage migrates to the right uterine cornu,

where it implants and undergoes further deve-

lopment (Gopalakrishna et al. 1979, Gopala-

krishna et al. 1981, Gopalakrishna et al. 1985).

The dominance of the right uterus in bearing

pregnancy was noticed in Myotis lucifugus

lucifugus, but ovulation in this species occurred

from either ovary with nearly equal frequency

(Wimsatt 1979).

Breeding habits

On the basis of the breeding habits the

Indian bats can be broadly classified into the

following categories:

Annual cycle

The species which have an annual repro-

ductive cycle and breed once a year in a

strictly defined breeding season fall into this

category. The exact season of reproduction,

however, varies among different species. This

category can be further recognised into three

types depending on the season of onset of

breeding activity. It is pertinent to mention

here that in Indian conditions the words

‘spring’, ‘autumn’ and ‘winter’ do not have the

same significance as in temperate and cold

countries because the changes in the different

seasons in the tropics are not so marked as

those in cold countries. These words are used

in the present article broadly to indicate

February-April as spring, September-December

as autumn- winter and June- August as rainy

season.

Spring breeders

These species come to sexual activity, and

copulate and undergo ovulation in March-

April with pregnancy following immediately.

To this category belong Scot op hit us temmincki

80

BREEDING BIOLOGY OF SOME INDIAN BATS

(S. wroughtoni) (Gopalakrishna 1947, 1948,

1949) around Bangalore, Miniopterus schrei-

bersii fuliginosus (Gopalakrishna et al. 1985)

at and around Mahabaleshwar, Taphozous

melanopogon at Chikalda and Narnala (Sapkal

and Khamare 1984) and at Burhanpur and

Asirgarh (Sandhu 1986) and Taphozous kacch-

ensis (Sapkal and Deshmukh 1985) at Agra.

Autumn — Winter breeders

These come to sexual activity during

October-December and experience pregnancy

immediately after copulation. To this category

belong Megaderma lyra lyra at Srirangapattana

(Ramakrishna 1951), at Agra (Ramaswamy

1961) and around Nagpur (Gopalakrishna

1950, Gopalakrishna et al. 1974), Rhinolophus

rouxi at Khandala (Gopalakrishna and Rao

1977, Gopalakrishna and Ramakrishna 1977)

and at Bangalore and Khandala (Ramakrishna

and Rao 1977), Hipposideros fulvus fulvus

at Nanded (Madhavan et al. 1977) and Hippo-

sideros ater ater at Nanded (Gopalakrishna

and Madhavan 1978).

Rainy season breeders

Those bats, which come to sexual activity

in June or early in July and experience preg-

nancy soon after copulation, come under this

category. To this category belong Tadarida

aegyptiaca at and around Khandwa (Kashyap

1980, Sandhu 1986) and Tadarida plicata

plicata (Pendharkar 1981).

Pipistrellus ceylonicus chrysothrix at Nanded

(Madhavan 1971, Gopalakrishna and Madha-

van 1971) experiences estrus and undergoes

copulation during the first two weeks of June,

but ovulation does not take place until about

the second week of July, when the inseminated

stored spermatozoa, which remain viable,

fertilise the ova and pregnancy follows imme-

diately. A similar phenomenon, but occurring

during a different season, obtains in Scotophilus

heathi at Cochin (Gopalakrishna and Madha-

van 1978, Madhavan 1981) in which, while

copulation occurs in the middle of November,

ovulation and fertilisation do not take place

until about the last week of December. During

this interval the inseminated spermatozoa are

stored in the female genital tract and retain

their viability.

Breeding twice in a year with

strict sexual periodicity

Some species have a strict reproductive

periodicity, but experience two cycles in quick

succession. In these species the lactation period

of the first cycle overlaps the early pregnancy

of the second cycle. Such a situation occurs in

Rousettus leschenaulti at Aurangabad (Gopala-

krishna 1964, Gopalakrishna and Choudhari

1977) and Cynopterus sphinx at Bangalore

(Ramakrishna 1947) and at Nagpur (Sandhu

1984). In Rousettus leschenaulti the two sides

of the genitalia function alternately in succes-

sive cycles due to the protracted persistence

of a large corpus luteum until the beginning

of the succeeding pregnancy (Gopalakrishna

1969).

Anomalous breeding habits

There are certain bats, which, although ex-

periencing a strict reproductive periodicity,

present a few anomalies. Rhinolophus rouxi

(Ramakrishna and Rao 1977) presents certain

reproductive adaptations to suit the environ-

mental conditions. At and around Bangalore

ovulation and fertilisation occur in the last

week of November, whereas at Khandala

female do not undergo copulation until the

middle of December. The gestation period

of this bat is 150 ± 8 days. Whereas the early

embryonic development of this species is con-

siderably slowed down at Bangalore, there is

81

6

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

a delay in the implantation of the blastocyst

in the specimens at Khandala. Deliveries at

Bangalore occur about four weeks earlier than

at Khandala. The authors suggested that this

change in the reproductive pattern of the same

species at two different localities is an adapta-

tion to bring forth the young ones at the

most propitious season.

A situation nearly similar to that of

Rhinolophus rouxi appears to obtain in Hippo -

sideros speoris, which has been studied at

Bangalore, Nanded and Chandrapur. Although

the female breeds only once a year, the time

of breeding is delayed progressively at higher

latitudes. At Bangalore the females come to

estrus and copulate late in October and con-

ceive immediately. At Chandrapur, although

the specimens undergo copulation in the first

week of December and the spermatozoa remain

in the female genital tract during the follow-

ing weeks, ovulation does not occur until the

last week of December or early in January.

Fertilisation and conception occur at this time

in most females in the colony and deliveries

occur after a gestation of 135 ± 5 days. How-

ever, some females in the colony come to heat

early in March and deliver their young in

the last week of July. It is not known if in-

seminated spermatozoa are stored and fertilise

the ova released several weeks later in these

specimens, which copulate early in December

and conceive during the last week of Decem-

ber. Some more details about this species will

be described while dealing with the male sex-

cycle.

In Hipposideros lankadiva at Balharsha

(Saokal and Bhandarkar 1984) copulation

occurs during the latter half of August and is

immediately followed by ovulation and ferti-

lisation. However, the early development of

the embryo until implantation of the blasto-

cyst is unusually slow — nearly two months.

Even the post-implantation development is

also considerably retarded until the limb-bud

stage of development. Consequently, the gesta-

tion of this bat lasts for about 260 to 270 days.

Continuous breeders

A few Indian bats do not have a strictly

defined reproductive season. In Taphozous

longimanus at Nagpur (Gopalakrishna 1954,

1955), Pipistrellus mimus mimus at Nanded

(Gopalakrishna et al. 1975) and Pipistrellus

dormeri at Nanded (Madhavan 1978) there is

a quick succession of pregnancies and the

lactation period of one cycle overlaps the early

gestation of the succeeding cycle. More than

two litters are produced during each year in

these species.

Reproductive patterns in the male

This is the first report on the male repro-

ductive habits of most of the Indian bats

described here. Hence, a brief description of

the material and methods are given below. The

specimens for the present study were collect-

ed from different localities in India at least

for two successive years such that every month

is represented by one collection or more. The

specimens were collected from their natural

roosts, killed by chloroform, and the male

reproductive organs and accessory reproduc-

tive structures were fixed in various fixatives

such as neutral formalin, Bouin’s, Rossman’s,

Zenker’s or Camoy’s fixative. The right testis

of all the specimens was weighed by a Mettler

balance. The tissues were stored in 70% etha-

nol after fixation for 24 hours and processed

by the usual procedure, and paraffin embedd-

ed tissues were sectioned serially at 6 to 10 g.

thickness. For the present work the tissues

were stained by Ehrlich’s or Harris’ haema-

toxylin and counterstained by eosin, dehydrat-

82

BREEDING BIOLOGY OF SOME INDIAN BATS

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ed by graded ethanol, cleared in xylol and

mounted DPX or Canada balsam. Table 1

gives the details about the collection record

of the males of some species studied here.

The reports on other species are based on

the collection record of other workers in

this laboratory. The details of the breeding

activity of the males of some of the species

described here are based on the descriptions

by other workers.

The male genitalia

One of the conspicuous features of the

structure of the male genital organs of the

bats is the occurrence of various kinds of

anatomical adaptations of the external genital

organs for effective coitus. Most species hang

freely up-side-down and coitus is invariably

per dorsum. In this posture intromission

overcoming a large interfemoral membrane,

and remaining in coitu until ejaculation, pose

mechanical problems to these animals. The

most common adaptation is the presence of

numerous backwardly directed spines on the

glans penis, and these help in anchoring the

penis to the vaginal mucous membrane while

in coitus. This is prominently noticed in

P ter opus giganteus giganteus (Murthy and

Vamburkar 1978), Rousettus leschenaulti

(Gopalakrishna and Murthy 1976), Cynopte-

rus sphinx (Vamburkar 1958) and, to a lesser

extent in Megaderma lyra lyra, Hipposideros

fulvus fulvus and Pipistrellus ceylonicus

chrysothrix (Murthy 1971). In these latter

three species the presence of an os penis is

an adaptation to provide an additional stiffness

to the erect penis for effective intromission.

In Taphozous longimanus (Murthy 1969)

there are, in addition to the presence of nume-

rous rows of backwardly directed sharp spines

on the glans penis and the presence of an os

penis, two prominent accessory corpora caver-

nosa, which have the same function as the

83

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vo!. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

bulbus glandis in the dog. Evidently, all these

adaptations are to prevent premature with-

drawal of the penis during coitus.

Breeding habits

Even the brief review on the female repro-

ductive habits of Indian bats made earlier in

this article has revealed that there are con-

siderable differences in the season and the

pattern of reproductive behaviour among the

different species. These studies have also shown

that different species inhabiting the same loca-

lity may have different reproductive behaviour

and the same species in different parts of

India exhibit some differences in the repro-

ductive habits (Ramakrishna and Rao 1977).

Among the more than a hundred species

of bats included in nine families available in

India details of the sexual cycle in the male

have been reported so far only in one species,

Scotophilus temmincki ( S . wrought oni)

(Gopalakrishna 1948, 1949). It is normally

expected that there may be interesting repro-

ductive strategies in the males also to match

the variations in the female.

Generally, most Indian bats, which have a

sharply defined breeding season, and in which

copulation is immediately followed by the ferti-

lisation of the ovum and pregnancy. The male

also has a parallel sexual rhythm, which is

synchronous with that of the female. The testis

comes to activity and vigorous spermatogenesis

occurs when the female comes to estrus. The

weight of the testis increases considerably,

there is a spurt of spermatogenetic activity and

there is a pronounced increase in the number,

size and secretory activity of the Leydig cells.

Concomitantly, the accessory organs also ex-

hibit secretory activity. In the bats, which

breed round the year, spermatogenetic activity

and the activity of the accessory glands remain

at a high peak throughout the year.

The present studies have been undertaken

with a view to finding out not only the sexual

activity of the males of some Indian species,

but also to finding out how these activities

are related to the sexual cycles in the females.

For the present study the species have been

so chosen and grouped together as to represent

different categories such as (1) different

species from the same locality, (2) same species

from different parts of India, and (3) some

species randomly chosen for study. In the

first group are included (a) Rousettus lesche-

naulti and Megaderma lyra lyra from Auranga-

bad, Rousettus leschenaulti and Miniopterus

schreibersii fuliginosus from Mahabaleshwar in

western ghats, Cynopterus sphinx and Tapho-

zous at and around Nagpur, (b) Pipistrellus

ceylonicus chrysothrix, Pipistrellus mimus

mimus, Pipistrellus dormeri — all collected at

and around Nanded, (c) Taphozous melano-

pogon and Rhinopoma microphyllum from the

same composite colony at Burhanpur, (d)

Hipposideros fulvus fulvus and Hipposideros

ater ater from Nanded and surrounding areas,

(e) Taphozous kacchensis and Megaderma

lyra lyra at and around Agra. The second cate-

gory includes (a) Megaderma lyra lyra from

Srirangapattana, Nagpur and Agra, (b) Rhino-

lop hus rouxi from Bangalore and Khandala,

(c) Hipposideros speoris from Bangalore,

Nanded and Chandrapur. To the third cate-

gory belongs Scotophilus heathi from Cochin.

As mentioned earlier, the reproductive cycles

of the female have been studied in all the

species mentioned above.

Different species from the same locality

(a) Rousettus leschenaulti and Megaderma

lyra lyra from Aurangabad:

All the specimens were collected at and

around Bibi-Ka-Makbara at Aurangabad. The

two species live in different colonies in two

different underground tunnels. Rousettus colony

84

BREEDING BIOLOGY OF SOME INDIAN BATS

consists of about 5,000 specimens and the

colony of Megaderma varies in number bet-

ween about 500 to 800 in different seasons

of the year. The specimens were collected

from January 1963 to December 1964.

Figure 1 is a scatter diagram of the weight

of the right testis of the specimens of

Rousettus plotted against the date of collec-

tion of the specimens. From the graph it is

evident that the testis weight of the adult

animals has a double peak in the year corres-

ponding to the two pregnancy cycles in the

female. Megaderma has a single peak cor-

responding to a single cycle in the year (loc.

cit.). In both the species the peak weight of

the testis corresponds to the season of copu-

lation. Histological examination of the testis

reveals that the peaks of testis weight closely

correspond to the height of spermatogenetic

activity. In both the species the accessory re-

productive organs also exhibit their peak

activity when the testis is active as revealed

Fig. 1. Scatter diagram in which the weight- of the testis is plotted against the dates

of collection of Rousettus leschenaulti. Note the two peaks of the curve indicating

two peaks of testicular activity.

(In all the 11 figures the larger dots represent adult animals and the smaller dots

represent juvenile specimens. The dotted lines parallel to the two axes indicate the

lowest weight of testis or the body (as the case may be) at sexual maturity.

85

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

by the increase in their size and changes in

their histological structure.

(b) Rousettus leschenaulti and Miniopterus

schreibersii at Mahabaleshwar:

The two species inhabit the Robbers’ cave

throughout the year. Whereas the weight and

the histology of the testis, and the histology

of the accessory reproductive organs of

Rousettus leschenaulti, exhibit the same pat-

tern as in the specimens at Aurangabad,

Miniopterus presents a very different pattern

of sexual activity. The testis in the adult males

reach peak values in January and February

when copulation occurs, after which the testis

regresses and remains inactive during the rest

of the year. The activity of the accessory

reproductive organs closely parallel the activity

of the testis in both species.

(c) Cynopterus sphinx and Taphozous longi -

manus at Nagpur:

Cynopterus has two peak periods of sper-

matogenetic activity when the weight of the

testis of adult animals also reaches high peaks

(Sandhu and Gopalakrishna 1984). The first

peak is in September-October and the second

in February-March. The two peaks correspond

to the two pregnancy cycles of the female ex-

cept that the highest peak of spermatogenetic

activity occurs about two weeks before the

females come to estrus. During this period

the cauda epididymis is engorged with sperma-

tozoa and is markedly enlarged. Taphozous

longimanus in the same locality, being a con-

tinuous breeder, does not exhibit changes in

the weight of the adult testis during the year.

The testis of the adult animals is active

throughout the year.

(d) Pipistrellus ceylonicus chrysothrix, P.

minus minus and P. dormeri at Nanded:

These three species have different breeding

MONTH

Fig. 2. Scatter diagram of the adult testis weight plotted against the dates of

collection of Pipistrellus ceylonicus chrysothrix. Note the single peak of testis weight

during the latter part of May and June.

86

BREEDING BIOLOGY OF SOME INDIAN BATS

patterns (Madhavan 1971, Gopalakrishna et

al. 1975, Madhavan 1979). In P. ceylonicus

chrysothrix the testis comes to activity in May

and reaches its peak in June which is the

season of copulation (fig. 2). The regression

of the testis in this animal is rapid and there

is complete cessation of spermatogenesis after

the first week of July. The testis has low

weight until the following May. On the other

hand, in the other two species the adult testis

exhibits spermatogenesis throughout the year,

(e) Taphozous melanopogon and Rhinopoma

microphyllum from Burhanpur:

Both these species occur in one large com-

posite colony of 5,000 to 6,000 specimens in

the rooms and dungeons of a dilapidated old

fort at Burhanpur. Both species are found

throughout the year, but the number of speci-

mens become reduced during certain months

of the year (Gopalakrishna 1986). Copulation

in Taphozous occurs during the latter half of

January and the females conceive immediately

laid deliver the young in May. The weight of

the adult testis starts increasing from the

middle of December and reaches peak values

during January. The weight of the testis de-

creases rapidly after the second week of Febru-

ary and remains at low levels during the rest

of the year. Spermatogenetic activity and the

activity of the accessory reproductive organs

parallel the changes in the weight of the testis.

In Rhinopoma the testis weight commences

to increase in January and reaches peak values

in February after which there is a sudden fall

in the weight of the testis accompanied by

the regression of the testis. However, the

spermatozoa are stored in the epididymis. The

accessory reproductive organs come to acti-

vity late in February and are most active

during the first half of March. Copulation takes

place during the first half of March and the

females conceive immediately. In this species,

therefore, the activity of the testis and the

estrus in the female do not coincide, the testis

Fig. 3. Scatter diagram of testis weight plotted against dates of collection of Hipposi-

deros fulvus fulvus. Note the single peak of testicular activity as indicated by the curve.

87

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

coming to activity more than two monCvar

prior to the time when the females come to

estrus. Although, the testis undergoes regres-

sion, the spermatozoa stored in the epididymis

remain viable and fertilise the ova released in

March. The maintenance of the activity of the

accessory organs in this bat is evidently under

the control of factors other than those which

initiate and maintain spermatogenesis.

(f) Hipposideros fulvus fulvus, and H. ater

ater from Nanded :

The specimens of the above species were

obtained from old houses and wells at and

around Nanded. In both the species there is

a synchrony of the reproductive activity of

the two sexes. The testis increases in weight

rapidly during October and November accom-

panied by an increase in the activity of the

accessory organs. Copulation occurs late in

November and conception follows immediately.

Figure 3 gives the changes in the weight of

the testis during different months of the year

in H. fulvus fulvus. The pattern of changes in

the weight of the testis of H. ater ater is simi-

lar to that in H. fulvus fulvus.

(g) Taphozous kacchensis and Megaderma

lyra lyra at Agra:

There are marked differences in the repro-

Fig. 4. Scatter diagram of testis weight plotted against dates of collection of

Megaderma lyra lyra at Srirangapattana. The curve indicates the changes in the

weight of the testis of adult animals during the year.

88

BREEDING BIOLOGY OF SOME INDIAN BATS

ductive behaviour of the two bats. In T.

kacchensis the testis and the accessory repro-

ductive organs reach peak activity in March

(Deshmukh 1984). In Megaderma lyra lyra

the testis is most active in the last week of

November and the first week of December.

The breeding activity is synchronous in both

sexes in both the species.

Same species from different regions

Under this category are studied three species:

Megaderma lyra lyra, Rhinolophus rouxi and

Hipposideros speoris

(a) Megaderma lyra lyra

The breeding behaviour of this species has

been studied at Srirangapattana, Nagpur and

Agra. In all the regions this species is an

‘autumn- winter’ breeder (October-December)

(fig. 4). The date of copulation, however,

advances progressively from higher to lower

latitudes. While this species exhibits high peak

of testis activity in October at Srirangapattana,

the testis reaches peak state of activity in the

middle of November at Nagpur and during the

last week of November and the first week of

December at Agra. The sexual activity is

synchronous in both sexes in all the regions.

(b) Rliinolophus rouxi

The breeding habits of this animal have been

studied at and near Bangalore and at Khandala.

The peculiarities of the female sex-cycle in this

animal have already been reported (Gopala-

krishna and Ramakrishna 1977, Ramakrishna

and Rao 1977, Gopalakrishna and Rao 1977).

The males at and around Bangalore exhibit

Fig. 5. Scatter diagram of testis weight plotted against the dates of collection of

Rhinolophus rouxi at Khandala. Note the single peak of testis activity.

89

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 (, SUPPLEMENT )

Fig. 6. Scatter diagram of testis weight plotted against the dates of collection of

Hipposideros speoris at and around Bangalore. Note the single peak of testis activity

as indicated by the curve.

peak spermatogenetic activity late in October

and early in November, whereas at Khandala

the peak period of testis activity occurs in the

middle of December. During the rest of the

year the testis is regressed. The activity of the

accessory organs is synchronous with that of

the testis in both the localities. The changes

in the weight of the testis during the different

months are indicated in figure 5.

(c) Hipposideros speoris

This species has been examined at and

around Bangalore, Nanded and Chandrapur.

It exhibits marked variations in the male re-

productive activity in the three regions. At

Bangalore the testis commences to increase in

weight from the first week of September and

reaches peak values during October and until

the last week of November, after which there

90

BREEDING BIOLOGY OF SOME INDIAN BATS

is a sudden fall in the weight of the testis

(fig. 6). The testis is regressed during the

rest of the year. Spermatogenetic activity

closely parallels the activity of the accessory

organs. At Nanded the males come to sexual

activity in the middle of December and active

spermatogenesis continues untill the end of

January. Copulation occurs between the last

week of December and the first week of Janu-

ary and pregnancy commences immediately.

The testis and accessory structures are re-

gressed during the rest of the year. The sexual

habits of this animal at Chandrapur (Gopala-

krishna and Bhatia 1980, 1983) appears to be

markedly different from those in the other

two regions. The testis commences increasing

in weight from the middle of November and

reaches peak values during the middle of

January and early in February. The testis

regresses after the middle of February, but the

Fig. 7. Scatter diagram of the testis weight plotted against the dates of collection

of Scotophilus heathi at Cochin. Note the single peak of testis activity during

October-November.

91

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

Fig. 8. Scatter diagram in which the testis weight is plotted against the body weight

in Rousettus leschenaulti.

92

BREEDING BIOLOGY OF SOME INDIAN BATS

cauda epididymis is markedly enlarged and is

full of spermatozoa. The accessory reproduc-

tive organs remain in full activity until the

middle of March, and copulation in some of

the females in the colony takes place in March

with deliveries occurring in July- August. Some

of the specimens in the colony appear to have

a breeding pattern similar to that in Rhino-

poma microphyllum at Burhanpur. Perhaps,

the late breeders of Hipposideros speoris at

Chandrapur either missed copulation earlier

or had not attained sexual maturity until

March. Since this species appears to present

such wide variations in its breeding habits at

different localities it would be interesting to

study in detail the reproductive biology of this

species from other parts of India also.

Body weight in Gms.

Fig. 9. Scatter diagram in which the testis weight is plotted against the body weight

in Hipposideros fulvus fulvus. Note that the regressed testis of some adult specimens

weigh less than the testis of some juveniles.

93

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

30

28

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6 24

.£ 22

£ 20

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16

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K- (2

10

8

6

4

2

40

E 30

20

10

Hipposideros speoris

®

s •

s

• •

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s

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I

f

s

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I • • I

* • If

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Body weight in 6ms.

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Fig. 10. Scatter diagram in which the testis weight

0 — mU.vU ivjiu wwgin is jjiuiicu agdiiisi ooay we

Hipposideros speoris. The situation is similar to that of H. fulvus fulvus.

Rhinotophus rouxi

s plotted against body weight in

• » •

• • e

• ® e» »®#©l •

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9 10 II 12 13 14 15

Body weight in Gms.

17 18 19

Fig. 11. Scatter diagram in which the testis weight is plotted against body weight

of Rhinolophus rouxi. The situation is similar to that in H. fulvus fulvus.

94

BREEDING BIOLOGY OF SOME INDIAN BATS

Scotophilus heathi from Cochin

This species has been included in this study

because it presents some interesting features

in its breeding habits. Although near the

equator, this bat has a strictly defined repro-

ductive periodicity, and unlike the allied

species, Scotophilus temmincki (Gopalakrishna,

1947, 1948, 1949), which breeds in March-

April at Bangalore, this species comes to

sexual activity in November-December, that

is, it presents an autumn type of breeding

pattern. The increase in the weight of the testis

commences early in November and reaches

maximum values during the last week of

November and the first week of December.

The testis undergoes regression and sperma-

togenetic activity ceases after the end of

December. The changes in the testis weight

are shown in figure 7. It has been already

mentioned that even though the specimens

copulate early in December, the inseminated

spermatozoa remain viable and fertilise the

ova released during the last week of December

(Gopalakrishna and Madhavan 1978).

Age at sexual maturity

In most bats the rate of growth of the body,

as indicated by the increase in the body weight,

is rapid and, hence, in most species the body

weight cannot be used as a sure criterion for

determining the age at sexual maturity except

in Rousettus leschenaulti in which all female

specimens above the body weight of 50 gms

and all males above the body weight of 73 gms

were mature (fig. 8). In other species no such

direct correlation exists between the body

weight and sexual maturity. Figures 9-11 are

intended to illustrate this point in three species

of bats. All these figures are scatter diagrams

in which the testis weight is plotted against

the body weight. The figures indicate that the

body weight of some sexually immature ani-

mals may be more than that of sexually

mature specimens. Similarly, the weight of the

regressed testis of adults may be less than the

weight of the testis of immature specimens.

In the latter case the immature specimens

represent animals approaching their first rutting

season. But the pregnancy record in the female

and the histological structure of the testis and

the accessory reproductive organs in the males

are reliable criteria to determine sexual matu-

rity or otherwise in these animals. Further,

in those species, which have pubic dugs, the

size of the pubic dugs is an additional crite-

rion to determine sexual maturity since the

pubic dugs become enlarged during the first

lactation as they are used by the sucking young

for anchoring by the claws of their hind limbs.

The dugs do not become reduced in size during

the rest of the life of the females. Hence, the

presence of large pubic dugs is a sure sign

that the female had borne at least one young.

The normal method of calculating the

approximate age at sexual maturity in those

bats, which have an annual cycle in a sharply

defined season, is to find out if immature

specimens occur in the colony during the

breeding season. The presence of immature

specimens during the breeding season clearly

indicates that the animals do not attain sexual

maturity within the year of birth, and the

earliest age of sexual maturity in these animals

is the period from birth to the second breed-

ing season of the species. It should, however,

be mentioned that the animals may take even

longer to attain sexual maturity, perhaps more

than one breeding season after birth, but this

is unlikely. On the basis of this criterion the

bats having a strictly defined breeding season

can be classified into two categories — (1)

those which attain sexual maturity within the

year of birth, and (2) those which do not

95

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST , SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

attain sexual maturity within the year of birth.

Further, while in some species the age at

sexual maturity is the same in both sexes, in

others there is a marked difference between

the two sexes with regard to the age at sexual

maturity, and in the latter cases the females

reach sexual maturity at an younger age than

the males. There are yet other species in

which the age of sexual maturity varies on

the basis of the season of birth in both the

sexes. This situation is particularly conspicu-

ous in those species which breed twice in

quick succession within the year, for example,

Rousettus leschenaulti (Choudhari 1968,

Gopalakrishna and Choudhari 1977). In this

bat the females born in March-April reach

sexual maturity in November of the same year,

that is, 7 to 8 months of age, and those born

in July come to heat and experience their first

breeding cycle in December, that is, about 5

months. Among the males those born in

March-April come to rut and participate in

copulation at an age of 19 to 20 months,

while those born in July attain sexual maturity

at the age of 15 to 16 months. This difference

is probably due to the fact that the breeding

season in this bat commences in October-

November.

Among the other seasonally breeding bats

the following species attain sexual maturity

and participate in copulation in the year of

their birth — Scotophilus temminki (Gopala-

krishna 1947, 1948), Pipistrellus ceylonicus

chrysothrix (Madhavan 1968, 1971), females

of Scotophilus heathi (Madhavan 1981), Hip -

posideros ater ater (Gopalakrishna and

Madhavan 1978), Hipposideros speoris (Bhatia

1980, Gopalakrishna and Bhatia 1984), Tada-

rida aegyptiaca (Kashyap 1980, Sandhu 1986)

and females of Tadarida plicata plicata (Pen-

dharkar 1981). The following species do not

breed within the year of birth and probably

attain sexual maturity and participate in

copulation in the second year of their birth

— Rhinopoma microphyllum (Sandhu 1986),

Rhinolophus rouxi (Rao 1973, Gopalakrishna

and Rao 1978), Hipposideros fulvus fulvus

(Madhavan et al 1977), Hipposideros lanka-

diva (Sapkal and Bhandarkar 1984), Tapho-

zous melanopogon (Sapkal and Khamare

1984), Taphozous kacchensis (Deshmukh

1984, Sapkal and Bhandarkar 1985), Mega-

derma lyra lyra (Ramakrishna 1951, Rama-

swamy 1961) and Miniopterus schreibersii

fuliginosus (Gopalakrishna et al 1985). It is

not known with certainty whether the males

of Scotophilus heathi breed within the year

of birth although Madhavan (1981) suggested

that they may attain sexual maturity within

the year of birth.

In the cases of those species, which breed

throughout the year, the above criteria cannot

be applied for determining the age at sexual

maturity. The only way to determine the age

at sexual maturity in these bats is to band the

newly born young ones and examine their

genitalia periodically. No such work has been

reported so far on any Indian bat.

Influence of external factors

In sexual periodicity of bats

An analysis of the data available on Indian

bats indicates that no single external factor

or a combination of external factors appear

to be responsible for triggering the onset of

breeding activity in these animals. This con-

clusion is drawn on the basis of the following

facts: (1) Several species inhabiting the

same locality and under similar ecological

conditions have different patterns of repro-

duction and breed during different periods,

and (2) the same species inhabiting different

localities have a nearly same breeding pattern

96

BREEDING BIOLOGY OF SOME INDIAN BATS

although in these cases the actual onset of

breeding becomes slightly advanced towards

lower latitudes. Evidently, factors such as tem-

perature, rain fall, humidity, duration of the

day etc. may not play a major role in esta-

blishing the reproductive periodicity in these

animals. At best these factors may influence

to a small extent so that delivery of the young

ones may take place at the most advantageous

season of the year. There is yet no evidence

to indicate that food habits have any influ-

ence on the breeding pattern. It appears that

the breeding rhythm is genetically determined

for each species, and the influence of external

factors, if any, is only marginal.

General conclusions and remarks

From the foregoing account, it appears that

‘autumn’ is the basic breeding season in the

bats, and only a few species have adopted

‘spring’ as the breeding season. This conclu-

sion is borne out by the fact that most species

of bats, both tropical and temperate, come to

sexual activity in autumn when they undergo

copulation. The protracted storage of insemi-

nated spermatozoa in the genital tract of the

female in the autumn breeders of temperate

regions appears to be an adaptation to bring

forth the young ones in a season when there

is abundant supply of food both for the

mothers in lactation and the newly weaned

young ones. The spring breeding in tropical

hats is a modification of the same mechanism

because even in these bats the time of delivery

is so adjusted as to be most advantageous

to the adults and the juveniles. A few bats

like Rousettus leschenaulti and Cynopterus

sphinx combine both autumn and spring breed-

ing and form an intermediate stage of change

over from the autumn breeding pattern of

temperate species to the spring breeding pat-

tern of some tropical species. A few tropical

species, which breed throughout the year, form

the extreme stage of evolution of reproduction

in bats, and this is, perhaps, an adaptation

to increase fecundity in these animals.

One of the interesting features of the re-

productive biology of bats is the marked

uneven sex-ratio with females out-numbering

the males in the adult stage although the sex-

ratio at birth is even. Such a feature has been

reported in all the Indian bats so far studied

(Gopalakrishna and Madhavan 1970, Gopala-

krishna el al 1985, Madhavan 1971) except

in Taphozous melanopogon and Hipposideros

lankadiva (Abdulali 1949). Evidently, there is

a preferential mortality of the males during

the growth period, and this is probably an

adaptation to increase the potential reproduc-

tive population of the species. The only ex-

ception to this is Taphozous melanopogon

(Abdulali 1949, Sapkal and Khamare 1984)

in which the males outnumber the females in

the colony. The available data do not permit

an explanation for this anomaly. One inte-

resting feature about this bat is that it is a

seasonal migrator (Gopalakrishna 1986) and

perhaps the males and the females live in

different colonies except during the breeding

season. Unless several colonies of this species

are examined from different regions and dur-

ing different seasons of the year, it is not

possible to establish unquestionably that the

males outnumber the females in this species.

Earlier, Hipposideros lankadiva (Abdulali

1949) was described as having a male domi-

nant sex-ratio, and this conclusion was based

on the examination of one or two colonies

once or twice in the year. But recent work

on this species from several colonies and

during all the months of the year has esta-

blished that in this species also the females

outnumber the males (Sapkal and Bhandarkar

97

7

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

1984). Perhaps a similar situation may obtain

in Taphozous melanopogon also.

The low fecundity of most of the bats be-

cause of physiological asymmetry of the female

genitalia and the animals being monotocous,

and their having a single annual breeding

cycle should normally reduce the population

of the species progressively. Since this does

not happen in the natural populations it is

reasonable to assume that the bats must have

a sufficiently long life so as to be able to

produce at least 6 to 8 young ones during

their life (allowing for the preferential morta-

lity of the males during the growth period and

for accidental death of the females). One

Refer

Abdulali. H. (1949): Sex ratio in Indian bats.

/. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 48: 423-428.

Ae Rabaake, K. (1968): Notes on the biology

of the tomb bat, Taphozous nudiventris magnus

(V. Wettstein) in Iraq. Saugetierk Milt., 16: 21-26.

Ashfaque, M. and Tungare, S. M. (1960) :

Observations on the structure of the female repro-

ductive organs in Indian bats. Bull. Zool. Soc., Coll.

Sci., Nagpur. 3: 1-8.

Baker, J. R. and Baker, Z. (1936): The seasons

in a tropical rain-forest (New Hebrides) — Part III

— Fruit-bats (Pteropidae) . Jour. Linn. Soc. London.

40: 123-141.

Baker, J. R. and Bird, T. F. (1936): Seasons in

a tropical rain forest (New Hebrides) — Part IV

Insectivorous bats (Vespertilionidae and Rhinolo-

phidae). ibid. 40: 143-161.

Benecke, B. (1879): Uber Reifung und Befruc-

tung des eies bei den Fledermausen. Zool. Anz., II:

304-305.

Bhatia. D. (1980): Sex-cycle and associated

phenomena in the bat, Hipposideros speoris

(Schneider) from Maharashtra. Unpublished thesis.

Nagpur University.

Brosset, A. (1962a): The bats of Central and

Western India. Part I. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc.,

59: 1-57.

(1962b): do Part II. ibid.

59: 583-624.

(1962c) : do Part in. ibid.

could reasonably assume that the monotocous

bats, which come to sexual activity in the

second year of their birth and breed in a

sharply defined breeding season, must have a

longevity of at least 8 to 10 years to be able

to produce 6 to 8 young ones during their life.

Banding experiments alone can definitely

determine the longevity of bats, but unfortu-

nately no such experiment has been reported

about Indian bats.

Acknowledgements

Dr. A. Gopalakrishna is thankful to the

C.S.I.R. for financial assistance for carrying

out this project.

E N CES

59: 707-746.

(1963): do Part IV. ibid.

60: 338-355.

Caffier, E. and Kolbow, H. (1934): Anatomisch-

Physiologische Genitalstudien an Fledermausen zur

Klarung der therapeutischen sexualhormonwirkung.

Zeit. f. Geburtschilfe u. Gynak., 108.

Chari, G. C. (1980): Studies on the embryology

of the vespertilionid bat, Miniopterus schreibersii

fuliginosus (Hodgson). Unpublished thesis, Nagpur

University.

Choudhari, P. N. (1968): Sex-cycle and asso-

ciated phenomena in the Indian fruit bat, Rousettus

leschenaulti (Desmarest). Unpublished thesis, Nagpur

University.

Courrier, R. (1924): Le cycle sexual chez la

female des mammiferes Etude de la phase follicu-

laire. Arch. de. biol. 34: 369.

(1927): Etude sur le determinisme

des characteres sexuels secondaires chez quelques

mammiferes activite testiculaire periodique. ibid. 37 :

173-334.

Deshmukh, A. H. (1984) : Reproduction in the

Indian bat, Taphozous kacchensis (Dobson). Un-

published thesis. Nagpur University.

Dwyer, P. D. (1966): Observations on the

Chalinolobus dwyeri (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae)

in Australia. J. Mammal., 47: 716-718.

Eimer, G. (1879): Uber die fortpflanzung der

Fledermaus. Zool. Anz., II: 425.

98

BREEDING BIOLOGY OF SOME INDIAN BATS

Folk, G. E. Jr. (1940) : The longevity of sperms

in the female bats. Anat. Rec. 76: 103-109.

Fries, S. (1879) : Uber die fortpflanzung der

einheimischen Chiropteran. Zool. Anz., II: 235-357.

Gaisler, J. (1965) : The female sexual cycle in

the lesser horse-shoe bat ( Rhinolophus hipposideros) .

Vestaik Cesk Spolecuostei Zool., 29: 336-352.

Gates, W. H. (1936): Keeping the bats in capti-

vity. J. Mammal. 17: 268-273.

Gopalakrishna, A. (1947) : Studies on the

embryology of M icrochiroptera — Part I. Repro-

duction and breeding seasons in the South Indian

vespertilionid bat, Scotophilus wroughtoni (Thomas).

Proc. Ind. Acad. Sci., 26: 219-232.

(1948): do Part II.

Reproduction in the male vespertilionid bat, Scoto-

philus wroughtoni (Thomas), ibid., 27: 137-151.

(1949): do — — Part III.

The histological changes in the genital organs and

the accessory reproductive structures during the sex-

cycle of the vespertilionid bat, Scotophilus wrough-

toni (Thomas), ibid., 30: 17-46.

(1950): do Part VI.

Structure of the placenta in the Indian vampire bat,

Lyroderma lyra lyra (Geoffroy). Proc. Nat. Inst.

Sci. India, 16: 93-98.

(1954) : Breeding habits of

the Indian sheath-tailed bat, Taphozous tongimanus

(Hardwicke). Curr. Sci., 23: 60-61.

(1955) : Observations on the

breeding habits and ovarian cycle in the Indian

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wicke). Proc. Nat. Inst. Sci. India, 21: 29-41.

— (1964) : Post-partum preg-

nancy in the Indian fruit bat, Rousettus leschenaulti

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— (1969): Gestation period in

some Indian bats. /. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 66:

317-322.

(1986) : Migratory pattern of

some Indian bats. Myotis.: 223-228.

— and Badwaik, N. (in press) :

Studies on the corpus euteum of some Indian bats.

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— — and Bhatia, D. (1980): Via-

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ing habits and associated phenomena in some Indian

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Gopalakrishna, A. and Chari, G. C. (1984):

Early development, implantation of the blastocyst

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— . — AND

Karim, K. B. (1981): Transuterine migration of the

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nosus (Hodgson). Curr. Sci. 50: 50-154.

AND CHOUDHARI, P. N.

(1977) : Breeding habits and associated phenomena

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and Karim, K. B. (1980):

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AND

Banerjee, S. (1979): Anatomy of utero-vaginal

junction in the Indian sheath-tailed bat, Taphozous

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— AND

Chari, G. C. (1979) : Pregnancy record in some

Indian bats. Curr. Sci., 48: 716-718.

Gopalakrishna, A., Khaparde, M. S. and Sapkal,

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— — and Madhavan, A. (1970) :

Sex-ratio in some Indian bats. ibid. 67: 171-175.

(1971):

Survival of the spermatozoa in the female genital

tract of the Indian vespertilionid bat, Pipistrellus

ceylonicus chrysothrix (Wroughton). Proc. Ind. Acad.

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(1978):

Viability of the inseminated spermatozoa in the In-

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— and Murthy, K. V. R. (1976) :

Studies on the male genitalia of Indian bats —

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rufus horse-shoe bat, Rhinolophus rouxi (Temm.) .

Curr. Sci., 46 : 767-770.

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JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

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, Varute, A. T., Sapkal, V.

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Grosser, O. (1903): Die physiologische bindege-

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Gessel. Heidelberg. 17: 129-132.

Gustafson, W. (1979) : Male reproductive pat-

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Univ. 30: 255-266.

— — — ■ (1956): Fertili-

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Jerrett, D. P. (1979): Female reproductive pat-

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369-378.

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Krutzsch, P. H. (1979): Male reproductive

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Madhavan, A. (1968) : Breeding habits and sex-

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(1971): Breeding habits in the

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— — — — (1978): Breeding habits and

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— -5 , Patil, D. R., and Gopala-

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sideros fulvus fulvus (Gray) (Hipposideridae) . ibid.,

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— (1973): Hypothermia in flat-

headed bats (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae: Genus

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the males of some cave bats. Anat. Rec. 67 : 62.

— 7T — — (1937) : Further observations on

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. — — — — — (1939) : Reproductive cycle in male

bats of the species Myotis lucifugus lucifugus, . J.

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(1971) : Studies on the male

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— AND Vamburkar, S. A. (1978) :

Studies on the male genitalia of Indian bats — Part

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BREEDING BIOLOGY OF SOME INDIAN BATS

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1 (1979) : The prolonged storage

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■- — (1951) : Studies on reproduc-

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— • ■ • — AND Rao, K. V. B. (1977):

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— (1895b) : Die-

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— — (1896) : Sur la

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(1986) : Studies on the embryo-

logy of some Indian Chiroptera. Unpublished thesis.

Nagpur University.

AND Gopalakrishna, A. (1984):

Some observations on the breeding biology of the

Indian fruit bat, Cynopterus sphinx (Vahl) in Cen-

tral India. Curr. Sci. 53: 1189-1192.

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habits and associated phenomena in some Indian

bats — Part IX — Hipposideros lankadiva (Kelaart)

— Hipposideridae. /. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 81:

380-386.

and Deshmukh, A. H. (1985):

do Part X — Taphozous kacchensis (Dob-

son) — Emballonuridae. ibid., 82: 61-67.

and Khamare K. G. (1984):

— — -do — — Part VIII — Taphozous melanopogon

(Temminck) — Emballonuridae. ibid. 80: 303-311.

Vamburkar, S. A. (1958): The male genital tract

of the Indian megachiropteran bat, Cynopterus

sphinx gangeticus (Anderson). Proc. Zool. Soc Lon-

don. 130: 57-77.

Wimsatt, W. A. (1942): Survival of spermatozoa

in the female reproductive tract of the bat. Anat.

Red 3 83: 299-307*

(1944) : Further studies on the

survival of spermatozoa in the female reproductive

tract of the bat. ibid. 88 : 93-104.

(1979) : Reproductive asymmetry

and unilateral pregnancy in Chiroptera. J. Repr.

Fert. 56: 345-357.

101

HIGH FREQUENCY CINEMATOGRAPHY STUDIES

ON LOCOMOTION AND PREYING IN INDIAN SKITTER

FROGS RAN A CYANOPHLYCTIS SCHNEIDER, 1799

Rudolf Altevogt,1 Hiltrud Holtmann and Norbert Kaschek

(With two plates and three text -figures)

High frequency cinematography (upto 1.500 frames per second) and flash photography

recordings were made of the prey catching performance of the Indian skitter frog,

Rana cyanophlyctis. The main temporal and spatial parameters thus found were com-

pared to relevant data of other quick moving animals proving the skitter’s pole

position in view of acceleration and speed among jumping vertebrates.

According to Daniel (1974), “The com-

monest and most easily seen species of Indian

frogs is the Skipper, Rana cyanophlyctis, a

medium sized frog rarely exceeding 60 mm in

snout to vent length. Almost all ponds, shallow

stretches of rivers, rain water pools have their

quota of this species easily recognized by their

habit of skipping over the water like a rico-

chetting stone” (p. 392).

In fact, every Indian naturalist must have

encountered the skipper when it heads in herds

for the open water surface after the human

intruder stirred them up from the bank of a

reed- or bamboo-fringed pond.

Apart from the early report by Annandale

(1919), the skater seems to have been studied

in India only by Gans (1976), who noticed

that “particularly, Rana cyanophlyctis was seen

to skitter across the water”, and “these frogs

1 Physiology and Ecology, Zoological Institute,

Munster University, Badestr. 9, D-4400 Munster,

Federal Republic of Germany.

2 In the 16th Century, the Moghul Emperor

Babur 1526-1532 commented that “The frogs of

Hindustan are worthy of notice. Though of the same

species, as our own, yet they will run 6 or 7 Gaz

on the face of the water” — Eds.

do not have to start well above the surface,

but can start from a floating position, jumping

free of the surface, and bouncing more than

half a dozen times before either reaching land

or diving to the bottom”. Gans “filmed this

behavior a number of times and in different

localities” (in India and Sri Lanka).2

Unfortunately, Gans did not specify his film

recordings, and quite apparently the usual

shots taken at 24 frames per second do not

tell the whole story.

This holds also true for some reports on

other skittering frogs: Flower (1896) said that

Rana erythraea “can hop over the surface of

a pond, much as Rana cyanophlyctis does in

India, and also jump right out of the water”

(quoted from Romer 1951):

Romer (1951) extended these findings to

R. taipehensis and stated “that both R.

erythraea and R. taipehensis can hop over

the surface of the water” (p. 414).

The phenomenon in question popped up

outside India in short notes by Chabanaud

(1949) on the African frog R. occipitalis

which “dashes across the surface of the water,

ricochetting over the surface by striking the

water rapidly with its hind limbs”, and he has

102

LOCOMOTION AND PREYING IN R. CYANOPHLYCTIS

“observed them crossing at top speed the full

breadth of “marigots” some meters wide” (p.

288).

Dunn (1928) gives a similarly brief mention

of the skittering locomotion in the East Indian

Rana macrodon.

Blair (1950) has seen juvenile Acris crepi-

tans (Hylidae) in Oklahoma (USA) “which

were sitting along the bank (of a slough 6 to

8 feet wide, authors), and when disturbed

almost invariably “bounced” two or three

times on the water and landed on the opposite

bank” (p. 237).

The same behaviour was reported by Hudson

(1952) for this Hylid from the Delaware

Canal (20 feet wide) in Pennsylvania, where

“they exhibited skittering locomotion along

the surface for a distance of 3 or 4 feet, then

returned and swam rapidly back to the bank”

(p. 185).

Finally, Janson (1953) referred to Hyla

cinerea cinerea from North Carolina (USA)

which “appeared unable to employ the skitter-

ing type of locomotion unless the starting

point was well above the surface of the water”

(P- 62).

Our frog is found from the Arabian penin-

sula to Thailand. Its remarkable ability to

seemingly stride or skate across the water

surface enables it to cover aqueous stretches

of several meters in leaps and bounds. The

observer’s naked eye does not notice much

more than circular patterns at intervals of

some decimeters on the water surface, and for

a more detailed analysis of the striding pro-

cess, its beginning and its end, flash photo-

graphic and slow motion cinematographic

recordings are needed.

Among the frog family Ranidae, R. cyano-

phlyctis is especially adapted to aquatic life,

probably more so than any other Ranid species :

due to some anatomical peculiarities involv-

ing pulmonar and other relevant features the

skater can remain floating at the water surface

for hours and hours without exerting much

energy. And it is from this floating position

that it can perform leaps of upto 50 cm height

to catch insect prey passing by in flight. Simi-

larly, from this position the fleeing reaction

referred to above can be elicited.

To accomplish such feats, most, if not all

other frogs need a solid surface as a launching

pad.

To study these unique abilities, we brought

four adult R. cyanophlyctis taken in the vici-

nity of Cochin, South India, to the lab. Sur-

prisingly enough, the skippers are fairly

sensitive to changes of their habitat and thus

we had to condition them to jumping from

the water surface for insect prey offered as

flies and moths tethered on thin threads. There

were two males weighing 4.9 and 7.8 g, both

39 mm long, and two females of 12.9 and

13.8 g body weight with 44 and 46 mm snout-

vent length. Their aquarium measured 90 x 45

x 45 cm, and the water, kept at 24-26°C, was

25 cm high with a bottom substratum of fine

gravel.

We wanted to analyse the prey catching

action of the skipper by high frequency

cinematography, i.e. extreme slow motion

movies, ranging upto 1 . 500 frames per second

instead of the usual 24 f/s. Thus, the happen-

ings from take-off to aqua-landing would be

slowed down by a factor of 62.5. We have

a LOCAM camera 51-0002 from Redlake

Corporation, Campbell, California, for upto

500 frames per second, and a HYCAM K

200/R from Red Lakes Labs., Santa Clara,

California, for the higher frames. Illumination

was done by 8 bulbs of 750 Watts each. The

shots lasted from 3 to 10 seconds thus keeping

low an increase of temperature, unavoidable

when using such powerful lamps. Frame-to-

103

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 (, SUPPLEMENT )

frame analyses and the relevant drawings were

done using the cutting-cum-editing machine

S T 1201 from Steenbeck, Hamburg.

Contrary to common belief frogs are good

learners: after few futile attempts to catch

food dummies (plastic models of flies) they

would no longer jump at them, though a live

blowfly in a small glass vial would then again

release the preying reaction. Again after about

five trials when the fly could not actually be

caught the frogs would stop and we had to

Fig. 1. Rana cyanophlyctis : start from the floating

position. Time between successive phases: 0.013

seconds.

switch over to tethered live flies offered at'

about 20 cm above the water surface.

The typical habitat of R. cyanophlyctis,

fresh water ponds, tanks and calm rivers with-

out much water turbulence, is often shared by

R. hexadactyla. Ecologically, they are nicely

separated, however, in that R. hexadactyla

prefers the vegetation belt near the banks,

while R. cyanophlyctis is more often found

in the open central areas, simply floating in

the said manner. Unlike other frogs, in the

floating skipper the longitudinal axis is almost

parallel to the water surface (in the others

dangling downwards considerably), and the

hindlegs are held close to the body, in an

angular position (fig. 1). Due to an apparently

large lung volume — quantitative anatomical

details still lacking — in some skippers a good

part of the back and hindlegs is even pro-

truding above the water surface (For further

details on this floating posture and the func-

tions of accompanying foot movements see

Gans, l.c., and Holtmann 1985).

To maintain and re-orient this floating posi-

tion, the skipper performs typical hindleg

movements: about once per second both hind-

legs are slightly moved backwards performing

equilibrating movements at an angular speed

of upto 463 degrees per second. When prepar-

ing to jump out of the water these move-

ments are increased in frequency.

According to Satyamurti (1967) and Daniel

(1975), the food of R. cyanophlyctis consists

of insects, their larvae, and small vertebrates

like frogs and tadpoles to which Minton

(1966) added aquatic invertebrates like:

crustaceans and snails which are said to;

be caught under water. In our observations

in the field and laboratory we saw only once

that a conspecific tadpole of 8 cm length was

swallowed by a skipper, but numerous small

fishes (like Lebistes reticulatus) in our aquaria

104

LOCOMOTION AND PREYING IN R. CYANOPHLYCTIS '

were never attacked by our skippers even

when extremely hungry. When bluebottles

( Calliphora ) were offered along with wax-

moths ( Galleria melonella), the frogs at first

would not show any food preference but after

a few days they developed a definite prefer-

ence for the moths. Even when Calliphora and

Lucilia flies, would no longer elicit prey cap-

ture, waxmoths would still trigger the jump for

them. This fact shows that the skipper can

very well distinguish such objects visually at

distances of at least 20 cm. The neuro-etholo-

gical basis of this and similar behaviour features

of anurans are at present under intense study

in various laboratories (see Ewert and colla-

borators 1973, 1980).

The typical frog jumping from a solid

substratum shows three separate acts: 1. take-

off, 2. aerial phase, and 3. landing. The energy

necessary for take-off is mustered in two stages,

first by muscular forces of the hindlegs

( Musculus extensor femoris) and the Os cruris,

contributing the main part of the propulsion

energy. After this first impulse, a second burst

of muscular energy is released by stretching

the tarsus, metatarsus and toes (Kamon 1971,

Calow and Alexander 1973, Zajac and Levine

1979).

Energetically, a take-off angle of 45 degrees

is optimal, as under this premonition the im-

pulse is equally shared into its horizontal and

vertical components (Gray 1968, Treff 1969,

Luthanen and Komi 1978). Such ideal condi-

tions, however, are hardly met with by the

frog in its natural habitat, and jumps would

be ideally ballistic only in flight reactions

yielding maximum width at minimum energy

expenditure.

More often, the frog’s jump is aimed at prey,

and their location and position make take-off

diverge from that ideal angle. Schneider (1954)

observed frog take-offs at 110 angular degrees,

i.e. in a backward direction. At any rate, it is

essential to gain propulsion energy for take-off

in as high a fraction of time as possible

(Hempel 1952, Gans 1961, Bennet-Clark

1974).

When taking off from the floating position,

the skipper’s femora and tibiae start the ex-

tension (i.e. stretching) movement from the

folded position referred to above, both legs

acting synchroneously if a straight forward

and upward jump is needed. Otherwise, jumps

to the left or right side are performed by

metachroneously activating the right resp. left

hindleg.

At the same time the forelegs are moved

caudally by about 90 degrees so that they can

come to rest along the ventro-lateral side of

the body. This position enhances thrust and

reduces water drag along the body’s longitudi-

nal axis (fig. 2).

Before act 2 of the take-off process (see

above) is displayed,, the skipper enlarges the

surface of its heavily webbed hindfeet by

abducing its toes spreading its metatarsal and

phalangeal radii and thereby passively stretch-

ing its webs. As an example of this process

and its energetic effects, the following data

are illustrative: a male frog of 3.9 cm

body length and 7 . 8 g body weight commands

a web surface of 2.29 cm2 per foot, and in a

frog with 4.6 cm and 13.8 g this area amounts

to 2.89 cm2. Thrust pressure in such cases

reaches values of 1 .7 g and 2.38 g per square

centimeter.

In exerting the take-off thrust against the

water drag, the hindfeet assume a concave

shape hence improving the hydrodynamic

efficiency and reducing “slipping” of the feet

in the water layers.

As stated above, in frogs starting from a

solid surface, take-off angles of more than 110°

have become known. They may relieve the

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol 83 {SUPPLEMENT)

0 0 o 0 0

Fig. 2. Rana cyanophlyctis : Aqueous take-off, postural sequence, limb posture and

tongue-action in prey-catching. Time between successive phases: 0.003 seconds.

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83 (supplement) Plate I

Altevogt, Holtmann & Kaschek: Rana cyanophlyctis

Left: Fig. 3. Rana cyanophlyctis: Split-seconds after aqueous take-off, the fore-limbs

are brought forward for gripping the prey. Right: Fig. 5. Rana cyanophlyctis: Fore-

limbs help tongue in securing prey, eyes fully open.

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83 (supplement)

Altevogt, Holtmann & Kaschek: Rana cyanophlyctis

Plate II

Fig. 6. Typical inflight-actions of Rana cyanophlyctis to catch a fly (a, b, c) and to

alter aerial posture and flight course by extending foot-webs (d).

Photo flash 1/5000 sec.

LOCOMOTION AND PREYING IN R. CY AN OPHLY CTIS

frog from too much pre-start orientation move-

ments by turning around its vertical axis in

which possibly precious time may be lost dur-

ing which the passing prey may have vanished

for safety.

In aqueous take-off, skippers can also

perform such shows attaining more than 100

angular degrees, i.e. doing a sort of backward

somersault head over tail.

As can be seen from fig. 2, the take-off

proper, i.e. from leg-stretching to clearing the

water (phases b through d in fig. 2), takes

roughly 5/100 seconds. If correction move-

ments become necessary due to fast moving

prey, skippers can respond within split seconds

by horizontally turning round, covering 20

angular degrees in 0.013 seconds, i.e. one full

round-turn takes only 0.234 s.

All these anatomical and physiological pecu-

liarities enable the skipper to attain vertical

take-off speeds of 3.3 m per second (equal

to 11.9 km per hour) which places the skipper

way ahead of Rana temporaria with 1.8 m/s

(= 6.48 km/h) [Calow and Alexander 1973]

and R. ridibunda with 1.4 m/s (=5.04 km/h)

[Hirsch 1931] which, moreover, started from a

solid launching pad and that, no doubt, pro-

vides much more favourable conditions than

an aqua-take-off.

The skipper’s performance is also ahead of

the data (“estimated velocity”) of nine species

of Hylidae and Gastrophryne carolinensis

(Microhylidae) from Mississippi reported by

Zug and Altig (1978). Though in tree-frogs

the physical and physiological parameters of

their body seem to favour locomotion by leaps

and bounds (as their name implies), the best

jumper of these authors’ lot attained only an

estimated velocity of 2.2 m/s (=7.92 km/h).

All this may not seem much if we compare

the human high- jumper (3.28 m/s = 11.81

km/h; Luthanen and Komi 1978).

For a proper comparison, however, we

should focus our attention on the acceleration

data which, in the forementioned examples

would read 10.35 m/s2 in the human high-

jumper, about 10 m/s2 in the space ship launch,

but 25.2 m/s2 in R. cyanophlyctis.

For further comparison we tabulate the rele-

vant data of acceleration and speed of a num-

ber of quick jumping animals some of which

have been worked out in our laboratory using

high speed cinematography and stroboscopy.

Unfortunately, the relevant data pertaining

to the American bullfrog Rana mugiens Merr.

cannot yet be included here from which Hesse

and Doflein (1910) stated that it performs

leaps of 2 m in length and easily crosses

hedges of 1.5 m in height. Gans (1961),

reporting on R. catesbeiana, the common

American bullfrog, and showing beautiful flash

photographs by M. F. Roberts, does not give

quantitative data on acceleration and speed

except that “segments of the frog’s limbs are

moving at speeds in excess of six feet per

second” (p. 32) which would correspond to

6.48 km/h, i.e. to the speed of Rana tempo-

raria.

The quickest space-ship with the fastest

acceleration is not worth anything if not pro-

perly aimed at its target or destination. And

though the average horizontal speed of a

blowfly passing across a skipper’s abode is

only about 1.6 m/s (= 5.76 km/h, Schneider

1965) and the skipper’s speed easily exceeds

this mark, its body, gripping forelegs and

tongue need to precisely zero in on the prey if

the jump is to succeed. To do so, the frog,

after clearing the water with forelegs still

“folded” sideways in the ventro-lateral posi-

tion along the body, propels both its forelegs

snoutwards within one hundredth of a second

(Plate I, fig. 3) and within the same short in-

terval shoots out its tongue forward so that its

107

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

Table 1

Velocity and acceleration in the jump of some vertebrates and invertebrates

Note: In most of the invertebrates mentioned here, the remarkable jumping data are due to various energy

storing mechanisms.

108

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

two distal tips can nicely and firmly grip the

prey (fig. 4). Speeds attained in these “arm”

propulsions are upto 3 m/s. Both forelegs now

serving as “arms” and hands in tucking the

insect into the frog’s mouth (Plate I, fig. 5), the

successful jumper falls back into the water in a

statistically haphazard manner: head or tail

first or last, with the left or right side first

touching down on and through the water

surface.

Normally, after such successful jumps, the

skipper dives to the bottom, devouring the prey

and returning to its floating position for the

next jump.

Eig2 4. Tongue action in Rana cyanophlyctis. Time

interval between two successive phases: 0.003 seconds.

Even after being on its way after take-off,

the skipper has two means of correcting its

course and improving its aiming success. Not

unlike the postural mechanism in a cat falling

from a roof and making its landing on its feet

rather than its back, skippers can alter their

body posture and thus their trajectory by upto

25 angular degrees in flight. Hence they can

to a certain extent overcome lateral displace-

ments of their prey.

Another means of improving the zeroing in

on the prey is provided by the tongue even

while the frog is already in flight: the flicking

movement of the tongue normally aiming

straight forward as seen in fig. 1 and 2, can be

laterally diverted to cover upto 25 angular

degrees. Thus, even fast escaping flies can be

caught.

Our high frequency shots of normal tongue

actions yielded some more data highlighting its

efficiency. The tongue in flight can be flicked

out of the frog’s mouth upto 20 mm distance,

and it takes only 0.016 seconds to do so to

full extension. The two sticky lobes of the

tongue’s tip envelop the prey and retract in

within about the same short time into its buccal

resting position. Gans (1961) reported 0.05 s

in R. catesbeiana for the tongue to emerge

and “less time than this” for retraction.

Another interesting retraction concerns the

frog’s eyes during the initial phases of its trajec-

tory: they are retracted into their sockets. This

is also proved in the excellent photos of jump-

ing frogs by Roberts (in Gans 1961), and by

Dalton (1982) on R . temporaria opining that

one cannot think of an aerodynamic effect but

rather of a means of protection for the eyes.

In fact, Gans (1976) reported that skittering

skippers hit a sloping rock upon the fourth or

fifth bounce and flipped completely onto their

backs: here protected eyes would certainly be

advantageous.

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JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

On the other hand, however, protectively

closed eyes would tend to impede visual (re-)

orientation in flight, becoming necessary if,

after take-off, the prey has moved away. Gans

(1969) has drawn attention to this fact in the

American bullfrog and thinks “that the nicti-

tating membrane is thick, but transparent, and

would seem capable of changing the optical

qualities of objects seen through it” (p. 34).

In our slow-motion shots, towards the end of

the flight, before hitting the prey, the eyebulbs

emerge again allowing for better visual input

(Plate II, fig. 6c). No doubt, this is a pre-

requisite for the remarkable corrections, body,

tongue and hands can perform, if the first

attempt to grasp the prey proved futile.

Ruppell (1979) presented excellent flash

photographs and slowmotion shots of Rana

esculenta and emphasized the fact that the

Refer

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Bennet-Clark, H. C. (1975): The energetics of

the jump of the locust Schi&tocerca gregaria. J. exp.

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Blair, A. P. (1950) : Skittering locomotion in

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Calow, L. J., and Alexander, R. McN. (1973) :

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Chabanaud, P. (1949): Skittering locomotion of

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Christian, E. (1978): The jump of the spring-

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frogs can alter their trajectory while already

in flight and perform correction movements

apparently guided visually. In one example,

after a frog missed and failed to envelop the

prey, it fired the next correcting tongue shot

a mere 9;/ 100 seconds later. This, according

to Ruppell shows “that the behaviour of our

water frogs seems much more variable and

adaptable to the relevant situation than one has

thought so far”. We hold that our quantitative

data bear also witness to this fact for the

skitter frog and would like to conclude these

short notes with Gans, that “many things re-

main to be learned, even about the commonest

animals, and it is obvious that photography

can considerably assist the learning process”

(1961, p. 37). We hope to learn more about

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the near future.

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und Energiebilanz. 7. Mitteilung. Die Energetik des

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Ill

REDESCRIPTION OF THE CANE TURTLE WITH NOTES

ON ITS NATURAL HISTORY AND CLASSIFICATION

Edward O. MoliT Brian Groombridgb8 and J. Yijaya5

( With a colour plate & three text-figures)

Geoemyda silvatica, described in 1912 from two specimens collected in Kerala,

India ,was rediscovered to science in 1982. This paper reports on the first direct

observations by biologists of the species in its natural., habitat along with observations

of live captives and preserved specimens. The turtle is redescribed from 20 specimens

including ontogenetic and sexual variation. Females tend to be slightly larger, relatively

heavier and less colorful than males. Mature females develop a kinetic plastron

through erosion of the bony suture between the hypoplastron and carapace.

The turtle, an inhabitant of hill forests above 300 meters altitude, Ts a secretive,

nocturnal species. It is omnivorous, feeding on arthropods, mollusks, fruits and

leafy vegetation. Two large brittle-shelled eggs are laid in the latter months of the

year during the dry season. ^ ^

The species was most recently placed in the genus Heosemys based on the

absence of a post-orbital bar in the skull. However, it differs from other Heosemys

in a number of significant characteristics. Comparisons indicate that it is most closely

related to Geoemyda spengleri and thus should be returned to. its original genus.

m

v ^ i n TRod u CTO N

Xil-OS.’!: Vs .'I

Until mid- 1982 the eniydid turtle, Heosemys

silvatica was known to science by only two

specimens, collected in 1911. These specimens

were obtained in the dense forest of south-

western India near Kavalai, (c. 450 m) in the

formef ‘Cochin State Forests’, approximately

30 km east of Chalakiidi, in the Trichur Dis-

trict, of Kerala. This locality is on the north-

western fringe of the Anaimalai Hills, a region

still supporting some areas of evergreen* semi-

evergreen rainforest and more seasonal forest.

The first known specimen of H. silvatica ,

1 Department of Zoology, Eastern H. University,

Charleston, IL USA.

2 Conservation Monitoring Centre, 21 9C Hunting-

don Rd., Cambridge, UK.

3 Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, Madras, Tamil

Nadu, India.

an adult male was collected by Kadar tribals

(a semi-nomadic hill forest people) and pre-

sented to a collecting party headed by J. R.

Henderson, superintendent of the Madras

Government Museum. A second, immature

specirnen, was obtained by Henderson later in

1911 through a European living in Chalakudi.

Although the original source of this specimen

is unclear, probably it too was collected by

the Kadars.

The. type description of the species by

Henderson (1912) was apparently based on

both specimens although color notes and

measurements were provided for the male only.

The paper also included notes on natural

history based on Henderson’s observations of

the two captives and on second-hand infor-

mation from the Kadars who provided the

specimens.

No further scientific information on the

112

REDESCRIPTION OF THE CANE TURTLE

species was forthcoming for the next 70 years.

It is now known that a few specimens entered

the pet trade over this period but they were

sold under the names Melanochelys tricarinata

or M. trijuga (S. R. Sane-personal communi-

cation). In 1982 within a space of a few weeks,

two researchers (J. Vijaya in July and P.

Kannan in August) independently visited the

vicinity of the type locality and obtained a

living cane turtle female from tribals there.

Vijaya subsequently published a brief des-

cription of her specimen (originally reported

as a male) along with notes on the turtles

behavior in captivity and additional observa-

tions of the Kadar tribals concerning the natu-

ral history (Vijaya 1982 a, b, c).

We surveyed the Anaimalai Hills near

Kavalai from October 26 to November 5,

1982. Our chief goals were to make first hand

observations of the turtle under natural condi-

tions, determine its conservation status and

obtain several specimens for a captive breed-

ing colony at the Madras Crocodile Bank

Trust. For a general account of this trip see

Groombridge et al. (1983). A shell and twelve

living turtles were obtained (ten were observed

under natural conditions). Five (1 male, 1

female, 3 juveniles) were marked and released

at their collection site. Six (3 males 2 females,

1 juv.) were removed to Madras and placed

in a semi-natural enclosure along with female

previously obtained by Vijaya. One male was

sacrificed for examination of internal and

skeletal characteristics. Subsequently we have

located and examined an additional eight tur-

tles (2 living, 6 preserved) in museum and

private collections including the type which is

now in the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI

17115) collection in Calcutta.

Utilizing data collected from the above

specimens, this paper: 1) expands the type

description of Heosemys silvatica including

information on ontogenetic, individual and

sexual variation; 2) augments the meager

knowledge of cane turtle natural history with

first-hand observations of the species in the wild

and with additional observations on the beha-

vior of captive; 3) reviews the present classi-

fication of the species.

Methods

For each of the twenty specimens examined,

the following measurements were taken with

vernier calipers in the manner depicted by Carr

(1952) — length of carapace (CL); width of

carapace (CW); length of plastron (PL) and

the height or depth of shell (H); width of the

bridge and of the anterior and posterior lobes

of the plastron. Other measurements included

length of plastral scutes, and length and width

of the vertebral and nuchal scutes. Weights

were taken on 8 living specimens.

Seam contacts of the five pleural scutes with

the marginal scutes were recorded using a

modified system of Tinkle (1962). The num-

ber of the marginal scute contacted by each

seam was recorded sequentially from anterior

to posterior followed by one of these symbols

<, M, >, indicating the contact was at th®

anterior, middle or posterior third of the

marginal scute respectively. The neural formula

used herein comprises the number of sides

for each neural from anterior to posterior. In

the case of hexagonal neurals > indicates that

the broad end faces anteriorly while a < indi-

cates posteriorly.

Color descriptions were made by comparing

turtle coloration with swatchs of standard colors

from the Naturalist’s Color Guide (Smithe

1975).

Comparisons were made with Heosemys

grandis (8) and H. spinosa (8) from the senior

author’s collection, and with Geoemyda s pen-

113

8

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

gleri from the USNM collection (10) and R.

Hirayama (2) and literature descriptions.

Description

External Features :

Heosemys silvatica is a small, terrestrial

turtle (maximum size 131 mm CL) having a

relatively low three keeled carapace and a

strongly hooked upper mandible among its

more prominent features.

The margin of the shell is smooth and

rounded in older individuals but the posterior

portion is moderately reverted in the young.

The width of the shell tends to be slightly

more than double its height. It is widest in the

region of marginals seven and eight and highest

between the posterior of vertebral one and

the anterior half of vertebral two. The carpa-

cial keels are prominent in all but the oldest

individuals but the central one is widest and

most pronounced. The lateral keels parallel

the central one anteriorly but converge to-

wards it along the posterior half of the shell.

The five pleural scute seams contacted

marginals 1 > (90%) — 5 M (80%) — 7 <

(90%) — 11 < (65%) respectively for 20

individuals. Although the position of the con-

tact on the marginal scute varied somewhat

the scutes contacted (1,5,7,9,11) were con-

stant except for one individual in which the

fifth seam contacted M 10. The nuchal though

absent from one individual is usually well

developed. Nuchal underlap (length beneath

the shell lip) exceeds the dorsal length of the

nuchal, a common characteristic of terrestrial

species.

Henderson (1912) reported that the verte-

brals were broader than long except the last

where length and width were approximately

equal. In 20 individuals examined by us, this

held true except that the length and width

of vertebral 1 tended to be subequal (being

wider in 55% and longer or equal in 45%).

Vertebral 1 tended to be widest anteriorly

(95%), whereas vertebrals 2-4 were widest in

the middle third of the scute (100%) and

vertebral 5 was widest posteriorly (100%).

The longest median seam of the plastral

scutes is usually between the abdominals

(90%) whereas the shortest is between the

gulars (95%) or the anals (15%). Both gulars

and anals are conspicuously notched at the

midline. Axillary and inguinal scutes are

usually present (67%) but tiny. The posterior

lobe of the plastron usually exceeds the width

of the bridge (95%).

The skin on the posterior dorsal surface of

the head is divided forming a series of irre-

gular shaped shields. The granular strip of

skin posterior to the eye is relatively narrow

usually comprising but two scale rows at the

eye. The tongue is broad, fleshy and villose

in appearance being covered with relatively

long, flat, pointed projections.

The forelimbs are heavily armored anteriorly

with enlarged, imbricate, squarish to penta-

gonal shaped scales extending onto the toes

and soles of feet. On the hind limbs, enlarged

scales are confined to the posterior-medial

surface except for the feet where they cover

the entire surface. A large pointed scale is

present on each heel. Contrary to Smith (1931),

the hind legs do not appear club shaped but

have moderately elongated toes. The fifth toe

is short and off set from the plane of the other

four appearing as a small fleshy spur near the

heel. Smith reported that the fingers are one-

third webbed but usually the vestige of webb-

ing is somewhat less than a third of the finger

length.

Internal Features :

This account is based on one male (EOM

2644) dissected and skeletonized for study

114

REDESCRIPTION OF THE CANE TURTLE

and the broken shell of a female (EOM 2622).

The internal choanae lack flaps and papillae,

rather there is a simple ridge of tissue along

the lateral border (Type C of Parsons 1960).

Cloacal bursae are absent.

The penis (Fig. 1) is of the typical bata-

medial surface. A pair of sinuses (as indi-

cated by lightened spots of tissue associated

with a small papilla) are located on either

side of the seminal groove between the proxi-

mal ends of the plica externa. When turgid, the

penis is almost circular in outline and the

1

2

Cf

3

Fig. 1. Comparative penial morphology of 1. Geoemyda silvatica, 2. G. spengleri,

3. Heosemys spinom. In no. 1 letter “a” indicates the plica externa, “b” the plica

media (lateralis), “c” the plica media (medialis) and “d” the plica interna. The arrow

in no. 3 designates a swollen protuberance on the lateral plica media shared by the

three species. The scale marker represents 5 millimeters.

gurine type (see Zug 1966). The plica ex-

terna is evident as a low triangular fold being

somewhat more prominant proximally, its

halves converging to an apex at the distal

fibrous end. The plica media is a double

triangular-shaped fold. The lateral portion is

most prominant and is ornamented by a pair

of rounded, medially projecting protuberances

midway along its length. The medial fold is

smaller, lower and has the well-developed

flap-like plica interna attached at the proximo-

folds of the plica media expand to cover most

of the underlying structures, leaving only a

small opening near the triangular distal end

for the sperm to pass.

Skeleton :

While a complete description of the skull

(Figs. 2&3) will not be attempted here, seve-

ral features are of particular importance. The

quadratojugal is absent leaving the jugal con-

tacting only the maxilla and postorbital. This

115

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Fig. 2. Ventral, dorsal and lateral aspects of the skull of the cane turtle.

116

REDESCRIPTION OF THE CANE TURTLE

Fig. 3. Frontal view of the skull in A. Heosemys grandis, B. Geoemyda spengleri and

C. G. silvatica. Numbers 1 and 2 indicate the premaxilla and maxilla respectively. The

arrow indicates the fissure ethmoidalis (solid black).

characteristic occurs in other Heosemys, cer-

tain Cuora and Hieremys of the batagurines.

The foramen palatinum posterious is mode-

rately large c. 1 . 5 times longer than wide. The

foramen orbito-nasale is tiny — a quarter to

third the length of the palatinum posterious.

The palatinum posterious of other Heosemys

is larger and more elongate usually two or

more times as long as wide and at least four

times longer than the orbito-nasale. In Geoe-

myda and Pyridea the palatinum posterious

is small being only slightly larger than the

foramen orbito-nasale.

The frontal bone enters the orbit; its ante-

rior processes are short and do not extend

anterior of its lateral projections. The

alveolar shelf is relatively narrow.

The anterior maxillae-premaxillae articula-

tion is unusual among emydids and differs

markedly from other Heosemys examined.

Usually the maxillae do not contact anteriorly

but in silvatica extensions of this bone meet

at the anterior medial suture in two places:

1) above the premaxillae forming the inferior

border of the external nares and 2) below

the premaxillae at the apex of the tomium

(margin of jaw) forming a projected hooked

beak. The premaxillae thus appear as a small

island surrounded by the maxillae (Fig. 3).

In other Heosemys the premaxillae form the

tomium anteriorly and instead of a projected

hook, the midline is bicuspid — notched and

flanked by a triangular projection on each

side (Fig. 3).

The cervical articulations based on this

one specimen is unusual in respect to the

fifth and sixth vertebrae. In most batagurines

the articulation here is single but this speci-

men has a double joint between 5 and 6, an

emydine characteristic (McDowell 1964).

The neural formula for four shells examined

was quite variable: A = 6<4-8-4-8-4-7-5;

B=4-6>8-4-8-4-8-4; C=6<6< 6<4-8-4-6>6>

D = 5-7-6<4-8-4-6>7. The most consistent

feature of the formula was that neurals 4, 5 and

6 were 4, 8 and 4-sided respectively.

An unusual feature of the plastron is that

the humeropectoral suture curves downward

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JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

bordering the posterior margin of the ento-

plastron where it joins the hypoplastron. The

plastral buttresses are weakly developed. The

axillary buttresses attach to the carapace on

costal 1 at the costoperipheral suture whereas

the inguinal buttresses fuse to costal 5, again

at the costoperipheral suture.

Coloration :

Although marked sexual dichromatism is

relatively rare among the Testudines, it does

occur in several batagurines (Moll et al. 1981).

Heosemys silvatica has obvious sexual color

differences. The descriptions below are based

on color notes taken from 3 juveniles, 4 females

and 4 males.

Juveniles are chiefly light brown (PI. I-D).

The carapace varies from cinnamon to clay

and except for a somewhat lighter stripe along

the central keel, is unicolored. The ground

color of the head and neck is similar to that

of the shell but is variously marked with

orange. A pale orange post-ocular stripe runs

from the eye, above the tympanum and ends

at its posterior edge. Several orange tubercles

dot the granular strip of skin between the

tympanum and the eye. The clay-colored iris

is surrounded by an orange sclera and eyelid.

The dark background of the turtle’s chin is

also dotted with orange tubercles and the lower

mandible has an orangish cast. A light clay

stripe runs from the side of the nostril across

the upper mandible to the angle of the jaws

or may extend to meet the post-ocular stripe.

The large shingle-like scales of the forelimb

are dark brown with a narrow orange inferior

border.

The venter varies from buff yellow to cream.

A dark plastral figure is confined to the mid-

line of the pectorals, abdominals, femorals and

sometimes the anals. The bridge is dark brown.

Females maintain the juvenile coloration to a

greater degree than males but differ in seve-

ral respects (PI. I-C). The largest individual

observed had a dark brown stripe along the

central keel and on the anterior third of each

lateral keel. Otherwise the carapace is un-

patterned, being somewhat more reddish than

juveniles and varying from cinnamon to tawny

or raw umber. Typical head coloration ranges

from clay to cinnamon rufous. The largest

again varied in that the coloration of the skin

of the head and mandibles was a buff that had

become heavily infused with red giving the

overall appearance of a light brick red. The

post-ocular stripe when present is a dull gera-

nium pink (1 of 4 examined lacked the stripe).

A light buff stripe extends from the snout over

the top of the eye to the post-ocular stripe.

The iris is amber to chrome orange and is

surrounded by a scarlet to flame scarlet sclera.

The mandibles are a dull buff which may be

washed with red. The plastron tends to be

buff to buff yellow but the central plastral figure

is absent except for some scattered dark pig-

ment along the seams. Brown pigment is still

present on the bridge but this is relatively

light. The skin of the limbs is dirty gray with

the large scales being cinnamon brown to gray

brown or grayish olive.

Males are generally darker and have brighter

pink markings than females (PI. I-A). The

male coloration was also more variable than

the females in the group examined. The head

is usually black with a geranium pink snout

and post-ocular stripe. The stripe may be

complete or broken into parts. In one, the

pink had expanded to cover the sides and

much of the posterior of the head (PI. I-B).

Another variant was the largest (oldest?) male

in which the post-ocular stripe was absent and

the top and sides of the head were almost

entirely black. The only pink on this indivi-

118

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83 (supplement) Plate

Moll, Groombridge & Vijaya: Cane Turtle

Sexual and ontogenetic variation in the coloration of cane turtles from the Trichur District, Kerala.

(A) Typical coloration of an adult male (118 mm CL). (B) A young male (115 mm CL) with unusually

extensive red head markings. (C) Coloration of an large adult female (131 mm CL). (D) Coloration of

a juvenile. Note similarity of coloration to that of leaf litter.

REDESCRIPT ION OF THE CANE TURTLE

dual was a pair of flat tubercles in the granular

skin anterior to the tympanum.

The iris is usually flame scarlet surrounded

by a scarlet sclera. The rim of the eyelid is

geranium pink. Again the largest male varied

by having a creamy white iris, a scarlet sclera

and no pink on eyelid. The mandible is yellow

to orange-yellow and considerably brighter

than that of the female. The chin is a creamy

white with scattered pink flecks. The skin of

the forelimbs is dirty gray and the scutes on

the anterior surface are olive brown.

The carapace is much darker than that of

the female varying from burnt umber to dusky

brown. Henderson (1912) characterized the

coloration as uniformly black or almost dark

bronze. The plastron is straw to sulfur yellow.

The plastral figure is absent or reduced. In

two individuals having the figure, one had

only a black blotch on either side of the mid-

femoral seam whereas in the other the dark

figure was evident only at the midline on the

femoral and anal scutes. In the latter, lines of

dark pigment also extended laterally along the

seams of the humerals, abdominals and femo-

rals. The bridge and adjoining marginals are

much more darkly pigmented (burnt umber to

dusky brown) than that of females. The other

marginals are the color of the plastron.

Previously we suggested that the bright colo-

ration of the eye and head might be seasonal

(Groombridge et al. 1983). This has not been

confirmed. Captives at the Madras Crocodile

Bank did not change appreciably in color over

eight months of observations. Based on this

small sample there may be an ontogenetic

change, however, with older males tending to

lose the bright red markings.

Sexual Dimorphism :

In addition to the striking color differences,

males and females differ in certain structural

features easily observed externally. As is com-

mon in terrestrial and semiterrestrial turtles,

the male has a concave plastron compared to

females in which the plastron is relatively flat.

Male silvatica have an elongated concavity

involving the abdominal and femoral regions.

A second dimorphic feature is the tail which

is more elongated and thicker at the base in

males. The length of the tail proximal to the

cloacal opening easily exceeds the portion

distal to it whereas in the females the proximal

portion is the shorter.

Based on the data in Table 1, females tend

to be somewhat larger and more massive than

males. The composite male of the sample would

measure in millimeters 115 CL — 81 CW —

99 PL — 40 . 5 H whereas the composite female

would be 121 CL — 87 CW — 108 PL —

43 H. Although weights were taken for only

a few, females seem to be much heavier than

males of a comparable length. A small female

(116 mm CL) length weighed 222 grams

whereas the largest male examined (125 mm

CL) weighed only 159 grams.

The most unusual dimorphic feature con-

cerns the connection of the hypoplastron to

the carapace. In males and immatures, the

plastron is solidly joined to the carapace by

a bony suture. As females mature, however,

the bony connection between hyponlastron and

the carapace begins to erode and is replaced

by ligament. The plastron becomes somewhat

more moveable, an adaptation which likely

allows for the passage of the relatively large

eggs which otherwise could not fit through the

posterior opening of the shell.

Sexually dimorphic plastral kinesis (term of

Waagen 1984) has been reported for several

other batagurines. Anderson (1878) first re-

ported that the hypoplastral-carapacial connec-

tion is ligamentous in female Melanochelys

tricarinata. Smith (1931) and Moll (1985)

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JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

Table 1

Standard measurements of living and preserved Heosemys silvatica are rounded to the nearest

MILLIMETER AND WEIGHTS ROUNDED TO THE NEAREST GRAM. ALL KNOWN SPECIMENS ARE FROM KERALA.

THE TYPE SPECIMEN WAS REMEASURED FOR THIS PAPER.

have confirmed this observation. Mertens

(1942) later described a more extreme condi-

tion in Heosemys spinosa in which the erosion

includes not only the hypoplastral-carapace

connection but the lateral portion of the hyo-

hypoplastral suture as well. Pritchard and

Trebbau (1984) reported that the bridge of

female Rhinoclemmys is poorly ankylosed

posteriorly and the posterior butresses do not

fuse to the carapace. In making comparisons

for the relationship section of this paper, we

discovered that the condition may also be

present in Geoemyda spengleri. In one female

examined (USNM 34053) the posterior portion

of the hypoplastral-carapacial connection is not

solid and appears ligamentous. This observa-

tion needs to be confirmed on additional

specimens particularly on living turtles and

skeletal material. The genera Cyclemys and

Notochelys differ from the above in that both

sexes develop the hinged plastron and ligamen-

tous connection of plastron to carapace at

maturity.

Natural History

All previous natural history information on

Heosemys silvatica had been obtained second-

hand from tribals or from observations on

three captive specimens. The following obser-

vations on cane turtle natural history reported

by Henderson (1912) and Vijaya (1982a, b, c.)

are:

1 . a terrestrial species inhabiting hill forests

of Kerala above 1000 feet altitude.

2. herbivorous, feeding on fruits and other

vegetation.

120

REDESCRIPTION OF THE CANE TURTLE

3. preyed upon by man (Kadars), wild

dogs, leopards and other carnivores of

the area.

4. secretive nocturnal or crepuscular forms

hiding in short underground burrows or

among spiny cane plants ( Calamus sp.),

under logs and within rock crevices dur-

ing periods of inactivity.

5. two eggs are laid in a small depression

on the ground.

Now that we have observed these turtles under

natural conditions and greater numbers in

captivity, we are able to support some of these

observations while refuting others.

Habitat :

We observed cane turtles in an unlogged

area of semi-evergreen hill forest on gentle

to steep slopes at some 400 meters altitude.

The most productive sites had a considerable

undergrowth of herbaceous plants around one

to two feet high. Turtles were either conceal-

ed beneath these plants or amidst the floor

leaf litter. The three-ridged, light-colored

shell of juveniles especially resembled the

coloration and vein pattern of leaves among

the litter making them particularly difficult to

discern. The turtles appeared to be completely

terrestrial. A small stream ran through the

area but none were found closely associated

with it.

In regard to Henderson’s (1912) report that

the turtles inhabit short underground burrows,

we found no burrows in the vicinity of our

collections. However, it is still possible that

they may utilize burrows at other (drier?)

times of the year.

The Kadar name for H. silvatica, ‘churel

amai’, means cane turtle — cane referring to

a plant species of the genus Calamus which is

common in the area. Although the Kadar’s

report that the turtle uses this spiny plant as

cover, we found none near the cane.

Diet :

Our findings contradict previous reports that

the cane turtle is herbivorous. These reports

were based on observations of captive indivi-

duals which showed a predilection for fruits

and vegetables (Henderson 1912, Vijaya 1982

a, b, c).

A preliminary account of our survey (Groom-

bridge et al. 1983) reported finding a millipede

scute in feces of a wild individual. We now

have analyzed fecal samples from 5 wild caught

individuals (3 males, 1 female and 1 imma-

ture). Four of the five samples contained ani-

mal food comprising 20 to 70 percent of the

total (Table 2). Millipede parts were most

common and occurred in all four samples.

Shells of gastropod mollusks were in three

samples and one sample contained a buprestid

beetle (possibly Chrysoris stollii).

In contrast, definitely identifiable plant

material (pieces of leaves) occurred in only

one sample. However, there was a great deal

of material in all the samples which could not

be definitely assigned to plant or animal. As

soft fleshy portions of fruit which are readily

eaten in captivity would digest rather thorough-

ly, some to all of this unidentified matter could

be of such material. This remains to be

demonstrated.

In captivity the six silvatica kept at the

Madras Crocodile Bank Trust (MCBT) regu-

larly ate the plant material offered. They have

been seen feeding on bananas, jack fruit, pine-

apple, and tomatoes. The turtles were also fed

carrots, greens, apples and cabbage which

regularly disappeared but whether this was due

to the turtles or wild rodents is not known.

Two observations of carnivory were made by

MCBT staff. One turtle was seen feeding on

termites attracted to the electric light hanging

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JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 (, SUPPLEMENT )

Table 2

Analysis of fecal contents from five Heosemys silvatica collected October 30 and 31, 1982 in the

Anaimalai Hills of Kerala. Importance of each food item is indicated first by the percent of the

VOLUME IT COMPRISED IN EACH INDIVIDUAL’S GUT CONTENTS AND SECONDLY BY THE PERCENT FREQUENCY OF

OCCURRENCE (PERCENT OF THE FIVE SAMPLES WHICH CONTAINED THE ITEM)

Food Item

in the enclosure. On another occasion a turtle

was observed covered with small black ants.

Everytime an ant approached the turtles jaws

it made a sharp sideways jerk of the head

simultaneously snapping the jaws. The observer

felt the turtle was catching the ants rather than

using this behaviour in defense against them.

Behavior :

Diurnal cycle — Our observations confirm a

crepuscular-nocturnal cycle. Members of the

captive population usually spent the daylight

hours hidden beneath leaf litter emerging only

at dusk or after to forage and move about.

To quantify these observations employees of

the Madras Crocodile Bank made regular

checks of the turtle’s enclosure through the

day and night from mid-December through

January recording the number of turtles that

were active (exposed with heads out) (Table

3).

In 48 days of observation active turtles were

recorded 47 times and 41 (87%) of these

observations were at night. Of the latter, 27

(65%) were observed in the early evening

(1900-2200). Both sets of observations deviat-

ed significantly from those expected through

chance alone (X2 =. 37.59 P<0.001 and X2 =

7.19 PC. 01 respectively).

Table 3

Activity periods of captive cane turtles at the

Madras Crocodile Bank recorded over a 48 day

period (December 15, 1982 -January 31, 1983)

Aggression and defensive behavior —

Aggressive behavior though not widely report-

ed in turtles is not uncommon (see Bury et al.

1979, Bury and Wolfheim 1973, Froese and

Burghardt 1974, Harless 1979). On May 10,

1983 an aggressive encounter was observed

between two of the captive males (118 mm

CL and 115 mm CL) which had been removed

122

REDESCRIPTION OF THE CANE TURTLE

from their enclosure and placed in a plastic

tub along with two females. After approxi-

mately half an hour, the larger male was

observed rapidly approaching the smaller with

the head and neck partially extended and the

mouth open. Upon reaching the smaller, the

larger bit at its head causing it to withdraw

into the shell. The larger then moved away

but when the smaller again extended its head

and neck the larger approached once again

with the mouth gaping. This time the smaller

turned its head away and tipped its carapace

toward the aggressor again stopping the attack.

The tipping of the carapace was very similar

to the defensive behavior of the snapping turtle

Chelydra serpentina described by Dodd and

Brodie (1975). The large turtle attacked the

smaller on two more occasions during an hour

period of observation. The smaller never made

any attempt to actively defend itself but

assumed the tipped carapace posture on both

occasions.

Another type of defensive behavior was

observed in both sexes. Cane turtles when

picked up frequently defecated. Males used

the penis to push feces out of the cloaca. In-

terestingly, they continued to extend the penis

outside of the tail even after all feces had been

expelled. This behavior provided the investi-

gators opportunity to examine the penis in a

turgid state.

Reproduction :

On 22 December 1982, two eggs were dis-

covered in the turtle enclosure at the Madras

Crocodile Bank (Whitaker 1983). The small

size of the opaque band that had formed on

one of the eggs indicated that they had been

laid within a couple days of that date. The

eggs set in a slight depression in the sand

substrate covered with leaf litter. They had

hard brittle shells that measured 44 mm x 22.5

mm and 45 mm x 23.5 mm. Unfortunately

the only egg to develop an opaque band (in-

dicating its viability) was broken either by the

turtle or by the discoverers. No weights were

taken at the time of discovery but the intact

egg (smaller) weighed 15.25 grams on Janu-

ary 8.

Although it is uncertain which of two

mature females in the enclosure laid these

eggs, an examination on January 4 found that

the plastron of the larger (131 mm CL) was

particularly flexible at the ligamentous con-

nection with the carapace. Assuming this

female laid the clutch, the egg size indices

based on length (egg length /Cl x 100) and

weight (egg weight /turtle weight x 100) would

be 35.1 and 6.2 respectively. By comparison,

a terrestrial emydid from the Nearctic ( Terra -

pene Carolina ) had length and weight indices

of 28.8 and 2.2 respectively. Batagurine

emydids lay unusually large eggs compared to

their body size and Heosemys are at the upper

extreme of the group.

This observation adds credence to informa-

tion from the Kadars that the turtle usually

lays 2 eggs. These same tribals reported that

the nesting season was in October and Nov-

ember.

Classification

The cane turtle was originally placed in the

genus Geoemyda which then housed a variety

of semiaquatic to terrestrial forms inhabiting

both Oriental and Neotropical regions.

McDowell (1964) reorganized the Emydidae

largely on the basis of cranial anatomy and

partitioned the genus Geoemyda into the genera

— Heosemys , Melanochelys, Rhinoclemmys

and Geoemyda. Although he examined no

specimens, silvatica was included in the genus

Heosemys alongwith depressa, grandis, spinosa

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JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 (, SUPPLEMENT )

and leytensis presumably because the skull

lacks a temporal arch. A “Geoemyda Complex”

was erected housing all the old members of

the genus Geoemyda plus Cuora, Cyclemys

and Notochelys.

McDowell’s classification has been widely

used (with modification) by present day

workers but alternative classifications do exist.

Wermuth and Mertens (1977) for example

classified Geoemyda, Heosemys, Melanochelys

and Rhinoclemmys as subgenera under the

Genus Geoemyda. Bramble (1974) in review-

ing the shell closing apparatus of emydids pro-

posed a Heosemys complex including Cuora,

Cyclemys, Pyxidea and Heosemys. However,

he was unaware of sexually dimorphic plastral

kinesis in certain genera at this time (see Moll

1985).

Having now had the opportunity to examine

both skeletal and living material, we question

the placement of silvatica with the genus

Heosemys. The temporal arch has been lost

in other batagurine lines independently (e.g.

Cuora flavomarginata, C. galbinifrons, Hiere-

mys annandalii) and hence cannot alone be

diagnostic. Other skull similarities such as

relatively large palatinus posterious foramina

and tiny orbito-nasale foramina are shared by

most members of the Geoemyda complex.

Conversely there are a number of signifi-

cant differences between silvatica and the other

Heosemys. Table 4 summarises a number of

the differences and similarities. Overall we

conclude the differences outweigh the simila-

rities and indicate a different generic allocation

of silvatica. One recent classification by Lorenz

Table 4

Comparison of silvatica with Geoemyda ( spengleri ) and Heosemys ( spinosa and grandis ) relative to

17 CHARACTER STATES — “+” INDICATES THE CHARACTER IS PRESENT. ABSENT AND “±” AN INTERMEDIATE

CONDITION

124

REDESCRIPT ION OF THE CANE TURTLE

(1984) has already excluded silvatica from the

genus. Following recommendations made by

Mertens (1942, 1971), Lorenz lumped all

members of the Geoemyda complex having a

ray-like pattern on the plastral scutes ( dentata ,

depressa, grandis and spinosa) into the genus

Cyclemys. Those Heosemys lacking such a

pattern ( silvatica and leytensis) were not in-

cluded nor was their generic allocation

discussed.

Perhaps the most significant character for

assigning silvatica to a new genus is the nature

of the hooked beak. The aforementioned ex-

tensions of the maxillae which form the beak

and surround the premaxillae is an unusual

derived feature, rare among batagurines. We

are aware of only one other member of the

Geoemyda complex having this trait — the

leaf turtle, Geoemyda spengleri (Fig. 3). This

species like silvatica is a small, three keeled,

terrestrial turtle.

The nominate race of leaf turtles G. s. spen-

gleri has been reported from southern China,

Viet Nam and Indonesia. Another race G. s.

japonica occurs on Okinawa.

In addition to the hooked beak and the

strong superficial resemblance, silvatica and

spengleri share a variety of other characteristics

not shared with Heosemys (Table 4). Among

these the lack of contact between pterygoid

and jugal bones of the skull and the absence

of cloacal bursae are particularly noteworthy.

Both species lack the ray type of plastral

pattern. The plastral pattern of spengleri , a

uniformly dark bridge and plastron except for

a peripheral border of yellow, could have evolv-

ed into the small dark central figure of silvatica

through a simple reduction in extent of the

dark pigment.

Despite the distinct differences, we concur

with McDowell (1964) that the genera

Geoemyda and Heosemys are themselves

closely related. Similarities in scutellation of

the foreleg and foot and penial morphology

(Fig. 1) support this conclusion. In certain

traits silvatica is intermediate between the con-

dition in the Heosemys and spengleri (Tables

4, Nos. 11 & 12) or is more similar to Heosemys

(Table 4, No. 10).

In the framework of the McDowell (1964)

classification, we recommend that silvatica be

removed from the genus Heosemys and be

included in the genus Geoemyda .

McDowell included two other species with

hooked beaks ( Pyxidea mouhotii and Cuora

flavomarginata) as members of Geoemyda. It

is beyond the scope of this paper to extensive-

ly evaluate the merits of this inclusion. We have

not examined flavomarginata but it is worth

noting that mouhotii does differ from silvatica

and spengleri on one key feature. The pre-

maxillae rather than the maxillae forms the

beak in mouhotii. The jugal bone of mouhotii

is similar, however, in not contacting the

pterygoid. More comparisons are needed to

clarify these relationships.

Acknowledgements

We thank the Kerala Forest Department,

particularly Shri G. Mukundan (Additional

Chief Conservator of Forests), Shri R. Nair

(Conservator of Forests, Trichur District) and

Shri Joseph (Divisional Forest Officer, Chala-

kudi Division, Trichur District) for permission

to visit the study area and for aid in reaching

the site. Romulus and Zaida Whitaker of The

Madras Crocodile Bank Trust generously pro-

vided assistance in obtaining permits, items of

equipment, and the use of their facilities.

We are indebted to Dr. P. Cherian, Mr.

R. Hirayama, Shri P. Kannan, Dr. John Legler

(UU), Mr. Peter Meylen (UF); Shri S. R.

Sane, Dr. R. C. Sharma (ZSI) and Dr. G. Zug

125

JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

(USNM) for allowing us to examine speci-

mens in their care. Ms Kit Morice provided

figures 1 and 3. The senior author’s studies

were financed by an Indo-American Fellowship

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der Familie Emydidae. Pt. 2. Die Gaffungen Cycle-

mys Bell 1834 and Notochelys Gray 1863. Schild-

krote 6(1) : 4-20.

McDowell, S. B. (1964) : Partition of the genus

Clemmys and related problems in the taxonomy of

the aquatic Testudinidae. Proc. Zool. Soc. London

143: 239-279.

Mertens, R. (1942): Zwei Bemerkungen iiber

Schildkroten Siidost-Asiens. Seneckenbergiana 25:

41-46.

— — — (1971) : Die stachelschildkrote

(Heosemys spinosa) und ihre Verwandten. Sala-

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Moll, E. O. (1985): Comment: Sexually dimor-

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Rev. 16(1): 16,

and a grant from the New York Zoological

Society. The second author was supported by

a grant from the People’s Trust for Endanger-

ed Species.

EN CES

Moll, E., Matson, K. & Krehbiel, E. (1981):

Sexual and seasonal dichromatism in the Asian river

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181-194.

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(1982b) : Rediscovery of the forest

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126

ON THE TAXONOMIC STATUS OF PSITTACULA

INTERMEDIA (ROTHSCHILD)

S. R. Sane1, P. Kannan2, C. G. Rajendran3, S. T. Ingle3 and

A. M. Bhagwat3

(With a text-figure)

Specimens belonging to four species of Indian parakeets were studied for

biochemical characteristics. A comparative analysis of the variations in haemoglobin,

plasma albumin and enzymes lactate dehydrogenase and non-specific esterases on

PAGE was made so as to understand the taxonomic affinities of parakeets with special

reference to the little known Rothschild’s parakeet, Psittacula intermedia. Such an

analysis considered along with constant morphological differences between specimens

of P. intermedia strongly suggests an independent identity of P. intermedia as a valid

species. Sexual dimorphism in this species is

Introduction

Psittacula intermedia the Rothschild’s para-

keet is known to science only from 7 skins

in the Rothschild’s collection of American

Museum of Natural History (AMNH). Of

these 7 specimens 6 are alike and the all-green

seventh is believed to be an immature speci-

men. For description of the species and body

measurements refer to Rothschild (1895) and

Biswas (1959). Walters (1985) has elabora-

tely discussed the taxonomic status of Psitta-

cula intermedia on the basis of published

literature. He has concluded that “there is no

hard evidence at all in favour for intermedia

being a hybrid, and all available evidence,

(though inconclusive) points to it being a dis-

crete taxon”. Further he has suggested that

the group be treated as a species owing to

1 M/s Sachetan, L 4-5, Sitaram Building, Palton

Road, Bombay 400 001.

2 Wild Life Regional Office, 11, Air Cargo Com-

plex, Sahar, Bombay 400 057.

8 Department of Biological Sciences, R. J. College,

Ghatkopar (West), Bombay 400 086.

identified for the first time.

lack of information whether it would be a

species or sub-species of himalayana/cyano -

cephala/roseata groups. In addition Walters

(loc. cit.) has also remarked that “if it is not

extinct, it is probably highly endangered” as

live specimens have not been found for so

many years. Sane (1975, 1977) the first of the

authors of this paper in his letter to the

Avicultural Society (1975) and as an appeal

to Parrot Society, U. K. (1977), reported about

an immature live specimen of P. intermedia

in his collection.

2. Notwithstanding its rarity, each year

between 1979 and 1984, one or two live speci-

mens of this species were available in the

Indian bird market most of which could not

however be acquired by us due to restrictions

under the Indian Wild Life (Protection) Act.

These birds were reportedly trapped in the

plains of Uttar Pradesh, around Mattiyar and

Varanasi regions, along with Roseringed (P.

krameri) and Blossomheaded (P. cyano -

cephala) parakeets. Some of these birds had

the maroon shoulder patch. This year also

(May 1985) we have received one of these

127

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

wildcaught birds with a shoulder patch, re-

sembling Rothschild’s description of P. inter-

media but sent to us as a mutation of P. cyano-

cephala.

3. One of the Rothschild’s parakeets in the

Collection (Sane 1977) died in 1978 after

getting an adult plumage. It did not have the

maroon /red wing patched but was un-

layana. But the sub-adult female received by

us earlier this year was to begin with practi-

cally all-green, with only a faint suggestion of

the maroon shoulder patch. As we write this

paper in September 1985 the maroon patch has

already become quite prominant as also the

lilac on the sides of the head extending to the

ears. The body measurements (see Table 1) of

Table 1

A comparison of measurements (in mm) of P. intermedia holotype and paratypes with study

SPECIMENS

doubtedly a male with developed testes. An-

other male in the collection, which is still

living, had mated with a female Roseringed

parakeet. However, the eggs laid were infertile.

4. These two specimens indicate that con-

trary to the assumption of Biswas (1959), the

6 skins of adult P. intermedia in the collection

of AMNH are all females ! This is in marked

contrast to the shoulder patch in other species

of this genus where when present in one of

the sexes (Blossomheaded, Slatyheaded) it is

a character of the male or may be present in

both sexes as in Rosyheaded (P. roseata) and

Alexandrine parakeets. It is not clear to us

as to how Biswas (loc. cit.) and others before

him identified the all-green seventh skin in

AMNH as an immature specimen of inter-

media since it could as well be that of hima-

this female specimen are within the range of

females in AMNH. The measurements of the

two males of P. intermedia given below are

fresh data on this species and suggest that the

males are slightly larger than the females.

5. One other sexual difference among In-

dian parakeets (in fact, parrots in general)

well known to aviculturists is the thickness of

the white ring in the eye. In Roseringed,

Alexandrine and Blossomheaded parakeets the

female has a slightly thicker white ring around

the iris than the males. This also seems true

of P. intermedia.

Colours of soft parts undergo considerable

change soon after death and due to action of

the preservatives. Given below is the descrip-

tion of soft parts of P. intermedia based on

live specimens with us.

128

TAXONOMIC STATUS OF PSITTACULA INTERMEDIA

Beak : Similar in both sexes; the upper beak

red, not the bright red of Roseringed or

Alexandrine but a lighter shade of vermilion

with pale margin all around. The lower beak

is black which has not faded at all in the

specimen in BNHS. The beaks of all three live

specimens studied by us are as described here

and not cream-yellow as in the colour illustra-

tion of Foreshaw (1973). It is noteworthy that

the description of the holotype by Rothschild

(1895) gives the colour of the “under man-

dible” as “orange-yellow”. We suggest that

the lower beak colour in holo and paraytpes

may have been affected by chemicals used for

preserving the specimens.

Call Notes : Generally very silent in capti-

vity but we have heard the birds give a single

syllable, loud, throaty call, not unlike that of

Roseringed parakeet.

6. The use of biochemical characteristics

to determine taxonomic relations is rapidly

becoming popular (Ferguson 1980). An ana-

lysis of these characters, along with morpho-

metric and ecological factors yields valuable

information on the systematics of a species.

For the present study we analysed variations

in the biochemical characters such as haemo-

globin (Hb), Plasma albumin (Alb) and

isoenzymes Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and

non specific esterases (Est) of 9 species of

Indian parakeets. However considering the

limited scope of this paper we have restricted

the data to P. intermedia and 3 other Indian

parakeets (P. himalayana, P. cyanocephala and

P. krameri ) which some authors, notably

Hussain (1959) suspected to be the parent

form of a hybrid, the Rothschild’s parakeet !

The following is a report on this analysis:

Material and Methods

Blood samples each of c. 0.3 ml. were col-

lected using a syringe, from adult parakeet

specimens of different species in the collection

of SRS, without killing the birds. The samples

were centrifuged to separate red blood cells

(RBC) from the plasma and the fresh plasma

used as a source of the plasma albumin and

enzymes LDH and Est.

The different proteins in the samples of

plasma as well as Hb were separated by Poly-

acrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (PAGE) under

carefully controlled factors like gel concentra-

tion (7.5%), pH of stacking (8.3) and run-

ning (9.5) gel, buffer system (Tris-glycine pH

8.3), voltage, current (4 mA per tube), tem-

perature (4°C ± 1°C) the time of the run

etc. Near constancy of these factors has faci-

litated a comparative analysis of the results.

The dye bromophenol blue, mixed with the

samples before loading on the gel columns in

neutral glass tubes served as a marker. In each

set of electrophoretic run one tube was loaded

with human serum which served as a standard.

For staining the gels after electrophoresis to

identify the various specific proteins, we follow-

ed Gordon (1980) for plasma proteins. Brewer

and Sing (1970) for LDH and non-specific

esterases and Ornstein (1967) for Hb fractions.

Relative mobility (Rm) of each identified

protein was calculated as a ratio of the dis-

tance travelled by the protein from the origin

(base) as compared to the distance travelled

by the marker in the same run. Each sample

was analysed in at least 5 replicates. The mean

Rm with a standard deviation from the mean

for each identified protein band was recorded.

Zymograms and protein profiles were prepared

by plotting the Rm values. The band of the

highest mobility was numbered 1 and those

with successive lower mobilities were number-

ed 2, 3, 4 etc. as done by Ferguson (1980).

Results and analysis

Table 2 to 5 and Figure 1 include the data

on Hb, LDH, non-specific esterases and plasma

129

9

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

ESTERASES LACTATE DEHYDROGENASES v

12 3 456789 C Q 123456789 C

-•0-2 — — —

-•0-3

-■0-5 “

-0-6

-07 ~ ~

-■0-8

•■0-9

-10

PLASMA ALBUMINS

1 23456789 C

••0

■ 0-1

..02

-0-3

■ 0-4

--0-5

-0-6

-07 — — —

•0-8 — —

••09 — — _

..1-0

Fig. 1. Zymograms and Profiles of Esterases, Lactate dehydrogenases, Haemoglobin

and plasma albumins from the nine species of Psittacula.

* (1) P. intermedia (Rothschild); * (2) P. cyanocephaia (Linn.); * (3) P. himalayana

(Lesson); (4) P. alexandri (Miller); (5) P. derbiana (Fraser); (6) P. eupatria

(Linn.); * (7) P. krameri (Scopoli); (8) P. calthorpae (Blyth); (9) P. columboides

(Vigors) .

* Species described in the present paper.

HAEMOGLOBINS

123456789 C

130

TAXONOMIC STATUS OF PSITTACULA INTERMEDIA

Table 2

Variations in relative mobilities (Rm) of

Haemoglobin fractions from four species of

Psittacula

Hb

Species number band

1 2 3 4 C++ number

Mean and S.D. of five replicates.

++ Consolidated pattern for Hb from Psittacula sp.

1 . Rothschild’s

2 . Blossomheaded

3 . Slatyheaded

4 . Roseringed

albumin profiles of the four parakeets studied

for this work.

Hb profiles of Blossomheaded and Slaty-

headed parakeets had a two band pattern.

Blossomheaded had Hb fractions of lesser

mobilities Hb6 and Hb5 than Slatyheaded and

Rothschild’s parakeets. The Slatyheaded

parakeet, though with a two band pattern, had

one band, Hbl, of the highest mobility which

it did not share with any other Indian parakeet

and a second fraction, Hb3, that was in com-

mon with the single band of Rothschild’s

and Roseringed parakeets. Thus the Hb pro-

files of only the Roseringed and Rothschild’s

resembled each other.

The plasma albumin profiles of all four

species showed that relative mobilities of their

albumin bands were within a very narrow

range Rm — 0.7 to 0.87, within which there

were five distinct bands. Roseringed had a two

fraction plasma albumin profile and the other

three of only a single fraction. However, the

Rm of the single fraction of Rothschild’s

parakeet was much greater being at Alb2 than

the other two with the plasma albumin frac-

tion at Alb4, in which position we also found

one of the two fractions of Roseringed para-

keets. The plasma albumin profile of Roths-

child parakeet was therefore quite distinct

from those of the other three species. The

isozyme patterns for LDH are more varied in

the nine species of parakeets, studied by us.

Though a total of fifteen bands of activity

were observed, on consolidation of all the

patterns, the basic pattern appeared to be a

three band pattern, observed in six species.

Table 3

Variations in relative mobilities (Rm) of Plasma

ALBUMIN FRACTIONS FROM FOUR SPECIES OF

Psittacula

Hb

Species number band

1 2 3 4 C++ number

Mean and S.D. of five replicates

++ Consolidated pattern for Hb from Psittacula sp.

1 . Rothschild's

2. Blossomheaded

3 . Slatyheaded

4 . Roseringed

131

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

Table 4

Variations in the relative mobilities (Rm) of

LACTATE DEHYDROGENASES FROM THE PLASMA OF FOUR

species of Psittacula

Mean and S.D. of five replicates

++ Consolidated pattern for Hb from Psittacula sp.

1 . Rothschild’s

2 . Blossomheaded

3 . Slatyheaded

4 . Roseringed

including the Rothschild’s. Of the four species

being analysed, the Slatyheaded was the only

species with a two band pattern. Of the other

three species, each having 3 bands, the Rm

of bands were as follows: Rothschild’s (LDH

7, 9 and 15), Blossomheaded (LDH, 4, 10

and 11) and the Roseringed (LDH, 7, 10 and

13). Thus the combination of bands for each

species was distinct.

Analysis of Rm values for non specific

esterases indicated that there were lesser varia-

tions in these fractions when compared with

Table 5

Variations in relative mobilities (Rm) of non-

specific ESTERASES FROM THE PLASMA OF FOUR

SPECIES of Psittacula

1

Mean and S.D. of five replicates

++ Consolidated pattern for Hb from Psittacula sp.

1 . Rothschild’s

2. Blossomheaded

3 . Slatyheaded

4 . Roseringed

132

TAXONOMIC STATUS OF PSITTACULA INTERMEDIA

LDH system. A total of eleven bands, Esti to

Estn, were identified as a consolidated pattern.

Of the four species dealt with here fraction

Estio was represented only in Slatyheaded. The

overall pattern for esterases was three bands

in Rothschild’s and Roseringed parakeets; the

other birds showed a two band pattern. Frac-

tions Esti, Est7 and Ests were seen only in

the Roseringed. The fractions of Rothschild

parakeet were however at Est3, Est4 and Est9.

Discussion

During the past two decades, there has been

an explosion of literature on biochemical

aspects of systematics and organic evolution.

Several authors (Uthe et al 1965, Tsuyuki et

al 1965, 1966; Moller and Naevdal 1966,

Selander et al 1969, Yoshida et al 1972 and

De Smet and William 1978) have used the

electrophoretic technique to identify species

specific proteins. Ferguson (1980) has recog-

nised that although this technique helped to

establish differences between forms, it has not

been successful in bringing out the similarities

between them. The limitations of the technique

are overcome in a comparative study of blood

samples of various forms collected in an iden-

tical manner along with appropriate controls

and the data analysed objectively. Adoption of

this advice is the basis of this work to deter-

mine the taxonomic affinity of the Rothschild’s

parakeet.

Generally, haemoglobin is considered a

stable molecule, useful in identifying simila-

rities in taxa higher than species. Notwith-

standing the slight differences in the number

and Rm of haemoglobin fractions of the 4

species, the electrophoretic data confirms the

essential taxonomic affinity between species of

this genus. The Hb profiles of Rothschild’s

and Roseringed parakeets are nearly identical

is noteworthy.

The esterases and albumin profiles are use-

ful to identify the taxonomic difference at the

species level. The higher Rm of the single

Alb fraction is Rothschild’s parakeet sets it

apart from all others as a different species.

The Rm of Est fractions of the Rothschild’s

parakeet is also quite different from the other

three forms, which confirms its distinct identity.

Even conceding that electrophoretic mobility

of plasma proteins, especially of albumins and

globulins, is easily affected by ecological

factors including such environmental pollutants

as insecticides, the difference in the Rm of

Alb and Est fractions of captive specimens of

the four species (sharing as they are a nearly

identical environment) are interpreted by us

as denoting interspecific differences. The mark-

ed differences in the Rm of serum LDH frac-

tions of the four species are also similarly in-

terpreted here as indicating the taxonomic

differences at the species level, this despite the

fact that physiological condition of individual

specimens could influence the LDH fractions.

Thus a comparison of all the characters in

the four species of parakeet studied strongly

suggests an independent identity of the Roths-

child’s parakeet and we therefore agree with

the opinion of Biswas (1959) that Rothschild’s

parakeet is a valid species.

ACK NO WLEDGE M E NTS

We are grateful to Dr. S. M. Karmarkar,

Principal and Head, Department of Biological

Sciences, R. J. College, Ghatkopar, for pro-

viding the necessary facilities and also for

his keen interest and encouragement. Dr. B.

Biswas helped us with a copy of Rothschild’s

(1895) description of the parakeet.

133

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

References

Biswas, B. (1959) : On the Parakeet Psittacula

intermedia (Rothschild) (Aves: Psittacidae) . J.

Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 56: 558-562.

Brewer, G. J. & Sing, C. F. (1970): An intro-

duction to isozyme techniques. A. P. New York and

London.

De Smet & William, H. C. (1978): A compa-

rison of the electrophoretic haemoglobin pattern of

the vertebrates. Acta. Zool. Pathol. Antwerp., 70:

119-131.

Forshaw, J. M. (1977): Parrots of the world.

2nd edition, Melbourne, Australia.

Ferguson, A. (1980) : Biochemical systematics and

Evolution. First Edition. Blackie, Glassgow and

London.

Gordon, A. H. (1980): Electrophoresis of pro-

teins in polyacrylamide and starch gels. In Labora-

tory techniques in Biochemistry and Molecular

Biology — Work, T. S. and Work, (Eds.). Elsvier-

North Holland. Biomedical Press, Amsterdam, New

York.

Hussain, K. Z. (1959): Is Psittacula intermedia

(Rothschild) a valid species? Bull. Br. Orn. Club,

79: 82-92.

Moller, D. & Naevdal, G. (1966) : Serum trans-

ferrins of some Godoid fishes. Nature, 210: 317-318.

Orn stein, L. (1967) : Methods of detecting and

identifying protein zones, pp. 175 — in Paper chro-

matography and Electrophoresis. Vol. 1 — Electro-

phoresis in Stabilizing Media by Whitaker, J. R.

(1967) AP. New York and London.

Rothschild, W. (1895): On a new parrot. Nov.

Zool, 2: 492.

Sane, S. R. (1975): Rothschild’s Parakeet. Letters

to Editors, The Avicultural Society, London.

Sane, S. R. (1977) : The Rothschild’s Parakeet

{Psittacula intermedia ). An appeal. Parrot Society,

U.K.

Selander, R. K., Hunt, W. G. & Yong, S. Y.

(1969): Protein Polymorphism and genetic hetero-

zygosity in two European Subspecies of the house

mouse. Evolution, 23: 379-390.

Tsuyuki, H., Roberts, E. & Vanstone, W. E.

(1965) : Comparative Zone electrophorograms of

muscle myogens and blood haemoglobins of marine

and fresh water vertebrates and their application to

biochemical systematics. J. Fish. Res. Bd. Canada,

20(1): 101-104.

Uthe, J. F., Roberts, E., Clarke, L. W. &

Tsuyuki, H. (1966): Comparative electrophorograms

of representatives of families Petromyzontidae, Esoi-

dae, Centranchidae and Percidae. J. Fish. Res. Bd.

Canada, 23(2): 1663-1671.

Walters, M. (1985): On the status of Psittacula

intermedia (Rothschild). J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc.

52(1): 197-199.

Whitaker, J. R. (1967) : Paper chromatography

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Wright, C. A. (1974): Biochemical and Immuno-

logical Taxonomy of Animals. First Edition. A.P.,

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Yoshida, T. H., Kato, H., Tschiya, K. & Mori-

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134

AN OVERVIEW OF THE AMPHIBIAN FAUNA

OF INDIA

Robert F. Inger1 and Sushil K. Dutta2

Introduction

The last complete review of the Amphibia

of India was Boulenger’s in 1890. Since then

many papers have been published describing

new species (e.g., Rao 1937), revising certain

species groups (e.g., Pillai 1978), or reviewing

the species of a particular area (e.g., Daniel

1963, 1975). Through these publications and

others cited below, the number of species of

amphibians known to occur in India has more

than doubled the 77 reported by Boulenger.

Additions to the known fauna have not ended.

The literature of the last 100 years has also

added much to our knowledge of the distri-

bution of Indian amphibians (e.g., Mahendra

1939, Jayaram 1974). Yet even a casual exa-

mination of Tables 1 and 2 in this paper will

reveal that in this area, too, there is much to

learn.

Given that so many basic facts concerning

composition and distribution of the fauna re-

main to be gathered, we present this overview

knowing that it will require serious revision

in the future. Nonetheless, we believe its publi-

cation now is justified if for no other reason

than to provide a summary of present know-

ledge. The relationship of the Indian fauna

to those of adjacent areas can also be dis-

cerned now, even given the imperfect state of

our knowledge. We present our view of that

1 Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago,

Illinois, USA.

2 Utkal University, Vani Vihar, Bhubaneswar,

Orissa, India.

relationship. We are indebted to Mr. J. C.

Daniel, who suggested that we consider this

review.

Size and composition of the Indian

AMPHIBIAN FAUNA

The variety of climates, vegetation, and

topography encompassed by India (includ-

ing here Sikkim and Bhutan) provide a great

range of environments which leads one to

expect a highly diverse fauna. The Amphibia

reflect this effect, for at least 181 species occur

in India (Table 1). Yet, as we will show

below, there are good reasons for believing

that the Indian amphibian fauna is still in-

completely known and that the true diversity

of the fauna is greater than just indicated.

All three extant orders of Amphibia occur

in India: Caudata (salamanders) — 1 species;

Gymnophiona (caecilians) — 15 species; Anura

(frogs and toads) — 165 species. That only

one species of salamander is found in India

is not surprising, for the group is essentially

temperate in its Asian distribution. Only three

species occur south of China in eastern Asia,

none south of the southern flank of the Hima-

layas and northern Burma, Thailand, and

Vietnam. The caecilians, a small pan-tropical

group with only about 160 species world-wide,

had been little studied anywhere in the world

until recently. Seven of the Indian species were

described in 1960-1964 (Taylor 1960, 1964).

Frogs and toads make up 91% of species

of Indian amphibians, which is just slightly

135

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

Table 1

List of Indian species of amphibians and known occurrence in states

Species States

ANURA

Pelobatidae :

1 Leptobrachium hasselti Tschudi, 1838

2 Megophrys boettgeri (Boulenger, 1899)

3 Megophrys parva (Boulenger, 1893)

4 Megophrys robusta (Boulenger, 1908)

5 Scutiger occidentalis Dubois, 1977

6 Scutiger sikimmensis (Blyth, 1854)

Bufonidae:

7 Ansonia ornata Gunther, 1875

8 Ansonia rubigina Pillai & Pattabiraman, 1981

9 Bufo abatus Ahl, 1925

10 Bufo beddomii Gunther, 1875

11 Bufo brevirostris Rao, 1937

12 Bufo camortensis Mansukhani & Sarkar, 1980

13 Bufo fergusonii Boulenger, 1892

14 Bufo himalayana Gunther, 1894

15 Bufo hololius Gunther, 1875

16 Bufo koynayensis Soman, 1963

17 Bufo latastii Boulenger, 1882

18 Bufo melanostictus Schneider, 1799

19 Bufo microtympanum Boulenger, 1882

20 Bufo parietalis Boulenger, 1882

21 Bufo silentvalleyensis Pillai, 1981

22 Bufo stomaticus Lutken, 1862

23 Bufo stuarti Smith, 1929

24 Bufo viridis Laurenti, 1768

25 Bufoides meghalayana (Yazdani & Chanda,

1971)

26 Pedostibes kempi (Boulenger, 1919)

27 Pedostibes tuberculosus Gunther, 1875

Hylidae :

28 Hyla annectans Jerdon, 1870

Microhylidae:

29 Kaloula pulchra Gray, 1831

30 Melanobatrachus indicus Beddome, 1878

31 Microhyla berdmorei (Blyth, 1856)

32 Microhyla chakrapani Pillai, 1977

33 Microhyla inornata Boulenger, 1890

34 Microhyla ornata (Dumeril & Bibron, 1841)

35 Microhyla rubra (Jerdon, 1854)

36 Ramanella anamalaiensis Rao, 1937

Meghalaya

Assam, Arunachal Pradesh

Sikkim, West Bengal

West Bengal

Jammu & Kashmir

Sikkim, West Bengal

Karnataka

Kerala

West Bengal

Kerala

Karnataka

Andaman Islands

Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa,

Tamil Nadu

Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim, West Bengal

Kerala

Maharashtra

Jammu & Kashmir

all

Kerala

Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka,

Jammu & Kashmir, Maharashtra, Orissa, West Bengal

Assam

Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab

Meghalaya

Kerala

Assam, Meghalaya

Assam, Karnataka, West Bengal

Kerala

Meghalaya

Andamans

all

Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal

Kerala

136

AMPHIBIAN FAUNA OF INDIA

Table 1 (contd.)

37 Ramanella minor Rao, 1937

38 Ramanella montana (Jerdon, 1854)

39 Ramanella mormorata Rao, 1937

40 Ramanella triangularis (Gunther, 1875)

41 Ramanella variegata (Stoliczka, 1872)

42 Uperodon globulosus (Gunther, 1864)

43 Uperodon sy stoma (Schneider, 1799)

Ranidae:

44 Amolops afghanus (Gunther, 1858)

45 Amolops formosus (Gunther, 1875)

46 Amolops monticola (Anderson, 1871)

47 Micrixalus borealis Annandale, 1912

48 Micrixalus fuscus (Boulenger, 1882)

49 Micrixalus midis Pillai, 1978

50 Micrixalus opisthorhodus (Gunther, 1868)

51 Micrixalus saxicolus (Jerdon, 1853)

52 Micrixalus silvaticus (Boulenger, 1882)

53 Micrixalus thampii Pillai, 1981

54 Nannobatrachus beddomii Boulenger, 1882

55 Nannobatrachus kempholeyensis Rao, 1937

56 Nanorana pleskei Gunther, 1896

57 Nyctibatrachus aliciae Inger, Shaffer, Koshy &

Bakde 1984

58 Nyctibatrachus deccanensis Dubois, 1984

59 Nyctibatrachus humayuni Bhaduri &

Kripalani, 1955

60 Nyctibatrachus major Boulenger, 1882

61 Nyctibatrachus minor Inger, Shaffer, Koshy, &

Bakde, 1984

62 Nyctibatrachus sanctipalustris Rao, 1920

63 Nyctibatrachus sylvaticus Rao. 1937

64 Occidozyga lima Kuhl & Van Hasselt, 1822

65 Rana alticola Boulenger, 1882

66 Rana andamanensis Stoliczka, 1 870

67 Rana annandalii Boulenger. 1920

68 Rana cissamensis Sclater, 1892

69 Rana aurantiaca Boulenger, 1904

70 Rana beddomii (Gunther, 1875)

71 Rana bilineata Pillai & Chanda, 1981

72 Rana blanfordii Boulenger, 1882

73 Rana brachytarsus (Gunther, 1875)

74 Rana brevipalmata Peters, 1871

75 Rana cancrivora Gravenhorst, 1829

76 Rana crassa Jerdon, 1853

Karnataka

Kerala, Maharashtra

Karnataka

Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu

Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa,

Tamil Nadu, West Bengal

Assam, Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh,

Maharashtra, Orissa, West Bengal

Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa, Himachal Pradesh,

Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal

Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh,

Meghalaya, Sikkim, West Bengal

Meghalaya, Punjab, Sikkim, West Bengal

West Bengal

Arunachal Pradesh

Kerala

Kerala, Tamil Nadu

Kerala

Kerala, Tamil Nadu

Karnataka

Jammu & Kashmir

Kerala

Maharashtra

Kerala

Karnataka

West Bengal

Meghalaya, Sikkim

Andamans

West Bengal

Meghalaya, West Bengal

Karnataka, Kerala

Kerala. Maharashtra

Meghalaya

Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal

Kerala

Kerala, Tamil Nadu

Madhya Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Kerala, Orissa,

Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal,

137

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

Table 1 (contd.)

77 Rana curtipes Jerdon, 1853

78 Rana cyanophlyctis vSchneider, 1799

79 Rana danieli Pillai & Chanda, 1977

80 Rana diplosticta (Gunther, 1875)

81 Rana doriae Boulenger, 1887

82 Rana garoensis Boulenger, 1920

83 Rana gerbillus Annandale, 1912

84 Rana hascheana (Stoliczka, 1870)

85 Rana hexadactyla Lesson, 1834

86 Rana intermedins Rao, 1937

87 Rana keralensis Dubois, 1980

88 Rana khasiana (Anderson, 1871)

89 Rana laticeps Boulenger, 1882

90 Rana leithii Boulenger, 1888

91 Rana leptodactyla Boulenger, 1882

92 Rana leptoglossa (Cope, 1868)

93 Rana liebigii Gunther, 1860

94 Rana limnocharis Boie, 1835

95 Rana livida (Blyth, 1855)

96 Rana malabarica Tschudi, 1838

97 Rana mawphlangensis Pillai & Chanda, 1977

98 Rana minica Dubois, 1975

99 Rana murthii Pillai, 1979

100 Rana nicobariensis (Stoliczka, 1870)

101 Rana nilagirica Jerdon, 1853

102 Rana phrynoderma Boulenger, 1882

103 Rana sauriceps Rao, 1937

104 Rana semipalmata Boulenger. 1882

105 Rana sikimensis Jerdon, 1870

106 Rana sternosignata Murray, 1885

107 Rana syhadrensis Annandale, 1919

108 Rana taipehensis Van Denburgh, 1909

109 Rana temporalis (Gunther, 1864)

110 Rana tenuilingua Rao, 1937

111 Rana tigerina Daudin, 1803

112 Rana travancoriea Annandale, 1910

113 Rana tubercidata Tilak & Roy, 1985

114 Rana vicina Stoliczka, 1872

115 Ranixalus gundia Dubois, 1985

116 Tomopterna breviceps (Schneider, 1799)

117 Tomopterna dobsonii (Boulenger, 1882)

118 Tomopterna leucorhynchus (Rao, 1937)

119 Tomopterna parambikulamana (Rao, 1937)

120 Tomopterna rolandae Dubois, 1983

Karnataka, Kerala

all

Meghalaya

Kerala

Andamans

Meghalaya

Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya

Andamans

Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala,

Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan (?),

Tamil Nadu, West Bengal

Karnataka

Kerala

Meghalaya

Assam

Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra

Kerala

Assam, Meghalaya

Jammu & Kashmir, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, West

Bengal

all

Assam, Meghalaya, Sikkim, West Bengal

Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra

Manipur, Meghalaya

Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh

Kerala

Nicobars

Kerala, Tamil Nadu

Kerala

Karnataka

Kerala

Meghalaya, Sikkim, West Bengal

Jammu & Kashmir

Maharashtra, Orissa

Assam, Orissa, West Bengal

Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra

Karnataka

all

Kerala

Uttar Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab,

Uttar Pradesh

Karnataka

Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Orissa, Punjab,

Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu.. Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal

Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu

Karnataka

Kerala

Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Tamil Nadu,

West Bengal

138

AMPHIBIAN FAUNA OF INDIA

Table 1 (contd.)

121 T omoptenia rufescens (Jerdon, 1854)

Rhacophoridae :

122 Chirixalus doriae Boulenger, 1893

123 Philautus andersoni (Ahl, 1927)

124 Philautus annandalii (Boulenger, 1906)

125 Philautus beddomii (Gunther, 1875)

126 Philautus bombayensis (Annandale, 1919)

127 Philautus chalazodes (Gunther, 1865)

128 Philautus charius Rao, 1937

129 Philautus cherrapunjiae Roonwal &

Kripalani, 1961

130 Philautus crnri Dutta, 1985

131 Philautus elegans Rao, 1937

132 Philautus femoralis (Gunther, 1864)

133 Philautus flaviventris (Boulenger, 1882)

134 Philautus garo (Boulenger, 1919)

135 Philautus glandulosus (Jerdon, 1853)

136 Philautus hassanensis Dutta, 1985

137 Philautus kempiae (Boulenger, 1919)

138 Philautus kottigeharensis Rao, 1937

139 Philautus leucorhinus (Lichtenstein &

Martens, 1856)

140 Philautus melanensis Rao, 1937

141 Philautus narainensis Rao, 1937

142 Philautus noblei (Ahl, 1927)

143 Philautus parked (Ahl, 1927)

144 Philautus pulcherrimus (Ahl, 1927)

145 Philautus shill ongensis Pillai & Chanda, 1973

146 Philautus signatus (Boulenger, 1882)

147 Philautus swamianus Rao, 1937

148 Philautus temporalis (Gunther, 1864)

149 Philautus travancoricus (Boulenger, 1891)

150 Philautus variabilis (Gunther, 1858)

151 Polypedates leucomystax (Gravenhorst, 1829)

152 Polypedates maculatus (Gray, 1834)

153 Rhacophorus bipunctatus Ahl, 1927

154 Rhacophorus calcadensis Ahl, 1927

155 Rhacophorus dubius Boulenger, 1882

156 Rhacophorus jerdonii (Gunther, 1875)

157 Rhacophorus lateralis Boulenger, 1883

158 Rhacophorus malabaricus Jerdon, 1870

159 Rhacophorus maximus Gunther, 1858

160 Rhacophorus naso Annandale, 1912

161 Rhacophorus pleurostictus (Gunther, 1864)

162 Rhacophorus taeniatus Boulenger, 1906

163 Rhacophorus tuberculatus (Anderson, 1871)

164 Theloderma asper (Boulenger, 1886)

165 Theloderma moloch (Annandale, 1912)

Kerala, Maharashtra

Arunachal Pradesh

Assam

Assam, West Bengal

Kerala

Maharashtra

Kerala

Karnataka, Kerala

Meghalaya

Karnataka

Kerala

Meghalaya

Kerala, Maharashtra

Karnataka

Meghalaya

Karnataka

Kerala

Karnataka

Kerala

Meghalaya

Kerala

Karnataka

Kerala

Andhra Pradesh, Kerala

Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Sikkim,

West Bengal

all (except Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan)

Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya

Kerala

West Bengal

Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal

Kerala

Karnataka, Kerala

Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, West Bengal

Arunachal Pradesh

Kerala, Tamil Nadu

West Bengal

Assam, West Bengal

Arunachal Pradesh

139

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

Table 1 (contd.)

GYMNOPHIONA

Ichthyophiidae:

166 Ichthyophis beddomei Peters, 1879

167 Ichthyophis bombayensis Taylor, 1960

168 Ichthyophis malabarensis Taylor, 1960

169 Ichthyophis pen'nsularis Taylor, 1960

170 Ichthyophis sikkimensis Taylor, 1960

171 Ichthyophis subterrestris Taylor, I9601

172 Ichthyophis tricolor Annandale, 1909

173 Uraeotyphlus malabaricus (Beddome, 1870)

174 Uraeotyphlus menoni Annandale, 1913

175 Uraeotyphlus narayani Seshachar, 1939

176 Uraeotyphlus oxyurus (Dumeril & Bibron, 1841)

Caeciliidae:

177 Gegeneophis carnosus (Beddome, 1870)

178 Gegeneophis fulleri (Alcock, 1904)

179 Gegeneophis ramaswamii Taylor, 1964

180 Indotyphlus battersbyi Taylor, 1960

CAUDATA

Salamandridae:

181 Tylototriton verrucosus Anderson, 1871

Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu

Maharashtra

Kerala

Kerala, Tamil Nadu

Sikkim, West Bengal

Kerala, Maharashtra

Kerala

Assam

Kerala

Maharashtra

Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, West Bengal

more than their percentage on a world-wide

basis. Twenty of the species of anurans have

been described since 1970. Wherever recent

intensive collecting has been carried out in

India, new species of frogs and toads have

been discovered, for example, at Silent Valley

(Pillai 1981, Pillai and Pattabiraman 1981)

and Ponmudi (Inger et al. 1984) in Kerala and

in Meghalaya (Pillai and Chanda 1973, 1978;

Yazdani and Chanda 1971). Chanda has three

new species from northeastern India in

manuscript (Chanda, personal communication);

these are not included in our count of species,

but they emphasize the point being made here.

As none of these new species can be called

“cryptic” or “sibling” and as only one of them

belongs to a taxonomically difficult genus

(Philautus in this case), the accretion of new

forms to the faunal list is still the result of

relatively coarse screening. It seems clear that

further collecting, particularly in the Eastern

and Western Ghats, should uncover additional

new species, and that more intensive work in

the Northeast should result in new Indian re-

cords of species now known only from the

hilly country of Southeast Asia. Recent dis-

covery of sibling species in such widely dis-

tributed “species” as Rana limnocharis (Dubois

1975) and the virtual doubling of the number

of species of caecilians in the last 25 years

are additional indications that one can expect

the faunal list to grow significantly.

The faunal list includes eight genera not

found outside India : among the caecilians,

Indotyphlus, Gegeneophis, and Uraeotyphlus ;

among the anurans, the bufonid Bufoides, the

microhylid Melanobatrachus, and the ranids

Ranixalus, Nannobatrachus and Nyctibatra-

chus. The last two are closely related (Shaffer,

in press) and, together with Nannophrys from

Sri Lanka, probably constitute a single, dis-

tinctively Indian, ranid radiation. In addition

to Melanobatrachus, the microhylid genera

Raman el la (with 6 species in India and 2 in

Sri Lanka) and Uperodon (with one of its

two species occurring in Sri Lanka as well as

140

AMPHIBIAN FAUNA OF INDIA

in India) represent at least one additional

Indian radiation; the uncertainty arises be-

cause, despite an excellent monograph on the

Microhylidae (Parker 1934), phylogenetic

relationships within the family are obscure. The

ranid genus Micrixalus has most of its species

in India. Indeed, Pillai (1978) has suggested

that only the species from India and Sri Lanka

are congeneric. At the very least, the Indian

species of Micrixalus constitute another re-

gional radiation. The recently described Rani-

xalus appears to us, on the basis of the original

diagnosis and description (Dubois 1985), to

be closely related to Micrixalus and part of the

same radiation. The caecilian genera are mem-

bers of two families and, therefore, represent

at least two more Indian radiations.

Additional evidence for the distinctiveness

of the Indian amphibian fauna comes from

the four most speciose anuran genera, Bufo,

Rana, Philautus, and Rhacophorus, and the

largest caecilian genus, Ichthyophis, all of

which have wide distributions outside of India.

Species of these four anuran genera account

for 106 of the 165 species of frogs and toads

occurring in India, and of those 106, 61 are

restricted to India. If we add in those species

whose ranges do not extend beyond the terri-

tories immediately adjacent to India, i.e., Sri

Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh,

endemism in these four anuran genera in-

creases to 77%. All seven of the Indian species

of Ichthyophis are restricted to the territory

of India. Turning the picture around, we find

only 23% of 181 species of Indian amphibians

occur beyond the fringes of India as far as

China, Burma, or Southwestern Asia.

Geographic distribution within India

The abundance of species of amphibians is

very uneven across India. The highest con-

centrations of species and genera are in the

Northeast and in the Western Ghats of the

West Peninsular region (Table 2). As endemic

species constitute 62% of the Indian fauna,

it is not surprising that the distribution of

endemics is also uneven: 84 of the endemics

are found only in the Western Ghats and 20

only in the Northeast region. The magnitude

of the disparity between the two areas of

highest diversity and the others shown in the

table is partly a reflection of very unequal

collecting intensity. This effect seems especially

apparent in the case of the Eastern Ghats

(included in the East Peninsular region of

Table 2); the semi-deciduous forests that still

exist there in patches should provide good

habitats for a number of species. Yet no ende-

mic arboreal anuran has been recorded from

the ghats in Orissa or Andhra Pradesh. How-

ever, given the long known association between

amphibian diversity and perhumid environ-

ments (for an Asian example, see Inger 1980)

we expect the regional disparity shown in the

table to remain large, for the Northeast and

the Western Ghats are the areas of heaviest

precipitation in India. The high diversity

regions are also those that until relatively

recently had large areas of tropical evergreen

forests, structurally complex environments

providing the maximum number of micro-

habitats. The interaction between forest environ-

ments and diversity is clearly seen when the

proportions of bush and tree dwelling frogs

in the fauna of the Northeast (32%) and

Western Ghats (29%) are compared to the

proportions (<13%) in the other regions.

A small group of anuran species accounts

for much of the overlap between regions:

Bufo melanostictus, Microhyla ornata, Rana

cyanophlyctis, R. limnocharis, R. tigerina, and

Polypedates maculatus. These species live in

close association with man wherever they occur

141

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

Table 2

Distribution of Indian amphibians by regions. The climates of the Indian regions as defined here

are: Northwest — temperate, montane; West — arid to semiarid; Deccan — hot, monsoonal; Ganges-

Brahmaputra Valley — humid, hot, monsoonal; East Peninsular — monsoonal, humid in areas;

Northeast — humid, to subtropical to tropical, montane; West Peninsular — humid tropical, partly

MONTANE.

142

AMPHIBIAN FAUNA OF INDIA

and all but the last range far beyond the

borders of India. Removal of these ubiquitous

commensals of mankind from the regional lists

eliminates or greatly reduces overlap among

regions. In fact, without these six weed-like

species, there remain only five significant over-

laps (i.e., 7 or more species in common to

two regions) among regional faunas: both

Deccan and Ganges-Brahmaputra faunas with

the East and West Peninsular faunas and bet-

ween the East and West Peninsular faunas.

The known overlaps among regional faunas,

with the six commensals of man removed, are

accounted for largely by a set of seven other

species that burrow and live in open fields:

Bufo stomaticus, Uperodon globulosus, U.

sy stoma, Rana crassa, Tomopterna breviceps,

T. dobsoni, and T. rolandae. The only excep-

tional overlap is that between Northeast and

Northwest faunas, which involves four swift-

water breeders typical of mountainous areas:

Rana blanfordi, R. liebigi, and two species of

Amolops. Thus, virtually all of the similarity

among regions, considering all species of

amphibians, is accounted for by species of

anurans that can tolerate conditions created

by man’s activities.

The most distinctive regional faunas are the

two largest, the Northeast and the West Penin-

sular. Pillai and Chanda (1976) recorded the

species known at the time from the Northeast

and Chanda has a thorough review of this

fauna in ms. As would be expected, in the

Northeast one finds the largest concentration

of species whose ranges are mainly Southeast

Asian or Burman-Chinese, 28 of 56 species.

In the West Peninsular, as already noted, the

largest number of endemics occurs. All Indian

caecilians are confined to these two areas of

high diversity, 2 of the genera and 13 of 15

species being restricted to the West Peninsular

region. Intensive collecting and observation in

the near future will almost certainly increase

the number of endemics known from the East

Peninsular, Deccan, and Ganges regions, but

it is unlikely that the numbers will ever

approach that in the West Peninsular area.

Beyond the changes in overlap between

Indian regions, additional collecting and re-

porting will clarify the ranges of many species

that have obviously imperfectly known distri-

butions. As examples, we need only cite the

ranges of Uperodon sy stoma, Rana beddomii,

R. crassa, R. malabarica, and R. syhadrensis

(see Table 1) each of which has a gap that

appears to be an artifact resulting from im-

perfect knowledge rather than a significant

biological phenomenon.

Despite the present weaknesses in the

faunal lists of large areas and in the known

ranges of individual species, it is clear

that Indian amphibian species constitute

three distributional types: (1) species

confined to the Western Ghats, the largest

unit; (2) species known in India only from

the Northeast; and (3) a set of essentially

ubiquitous species that comprise the bulk of

the known fauna in all of the territory between

the Western Ghats and the Northeast.

Comparison with faunas of other regions

Although the Indian amphibian fauna has

a number of endemic genera and many

endemic species, it does share species with

adjacent areas (see above). Most of these

shared species occur in Burma (33 anurans,

1 salamander) and somewhat fewer in Sri

Lanka (21 species of anurans) and Nepal

(16 anurans, 1 salamander). These relations

are what one would expect given the relative

sizes of the adjacent faunas and the nature

of environments at the borders. Twenty-one

species are shared with China, but all except

143

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

5 of them also are known from Burma. None

of the Indian caecilians is known from out-

side the country.

Compared to anuran faunas to the east, the

Indian fauna seems to have high proportions

of frogs of the families Ranidae and Rhaco-

phoridae and low proportions of Pelobatidae

and Microhylidae (Table 3). However, apply-

Diversity of the Indian anuran fauna at the

species level appears to be higher than in the

other Asian faunas (Table 3). The difference

may be due to the wide geographic separa-

tion of the two largest Indian subregional

faunas, which has clearly resulted in

two separate areas of speciation, and

the juxtaposition of one of them to a rich.

Table 3

Comparison of Indian amphibian fauna with those of other Oriental areas. Sources for areas

other than India

Sources: Anura—Thailand — Taylor, 1962. Yunnan — Zool. Inst. Sichuan, 1977. Borneo — Inger, 1966; Inger &

Frogner, 1979; Inger & Gritis, 1983; Dring, 1983a &b; Kiew, 1984a, 1984b; Matsui, 1986. Gymnophiona=

Frost, 1985.

* Genera.

** Species.

ing an arcsin test of the proportion of species

in each family in the Indian fauna against the

corresponding proportion in each of the other

faunas yields only one statistically significant

difference: that between the proportions of

ranid species in the Indian and Bornean

faunas (t=3 . 40, P=0 . 001 ) . Therefore, in terms

of distribution of species of anurans in fami-

lies, the Indian fauna does not differ impor-

tantly from the Southeastern faunas.

external source (Burma) of additional species.

Diversity of Indian anurans in terms of genera

does not differ significantly from the other

Asian faunas (Table 3).

India clearly has a larger and generically

more diverse caecilian fauna than the other

areas (Table 3). As observed earlier, this high

diversity is concentrated almost entirely in the

Western Ghats.

144

AMPHIBIAN FAUNA OF INDIA

Conclusion

The following points seem evident to us:

(1) That the Indian amphibian fauna as a

whole is quite distinct, having endemic

genera of ranid and microhylid frogs and

caecilians, and a large number of endemic

species of several wide-spread Oriental

genera — Bufo, Rana, Philautus, and

Ichthyophis.

(2) That there are only two Indian areas of

known high endemism, the Northeast and

the West Peninsular (which includes the

Western Ghats).

(3) That the Indian fauna is divisible into

three groups of species: those known only

Refer

Boulenger, G. A. (1890) : The fauna of British

India. Reptilia and Batrachia. London.

Daniel, J. C. (1963) : Field guide to the amphi-

bians of Western India. Parts 1 & 2. J. Bombay nat.

Hist. Soc., 60: 415-438, 690-702.

(1975) : Field guide to the amphi-

bians of Western India. Part 3. ibid. 72: 506-522.

Dring, J. (1983a): Frogs of the genus Leptobra-

chella (Pelobatidae). Amph.-Rept., 4: 89-102.

(1983b) : Some new frogs from

Sarawak, ibid. 4: 103-115.

Dubois, A. (1975) : Un nouveau complexe

d’especes jumelles distinguees par le chant: le gre-

nouilies du Nepal voisines de Rana limnocharis

Boie (Amphibiens, Anoures). C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris,

281 : 1717-1720.

(1985): Diagnose preliminaire

d’un nouveau genre de Ranoidea (Amphibiens,

Anoures) du sud de l’lnde. Alytes, 4: 113-118.

Frost, D. R. (ed.) (1985) : Amphibian species

of the world. Lawrence, Kansas.

Inger, R. F. (1966): The systematics and zoo-

geography of the Amphibia of Borneo. Fieldiana:

Zool, 52: 1-402.

(1980) : Relative abundances of

frogs and lizards in forests of Southeast Asia.

Biotropica, 12: 14-22.

from the Northeast, those known only

from the Western Ghats, and a small

group of ubiquitous species.

(4) That as expected the regions abutting

other continental areas, that is, the North-

west and Northeast, show the highest

levels of non-Indian species.

(5) That the actual geographic distributions

of many Indian species are very poorly

known and, therefore, that knowledge of

the faunas of several Indian regions is

very weak.

(6) That additional intensive collecting and

observation will certainly result in the

discovery of new species as well as im-

provement in our understanding of distri-

bution of the fauna.

ENCES

& Frggner, K. J. (1979): New

species of narrow-mouth frogs (genus Microhyla )

from Borneo. Sarawak Mus. J., 27: 311-324.

& Gritis, P. (1983): Variation in

Bornean frogs of the Amolops jerboa species

group, with description of two new species. Field-

diana: Zool., (n.s.), no. 19, 13 pp.

, Shaffer, H. B., Koshy, M. &

Bakde, R. (1984) : A report on a collection of

amphibians and reptiles from the Ponmudi, Kerala,

South India. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 81 : 406-427,

551-570.

Jayaram, K. C. (1974) : Ecology and distribution

of freshwater fishes, Amphibia, and reptiles. In :

Ecology and biogeography in India, pp. 517-584.

Kiew, B. FI. (1984a): A new species of burrow-

ing frog ( Calluella flava) from Borneo. Malayan

Nat. J., 37: 163-166.

(1984b) : A new species of frog

( Kalophrynus baluensis ) from Mount Kinabalu,

Sabah, Malaysia, ibid. 38: 151-156.

Mahendra, B. C. (1939): The zoogeography of

India in the light of herpetological studies. Sci. &

Culture, 4, no. 7, 11 pp.

Matsui, M. (1986): Three new species of Amo-

lops from Borneo (Amphibia, Anura, Ranidae).

Copeia, 1986: 623-630.

145

10

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 (, SUPPLEMENT )

Parker, H. W. (1934) : A monograph of the frogs

of the family Microhylidae. London.

Pillai, R. S. (1978): A new* frog of the genus

Micrixalus Boul. from Wynad, S. India. Proc. Indian

Acad. Sci., (B), 87: 173-177.

(1981) : Two new species of

Amphibia from Silent Valley, S. India. Bull. Zool.

Survey India, 3: 153-158.

& Chanda, S. K. (1973): Philau-

tus shillongensis, a new frog (Ranidae) from Megha-

laya, India. Proc. Indian Acad. Sci., (B), 78: 30-36.

(1976): The dis-

tribution pattern of Amphibia in North-East India.

J. Assam Sci. Soc., 19, no. 53, 4 pp.

(1978): Two new

species of frogs (Ranidae) from Khasi Hills, India.

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 74: 136-140.

& Pattabiraman, R. (1981) : A

new species of torrent toad (genus: Ansonia ) from

Silent Valley, S. India. Proc. Indian Acad. Sci., (B),

90: 203-208.

Rao, C. R. N. (1937): On some new forms of

Batrachia from S. India. Proc. Indian Acad. Sci.,

(B), 6: 387-426.

Shaffer, H. B. (in press) : Size and scaling in

the Indian frogs Nyctibatrachus and Nannobatrachus

(Ranidae). Fieldiana: Zool., (n.s.).

Taylor, E. H. (1960) : On the caecilian species

Ichthyophis monochrous and Ichthyophis glutinosus

with descriptions of related species. Univ. Kansas

Sci. Bull., 40: 37-120.

(1962) : The amphibian fauna of

Thailand. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 43 : 265-599.

(1964) : A new species of caecilian

from India (Amphibia, Gymnophiona) . Sencken-

bergiana Biol., 45:. 227-231.

Yazdani, G. M. & Chanda, S. K. (1971): A new

toad, Ansonia meghalyana (family Bufonidae) from

Meghalaya (Assam), India, with observations on its

breeding on Pandanus furcatus Roxb. J. Assam Sci.

Soc., 14: 76-80.

Zoological Institute of Sichuan (1977) : Key

to the Amphibia of China. Chengdu, Sichuan.

146

AN EXPERIENCE OF WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY

M. Y. Ghorpade1

(With fourteen plates)

As I have said in my book “Sunlight &

Shadows” — An Indian Wildlife Photographer’s

Diary: “A good wildlife photograph conveys

directly the joy and beauty of nature. It can

make us happy, which, in the ultimate

analysis, is the main motive force for any

real transformation of attitudes and sincere

sustained action”, in any field including the

vital area of nature conservation. “I consci-

ously chose the medium of black-and-white

photography for its relative permanence com-

pared to colour, and the scope it gives for

artistic expression — the delicate play of light

and shade to softly delineate texture and

mood”. I do hope these photographs reflect

the joy of nature, the excitement of wildlife

observation and photography, and the great

need to conserve our rich flora and fauna.

The best way to convey to the reader how

photographs can be taken is to perhaps faith-

fully describe how some of these photographs

were actually taken. There are so many favour-

able factors which have to come together to

make a good photograph but one has to be

constantly and correctly aware of the nature

of the opportunity in terms of photographic

values and lighting. It is the total effect that

one has to keep on visualising in the midst

of fleeting moments and changing scenes.

Ultimately much depends on how we react,

which in turn depends on some kind of total

awareness and harmony between ones inner

1 Regional Representative (S.R.), IBWL, Shivapur,

Sandur, Bellary District, Karnataka-583 119.

and outer environment at a given moment

of time. A good wildlife photograph is never

made to order. The element of chance or luck

is always there, in the sense that one rarely

has complete control over the opportunity,

which sometimes lasts only for a split second.

To know the nature and behaviour of the

film and the camera is only the first step,

though an important and unavoidable one.

But after that one has to concentrate on picture

taking which is not just technique but an

adventure and an experience.

One of my earlier photographs is that of

a Hanuman monkey or langur ( Presbytis

entellus), (Plate 1, Fig. 1), racing up and down

at top speed, leaping from pillar to pillar along

my old fashioned compound wall at Shivapur

(my residence at Sandur, in the Bellary district

of Karnataka). With a 35 mm single lens

reflex camera having a shutter speed of

1/ 1000th of a second (which could be used

in the lighting because of the fast 400 ASA

TRI-X film I had loaded), I positioned myself

at a spot from where, without causing much

alarm to the monkey, I could take a picture

at right angles, as the langur leapt into the

air. In anticipation of the monkey repeating

its exhuberant run along the line of pillars,

I focussed at a pre-determined spot and waited.

Sure enough the monkey, true to its nature,

came hurtling at top speed and I pressed the

trigger as his hind legs were about to leave the

focussed spot. It was as though the speed

and rhythm of this fast action had triggered

my reflexes and the index finger which did its

147

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

work with hair-breadth precision and timing.

I got the monkey in mid-air, his long tail

imitating the undulating Sandur hills beyond.

This is a photograph which depends on its

animation and split-second timing. One other

langur photograph which I took years later

was in the forests of Kanha, the subdued light

percolating softly through the foliage, making

it possible to show detail in the black faces

of two langurs sitting on a low rock with a

charming expression and catch-light in their

eyes (Plate 1, Fig. 2). This is a photograph

which depends heavily on correct lighting,

exposure and development. If I had managed

to click a split-second earlier, I could have

got three langurs in a row, which might have

been a more impressive photograph; the third

langur could also have spoilt the picture by

doing something at the nick of time which was

not in consonance with the harmony and

balance of the picture as a whole. The pleasing

photograph of two sambar does and a stag

(Plate 3, Fig. 3) in evening pictorial light was

taken at Ranthambhore which is a gem of a

sanctuary.

A great deal depends on responding quickly

to an above average opportunity. The element

of chance is also very much there. Once when

my jeep had got stuck in the slush of a Bandi-

pur forest road in a downpour, a tusker came

along the same road and started rubbing him-

self in the natural shower, giving me an

opportunity to experiment with shutter speeds

to try and get a photograph in which the

elephant would be sharp though seen through

a translucent curtain of rain (Plate 2, Fig. 4).

This is one of my favourite photographs. In

the same forest I once photographed a magni-

ficent tusker surrounded by a herd of female

elephants (Plate 3, Fig. 5) trying to guard him

with all their might and heavy devotion. I

managed to get a photograph filling the ideal

format frame before an irate female close to

the tusker decided to chase me to a safer

distance. In this photograph all the animals

form a photogenic group and there is a broad

spectrum of animation and life. The photo-

graph tells its own story and can be blown

up easily to a size of 40" x 60" without any

serious loss of definition. The photograph of

elephant mothers and aunts scrubbing their

babies was taken at Periyar, also with the

bigger negative (Plate 4, Fig. 6). It depends

for its appeal on the rare subject interest in-

spite of the harsh top lighting. A part of this

large herd moving away into the forest, with

their bodies glistening ebony-wet after a cleans-

ing swim across the river, was pictorially caught

to convey the atmosphere and the movement

(Plate 4, Fig. 7).

It has always been an exciting experience

to photograph tigers in broad daylight from

fairly close distances, to try and fill the square

negative of my Hasselblad camera, using the

appropriate tele lens. However, the photograph

of the snarling tigress was taken with a 6x7

Pentax SLR camera and a 200 mm lens, from

an open jeep, at a distance of exactly eight

metres. I had sat motionless in the jeep for

nearly an hour before the tigress got up from

the heavy grass and walked straight towards

the jeep. Just then the sun had gone behind

a cloud making the light ideal for photography.

I clicked when the tigress was looking straight

at me; she snarled and I clicked again (Plate

5, Fig. 8). I got my pictures. The experience

of taking these photographs had made an un-

forgettable impression on me which the photo-

graph may not succeed in conveying, in all

its nuances, to another person who is only

looking at the photograph. The tiger on the

rock and the tiger in the pool were taken

from a riding elephant which is always a

tricky business, as one can never be sure of

148

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83 (supplement) Plate 1

Ghorpade: Wildlife Photography

Above: Fig. 1. Hanuman’s leap. Below : Fig. 2. Two langurs on a rock.

C Photos : M. Y. Ghorpade)

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83 (supplement) Plate 2

Ghorpade: Wildlife Photography

Left : Fig. 27. Sarus cranes in greeting display. Right: Fig. 4. Tusker in the rain.

(Photos: M. Y. Ghorpade)

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83 (supplement)

Ghorpade: Wildlife Photography

Plate 3

Above : Fig. 3. Samba r in pictorial evening light. Belov/: Fig. 5. A tusker and elephant

herd at Bandipur.

( Photos : M. Y. Ghorpade)

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83 (supplement)

Ghorpade: Wildlife Photography

Plate 4

Above : Fig. 6. Mother elephants scrubbing babies. Below : Fig. 7. Elephant herd

after a swim.

( Photos: M. Y. Ghorpade)

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83 (supplement)

Ghorpade: Wildlife Photography

Plate 5

Above : Fig. 8. Snarling tigress. Below: Fig. 9. Tiger on the rock.

( Photos : M. Y. Ghorpade)

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83 (supplement)

Ghorpade: Wildlife Photography

Plate 6

Above: Fig. 10. Tiger in the pool.

Below: Fig. 11. Tigers with a natural kill.

{Photo: M. Y. Ghorpade)

{Photo: Ajai M. Ghorpade)

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83 (supplement)

Ghorpade: Wildlife Photography

Plate 7

Above : Fig. 12. Lion. Below: Fig. 13. The sharp gaze of the lioness.

(. Photos : M. Y. Ghorpade)

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83 (supplement) Plate 8

Ghorpade: Wildlife Photography

Above : Fig. 14. Tiger staring. Below : Fig. 15. Big tiger at Kanha Kisli.

( Photos : M. Y. Ghorpade)

I a

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Above: Fig. 16. African leopard. Below: Fig. 22. Wild buffalo bull (Manas).

( Photos : M. Y. Ghorpade)

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83 (supplement) Plate 9

Ghorpade: Wildlife Photography

J. Bombay nat. Hist. See. 83 (supplement)

Ghorpade: Wildlife Photography

( Photos : M. Y. Ghorpade)

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83 (supplement)

Ghorpade: Wildlife Photography

Plate 11

.V*‘ / if \ ' -s

• ;>>

Above : Fig. 19. Loving and lovable chital. Below : Fig. 20. Stag kissing doe.

( Photos : M. Y. Ghorpade)

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83 (supplement) Plate 12

Ghorpade: Wildlife Photography

Left : Fig. 21. Big Bull rhino. Right: Fig. 24. Blackbuck.

( Photos : M. Y. Ghorpade)

J. Bombay nat. Hist. So c. 83 (supplement)

Ghorpade: Wildlife Photography

Plate 13

Above : Fig. 23. Blackbuck and doe. Below: Fig. 26. Painted stork alighting on nest.

( Photos : M. Y. Ghorpade)

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83 (supplement) Plate 14

Ghorpade: Wildlife Photography

Fig. 25. Brahminy mynah.

(Photo: M. Y. Ghorpade)

WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY

getting a shake free picture from an elephant

which is never perfectly still. One has to care-

fully choose the moment to click and try and

operate the shutter at not less than 1 /250th

of a second. Fast film definitely helps as the

problem of minimal shake is more serious

than is generally realised, and shows up badly

when one makes big enlargements. Apart from

the elephant’s breathing, awareness of ones

own breathing is important in getting shake

free pictures. It helps to empty ones lungs

and then hold the breath at the time of releas-

ing the shutter, which has to be as smooth

as possible. The tiger on the rock is a picture

of perfect confidence and power, his relaxed

front paws with half-exposed claws symbolising

strength which could go into action any time

(Plate 5, Fig. 9). The mood of the tiger in

the pool is reflected in his eyes, half-raised

head, alert ears and the tail which has been

lifted from the pool in a question mark, water

dripping from its tip like a tap (Plate 6, Fig.

10).

It was also at Kanha that I once witnessed

a tiger cub make a natural kill and then wait

in the pool for his mother, the tigress, to walk

towards him with the kill held firmly in her

more experienced mouth. The two played in

water for a long time. It was a unique oppor-

tunity and, as the tigress walked across the

sandy river bed towards her cub crouching in

shallow water, I clicked away from elephant

back along with my son, Ajai, who timed his

shot and got this rare wildlife photograph with

the Hasselblad and the 250 mm Sonnar lens

from a distance of about 20 metres. I had in

my hand the other Hasselblad camera with

the 150 mm lens. The swift action and the

excitement did not permit changing of lenses

at the last minute. But Ajai made no mistake.

The picture is perfectly composed and records

a rare experience (Plate 6, Fig. 11).

At Gir, locating lions was not a problem,

nor going close enough to them. But getting

a very good photograph was still not so

simple. After going after lions for days, and

taking a number of photographs whenever it

was possible to do so, I got a picture which

satisfied me — a male lion in soft majestic light

(Plate 7, Fig. 12). I started photographing the

lion, on foot, from a distance of about 30

metres with my Hasselblad 250 mm lens,

slowly approaching to about 10 metres of this

lordly animal, when I used my 150 mm lens

to include enough of the forest background

and get enough depth. I stood leaning against

a convenient tree and clicked whenever the

light picked up the features of the beast, pleas-

ingly. I could clearly see the light brown

pattern in his eyes. On another occasion I was

able to capture the deep concentration and

mesmeric sharpness in the eyes of a lioness

(Plate 7, Fig. 13). from very close at ground

level. At Kanha I got a picture of a tiger

staring at me with the same sharpness and

perhaps a little more anger (Plate 8, Fig. 14).

The big male tiger at Kanha Kisli (Plate 8,

Fig. 15), panting in the heat with his mouth

open was taken at a distance of about 15

metres with my Hasselblad and 250 mm lens,

which is ideal in such a situation. Under In-

dian conditions a 350 mm lens is also extremely

useful to fill the frame without trying to get

closer to the animal than the critical distance.

To know by experience and pay enough atten-

tion to the critical distance is very important

in wildlife photography, to maximise one’s

chances of getting good results without disturb-

ing the animal concerned. Much also depends

on what the animal has experienced and the

conditions in a given area or situation. This

is where wildlife photography is not merely

a question of knowing ones camera and other

accessories but the behaviour pattern and

149

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

mood of the animals being photographed.

Close observation is the very essence of suc-

cessful wildlife photography which only freezes

a particular moment for ones own continued

pleasure and for posterity. Wildlife photography

in India is generally far more challenging than

in Africa where the equatorial light is remark-

ably shadow free and animals are mostly

roaming in the open. This photograph of the

leopard (Fig. 9, Fig. 16), which is no different

to the Indian one, was taken in the Serengeti

National Park of Africa.

It is amazing how easy it is to take photo-

graphs of chital or spotted deer at the

Bandipur National Park in Karnataka. But it

is not so easy to get an outstanding photo-

graph of even the chital which is such a

common and undisturbed animal in these

parts. A photograph as a record and as an

aesthetic achievement serves two purposes

which if combined results in a pleasing wildlife

photograph. Photographs of the Peacock

(Plate 10, Fig. 17) and the Peahen (Plate 10,

Fig. 18) were taken at Bandipur, the latter

with a Hasselblad 500 mm lens, throwing the

background out of focus. The loving and

lovable chital (Plate 11, Fig. 19) and the

stag kissing doe (Plate 11, Fig. 20) are two

pictures which portray a soft mood in soft

light. In the former, the young male has shot

out the tip of his tongue towards an inquisi-

tive doe, in a sudden gesture of affection,

which would have been impossible to record

if I had not been continuously watching the

animals through the camera lens, ready to

click any moment. Taking pictures from the

hatch in the roof of my jeep-van makes for

greater freedom, support and stability. Wild-

life photography is a continuous process of

learning and adaption to field conditions, the

nature and temperament of different species,

and the mood of a particular animal in a

given situation. At Kaziranga, I succeeded in

photographing an impressive male specimen

of the Great Indian one-horned rhinoceros

{Rhinoceros unicornis ), from almost ground

level, by making my riding elephant sit down

while I took my picture (Plate 12, Fig. 21).

Next time, a different Rhino whose mood

I had misjudged did not permit the same

stable strategy and came snorting at my riding

elephant which managed to get up on all

fours just in time. At the Manas Wildlife

Sanctuary I managed to photograph a good

specimen of a wild buffalo bull (Bubal us

bubalis ) resting my Hasselblad 500 mm lens

on a tree which was lying across an open

patch of land (Plate 9, Fig. 22). I am sure

if it were not for this tree, the buffalo, which

defiantly stood his ground, would not have

allowed me to get away with it. One has

always to be careful and never take wild ani-

mals for granted. That often proves a fatal

error. Wildlife photography is not meant to

endanger either the photographer or the photo-

graphed. As I have said in Sunlight &

Shadows: “There is always a certain amount

of risk in wildlife photography, especially

when one has to get close enough to take a

picture; but a combination of ignorance and

arrogance can be fatal”.

The Blackbuck (Krishnasara in Sanskrit) is

a typically Indian antelope eulogised in our

classical literature but now an endangered

species in its own land. The grace and ele-

gance of the blackbuck has to be seen to be

believed and yet many sophisticated persons

have never seen a blackbuck in the wild or

know what it looks like. Only photography can

now bring the animal within the visual reach

of the many, both in the urban and the rural

areas. Here are photographs of a blackbuck

and doe (Plate 13, Fig. 23) and a single

blackbuck strutting about with his handsome

150

WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY

head held high and horns slanting backwards

and downwards, forming a romantic triangle

with the horizontal back-line and the perpendi-

cular neck and chin pointing proudly to the

skies (Plate 12, Fig. 24). Kalidasa highlights

the loving grace of the blackbuck in his

Kumarasambhava and Shakuntala. Must the

romance of the blackbuck come to an end?

If it does, a beautiful aspect of the soul of

India would have perished for ever. It is the

purpose of wildlife photography to make us

aware of our natural heritage and make us

want to preserve it with all our heart and

soul.

Finally a word about bird photography. I

have done nest-site photography with an

electronic flash and have been able to arrest

birds in flight with fairly simple equipment,

as in the case of the brahminy or black-headed

mynah returning to its nest in a tree hole to

feed its young (Plate 14, Fig. 25). But what

I have enjoyed more is to take pictures of

birds in the open in natural light. The Bharat -

pur bird sanctuary provides excellent oppor-

tunities for such work. The painted stork

alighting on its nest (Plate 13, Fig. 26) made

a good picture but what gave me supreme

satisfaction was to photograph a pair of sarus

cranes (Plate 2, Fig. 27), from a hide, with

my Hasselblad EL and the 500 mm lens

mounted on a tripod. After hours of patient

waiting I got a perfect opportunity to capture

the birds in the ecstasy of action when they

“suddenly indulged in a beautiful greeting dis-

play, their heads pointing to the heavens,

beaks partly open and eyelids fluttering in a

spontaneous expression of joy and conjugal

bliss. They were happy to be happy”. The

time was 8.45 a.m. A thin cloud covered the

face of the sun, reducing its harshness with-

out affecting very much its light value. I could

give an exposure of f8 and 1 /250th of a

second with a fast 400 ASA ORWO film,

rated by me at 320 ASA, to suit my well tried

exposure development technique using Micro-

dol-X (1:3 dilution). I have done most of

my wildlife photography with this film mainly

for reasons of availability. Wildlife photo-

graphy is much more than just equipment and

materials. It is essentially a way of looking at

nature and its denizens with a kind of sensi-

tivity and response which is a part of ones

innate personality.

151

AUTOMIMICRY AND BATESIAN MIMICRY IN

UROPELTID SNAKES: PIGMENT PATTERN

PROPORTIONS, AND BEHAVIOR

Carl Gans1

( With two colour plates)

Introduction

The 35 species of the snake family Uro-

peltidae, endemic to southwestern India and

Sri Lanka, are burrowers that appear to be

most closely related to members of the genus

Cylindrophis (Daniel 1983, De Silva 1980,

Gans 1966, 1976; Mahendra 1983, Rajendran

1986). Uropeltids have cool-temperature ther-

mal preferenda, modified burrowing method

and musculature, friction resistant skin and a

short, blunt tail capped with a spinous caudal

cap, from which the family derives its name

(Gans 1974, 1976). The burrowing pattern

permits them to move deeply into tropical

soils, utilizing their more-or-less pointed head

and the ability to throw the neck into a series

of S curves for penetration and widening

tunnels amid roots and rock particles. The

majority of the uropeltids show a variety of

bright contrasting colors along the sides of their

trunk, generally of shades of orange and red

offset with black; also they display a curious

constricting behavior whenever they are dug

up.

Over the last fifteen years, I have worked

at obtaining an understanding of the distribu-

tion and biology of these animals. The metho-

dology consisted of collecting systematically,

initially in Sri Lanka. We first visited localities

from which specimens had been deposited in

museums or reported in the literature. We

1 Department of Biology, The University of Michi-

gan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, U.S.A.

then tried to collect in intermediate localities

to see whether the species occurred there and

whether disparate forms were connected by

morphologically intermediate variants. Also,

we worked around the periphery of known

ranges in order to document these more care-

fully. Finally, we worked through regions for

which no specimens had been reported pre-

viously and visited localities and biotopes that

had not previously been sampled to see what

forms might occur there.

In the wet forest areas, our collecting proved

relatively simple because I could, after some

time, identify microhabitat situations in which

particular species were taken with substantial

frequency. However, for dry and low-land

areas, it was best to rely on the advice of

local people for the initial information. To-

ward this end, we would stop along the road

and in small hamlets, there to talk to farm

workers, local agriculturalists, road construc-

tion people, school teachers and their students.

A diversity of specimens, sealed in plastic or

glass tubes, was, in each case, displayed to

them, as we found that verbal descriptions of

what was and was not to be found in a parti-

cular area were much improved when one or

more actual specimens were at hand. These

served as a refresher of memory and refined

the descriptions by people who had seen the

species earlier. We then distributed preser-

vation materials as well as prefranked and

numbered postcards, permitting simple notifi-

152

Plate I

Above: Rhinophis blythi. Below: Rhinophis drummondhayi.

( Photos : Author)

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83 (supplement)

Gans: Uropeltid snakes

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83 (supplement)

Gans: Uropeltid snakes

Plate II

Above: Uroveltis phillipsi. Below: Pseudotyphlops philippinus.

( Photos'. Author)

MIMICRY IN UROPELT1D SNAKES

cation once the rains had come and specimens

had been obtained.

Whereas the project was not fully com-

pleted, we did obtain enough material for a

marked refinement of distributional and alti-

tudinal maps, for some biochemical studies and

for the characterization of new species. It is

hoped that the reports on these will be ready

for publication in the not too far distant future.

Also, the work allowed us to develop some

general treatments in discussing the Sri Lankan

species and their biology.

General Defensive Pattern

Analysis of some of the characteristics men-

tioned in the original species diagnoses and

incidental natural history notes indicate that

these characteristics confer some level of pro-

tection against predation encountered in the

tunnels. The nature of such defenses is con-

strained by the nature of the burrowing

mechanism. As this is concentrated in the

head and anterior 20 per cent of the animal’s

trunk, the remainder lacks strong muscles, so

that these species cannot dig backward and

are only capable of slight reversing move-

ments. The vulnerability of the posterior end

is reduced by the caudal cap. This is not only

reinforced interiorly and overlain by heavy

covering keratin, but the spines and ridges cause

dirt particles to be wedged into place. These

in turn cohere with other bits of soil, forming

a cap of mud that follows the animal down

the tunnel. Whereas we still lack statistically

evaluable data for predator prey interactions,

it is interesting that uropeltids found in the

stomach of various burrowing snakes, such as

Cylindrophis and Bungarus, always have been

swallowed head first. The defense represented

by the caudal cap then succeeds as often as

50 per cent of encounters.

Whereas deeply burrowing snakes should but

rarely encounter visually hunting animals,

uropeltids show some aspects that conflict

with this remark. The three factors are general

crypsis, head-tail mimicry and Batesian mimicry.

The first observation is that a number of

uropeltid species show an overall coloration

that matches the color of the soil in which

they live. Thus, the yellowish Rhinophis

punctalus lives in zones of yellow sand, the

more orange tinted R. dorsimaculatus in

lenses of more reddish sands, whereas the

black R. oxyrhynchus, R. philippinus and R.

trevelyanus mainly occupy very dark soils.

Such cryptic matching of the background color

is otherwise concentrated to species occupying

open areas and has there been shown to

reflect defense against sight-hunting predators

(Greene, in press; Pough, in press).

The second characteristic suggesting that

sight hunters are an important component in

the life of some uropeltids is the general

tendency to head-tail mimicry. It could be

argued that the blunt form of the tail is due

to the in-tunnel defense mechanism, and that the

slender termination of the head and neck

reflects the specialized tunnel-forming methods.

Indeed it is quite clear that these biological

roles establish and maintain the major pheno-

typic pattern, which in this sense represents a

morphological constraint. However, several

major considerations argue for the effect of

surface predation. The first is a behavioral one,

in that uropeltids always hide the head and

display the tail. The head tends to hide under

the coils and will engage in active movement

into soil, forming or entering existing tunnels,

while the tail is simultaneously waved about.

The second is that the coloration enhances the

illusion. The caudal cap is often distinctly

marked, both laterally and ventrally, so that

the image of a head with eye spots appears

153

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JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. S3 ( SUPPLEMENT )

obviously expressed as the tail is lifted and.

waved about during disturbance. In contrast,

the head markings break up the outline of

the anterior end. In Rhinophis blythi, there is

a lateral band around the head that crosses

the oculars and gives the impression in dorsal

view that the head is slimmer and shorter. In

R. punctatus a middorsal V of darkened pig-

ment emphasizes the slender caudal end.

The third aspect relates to the lateral mark-

ings on the trunk. Whereas the dorsal surface

is generally unicolored (except for that of the

spectacular Uropeltis phillipsi), these lateral

markings are expressed in sharply defined

patches of strongly contrasting colors, solid

whites, yellows and oranges. The intermediate

zones tend to be as dark or darker than the

dorsal surface. Certainly, these lateral markings

cannot be seen as cryptic; however, they may

represent startle marks, displayed only after

the animal has been discovered by a predator.

On the other hand, they can be interpreted

as Batesian mimicry of some of the many

species of yellow and black banded centipedes

that are commonly encountered sympatrically

with uropeltids. Some of these have a poison-

ous bite.

Theoretical considerations indicated that the

dupe in the system would likely be one of

several species of fowl, endemic throughout

the range in which the uropeltids occur. They

meet the conditions that the dupe should be

a predator which shared the biotope, which

was common enough there to represent a sub-

stantial threat (thus justifying the cost of pro-

tection) and which could recognize the signal

being mimicked. Jungle fowl, spur fowl and

pea fowl occur on the forest floor and scratch

through the leaf litter and superficial soil

layers, invaded by uropeltids in search of

prey. The birds were formerly extremely com-

mon, moving in large flocks that aggregated

in mast fruiting sites. Fowl are visual hunters

and have good color perception.

The kinds of conclusions deriving from

comparison of behavior, shape and color

patterns of uropeltids with those of other

lizards and snakes are intrinsically flawed;

they represent possibilities rather than proba-

bilities. The only thing that endows the conclu-

sions with some level of respectability is the

ever increasing amount of detailed experi-

mental observation on multiple other species.

Even then, it is best to increase the robustness

of the conclusion by actual test of interactions

between potential prey and possible predator.

These considerations led me to carry out some

initial tests on the interaction of birds and

uropeltids.

Experiments with Birds

Two such tests were possible. The first test

(in November 1974) involved a small flock

of chickens maintained on a recently cleared

area near Bibilegama in the vicinity of Namu-

nukula, Sri Lanka. The appearance of these

local chickens was very close to that of the

endemic jungle fowl; consequently, it was to

be assumed that these individuals might share

the behavior of the wild population. The

second set of tests was run two years later

(on 8 August 1976), utilizing caged spur fowl,

jungle fowl and pea fowl in the enclosures of

the Colombo Zoological Garden. The jungle

fowl were housed by themselves in an appro-

ximately 3 metre by 3 metre enclosure. The

pea fowl were running in the open area, and

the spur fowl, as well as a number of other

birds, were in a very large enclosure combin-

ing open areas and shrubs planted among open

patches. In most cases, the animals were used

to intermittent feeding by hand and showed

no particular fear of people.

154

MIMICRY IN UROPELTID SNAKES

The domestic chickens were offered pieces

of cracker, boiled rice, and worms, all spread

randomly over the ground. The cereals were

swallowed with a single peck-swallow move-

ment, unless more than particle was picked up

at a time. Whenever earthworms were intro-

duced, the birds pecked at them and then

flipped them through the air two or three

times before swallowing them.

After the birds had become used to our

presence, we released a living Rhino phis drum-

mondhayi, approximately 15 cm long. The

snake started moving but did not move con-

certedly across the surface, rather making

ineffective attempts at burrowing into the hard

soil. The chickens noticed the snake (when

passing less than 75 cm away) but initially

seemed to be afraid, moving backward as they

noted its tail waving movement. They would

peck at grain in its vicinity and cock their

head sideways to watch. Suddenly, one of the

chickens darted approximately 30 cm, bit the

snake, lifting it off the ground and tossing it

perhaps 50 cm. The bird followed immediate-

ly, pecked again and repeated the flip. There

were two important aspects of this behavior.

The first was that the peck-flipping was re-

peated many times without any attempt at

swallowing. The second was that the snake

initially waved the caudal tip, enhancing a

head image, and that more than 90 per cent

of the bites were directed at this caudal tip.

After approximately 35 flips, the bird was

disturbed and the snake retrieved essentially

undamaged. When placed on soft soil, it

burrowed effectively at almost normal speed.

After being chased away from the prey, the

bird proved to be still hungry and immediate-

ly started feeding. Earthworms offered imme-

diately thereafter were swallowed after 2 to 5

flips; however, a single centipede was flipped

at least a dozen times before it was lost after

hitting some bushes. A second trial proceeded

similarly.

A series of preliminary experiments utilizing

the wild-caught birds in the zoo provided

approximately equivalent results. The zoo

animals reacted like the domestic chickens to

other possible food items. They fed on grain

with single pecks, used not more than 5 peck/

flips for worms, and a markedly greater series

for centipedes.

Several specimens of the patterned Rhino-

phis drummondhayi and the unicolored black

R. philippinus were then offered to three

species of birds in a random pattern. If swallow-

ing had not occurred at the 35th peck, they

were removed. Some sample observations

follow.

Jungle fowl : A female was immediately at-

tracted to the R. philippinus moving toward it

from 2 m away. She pecked it, whereupon the

snake started curling randomly and was pecked

four more times. In each case, the peck hit the

tail. The snake was then checked and showed no

damage. Upon release, the snake curled about

a bush. The bird accidentally bit the snake’s

head twice and then continued to peck at the

tail. The snake did not seem damaged, but

kept on moving in the same pattern. Appa-

rently disturbed by the observers, the bird

then bit the snake at midbody and carried it

to another part of the cage. The bite clearly

hurt the snake; although its skin was not broken

the internal organs may have been crushed.

The snake was then left on another open

spot and the female returned to it at intervals,

peck-flipping it whenever it moved. Another

female then took over and kept shaking and

flipping it for more than four minutes. The

frequency of tail strike was over 95 per cent

(it may have been higher; however, we only

scored for tail strikes when the snake was

unequivocally seen to have been hit in the

155

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 (, SUPPLEMENT )

tail). A male bird moved by but ignored the

snake. The female finally swallowed the snake

22 minutes after the initial attack.

When another R. philippinus was exposed

to a pair of jungle fowl they showed only faint

interest. In another cage, a R. philippinus dug

very fast. Although the fowl pecked its tail,

the snake escaped. Observations on spurfowl

( Gallopodus bicalcarata) gave similar results.

Neither species attacked the R. drummon-

dhayi; they repeatedly approached the speci-

mens and then backed off, seemingly disturbed

by its bright color markings. Several jungle

fowl repeatedly walked around specimens,

looked at them and walked away, all the time

feeding on other items. Only once was a snake

bitten; it had crawled right up to the cock,

touching its feet. The bite was directed at the

head, but the snake seemed unharmed.

Peafowl: The large specimens attacked,

killed and ate two R. philippinus, the first in

about 5 min. They treated the R. drummon-

dhayi quite differently. One specimen was

attacked before the R. philippinus had been

presented. The flock shifted their attention

to these and only then returned to the snake

with markings. Twenty-five minutes later, the

snake was still crawling about on the solid

floor, being pecked every so often and flipped

through the air. After 40 minutes, the snake was

swallowed; it is uncertain by which of the

birds.

Deductions and Further Tests

The initial observations on uropeltids all

suggest that these animals were initially

adapted to life within tunnels through the soils

of moist tropical forests (Gans 1976, 1978).

Subsequent studies have confirmed that the

caudal specializations primarily represent de-

fensive devices, reducing the potential effect

of snake and perhaps other subterranean pre-

dators (Gans and Baic 1977). It now appears

that the snakes also show defenses against

surface predators. In this category there is the

display of cryptic coloration including color

matching to that of the prevalent soil, auto-

mimicry of head to tail and Batesian mimicry

with the model being several species of centi-

pede and the dupe the several species of fowl.

The results of the preliminary tests are in

concordance with the basic hypothesis; they

do not prove it. What is required at this

moment are further studies on a variety of

levels. What follows is a testing program

which I had intended to carry out in Sri

Lanka, but which was prevented by people

and circumstances. It may be useful to state

this explicitly, as it may encourage studies

by others who live closer to the animals

involved.

First of all, it would be most useful to

obtain additional information on the natural

predators of uropeltids. This would involve

the analysis of stomach contents of animals

killed incidentally or for other studies. As

much of Sri Lanka has resident populations

of uropeltids, such studies should proceed in

lowland, at mid elevation and at high elevation

zones. They should also address ontogeny as

the juveniles of some species appear to have

distinct colors. If possible, they should then

search for information about the places at

which the predated uropeltids were taken. Did

the predators dig them up or encounter only

those individuals which for some reason pass

the surface accidentally. Next, it would also

be of interest to determine the extent to which

the predators were those that specifically

hunted uropeltids rather than those that fed

on them incidental to predation on other

organisms.

Next, it would be desirable to see to what

156

MIMICRY IN UROPELTID SNAKES

extent the several presumed patterns of pre-

dator avoidance were effective. Toward this

end, one could model uropeltids (using wood,

plaster or rubber castings) and paint them in

variants of their natural colors before exposing

them either in the natural surroundings or with

caged predators.

In this phase, it might be interesting to use

different substrates, moving or non-moving

snake models; on the other hand, this phase

could also be modified by using living snakes,

but painting them to distinct colors. The pre-

liminary experiments suggest the importance

of head /tail reversal. Strikes at the tail induce

minor damage. Those at body and head incur

a higher risk of major destruction. Here again,

two kinds of tests would be possible. The

simplest one would require a change of shape,

most simply arranged by attaching rubber

molds to the anterior and odd posterior por-

tion of the animal, perhaps more simply by

making the snakes more truly symmetrical, or

by reversing the head and tail shapes. Beyond

testing the matter of shape as an isolated

variable, it would also be possible to check for

shape enhanced by color pattern in the several

ways described.

Finally, it would seem useful to test for the

mimicry hypothesis. This could be handled in

two ways. First, by testing whether the accepta-

bility of centipedes as potential prey changes

once they are deprived of their “warning

colors”, and secondly, by enhancing or mask-

ing the lateral, bright colors of uropeltids.

It should be stressed that such a research

program should not expect to see absolutes

of costs and benefits. Assuming that the

basic hypothesis is correct, we could see some

benefit to even slight avoidance of predator

attention, but this would depend on the pre-

dator addressed, being strongest for “to whom

it may concern” hunters and weakest to specia-

lists on uropeltids, if there are such. The

effectiveness of color matching would also

differ, depending on local variants of the soil,

surface reflectivity, variants of moisture con-

tent, and whereas that of highly hydrophobic

snakes surface does not. Also, the intrinsic

variability of surface textures and vegetation

includes substrates on which even color-

matched animals may be very obvious than

those on which they would, in any case, be

masked by vegetation. Most uropeltids dis-

covered on the surface were apparently there

due to flooding or similar circumstances. Thus,

unpredictable aspects will affect the responses

to be expected.

Furthermore, there is the issue of diversity.

The ranges of many uropeltids are quite

restricted, generally likely to be far more

restricted than those of their predators. Is

there a functional basis to the local color

variants of the different snakes, or does this

reflect phylogenetic or developmental aspects?

All of these are aspects for which we cannot

provide believable responses until we have

additional data regarding these animals and

their possible predators. Uncertainty will re-

main; however, the next level of tests should

indicate to what extent we are on the correct

track.

Acknowledgements

I wish to dedicate this paper to the hun-

dreds of plantation workers, small farmers,

rubber tappers, tea pickers, drainage workers,

school teachers and their students, and others

whom we met during our travels and who not

only helped us, but often extended personal

hospitality and advice. I am grateful to

Prasanna Fernando, who participated in the

first field trial and to the staff of the Colombo

Zoo who assisted with trials there. During field

work in Sri Lanka, I was able to utilize

157

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

vehicles of the Smithsonian Institution’s Ento-

mological Field Project. Some aspects of all

of these studies and the preparation of the

Refer

Daniel, J. C. (1983) : The Book of Indian

Reptiles. Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay.

Gans, Carl (1966): Uropeltidae. In : Liste der

rezenten Amphibien und Reptilien. Das Tierreich,

(Berlin), 84: 1-29.

(1973) : Uropeltid snakes — survi-

vors in a changing world. Endeavour, 52(116) : 60-

65.

(1976) : Aspects of the biology of

uropeltid snakes. In: (A. d’A. Bellairs and C. B.

Cox, eds.). Morphology and Biology of Reptiles.

Linn. Soc. London, Symp., (3) : 191-204.

(1978): All animals are interesting!

Presidential Address. Amer. Zool., 18(1) : 3-9.

(1979) : A subterranean snake with

a funny tail. Natural Hist., 88(5) : 70-75.

Gans, Carl & Baic, Dusan (1977): Regional

specialization of reptilian scale surfaces: Relation of

present report were supported by the National

Science Foundation, most recently under DEB

8509490.

■ . '•

ENCES

texture and biologic role. Science, 195 (4284) : cover,

1263, 1348-1350.

Gans, Carl, Herbert C. Dessauer, and Baic,

Dusan (1978) : Axial differences in the musculature

of the uropeltid snakes: The freight- train approach

to burrowing. Science, 199 (4325) : 189-192.

Greene, H. W. (in press) : Predation and antipre-

dator responses in reptiles. In: Biology of the Repti-

lia. (C. Gans and R. B. Huey, eds.). John Wiley,

Inc. New York, 16.

Mahendra, B. C. (1983) : Handbook of the Snakes

of India, Ceylon, Burma, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.

Ann. Zool., Agra, 22 (1984B) : i-xvi+1-412.

Pough, H. (in press) : Mimicry. In: Biology of the

Reptilia. (C. Gans and R. B. Huey, eds.). John

Wiley, Inc., New York, 16.

Rajendran, M. (1985) : Studies in Uropeltid

Snakes. Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai.

158

PHOTOGRAPHIC RECORD OF THE JERDON’S OR

DOUBLE-BANDED COURSER CURSOR1US

BITORQUATUS

Bharat Bhushan1

(With a colour plate)

Introduction

The Jerdon’s or Double-banded Courser

Cursorius bitorquatus had been resighted after

86 years (since its last record in 1900) in the

Lankamalai hill-range areas on 19 January

1986 (Bhushan 1986). The events leading

upto the resighting and previous records by

Jerdon near Cuddapah (Blyth 1848), Blanford

near the Godavari at Bhadrachallam (Blan-

ford 1898), and, by Campbell near Anantapur

(Ali 1977) have been described in detail in

my earlier paper (Bhushan 1986b). Failure to

record the Jerdon’s Courser after the 1900

sighting had led to the species being consi-

dered as either extinct or nearly so (Ripley

1952, 1961, Greenway 1958, Howard and

Moore 1980, Walters 1980, King 1981). The

Jerdon’s Courser was known only from the

two skins collected by Blanford, now housed

in the British Museum, prior to my January

1986 record.

Apart from the communications mentioned

above, very little biological work has been

done on the Jerdon’s Courser. The present

study formed part of the Bombay Natural

History Society’s (BNHS) research project

“Study of Ecology of Rare and Endangered

Species of Wildlife and their Habitat” funded

1 Bombay Natural History Society, Hornbill House,

Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road. Bombay-400 023.

by the Fish and Wildlife Service, USA, through

the Ministry of Environment, Forests and

Wildlife, Govt, of India.

The study has been conducted at the Lanka-

malai hill-range area during discontinuous

study-periods from January to May and

September to October 1986. The main study

area was the foothill-scrub expanses below

Lankamalai hills near Reddipalli and Konduru

villages of Atlur Mandal, Cuddapah district

of Andhra Pradesh.

The Lankamalai hills are part of the

Lankamalai Reserve Forest in the Siddavatam

Range of Cuddapah Forest Division of Andhra

Pradesh. The main study area refers to the

foothill-scrub intersected by the reserve forest

boundary line and also considers the scrub

expanses in the non-reserve forest areas. Both

areas are referred to as ‘above’ and ‘below’

the line (Bhushan 1986b, p. 10).

The Lankamalai foothill- scrub forest types

were both Thorny and Non-Thorny scrub

jungle patches (Champion & Seth 1968). While

the Thorny scrub consisted of Acacia, Zizy-

phus and Carissa, the Non-Thorny Scrub was

of Cassia, Hardwickia, Dalbergia, Butea and

Anogeissus among other species. Further

ahead, above the line, towards the lower

slopes are Hardwickia binata forests followed

by Thorn forests dominated by Anogeissus

along with Albizzia, Acacia, and Zizyphus

(Reddy 1983, Bhushan 1986b).

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JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

Methodology

The preliminary surveys in 1985 had in-

volved eliciting information from locals about

their knowledge of the Double-banded

Courser’s existence (Bhushan 1985 a&b).

Field-work in 1986 was undertaken with the

help of individuals who knew exact locations

of the Courser (Bhushan 1986 a&b).

Field work involved walking about in the

area, listing the birds seen and keeping track

of the extent of habitat-types. This was alter-

nated by using a spotterscope of 10 x magni-

fication. Equipment used also included a

12x50 pair of binoculars. Photographs were

taken with an Asahi Pentax Program Plus

Camera with a normal 50 mm 8i 70-210 mm

zoom lenses. A wide-angled instamatic camera

was also utilised.

Results

A solitary Jordon’s Courser was sighted on

24th September 1986, in similar habitat as

the January sighting and was approximately

two kilometres north of the same. The courser

has also been reliably sighted by local Reddi-

palli villagers, Aitanna and PulJiah, at another

location in the foothill scrub in between the

other two sightings on 10th May 1986.

The wto coursers seen in January at night

had flown up and glided down noiselessly into

open patches. The September sighting was at

0630-0715 hours. The bird was sighted in a

Carissa bush (height c. 30 cm) and walked

off on being flushed accidentally by my near

presence. It sat next to a stone beside a dead

branch in the open patch and remained motion-

less as I kept approaching while photograph-

ing it. The courser then stood up and walked

off behind an Acacia bush (2.5 m tall) as I

went closer, stood for less than 30 seconds.

and sat under its canopy in the shadow of

the stem. The bird later walked to another

bush, went under the canopy, stood in the

shade for about a minute, flew up and beyond

the bush-line against the hills. It could not be

sighted later.

The three sightings have been in similar

habitat-patches in the foothill scrub. The

Jerdon’s Courser seems to be almost restrict-

ed to bare grassless patches of open ground

amidst scrub bushes. These patches have a

cover of grass only during the monsoon and

is under grazing pressure otherwise. The three

open patches in which the courser was seen

are not more than 500 sq. m in area. There

are similar sized open patches all along the

Lankamalai foothills both above and below

the line. The photographs now constitute the

only known positive evidence of the species’

presence in its habitat.

Below the line and after the scrub areas

near Reddipalli and Konduru villages, are

present open bare grazing grounds larger than

500 sq. m and nearly 1-3 sq. km in area. The

vegetation in these larger open patches com-

prise of shrub bushes towards the reserve

forest area and of cultivation towards the

village areas. The Jerdon’s Courser has never

been sighted in the larger open patches even

by locals who frequent these grounds

regularly.

Discussion

Intruder reaction

The Jerdon’s or Double-banded Courser’s

reaction to my presence during the January

and September sighting is similar to the

Rhinoptilus behaviour recorded for presence of

an intruder. Bannermann (1931) records

Major Hutson describing a R. chalcopterus

sighted on a “newly burnt patch in fairly open

160

Plate

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83 (supplement)

Bhushan: Cursorius bitorquatus

Above: The Jerdon’s Courser. Below: Habitat of the Jerdon’s Courser.

( Photos : Author)

PHOTOGRAPHIC RECORD OF JERDON’S COURSER

bush. It stood motionless when approached

and only took to flight when he was within

six yards, and then landed again and stood

motionless once more. This performance dur-

ing which it did not utter a note, was repeated

several times”.

Andersson, in the same account, describes

his experience in attempting to flush the

chalcopterus from the undergrowth. He men-

tions, “when suddenly flushed, the bird darts

behind a tree” where it stops, and continues

its “flight by hard running, only using its wings

in its utmost need”.

Rudolf Braun, a German naturalist, record-

ed the chalcopterus getting up “right under

one’s feet, coming down again 30-40 metres

away and usually remains perfectly motion-

less”. (Bannermann 1951).

Habitat

Jerdon (1877) had found the Double-handed

Courser to inhabit “rocky and undulating

ground with thin forest jungle” and believed

the species to be a “mountain form of Cur-

sorius, frequenting rocky hills with thin

jungle”. Blanford (1898) recorded the species

in “thin forest or high scrub, never in open

ground” and “never saw any on hills” in con-

trast to Jerdon’s belief. I have described the

Double-banded Courser being present in simi-

lar habitat in my earlier communication

(Bhushan 1986 b).

Among the African species, the Bronze-

winged Courser R. chalcopterus prefers bush-

covered country and also utilizes “little bare,

gravelly patches among the woods” as breed-

ing spots (Bannermann 1931). The Two-banded

Courser R. africanus is a “bird of rocky thorn

scrub country, sandy plains and flat deserts”

while the Heuglin’s or Three-handed Courser

R. cinctus is rarely found away from thick

thorn scrub (Mackworth-Praed and Grant

1952).

Later communications record the three-

banded Courser nesting on bare ground, next

to a pile of windblown leaves about one metre

from the base of a small Acacia tree (Kemp

and Maclean 1973). Uys and Underhill (1977)

recorded the Two -banded Courser breeding on

bare ground, a few metres away from stunted

bushes on both the occasions the bird had

allowed the observers to approach very closely

in a manner similar to my September sighting

of the bitorquatus during which, however, I

could not record any breeding. The habitat is

similar to descriptions of the same for the

three African Rhinoptilus.

Maclean (1967) describes the habitat of the

Double-banded Courser R. africanus as ‘cal-

crete covered with small woody shrubblets

between six inches and a foot”, and, records

that the africanus is “almost confined to the

calcrete, which is usually bare between the

shrublets, except after good rains. . He also

mentions that “the barest areas where drink-

ing antelopes have trampled the vegetation are

usually avoided by the coursers”.

Acknowledgements

The Bombay Natural History Society permit-

ted me to undertake the survey under their

research project on Endangered Species. This

study received financial assistance from the

Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S.A. in the form

of a grant (USDIFWS Grant No. 8851-658-02)

received through the Department of Wildlife,

Ministry of Environment, Forests and Wild-

life, Government of India. I am grateful to

these organisations for their support.

Grateful thanks is due to Mr. J. C. Daniel,

Curator, BNHS, for his encouragement and

supervision throughout the many stages in the

final outcome of the survey.

I am also grateful to Dr Salim Ali, Dr Asad

161

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

Rahmani, Mr S. R. Nayak and Mr Isaac

Kehimkar. I had useful discussions with Dr

Dillon Ripley, Dr Graham Cowles, Mr David

Ferguson, Mr. S. A. Hussain and Dr. R. Rudran.

The Andhra Pradesh Forest Department and

Refer

Ali, S. (1977): President's letter: “Mystery” Birds

of India-2: Jerdon’s or Double-banded Courser.

Horn bill Oct.-Dec. 1977: 5-7.

Bannermann, D. A. (1931): The Birds of Tropi-

cal West Africa. Vol. 2: 92-107. London.

(1951): The Birds of Tropi-

cal West Africa. Vol. 8: 214-217. London.

Bhushan, B. (1985a) : Jerdon’s or Double-band-

ed Courser Cursorius bitorquatus (Blyth) — Preli-

minary Survey. Penner river valley areas. Andhra

Pradesh. Technical Report No. 9, Endangered

Species Project. Bombay Natural History Society,

Bombay.

(1985b) : Jerdon’s or Double-band-

ed Courser Cursorius bitorquatus (Blyth) — Pennar

river valley areas : Andhra Pradesh. Surveys and

Discussion. In: “The Floricans’ Annual Report 1984-

85. Endangered Species Project. Bombay Natural

History Society, Bombay.

(1986a): Rediscovery of the Jer-

don’s Courser. Hornbill 1986(1) : 1-6.

— (1986b) : Rediscovery of the Jer-

don’s Courser Cursorius bitorquatus (Blyth). /.

Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83: 1-14.

Blanford, W. T. (1898) : The Fauna of British

India. Birds. Vol. IV. Taylor and Francis. London.

Blyth, E. (1848): Proceedings of the Asiatic

Society — Report of the Curator, Zoological Depart-

ment. Journal Asiatic Soc. Bengal, xvii (1) : 254.

Champion, H. G. & Seth, S. K. (1968): A Re-

vised Survey of the Forest Types of India. Govern-

ment of India Press, Delhi.

Greenway, J. C. (1958) : Extinct and Vanishing

Birds of the World. American Committee for Inter-

national Wildlife Protection. New York, pp. 270-271.

particularly Mr Pushp Kumar, ACCF- Wildlife

for the facilities granted.

To my parents and sister who never showed

their anxiety at my absence during the survey

— mere thanks would be insufficient.

EN CES

Howard, R. A. & Moore, A. (1980) : A Com-

plete checklist of the World. Oxford University

Press, London.

Jerdon, T. C. (1977) : The Birds of India, Vol.

II, Part II. Calcutta, pp. 626-629.

Kemp, A. C. & Maclean, G. C. (1973): Nesting

of the Three-banded Courser. Ostrich 44: 82-83.

King, B. S. (Ed.) (1981): Endangered Birds of

the World: The ICBP Red Data Book, Smithsonian

Institution Press & ICBP. Washington, D.C.

Maclean, G. L. (1967): The breeding biology

and behaviour of the Double-banded Courser

Rhinoptilus africanus (Temminck). Ibis 109: 556-

569.

Mackworth-Praed, C. M. & Grant, C. H. B.

(1952): Birds of Eastern and North-Eastern Africa.

Longman. New York. pp. 396-402.

Morse, D. (1980): Behavioural mechanisms in

Ecology. Harvard University Press.

Reddy, C. S. (1983): Management plan for the

forests of Cuddapah District. 1982-1997. Vol. I

Research and Development Circle. Andhra Pradesh

Forest Department.

Ripley, S. D. (1952): Vanishing and extinct Bird

species of India J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 50: 902-

906.

(1961): A Synopsis of the Birds

of India and Pakistan. First edition. Bombay Natu-

ral History Society, Bombay.

Uys, C. J. & Underhill, G. D. (1977): Nesting

of the Double banded Courser in the Worcester

District. Bokmakierie 29: 43-45.

Walters, M. (1980) : The Complete Birds of the

World. David and Charles, London.

162

THE EARLIEST RECORD OF A WHITE TIGER

( PANTHERA TIGRIS)

Divyabhamusinh1

(With a colour plate)

Mutant “white” tigers are a fairly well

documented phenomenon in India. This jour-

nal has recorded no less than 17 instances of

“white” tigers being shot in India between

1907 and 1933 (Gee 1954), i.e. in a period of

16 years only. Several other instances are

recorded of sightings and trophies of such

animals as well. The most famous and recent

case being that of Mohan the great while

partriarch of Rewa, whose descendants stock

the zoos the world over. There has been only

one recorded instance of true albino tigers,

this is of two cubs shot in Cooch Bihar in

1922. (Narayan 1922).

The earliest known record of a “white”

tiger however is that of the Mughal period and

more precisely of the year 1561 A.D. Emperor

Akbar who ruled from 1556 A.D. to 1605

A.D., caused his life and times to be recorded

by his trusted courtier Abul Fazl. His “Akbar

Nama” became a detailed account of the

Emperor’s reign. It had run into 2 volumes

and the third one was incomplete when he

was waylaid and killed by the forces of Raja

Bir Singh Deo of Orcha on Jahangir’s orders

in 1602 A.D. barely 3 years before Akbar’s

own death. There are two illustrated versions

of the chronicle that survive in parts. One is

the second volume of Akbar Nama which is

the royal copy bearing Jahangir’s own signa-

ture preserved in Victoria and Albert Museum,

1 No. 1, Mansingh Road. New Delhi 110 011.

London. The first volume is untraceable while

the third is dispersed. The second volume

covers the period of 1560 to 1577/8 A.D. It

has in all one hundred and sixteen miniature

paintings executed by forty nine painters and

sometimes as many as three of them worked

on the same painting. The other illustrated

versions was painted between 1603 and 1605

A.D. and it is preserved in the British Museum

Library, London and Chester Beatty Library,

Dublin.

Every painting in Akbar Nama illustrates

an episode in the life of the Emperor. The

painting which interests us here, illustrates one

such episode in the royal copy in Victoria and

Albert Museum but the same episode is not

illustrated in the other surviving version referr-

ed here. The episode in question, occurred

near Gwalior in 1561 A.D. in the 5th regnal

year when Akbar was returning to Agra from

Malwa. It is recorded thus:

“His Majesty went on stage by stage, hunt-

ing and shooting but also going on rapidly.

When his crescent standard cast their rays on

the territory appertaining to the fort of

Narwar, a tiger, such as may terrify the leopard

of heaven, came out of the forest with five

cubs and on the track by which the cavalcade

was proceeding. His Majesty the Shahinshah

who had the strength of the lion of God in

his arms and the coat of mail of the Divine

protection on his breast, went alone and with-

out hesitation in front of the iron-clawed

163

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

fiery-natured wild animal. When the spectators

beheld this the hair on their bodies stood erect

and sweat distilled from their pores. His

Majesty with swift foot and alert arm attacked

the brute and killed it by one stroke. . .

“The wild beast, so great and terrible, fell

bleeding to the dust before the strength of his

arm and the might of his courage, and a shout

arose one all sides. This was the first beast

of prey which His Majesty personally attacked.

Its cubs were killed by the swords and arrows

of a number of brave men who were in

attendance on the sublime stirup” (pp. 222-3,

Vol. II, Beveridge, 1910).

This episode is illustrated with a double page

painting. The right page shows young Akbar

astride a black mount slaying the tigress with

his sword, some of his courtiers are looking

on. A “white” tiger lies disembowelled and

dead below Akbars’ horse. Another normal

coloured tiger has attacked a soldier and is

in the process of being speared, while a third

tiger again a “white” one, is being stabbed

with a “khan jar” by one soldier and another

is about to attack it with a sword.

The left page shows a tiger dead and lying

on its back with its four feet in the air while

another is about to meet its end, both these

are of normal colour. From the paintings we

see that all the five cubs are large, almost fully

grown.

The narrative does not mention “white”

tiger cubs, yet the painting is clear and leaves

us in no doubt. Mr. Robert Skelton of

Victoria and Albert Museum. London, and an

authority on Mughal paintings, informs me

that the two tigers in the painting in question

are of a “light fawn” colour (Skelton, pers.

com. 1984) which is not the normal colour

of tigers at all. Then why is the next silent?

Abul Fazl started working on the chronicle

around 1588 A.D. (p. 34. Sen 1984) while

this incident took place in 1561 A.D. As such

his account is hearsay committed to writing

27 years after the event. There is yet another

factor: Abul Fazl’s chronicle is one long essay

in the celebration of the Emperor and his

greatness as is evident from the reading of the

text of Akbar Nama. In the narrative of this

episode the object is very clearly to illustrate

Akbar’s bold and fearless action and to record

the fact that this was the first time that the

Emperor had personally attacked and killed

a beast of prey. The colour of the tigers slain,

and in this case of those killed by others such

as soldiers or courtiers, was of little conse-

quence. The Persian text uses the word “babri”

which is used interchangeably for both tigers

and lions and there is no description of the

striped cats which again goes to show the

thrust of the chronicle towards the Emperor’s

bravery rather than the uniqueness of the

animal’s colour.

The painting on the right page was com-

posed by Basawan and painted by Tara the

elder. The faces were painted by Basawan.

Whereas the left page was composed by Basa-

wan and painted by Sarwan (p. 69, Sen, 1984).

Of 116 paintings that survive in the second

volume of Akbar Nama , ten were composed

or painted by Basawan and two by Tara the

elder. Each and every painting pertaining to

wildlife in the Chronicle is very accurately

executed. A keen observer of wildlife would

be amazed at the accurate reproduction of

animals in Akbar Nama paintings and he

would inevitably reach a conclusion that the

painters had a personal knowledge of their

subjects. The colour of the two tiger cubs in

question is so unmistakably different, “light

fawn”, that it cannot be ascribed to chance.

To me the painting appears to have been exe-

cuted on the basis of authentic eye witness

reports. It is on record that painters often

164

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83 (supplement)

Divyabhanusinh : White tiger

Plate

“Akbar slays a tigress which attacked the royal cavalcade.” This painting is the right

hand side of a double page illustration in the Akbarnama. The colour of the two

almost full grown cubs is light fawn in sharp contrast to that of the mother being

slain by the Emperor Akbar.

RECORD OF A WHITE TIGER

accompanied the Emperor during expeditions

and journeys. Basawan may well have witness-

ed the scene at Narwar, Abul Fazl joined

Akbar’s service much later.

A dyslexic emperor (for Akbar could

neither read nor write and he is believed to

have suffered from dyslexia) may overlook

an inaccuracy of the written word, but surely

an emperor of Akbar’s keenness for the hunt

and the chase would not overlook a mistake

if it was one, in rendering the correct colour

of tigers which were common if not favourite

objects of imperial hunting persuits. What is

more, while this royal copy of Akbar Nama

bears Emperor Jahangir’s signature, even he,

ever the keen observer of Nature, is silent

about the tiger cubs in the painting. If some-

thing was amiss, he would surely have noted

it.

In fact, what we are witnessing here are

two mutant “white” tigers. The painting has

been published several times starting with

Wilhelm Staude in 1932, Stuart Cary Welch

in 1960 and 1964 (p. 69, Sen, 1984), Bamber

Refer

Beveridge, Henry, Tr. (1910): Akbar Nama by

Abu-l-Fazl, pp. 222-3, Vol. II, Calcutta (New Delhi,

1979).

Gascoigne, Bamber (1971) : The Great Moghals.

London, 1971, (London, 1985).

Gee, E. P. (1954) : Albinism and Partial Albinism

in Tigers. J. Bombay nat. His. Soc. 56 ( 3) : 581-7.

Narayan, Victor N. (1922): Notes on Man Eat-

Gascoigne (a poor colour reproduction in this

case) in 1971 (p. 112-3, Gascoigne, 1971),

Geeti Sen in 1984 (pp. 48, 69, Sen, 1984),

John Reay in 1985 (pp. 216-7, Reay, 1985),

Stuart Cary Welch in 1985 (pp. 147-8, Welch,

1985), and others. Though the painting has

been scrutinised by many historians and critics,

it is strange that the “white” tigers have

escaped attention till now. The only expla-

nation is that India’s rich heritage has been

rarely examined to record or study its natural

history.

Acknowledgements

I am greatful to Dr. Asok Kumar Das,

Director, Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II

Museum, Jaipur for bringing to my attention

this particular painting in the Akbarnama.

I am also grateful to Mr. Robert Skelton of

the Victoria and Albert Museum, London for

offering his views on the painting in question.

Their help has greatly enriched this article.

However, I am solely responsible for short-

comings, if any.

ENCES

ing Tigers, ibid. 28(4): 1124.

Reay, John (1985) : India Discovered, The

Achievement of the British Raj, London.

Sen, Geeti (1984) : Paintings from the Akbar

Nama: A Visual Chronicle of Mughal India, Vara-

nasi.

Welch, Stuart Cary (1985) : India, Art and

Culture, 1300-1900, New York.

165

STATUS OF WILDLIFE AND

HABITAT CONSERVATION IN KARNATAKA

K. Ullas Karanth1

(With a map)

This paper reviews the status of wildlife and habitats of Karnataka State in

India. The overview briefly covers (i) Available habitat types in the major biogeogra-

phic zones of the state; (ii) Current distribution of important mammalian species;

(iii) Protection status of wildlife and habitats in the recent years; and (iv) The

existing and proposed nature reserve areas

I N TROD U CTIO N

Karnataka State in South-Western India is

a region naturally endowed with a diversity of

bioclimatic, topographic and edaphic varia-

tions (Pascal 1982, Rama Prasad and Malhotra

1984). For example, the annual precipitation

of the order of 6000 mm at the Western edge

of the State declines to less than 800 mm with-

in a short distance of about 150 kms East-

wards. The coastal plains which are virtually

at sea level rise precipitously to the Western

ghat ridges at around 1500 m elevation only

to slope down gently on to the Deccan plateau

Eastwards. The soil types range from coastal

laterites through the sandy loams of the

Southern plateau to the deep black cotton

soils of the Northern plains.

As a result of such natural variations, the

State has a variety of wildlife habitats and a

rich diversity of plant and animal commu-

nities. These habitats include many types of

forests: Montane Shola, Wet-evergreen, Semi-

evergreen, Moist deciduous. Dry deciduous.

Dry evergreen. Thorn scrub as well as Rive-

1 Centre for Wildlife Studies. 499, Kuvempu

Nagar, Mysore - 570 023.

in Karnataka.

rine. Mangrove and other wetland vegetations.

In recent times, the State has made some

determined attempts to conserve this biologi-

cal wealth. Arguably, this effort has been more

effective than in many other parts of India,

particularly in terms of restricting forest ex-

ploitation and setting up nature reserves.

In this paper I have attempted to present

an overview of the conservation status of

Karnataka State’s wildlife and wildlife habi-

tats. This overview is primarily restricted to

terrestrial habitats and focusses on the larger

mammalian fauna. I have briefly mentioned

each of the habitats occurring in the four bio-

geographic sub-regions of the State: (1) West

coast plains; (2) Western ghat slopes and

foothills; (3) Southern plateau and Eastern

ghat hills; (4) Northern plateau (Map 1). A

brief review of the conservation status of these

habitats is here. The current presence /absence

data on the distribution of important mamma-

lian species is also included as an indicator

of the status of wildlife. I have summarised

additional information about some species

which are of special conservation interest. This

is followed by a brief section on problems of

wildlife and habitat protection in the State and

existing and suggested nature reserve areas.

166

CONSERVATION IN KARNATAKA

Map. 1. Karnataka — Bio-geographic regions and important wildlife habitats.

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

Apart from my own field notes, I have con-

sulted several published and unpublished

accounts by various authors. These are quoted

in the appropriate context. On the whole this

paper essentially highlights gaps in our know-

ledge about the faunal distribution in

Karnataka and is meant to serve as a basis

for more detailed work in future.

Wildlife Habitats in Karnataka

Coastal Plains , Western Ghat Slopes

and Foothills

These two regions receive very high rainfall

ranging around 1500-5000 + mm annually

(Pascal 1982). The coastal plains have two

main littoral habitat types — the sand dune

vegetation on the seashore and the mangroves

on the coast and riverine estuaries. A recent

comprehensive survey by Untwale and Wafar

(1986) highlights the precarious status of these

habitats and estimates that only a few hundred

hectares of these remain intact. It also docu-

ments their ongoing destruction by the local

people for fuel, timber, conversion to agricul-

tural uses as well as other developmental acti-

vities. These habitats are almost entirely out-

side the control of forest /wildlife departments

and no effective protection has been possible

as a result.

Most of the climax evergreen forests of the

coastal plains were also not protected as

reserved forests in the late 19th century, being

left in the custody of local villages as common

lands. These have totally vanished due to the

reckless abuse by these custodians (Stebbing

1929). Such areas are now covered by degrad-

ed physiognomies like scattered shrubs, grass

and tree savannas and thickets (Pascal et al.

1982). Even in the small pockets of reserved

forests on coastal plains, the climax evergreen

forest type is almost absent, having degraded

into semi-evergreen and moist deciduous

formations due to biotic interferences like

lopping for fuel wood /green manure, cattle

grazing and forestry operations.

The low and medium elevation climax ever-

green forests are now confined mainly to the

slopes of the Western ghats and their outspurs

to the South of 14°N latitude and are fairly

extensive. It is officially estimated that about

4300 km2 area is under evergreen type and

about 1500 km2 area is under semi-evergreen

type in Karnataka. These evergreens belong to

several distinct vegetation series with charac-

teristic plant associations as described by

Pascal et al (1982). Most of these are sub-

types of the Dipterocarpus-Mesua-Palaquium

series. However, to the North of Sharavathi

river (14°N lat.) the Persea-Macarantha-Dio-

spyros-Holigarna type and Memecylon-Syzi-

gium-Actinodaphne types also occur. The semi

evergreen series Diospyros-Dysoxylum malaba-

ricum-Persea macarantha, locally known as

“Kan type” is unique to this region. The high

elevation montane shola vegetation is found

only in small patches of Schefflera-Gordonia-

Meliosma type forests occurring amidst exten-

sive grass savannas above 1250 m elevation,

primarily in Chikmagalur and Kodagu

districts.

Southern Plateau, Eastern Ghat Hills and

Northern Plains

The elevated plateau country that extends

Eastwards from the foot of the Western ghats,

receives an annual precipitation ranging bet-

ween 1500 mm on the West to about 600 mm

on the East. The plateau region South of 14°N

lat. approximately still supports extensive

climax deciduous forests. In tracts which re-

ceive precipitation in excess of about 1200 mm

these forests are moist deciduous and belong

to the Lagerstroemia-T ectona-Dillenia series

168

CONSERVATION IN KARNATAKA

occurring mainly in Belgaum, Uttara Kannada,

Shimoga, Chickmagalur, Hassan, Kodagu and

Mysore districts. These moist deciduous forests

are estimated to cover about 5700 km2 area

in the State, a figure which includes secondary

moist deciduous forests of the coastal plains

also. Most of these forests are woodlands

rather than dense forests due to selective

logging. A substantial area of moist forests

have been converted to plantations of teak,

eucalyptus, rubber, cocoa and other crops in

the past.

The natural climax vegetations over most of

the plateau region receiving less than about

1100 mm annual precipitation are dry deci-

duous forests. These are primarily of two

types : A nogeissus-T ectona-T erminalia series

in the Southern plateau region and Anogeissus-

Hardwickia series in the North. A transitional

type, Anogeissus-Chloroxylon-Albizzia series is

also recorded (Saldanha 1984). The Southern

plateau and the Eastern ghat hills still have

substantial areas under the first type in the

reserved forests. The second type is confined

to degraded small pockets of reserved forests,

which occupy only around 5% of the land

area in the Northern plateau and probably no

patches in near climax conditions are available

anywhere in the State.

The other vegetation types that are of in-

terest which occur in small fragments are:

(i) Dry evergreen forests in Eastern part of

both North and Southern plateau; (ii) Semi

arid thorn forests in drier parts of Bellary and

Chitradurga; (iii) Riverine gallery forests

along the Kaveri river in Southern plateau

region; and (iv) ‘Evergreen’ shola type

patches dominated by Shorea talura in the

upper reaches of Mahadeshwara malai hills

in the Eastern ghats.

Status of Wildlife

The diverse habitat types described above

naturally support an equally rich diversity of

animal species; mammals, birds, reptiles,

amphibians, fishes and insects etc. No detailed

inventory of the faunal wealth is available.

Further, the recent conservation status of most

of the non-mammalian species is virtually

unassessed. I have restricted this overview of

conservation status of wildlife in the State

primarily to some of the terrestrial mammals.

Table 1 contains the available presence/

absence data on the current distribution of 53

mammalian species in each of the four regions

of the State described earlier. Some typical

localities where each species occurs is also

mentioned where possible. The following notes

provide additional information on some

species (Scientific names in Table 1) which

are of special interest.

Primates

The earlier accounts (Green and Minkowski

1977, Kurup 1978) have considered the lion-

tailed macaque as a species on the verge of

extinction in Karnataka and that conservation

efforts for this species are not viable in the

State for want of adequate habitats. The

population estimates were placed as low as

two groups in the entire State without any

detailed survey. Subsequent efforts by Bhat

(1984) indicated additional localities. In 1983-

84 a detailed field survey by me (Karanth

1985) has revealed that about 1000 km2 area

of potential liontailed macaque habitat is

available in Karnataka. Based on sighting re-

ports by reliable informants (the same tech-

nique used by Green and Minkowski 1977,

Kurup 1978), actual sightings and wild caught

captives, locations of 133 groups of macaques

between 14°30'-12°N lat. in Karnataka

169

12

Distribution of wild mammals in

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

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171

Note: P — Present. Based on personal sightings or dead/live specimens or sightings by reliable informants.

L — Likely to be present based on past distribution.

A — Absent or nearly so.

O — No reliable information available.

* — Recorded past occurrence.

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

Western ghats were determined. The factors

that have contributed to the relatively better

status of the species in Karnataka when com-

pared to Kerala and Tamil Nadu are: (i)

Protection against hunting enjoyed by the

species due to cultural factors North of 13°N

lat; (ii) Relatively conservation oriented log-

ging practiced in Karnataka State forests; and

(iii) The large extent of habitat still remain-

ing in good condition.

The status of Nilgiri langur seems to be

precarious and it is now restricted to the

Southern extremity of Western ghats in

Kodagu district known as Brahmagiris. Situat-

ed at the junction of two different evergreen

forest types, Cullenia exariUata dominant and

Dipterocarpus dominant, Brahmagiris are uni-

que in that four monkey species; bonnet

macaque, liontailed macaque, nilgiri langur,

and hanuman langur share the same habitat.

Carnivores

Asiatic cheetah occurred in Karnataka in

the past and was called ‘Sivangi’ in Kannada

language (Russel 1900). However, even as

early as the 19th century it was apparently

rare. Sanderson (1882) saw only six skins

with ‘native shikaris’ during his long experi-

ence. Russel (1900) saw five cheetahs together

in the Beerambadi forests of Mysore district

and shot one of them ! Interestingly, Beeram-

badi is a dry deciduous forest area and not

the typical open plains country associated with

Cheetahs further North. However, cheetahs are

reported to occur in fairly dense Acacia

forests in Kenya (M. J. Coe, personal com-

munication). Cheetah has been extinct in the

State for over 4-5 decades now.

Breeding populations of tigers occur in

Nagarahole, Bandipur and Bhadra sanctuaries

where cubs are frequently seen. Tigers also

occur in low densities on the Western ghat

slopes, other forests of Southern plateau and

Eastern ghat hills. Their conservation status

has improved considerably since the early

seventies and they are reported from localities

in which they were eliminated in the 1960s

due to poisoning and poaching. However, the

official 1984 Tiger Census figure of 202 ani-

mals for the State is perhaps an overestimate,

primarily due to the overcounts in Bandipur

Tiger Reserve due to faulty census methods

(Karanth, in press).

Similarly, the status of the leopard has

shown a considerable improvement. Partly as

a consequence, many dispersing leopards are

straying into densely populated areas and

getting killed. Long term conservation strategies

for these two endangered large felids need to

be developed based on scientific studies.

Among the lesser cats, the fishing cat is

probably locally extinct in coastal Karnataka

because its littoral habitats themselves are

almost entirely gone. Rusty spotted cat occurs

in Nagarahole National Park and probably in

many other areas since I have seen the skin

of one shot on the outskirts of Bangalore city.

The rare Malabar Civet was seen by me

in 1975 in the Kudremukh area (Karanth

1986) but there is no other information about

its present distribution. Similarly, nothing is

known about the current distribution of the

brown palm civet though some skins in the

British Museum collection are from Kodagu

district. During my liontailed macaque survey

informants in Kodagu mentioned two ‘kinds’

of tree civets but whether one of them is the

brown palm civet or is merely a variant of

the common palm civet needs to be verified.

Striped hyena has a curious discontinuous

distribution in Karnataka. It occurs in the

secondary deciduous forests of the wet coastal

plains and once again on the drier parts of

Deccan plateau. But it is absent in the inter-

172

CONSERVATION IN KARNATAKA

vening large tracts of evergreen and moist

deciduous forest areas.

The wolf occurs in small packs in widely

scattered localities of Northern and Southern

plateau region. 13 wolves were shot in Pava-

gada taluk in 1983 in a panicky response to

a child-lifting scare. Wolves are reported from

Gulbarga, Raichur, Bellary, Dharwar, Chitra-

durga, Tumkur, Kolar, Mandya and Mysore

districts. Ranebennur Black Buck Sanctuary

in Dharwar district is a good locality where

I saw wolves on three occasions in 10 days

and also saw tracks of pups. The wolves in

Karnataka are preying primarily on sheep

rather than on wild antelopes. The wolf habi-

tat in State is now a mosaic of scattered scrub

or plantations amidst extensive stretches of

farm land. The long term survival of wolves

is doubtful because no substantial protected

area harbouring them exists in the State now.

The other large canid predator, dhole, being

a forest-dweller is much better off in nature

reserves like Nagarahole, Bandipur, Bliadra

and Biligirirangans where it subsists on wild

prey. But in some other parts of Karnataka

Western ghats like Agumbe and Koppa, dhole

are also cattle killers in the absence of suffi-

cient wild prey.

The sloth bear inhabits an amazing diversity

of habitats in Karnataka; wet evergreen mon-

tane forests of Western ghats, the moist and

dry deciduous forests of the plateau and

Eastern ghats and boulder strewn hillocks that

dot many parts of the tree-less dry plains.

Apart from being a specialised termite eater,

it apparently has adapted to a wide range of

other plant foods in these different habitats.

The clawless otter is adopted to feeding on

crustaceans and other small animals of hill

streams in the Western ghats of Kodagu dis-

trict. Apart from the fact that it is occasionally

captured by professional hunting tribes with

the help of dogs, nothing is known about its

present status. The nilgiri marten still occurs

in the Western ghats of Kodagu though it has

almost vanished from the foothills region.

Though an informant mentioned seeing it in

the ghat forests of Dakshina Kannada its pre-

sent occurrence to the North of Kodagu

district needs confirmation. Even in Kodagu

it is frequently shot by Apiary keepers as it

raids the beehives kept in coffee and carda-

mom plantations. Very little is also known

about the present status of the ratel or honey

badger whose nominal distributional range

covers the entire State except the West coast/

Western ghats. A wild caught specimen from

Srinivasapura area of Kolar district in 1974

lived in the Mysore Zoo for a short time.

All these three rare Mustelids need urgent

and specific conservation efforts in the State.

Elephants and other Ungulates

The distribution of the elephants in the

State is relatively better known (Nair and

Gadgil 1978). The official Census estimates

the elephant population at 3579 animals. This

also may be an overestimate due to multiple

counts of herds and other methodological

problems. However, a substantial elephant

population exceeding 1000 animals occurs in

the Nagarahole, Bandipur and Biligirirangan

sanctuaries. Adjacent Kollegal hills and

Kaveri valley also support additional large

populations. The populations along the Western

ghat slopes in Kodagu, Hassan, Dakshina

Kannada, Chikmagalur, Shimoga, and Uttara

Kannada are small, disjunct and occupy a

highly fragmented habitat (Nair and Gadgil

1978) and their long term viability is doubt-

ful. Bhadra wildlife sanctuary has an almost

isolated population of 60 + elephants.

Karnataka is the stronghold of gaur. Large

populations of 1000+ each exist in Nagara-

173

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 (, SUPPLEMENT )

hole and Bhadra sanctuaries. Substantial popu-

lations also occur in Bandipur, Biligirirangans

and the Western ghat crest line.

Nilgiri tahr does not occur in Karnataka

now. Whether its past distribution extended

to Brahmagiris and Biligirirangans, where

apparently suitable habitat exists needs to be

investigated, since there are unconfirmed local

reports indicating such a possibility. The pre-

sent distribution of the chinkara is also un-

known. But reliable observers mention its

presence in Sandur, Bellary district (M. Y.

Ghorpade, personal communication) and past

occurrence near Kadur (K. R. Sethna and J.

Van Ingen, personal communication) and in

Gulbarga district (D. K. Deshmukh, personal

communication). I have seen a female captive

specimen obtained from an unknown locality

in Northern interior Karnataka about 10 years

ago.

Blackbuck occur in scattered localities of

both Northern and Southern plains. A large

population exceeding 2000 animals exists in

Ranebennur sanctuary and adjoining areas. An

interesting observation is that plantations of

Eucalyptus raised in several barren localities

(Ranebennur, Byadagi and Guttal in Dharwar

district, Omkara-Naganapura in Mysore dis-

trict) have offered some badly needed cover

to these animals and their populations has

grown as a result (Karanth and Singh, in press).

The four-horned antelope is seen in drier

parts of Nagarahole, Bandipur and Biligiri-

rangans. It is perhaps more widely distributed

than presumed, because local people often fail

to distinguish it from the more common

Muntjac.

In the past, nilgai was distributed right up

to the Southern extremity of the State and

adjacent areas of Tamil Nadu. Interestingly,

Russel (1900) does not mention it among the

native animals of Mysore district. It is pro-

bably extinct in Karnataka now, though there

are unconfirmed reports of its occurrence upto

the nineteen sixties. Karnataka forest depart-

ment has just initiated a project to reintroduce

captive bred Nilgai into the wilds in Banner-

ghatta National Park area.

Birds

Among birds, the Great Indian Bustard

( Choriotis nigriceps) occurs in Ranebennur

sanctuary and probably in Bellary and Gul-

barga areas on the Northern plateau. In the

Southern plateau region a sub-adult male,

illegally caught in Yediyur area of Tumkur

district is now in Mysore Zoo. Reliable in-

formants have also reported bustard sightings

from Bukkapatna (Tumkur district), Jakka-

halli-Nagamangala (Mandya district) and

Dasana Koppalu (Mysore district). The bird

is known as “Yeraloddu’ and “Dorvayana

Hakki” respectively in Northern and Southern

parts of the State. Migrant white storks ( Cico -

nia ciconia ciconia) were sighted by me in two

localities in Mysore district recently. Grey

pelicans (Pelecanus philippensis) regularly

breed in Kokkare Bellur (Mandya district).

Rangana Thittu and Kokkare Bellur (Both

in Mandya district) and Mandagadde (in

Shimoga district) are the well known water

fowl breeding protected sites in Karnataka.

The backwaters of Kabini reservoir located

between Bandipur and Nagarahole National

Parks also shelters large water bird congrega-

tions.

Reptiles

Marsh crocodile ( Crocodilus palustris) occurs

in the Kaveri river in Rangana Thittu and

also in Nugu, Kabini and Bhadra reservoirs.

On the West coast more than 10 sea turtle

(mainly Olive Riddley) hatching areas have

been located, where the forest department has

174

CONSERVATION IN KARNATAKA

already initiated a turtle conservation pro-

gramme (M. K. Appayya, personal commu-

nication).

Conservation

Wildlife Protection

Normally poaching of wild animals is carried

on by three classes of people: (i) local villa-

gers for own consumption; (ii) traditional

hunting tribes such as Hakki Pakkis for own

consumption and sale; (iii) urban /semiurban

hunters for ‘sport’ and trophies; (iv) specia-

lised professionals like ivory hunters. Until the

early 1970s poaching by all these categories

was rampant in Karnataka. With the introduc-

tion and enforcement of the Wildlife Protec-

tion Act since 1974, the blatant poaching of

earlier years has been gradually curtailed. Day

time hunting in reserved forests with the help

of dogs, public display and parading of

trophies have all virtually come to an end. The

poaching that goes on is essentially surrup-

tious though still widespread. Every year pro-

bably more than a fifty poaching offences are

booked by the forest department. The sport

hunting by urban poachers has declined most,

followed by pot hunting by villagers, within

the reserved forests. The poaching in farms,

estates and non-reserved forest areas is still

substantial and most professional hunting

tribes operate in these areas.

Poaching of elephants for ivory by organised

gangs is however a serious problem. There

have been several instances of exchange of

fire between forest protection staff and ivory

poachers, resulting in casualities on both

sides. Illegal dynamiting of rivers for fish,

which also kills other aquatic animals like

crocodiles and otters, also continues to be a

problem in the absence of effective laws.

Inadequate funds and staff, poor housing,

equipments, ammunitions and other facilities

are the major constraints in improving the

present levels of protection.

The total ban on hunting (including licenc-

ed hunting) in the State for over ten years

continuously has been very helpful to the

wildlife protection staff in booking offenders

who do not have any legal loopholes for

escape.

Problems of Conserving Habitats

As elsewhere in the country Karnataka also

faces serious problems in conserving the re-

maining wildlife habitats. The pressures that

threaten the State’s wildlife habitats originate

from the efforts to meet the basic and deve-

lopmental needs of a growing human popula-

tion. Without trying to be exhaustive, in this

section, I have tried to highlight some of these

threats to conservation of wildlife habitats in

Karnataka.

Conversion of Habitats to Agricultural Use

This is perhaps the single most destructive

cause as large extents of forests, woodlands,

wetlands and savannas outside the reserved

forests which are administered by the Revenue

department have been continuously converted

in to farm lands through encroachments and

land grants. While it is difficult to estimate

the extent of such threatened habitats, the fact

that about 40,000 hectares of reserved forest

area alone is under illegal encroachment in the

State highlights the magnitude of the problem.

In Chikmagalur district alone moist decidu-

ous and semi evergreen forests exceeding 5000

hectares are being parelleled out to cultivators

by the revenue authorities, to cite just one

example. All the mangrove ecosystems in

Karnataka coast are likely to be similarly lost.

175

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

Habitat Loss Due to Large

Developmental Projects

Large projects for irrigation, power gene-

ration, mining and railway lines have also

caused substantial loss of habitats in the last

three decades. An estimate puts this habitat

loss in reserved forests alone at over 200,000

hectares between 1956 and 1983 in Karnataka

(Anon. 1984). Some of the notably damaging

projects in the past have been Kalinadi and

associated projects in Uttara Kannada, Shara-

vathi project in Shimoga, Bhadra project in

Chikmagalur, Kabini project in Mysore dis-

trict for power generation /irrigation. Similarly,

mining projects in Kudremukh, Sandur and

Kollega! hills and the Hassan-Mangalore rail-

way project have been some other large pro-

jects with severe accompanying habitat

destruction.

Proposed Upper Bhadra, Upper Thunga and

Barapole irrigation projects are also poten-

tially capable of substantial damage.

Habitat Degradation Due to Local Factors

Excessive removal of firewood, small timber,

green and dry leaf manure as well as cattle

grazing and fires caused by local village

communities in and around the forests have

already resulted in the gradual but substantial

degradation and fragmentation of wildlife

habitats. Such biotic pressures have almost

entirely eliminated the original plant commu-

nities in almost all the dry zone areas of the

State (Shyamsunder and Reddy 1986).

The efforts of various developmental agen-

cies of the government to deliver social services

like electricity, roads, telecommunications,

transport and education to human settlements

honeycombing the forests are also fragment-

ing and degrading the wildlife habitats.

Habitat Damage Due to Forestry and Allied

Activities

Forestry practices in the State have also in

the past contributed to the habitat damage.

The earlier practice of clearfelling extensive

stands of moist forests for raising plantations

of teak and rubber has significantly altered

the original habitats. Clearfelling of dry forests

under some silvicultural prescriptions resulted

in similar damage. The impact of long rotation

selection felling on wildlife is hard to assess

in the absence of any good studies in the

tract. While there is some evidence that such

logging might even improve the habitat for

some ungulates, the negative consequences

like disturbance, road building and rapid

spreading of exotic weeds like Eupatorium

usually associated with selection felling can-

not be ignored.

Large scale collection of minor forest

produce like canes, fruits, nuts and barks of

various tree species either by tribal coopera-

tives or others is also another factor likely to

gradually alter the composition of the habitat

and deny critical food resources to some

wildlife species, particularly in wet evergreen

forests.

In summing up the impact of all the pro-

blems of conserving habitats, it appears as

though activities of local communities are the

dominant cause of habitat damage in the dry

zone and lower levels and peripheries of the

moist zone habitats, and large developmental

projects as well as forestry related activities are

additional degrading factors at higher eleva-

tions and in remotely located wildlife habitats

of Karnataka.

Protecting the Habitats

Inspite of many negative factors outlined

above, some positive steps have also been

taken in recent times by the State government

176

Nature Reserves in Karnataka

CONSERVATION IN KARNATAKA

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177

Not officially gazetted as sanctuaries.

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

to alleviate some of these problems. These are

listed briefly here below:

1. In 1975 the executive wing of the State

government shed its own powers to release

reserved forests for agricultural use and

vested it in the legislature. A similar All

India measure (The Forest Conservation

Act, 1980) came in to force only six years

later.

2. In the 1974-1977 period, the grossly misused

privilege of allowing people to take carts

in to forests ostensibly to collect ‘dry

wood’ under prepaid licences was stopped.

Powers to evict encroachers and confiscate

vehicles used in forest offences were given

to forest officers.

3. In the 1974-1980 period the practice of

clearfelling natural forests for monoculture

plantations was stopped. Even under selec-

tion felling the intensity of exploitation was

considerably reduced. As a result of these

conservation measures the annual produc-

tion of firewood and timber from reserved

forests declined by 52% between 1975

and 1983. (Karanth 1985).

4. In 1976 a major afforestation programme

was drawn up by the State forest depart-

ment to raise plantations in unwooded and

barren areas to meet the growing needs of

fuel, timber and industrial wood. Though

this plan was rejected by Government of

India, later in the 1980s a substantial so-

cial forestry project was launched with the

World Bank assistance to meet fuelwood/

timber needs.

Nature Reserves in Karnataka

Karnataka has 3 National Parks and 14 Wild-

life Sanctuaries which cover 9900 km2 or

26% of the total reserved forest area (5% of

the geographical area) of the State. These

figures are, however, misleading because

Dandeli wildlife sanctuary, which is virtually

unprotected and includes a large part of

Uttara Kannada district accounts for 5700

km2 or 58% of the area under nature re-

serves. Actually, apart from Nagarahole,

Bandipur, Biligirirangans, Bhadra and Rane-

bennur, other notified nature reserves are

merely reserved forests with no extra efforts

on wildlife protection. Moreover, in terms of

biogeographic representation also, the existing

nature reserves tend to overrepresent decidu-

ous forests while inadequately serving all other

biomes/ habitat types. Table 2 shows the exist-

ing nature reserve areas, habitat types repre-

sented and status of wildlife protection in

them on a subjective scale.

To overcome these drawbacks, the state

wildlife advisory board has recommended

rationalisation of the nature reserve network

by the addition of some unrepresented / under

represented habitat types and deletion of un-

viable areas and over-represented habitats. If

these proposals are accepted by the government

many of the diverse plant and animal commu-

nities in the State will receive protected area

status. But some of the habitats like man-

groves, thorn scrub and dry evergreen vege-

tation might already be eroded beyond the

levels needed for providing adequate sized

reserves.

Summary and Conclusions

Since 1974 several positive measures have

been implemented to improve the conserva-

tion status of wildlife and habitats in Karna-

taka. Large areas have been declared as

protected areas. Antipoaching measures have

been reasonably effective at least in some

nature reserves like Nagarahole, Bandipur,

Biligirirangans, Bhadra and Ranebennur. In

general there has been probably a decline in

the levels of poaching in the reserved forests

178

CONSERVATION IN KARNATAKA

all over the State when compared to the earlier

two or three decades. Schemes for provision

of monetary compensation to farmers for life,

livestock and crops lost due to wildlife are also

operating reasonably well. Forestry activities

has been considerably curtailed as a conser-

vation measure.

However, many problems still need to be

overcome. Existing nature reserve system does

not represent all wildlife habitat types and

biomes. The paucity of funding, staff, equip-

ment and infrastructural facilities have result-

ed in wholly inadequate levels of protection

in many notified nature reserves. Even the

better funded reserves like Bandipur, Nagara-

hole, Bhadra and Ranebennur are managed on

an adhoc basis without any coherent wildlife

management concepts or plans. On a broader

scale, conversion of wildlife habitats to agri-

cultural use by the revenue department, large

developmental projects, leases for extraction

of plywoods and for cultivation and fragmen-

tation/destruction due to developmental acti-

vities pose long term threats.

References

Anon. (1984) : Annual Report of the Forest De-

partment. Government of Karnataka, Bangalore.

Bhat, H. R. (1984): Additional information on

the status of the Liontailed macaque ( Macaca

silenus) in Karnataka. In: Roonwal, M. L., Mohnot,

S. M. and Rathore, N. S. (Eds.) Current Primate

Researches. University of Jodhpur, Jodhpur.

Green, S. M. and Minkowski, K. (1977): The

liontailed macaque and its South Indian rainforest

habitat. In: Primate conservation. (Eds. Bourne, G. H.

and Prince Rainier III of Monaco) Academic Press,

New York.

Karanth, K. U. and Singh, M. (in press) : Dry

zone afforestation and its impact on blackbuck popu-

lations. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. Conservation in

developing countries problems and prospects. Cente-

nary Seminar Proceedings.

Karanth, K. U. (1985) : Ecological status of

the liontailed macaque and its rainforest habitats

in Karnataka, India. Primate Conservation. 6: 73-84.

(in press) : Analysis of predator-

prey balance in Bandipur Tiger Reserve with refe-

rence to census reports. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc.

— (1986) : A possible sighting re-

cord of the Malabar Civet (Viverra megaspila Blyth)

from Karnataka. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83(1) :

192.

Kurup, G. U. (1978) : Distribution, habitat and

status survey of the liontailed macaque, Macaca

silenus (Linnaeus). /. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 75:

321-340.

Nair, P. V. K. and Gadgil, M. (1978) : The

status and distribution of elephant populations in

Karnataka. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 75(3) : 1000-

1016.

Pascal, J. P. (1982): Bioclimates of the western

ghats (Map). French Institute, Pondicherry.

— * , Shyam sunder, S. and Meher-

Homji, V. M. (1982): Forest map of South India

(Sheets: Belgaum-Dharwar-Panaji, Shimoga, Mer-

cara-Mysore) . French Institute, Pondicherry.

Rama Prasad and Malhotra, K. (1984): Land

and water resources in Karnataka. In : Saldanha,

C. J. (Ed.), State of Environment Report 1983-84,

Government of Karnataka:, Bangalore.

Russel, C. E. M. (1900): Bullet and shot in

Indian forest, plain and hill. W. Thacker and Co.

London.

Shyamsunder, S. and Reddy, A. N. Y. (1986) :

Pressure on our forests. In: Saldanha, C. J. (Ed.),

State of Environment Report 1984-85, Government

of Karnataka, Bangalore.

Saldanha, C. J. (1984) : The changing vegetation

of Karnataka, In: Saldanha, C. J. (Ed), State of

Environment Report 1983-84, Government of Karna-

taka, Bangalore.

Sanderson, G. P. (1882): Thirteen years among

the wild beasts of India. H. Allen and Co. London.

Stebbing, E. P. (1929) : The forests of India, The

Bodley Head, London.

Untwale, A. G. and Wafar, S. (1986): Coastal

Karnataka and its ecodevelopment. In : Saldanha,

C. J. (Ed.), State of Environment Report 1984-85,

Government of Karnataka, Bangalore.

179

BLACKNECKED CRANE (GRUS NIGRICOLLIS)

IN LADAKH — 1986

Goutam Narayan, Asad Akhtar, Lima Rosalind and

Eric D’Cunha1

{With three colour plates )

Introduction

The only alpine crane of the world, the

Blacknecked Crane ( Grus nigricollis ) is an in-

habitant of the high table lands of Central

Asia. It nests in high-altitude lake environs

of the Tibetan Plateau in summer, and affects

open, fallow paddy fields and swampy land at

lower altitudes in winter (Ali and Ripley

1969). It has an exclusive distributional breed-

ing range between 3500 and 5500 m and an

equally unique migratory pattern (Hussain

1985). The only wintering ground known in

India is in the Apa Tani Valley of Arunachal

Pradesh (Betts 1954) where the birds are now

no longer seen.

It is now known that only the south-western

periphery of the Blacknecked Crane’s breed-

ing range lies in Ladakh and larger, more

suitable areas exist in Tibetan Plateau. Recent

information from China indicate that the bird

is not as rare as it was believed and large

numbers of them breed there. Ma Yi-Ching

(1982) reported large migratory flock of 300-

400 Blacknecked Cranes at the Tangra Range

and another flock of 600 in Tsaidan Basin,

at the 18th International Ornithological Con-

gress in Moscow (quoted by Hussain 1985).

However, they continue to be very rare in

Ladakh.

1 Bombay Natural History Society, Hombill House,

Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road. Bombay-400 023.

Inspite of several expeditions in the last 10

years only three nesting sites with one pair

of cranes each were positively identified in

eastern Ladakh. So far no scientific expedition

has reported sighting more than a dozen cranes

in the region. Very little was known about

the habits and habitat of the Blacknecked

Crane. In fact, no information was available

on their ecological requirements, rearing of the

juveniles and intraspecific relationships.

Due to unavoidable technical reasons we

could not reach Ladakh early enough to study

the actual nesting of the cranes and geese.

After acclimatisation at Leh, four of us went

to Chushul on 1 August, 1986. Three returned

to Leh after 25 days while Asad Akhtar stayed

on till the end of the studies on 12th October.

Eric D’Cunha visited Tso Moriri, Tso Kar,

Fukche-Kuyul and Staglun in the second half

of September while Goutam Narayan and

Lima Rosalind went to Hanle and also visited

Chumur between mid-September and early

October.

The study areas were reached by Army,

ITBP or private supply trucks. Locally, we

moved either on ponies or on foot. A district

administration jeep was made available to us

for three days and it was used for survey of

Tso Moriri and Tso Kar areas.

The areas visited during this study fall

under the Chatang subdivision of Ladakh re-

gion. Situated in the south-western extremity

180

BLACKNECKED CRANE (GRUS NIGRICOLLIS) IN LADAKH

of the Tibetan Plateau, it is characterised by

arctic wind-swept desert and barren hills where

marshes and sandy plains occur on more or

less flat, high altitude tablelands amidst rugged

terrain and lofty mountains. The area also has

numerous small freshwater lakes and a few

large brackish lakes of varying salinity and

depths. The sandy valleys are drained by tribu-

taries of the river Indus.

Ladakh supports scanty vegetation. Annual

and very few perennial weeds are seen in the

places that retain moisture. The banks of lakes

and streams and the marshy areas are ideal

for the growth of grasses, shrubs and other

flora in summer. Most plants are alpine

mesophytes.

The most singular character of the climate

of Ladakh is the dryness which is of two

kinds: physical due to paucity of precipita-

tion during the summer and autumn, and phy-

siological caused by sub-zero temperature in-

hibiting absorption of water by the plants in

winter and early spring when the precipita-

tion occurs. (Sapru and Kachru 1976).

The soil is mainly sandy or sandy-loam with

appreciable quantities of clay in the marshes.

The soil pH ranges between 7 and 11 (Bhat

1965). Borax deposits in the dried marshy

areas and around lakes is quite common.

The Survey

1. pangong tso (1, 18, and 25 August, 11

September, 12 October)

We reached the western end of Pangong

Tso at Lukung shortly after noon on 1 August

1986, on our way to Chushul. At Lukung a

few Brahminy Ducks ( Tadorna ferruginea)

and Brownheaded Gulls ( Lotus brunnicepha-

lus) both with juveniles, were seen. We also

found hundreds of dead and dying fish ( Noe -

macheilus sp.) on the edge of the lake, pro-

bably carried into the salt lake from the glacial

streams.

Thakum was visited on 19 August between

1100 and 1500 hours. More than 35 Barhead-

ed Geese, few Common Mergansers ( Mergus

merganser) with juveniles, a few hundred

migratory ducks ( Anas spp.), 3 Large Cormo-

rants ( Phalacrocorax car bo ), Common Terns

(. Sterna hirundo) and Brownheaded Gulls

were noticed on the shore of Pangong Tso.

Brahminy Ducks, Common Redshanks ( Tringa

totanus), and Terek Sandpiper ( Tringa terek)

were seen in the marshy area (grazing ground)

next to the lake. Thakum was visited again

on 11 September when live amphipods were

collected from the lake shore. Ducks and geese

were not seen on this day. Two more journeys

along the lake on 25 August and 12 October

did not reveal anything new.

2. chushul (1 August to 12 October)

We saw a pair of flying Blacknecked Cranes

as soon as we entered Chushul on 1 August

afternoon. This was a pair of non-breeding

subadults seen regularly in the Shaley marsh

and surrounding areas till the end of the study.

The breeding pair of adult cranes with two

juveniles were located in the Demik marsh —

Chhonyak area of Chushul on 4 August and

were kept under regular observation till 12

October by which time the young birds were

adept at flying and were moving far and wide

in the Chushul plains with their parents. This

family was seen using Demik as well as the

Shaley marsh closer to the village after 20

September, when they encroached upon the

home-area of the non-breeding pair.

In addition, a few more adult pairs of cranes

were recorded intermitently during our 72 day

stay at Chushul. On 15 August afternoon a

pair of adult cranes were noticed at Shigul

Tso and they stayed there for about 24 hours

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before soaring across the mountains in north-

eastely direction. On 23 September a pair of

adult cranes were seen again in the Demik

marsh while the family with juveniles and the

subadult paid were foraging in the Shaley

marsh only 2-3 km away. This new pair was

noticed a few times either in the Demik or

at Shaley till 27 September. Later, a pair of

cranes were reported from Shigul Tso on 2

October morning but were not seen during

afternoon visit. On 10 October, four adult

cranes were seen foraging together at Tsirding,

4-5 km east of Demik. Thus about 5 more

pairs of crane were recorded from Chushul in

addition to the family of four and the sub-

adult pair. It is possible that the 5 pairs were

different but we cannot be certain.

A pair of Barheaded Geese raised their

three goslings in Shigul Tso. This family was

not noticed after 26 August. A flock of six

Barheaded Geese including four juveniles

visited Demik on 15 September afternoon.

Brahminy Duck pairs with good number

(upto 13 with a pair) of juveniles and Com-

mon Tern with young on the nest were observ-

ed at Shigul Tso. These birds were also seen

at Chhonyak — Demik. Garganey Teals {Anas

querquedula) were seen at Shigul Tso in early

August. Other birds using the marsh and lakes

for breeding were Brownheaded Gulls, Com-

mon Redshank, Common Sandpiper ( Tringa

hypoleucos). Lesser Sand Plover ( Charadrius

mongolus), Short-toed Lark {Calendra cine-

rea), Longbilled Calendra Lark ( Melanoco -

rypha maxima ), Horned Lark ( Eremophila

alpestris), Desert Wheatear {Oenanthe deserti ),

Robin Accentor {Prunella rubeculoides ), Yel-

lowheaded Wagtail {Motacilla citreola), Grey

Wagtail {Motacilla cinerea), Pied Wagtail

{Motacilla alba), Tibet Snow Finch {Monti-

fringilla adamsi), Himalayan Mountain Finch

{Leucosticte brandti ), Hodgson’s Mountain

Finch {Leucosticte nemoricola) and Eastern

Great Rosefinch {Carpodacus rubicilloides) .

3. TSO MORIRI AND KYAGAR TSO

(12 September)

The lakes were visited to survey the breed-

ing sites of Barheaded Geese. Several

Brahminy Ducks and few Brownheaded Gulls

were seen at Kyagar Tso, while none were

seen in Tso Moriri near Karzok village.

Villagers reported that many Barheaded Geese

(‘Nangba’) and Brahminy Ducks (‘Nguru’)

arrive at the lake as early as April, and by

end of August all leave with their fledglings.

In summer the birds are reported to cause

considerable damage to crop fields in the

village.

4. TSO KAR AND STARTSAPUK TSO

(13 September)

No crane or goose was sighted at Tsokar.

However, a few Barheaded Goose feathers

were collected from a few mounds and small

islands. More than 125 Brahminy Ducks with

about 60 juveniles, about 30 young and adult

Great Crested Grebes {Podiceps cristatus), a

Whimbrel {Numenius phaeopus), two Grey

Herons {Ardea cinerea) and some common

smaller birds were noticed at Startsapuk Tso.

5. hanle (15 to 30 September and 3 to 6

October)

A family of Blacknecked Cranes with two

juveniles were sighted on our first day, 15

September 1986, at Hanle. They were forag-

ing in the Yung Temo marsh near Tara gompa

close to grazing sheep and goats. They be-

came alarmed and moved away on our

approach in normal attire. However, we were

able to study them later when we started

wearing the Ladakhi dress ‘goncha’.

The family was kept under regular observa-

182

BLACKNECKED CRANE (GRUS NIGRICOLLIS) IN LADAKH

tion upto 30 September and then again from

3 to 6 October. The young were seen running

flapping wings and even flying for short dis-

tances low over ground soon after our arrival.

By the time we left Hanle they could fly for

longer distance with their parents.

The nesting site of this pair was inspected

on 22 September, when the ‘numberdar’ of

Khaldong village who had seen them nesting

and raising the chicks, showed it to us. They

had nested on a small flat mound in the middle

of a tiny and very shallow pond in Rukh area

about 4 km south-east of Khaldong village.

One had to wade through water and soft mud

to reach the mound from where pieces of egg

shells were collected. No nesting material was

found. The Bukh area is 8 to 10 km away

from Yung Temo marsh where the cranes re-

sided, and it was comparatively dry and

devoid of bogs. The pools and other stagnant

water bodies here were almost lifeless.

By fourth week of September it started

snowing regularly, but this did not seem to

affect the cranes much as they were seen

foraging and moving normally after the wea-

ther cleared.

No Barheaded Goose was seen in or around

Hanle. A Grey Heron, few immature Brahminy

Ducks and migratory teals. Marsh Harrier,

Common Redshank and snipes, Tibetan Sand-

grouse, larks, swallows and Crag Martins,

choughs. Raven, Desert Wheatears, wagtails,

snow and mountain finches were some of the

common birds seen in ths marshes at or near

Blacknecked Crane habitat.

6. fukche-kuyul (17 and 21 September)

Fukche and Kuyul marshes were visited in

search of a reported pair of Blacknecked

Cranes. The area around Kuyul was surveyed

on 17 September and those near Fukche were

covered on 21 September with ITBP or Army

officers familiar with the cranes (both had

reported sighting cranes only in 1985), but no

crane was located. The marshes in these areas

were rather dry. A flock of about 40 Bar-

headed Geese including immature birds were

seen on the banks of river Indus near Fukche.

7. staglun (25 September)

Blacknecked Cranes were reported from

Staglun too but a thorough search on ponies

from Rango proved unfruitful. The marsh

was dry with borax deposits at several places,

and the grass had turned yellow everywhere.

However, people from the area confirmed hav-

ing seen a pair of Blacknecked Cranes (‘tung-

tung’) earlier in the season. They were even

reported to be displaying. A forest department

official felt that the pair had nested here but

suspected that the nest might have been wash-

ed away in rain and flood during late July.

8. chumur-lam tsanya (30 September to

3 October)

We got the opportunity to visit these areas

while staying at Hanle, and reached the

Chumur-Lam Tsanya plains late in the after-

noon on 30 September. The area along the

stream between these two locations was

thoroughly surveyed during the next two days.

The huge marsh and sandy plain north of

Lam Tsanya extending upto Lam Tso was

carefully scanned from a hill using a telescope

but no crane was seen. The Tibetans at Lam

Tsanya reported that the Blacknecked Cranes

are usually seen only in April-May. Presum-

ably, the cranes on their south-west passage

in autumn stop in the area for sometime. The

marshes, except those along the streams and

springs, had dried up by the time of our visit.

An ITBP officer returning after a reconnais-

sance in Lam Tso area reported sighting a

single Blacknecked Crane on 1 October, how-

ever, this could not be confirmed. Due to non

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JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

availability of transport or ponies we could

not visit Lam Tso proper.

The Crane habitat

The families of Blacknecked Cranes at

Chushul and Hanle usually remained in boggy

marshes frequenting the streams and pools,

and rarely venturing away from water and

greenery. The lake at Chushul where the pair

had originally nested on a tiny island, had

plenty of vegetation. The bogs at both places

consisted of numerous tiny mounds of earth

in submerged flat country, some of the mounds

being free floating. The fresh water streams

and pools were shallow with very soft mud

at the bottom.

FLORA

The short spring and summer seasons in

Ladakh from April to October favours only

short lived alpine plants.

In August the grasses, herbs and shrubs

grew luxuriently on the mounds while some

submerged vegetation occurred in still waters.

Most of these were flowering.

Ranunculus pulchellus, Potentilla anserina,

Oxytropis microphylla, Gentiana leucomeleana

were some of the most common plants in the

marshes. Equisetum ramossimum and Utri-

cularia minor grew in stagnant pools and lakes.

In Chushul, a reed Ranunculus flavidus was

in its flowering peak in the lake. The five

species of sedges of the family Cyperaceae

collected from the marshes are yet to be iden-

tified. The Blacknecked Cranes were seen

tugging at their roots and shoots. By Septem-

ber the grasses had turned golden-yellow. Some

of the bog mounds had a thick undergrowth

of moss which retained moisture and these

sustained the green grass even after they had

dried up at other places.

The plants collected are listed in Appendix

I.

FAUNA

The flowing water teemed with fishes while

the stagnant water abounded in planktonic

life. Amphipods, small fishes, and snails

occurred in running as well as in more or

less still water. Water bugs and beetles were

found in still water pools.

Schizopygopsis stoliczkae, Ptychobarbus

conirostris and Noemacheilus spp. were the

commonly found fish in the streams and pools

where the cranes foraged regularly.

Along the edge of inundated areas the

Quetta Voles ( Ellobius fuscocapillus) were

abundant. They nibbled the grasses and bur-

rowed in soft earth making intricate system

of tunnels with multiple openings. In drier

sandy and pebbly areas around the marshes

the Toad-Agamas ( Phrynocephalus theobaldi)

were common.

Grasshoppers ( Acrydium sp.) were found

in the meadows and they also strayed occa-

sionally to bordering marshes. The cranes

spent some time in the meadows and dry

sandy areas specially while crossing over from

one patch of the marsh to other and also

while training the young to fly.

The birds associated with crane habitats

has already been noted under findings of

survey at Chushul and Hanle.

A complete list of birds and animals re-

corded is given in Appendix II.

External Features and Behaviour

Both the families of Blacknecked Crane at

Chushul and Hanle had a pair of juveniles

each and their ecology and behaviour were

studied. At Chushul, a pair of subadults (deter-

mined by prominent greyish brown feathers

184

MN

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83 (supplement)

Goutam et al . : Blacknecked Crane

Plate 1

The family of Blacknecked Crane at Hanle in September. Juvenile struggling with a fish

too big for it to swallow.

The subadult Blacknecked Cranes at Chushul. The vegetation in the marsh is much

greener in August.

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83 (supplement)

Goutam et al.\ Blacknecked Crane

Plate 2

View of a portion of Hanle marsh and plains. The cranes had nested near the base

of the hills in the background.

The Hanle plain after snpwfall in October.

BLACKNECKED CRANE (GRUS NIGRICOLLIS) IN LADAKH

on their upper back and lighter colour of their

black necks compared to the adults) were also

studied.

Morphology of juveniles

When the cranes at Chushul were first seen

in the beginning of August, the juveniles were

almost two months old and stood about three-

fourth of the height of the parents. One of

the young was slightly larger than the other.

The juveniles were overall greyish buff with

lighter crown. Initially the necks were downy

and even the primaries were fight in colour.

The tail had just begun to grow.

When we reached Hanle in mid-September

the juveniles were more than three months

old and only a little smaller than the adults.

By then these as well as the juveniles at

Chushul had grown prominent tail feathers

and their primaries had darkened. A dark

patch had developed in the centre of the

closed wings. The neck was no longer downy

and had become greyish, while the crown was

yellowish buff.

By the end of September, the juveniles

were almost as tall as the adults but thinner.

The tail feathers were dark grey, the upper

tail coverts greyish white, primaries and

secondaries almost black, and the upper wing

coverts had become darker. The neck too had

darkened slightly and the crown was yellowish-

pink, while the bill had acquired an orangish

hue. The overall body colour was still grey.

Activity and local movements

Most of the daylight hours were spent in

foraging by the Blacknecked Crane families.

Preening and keeping watch were other major

activities of the adult cranes, while resting by

squatting on the ground as well as preening

occupied a good amount of time for the juve-

niles. Adults rarely rested during the day. The

cranes moved effortlessly through the treache-

rous bogs.

Time spent in foraging resting and preening

varied considerably. Often the family or the

subadult pair foraged exclusively for upto two

hours moving slowly from one spot to other,

and occasionally spent considerable time in

other activities while foraging. The time of the

day did not seem to affect their activity.

Movements

While foraging the cranes kept moving

slowly from one spot to other, but at times

they walked briskly for long distances without

feeding. When they moved without foraging

the juveniles usually followed the adults, but

occasionally the bigger juvenile took the lead.

At times, this initiative of the juvenile often

caused it to be left behind, when the adults

decided to change course without its know-

ledge and it had to run to catch up with them

again.

The crane thus covered several kilometres

in a day, sometimes however, they remained

stationary or moved very little for several

hours.

In August, the family at Chushul remained

around the lake and in Demik marsh where

the adults had nested. The subadult pair moved

over large areas of Chushul marshes, some-

times by flying between Shaley and Demik or

other areas.

Occasionally, the families at Chushul and

Hanle were seen engaged in a sort of flight-

training for the juveniles, in which a lot of

running and flapping of wings and later, even

low flying was involved. When the young be-

came capable of flight the family too started

travelling far and wide in the course of a day.

The family at Hanle resided in a portion

185

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JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

of the marsh about 8 to 10 km away from

the nesting site, and in a day moved up and

down a 3 to 4 km long stretch of the plain.

The families foraged even after sunset, and

often remained in more or less the same patch

of marsh the next morning. Thus it is assum-

ed that they roost at or near the foraging sites

selecting a safe mound or island in the bogs

or lake. This has to be checked.

Wariness

The adult cranes usually kept careful watch

for approaching danger. They were generally

wary of people not in the local dress. They

were not scared of the local shepherds and

were quite unperturbed by the livestock; they

kept away from the shepherd dogs. However,

the cranes with young (2 month old) juve-

niles at Chushul were extremely wary even of

the locals. They started moving away with the

young making short and subdued alarm calls

(“kurr”) if anyone reached even a kilometer

from them. Once the family moved out of the

marsh and climbed upto about 50 m on the

steep hill slope near by. On that day, one of

the juveniles hid somewhere in the marsh, but

later it was located by the parents calling

frequently and led up the hill slope.

As the juveniles grew older and became

capable of running and flying the family allow-

ed closer approach by the observers and they

also began foraging in marshy areas close to

the village where many livestock grazed. The

family at Hanle with grown up juveniles was

not very wary. They often foraged among the

grazing livestock close to the crowded mona-

stery. We could watch without disturbing

them from about 250-300 m and could slowly

creep up to even 50 m from them before they

became troubled and moved away. When sus-

picious, one of the adults usually kept con-

stant watch while others foraged. This adult

preened often and raised the alarm if the

danger got closer.

In August, the subadult cranes at Chushul

were much less wary than the family. They

usually foraged in the marsh close to the road

leading to the village. In Ladakhi attire one

could go upto 200 m without disturbing them.

Although they were used to the locals, they

did not mind people in other attire either.

This pair foraged close to the hot springs in

Shaley even as a crowd of locals washed there.

According to the villagers, as the winter sets

in the cranes move to within 50 m of the

hot springs. On our last day (12 October)

even the family of four was seen foraging near

the hot springs. However, the significance or

true reasons behind this behaviour is not

understood.

Food and foraging

Most of the crane’s time in its daily routine

is spent in foraging, wading through the

marshes or along the edge of shallow pools

and lakes. Moving effortlessly through the

bogs, ditches and mounds they feed from the

ground, water, or soft mud. Usually they

foraged at one spot for a period from a few

seconds to several minutes tugging at the

vegetation, probing the mud often immersing

the head, sometimes coming up with water

dripping or vegetable matter dangling from

their muddy bill or head.

The cranes also caught fishes regularly from

the streams or the slowly moving waters of

the marsh. In fact, the cranes with juveniles

mainly fed the young on fishes. They fished

like herons, stalking, aiming and jabbing to

come up with glistening fish in the bill. Some-

times they even ran to catch some moving

prey from ground or water.

186

BLACKNECKED CRANE (GRUS NIGRICOLLIS) IN LADAKH

By their movements it is apparent that the

crane must also be feeding upon insects in

grass (mostly grasshoppers) as well as amphi-

pods, snails, bugs and beetles from water.

Rarely, they also pecked after turning cattle

dung.

The cranes with their young juveniles re-

portedly also caught Toad-Agamas probably

because the fish may not be available in early

June. It is possible that they preyed upon

Quetta Voles which are numerous in the Crane

foraging areas. The voles came out during

day to nibble at the grasses and pick up fallen

seeds near their holes, but they are so alert

and agile that the cranes would have to be

extremely fast and skillful to catch them.

The other cranes noticed at Chushul usually

foraged in a pair close to each other. The

subadult pair caught fishes less frequently than

the adults of the family and they also frequent-

ed the meadows and drier areas more often.

Rarely, the adult cranes drank from stream

or pool by sipping and tilting their head back-

wards, pointing the bill upwards to swallow.

A dult- Juvenile Association

Juveniles usually accompanied the parents

who regularly offered food to them, but they

also foraged independently in the same manner

as the adults. The family often paired off in

two adult- juvenile parties foraging at a dis-

tance of 5 to 200 m from each other. Some-

times, both juveniles foraged together or with

one of the adults. At times, all four foraged

in a compact group or independently. Presu-

mably they congregated only when sufficient

amount of food was found at one spot, other-

wise foraging in two groups or separately to

optimise effort. The independently foraging

juveniles often rushed to the adult if the latter

caught some favoured item like fish which

was offered to the young either by placing it

on the ground or directly to their bill. Occa-

sionally, the second adult of the family also

moved to the area where the other adult seem-

ed to have found a good feeding ground. In a

few instances the foraging adult gave the con-

tact call to attract the young. The juveniles,

sometimes had to beg for food.

Flight

The subadult pair were occasionally seen

flying low over the marshes and sandy plains,

but the adults with family never flew till the

juveniles were also able to fly. Even if some-

one approached close they relied on their legs

to move away.

Flight Training

By late August the juveniles began flapping

wings and running often after being induced

by similar behaviour of the adults. By mid-

September they could fly for short distances

(approximately 100-200 m) and by the first

week of October the young were able to fly

for longer distances with their parents.

In later part of flight training the young

seemed more keen and they initiated flapping

and when the adults also flapped and ran,

they followed. When they were able to get

airborne the juveniles continued flying even

after the adults had stopped, thus overtaking

them in the process. When the juveniles finally

stopped the lagging adults ran and caught up

with them. They covered a distance of about

500 m in the process, flying for several seconds

very low above ground.

Soaring

A pair of fully adult cranes who remained

in Shigul Tso at Chushul for about 24 hours

on 15-16 August were seen soaring. After be-

ing chased by flocks of Brahminy Ducks, the

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JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

cranes flew and on reaching the base of a

hill nearby they started circling and gaining

elevation without flapping wings. In less than

4 minutes they reached a height of about 500 m

to cross the hill. They kept circling higher and

in the next 4 minutes were just under the

clouds probably more than a kilometre above

ground. Soon they were out of sight as they

climbed still higher and moved towards north-

east.

Intraspecific behaviour

Communication

No unison call was heard during the study

period. The cranes usually remained silent.

The adults with juveniles, however, produced

some short, subdued calls. When alarmed they

alerted the youngs with frequent nasal “kurrr”.

A similar call was used to keep contact spe-

cially while moving and also to attract the

attention of the juveniles when the adult got

some prized catch.

Once, when the family was foraging in the

territory of the subadult pair, the parents

uttered the above call. The juveniles near-by

interrupted foraging and came closer to the

parents, with their necks drawn in. Surpris-

ingly, the subadult pair foraging about 200 m

away also came and joined the family, thus

creating a commotion with all the cranes

prancing around. Finally, the subadults took

off and landed several hundred metres away.

This gives rise to an assumption that the sub-

adults too were offspring of the adult pair or

perhaps were still young enough to respond

to the call of the adults.

Agonistic behaviour

The adult cranes with the young were

territorial and occupied a large area of the

marsh and plains around their nesting site.

They did not tolerate intrusions by other

Blacknecked Cranes into their territory and

were aggressive towards them. The subadult

pair of cranes at Chushul moved extensively

and were not possessive about their territory.

Sometime, they would visit the territory of the

family only to be chased away sooner or later.

One of the parent birds called loudly and

advanced towards the intruders in determined

manner with quick steps, sometimes it even

flew and landed near the instruders whence

it gave threat calls rushing towards them. This

usually resulted in the intruder flying away.

Rarely, they had to be chased before they

left. Once one of the parent birds was seen

pursuing a pair of cranes in flight when it

went alongside and struck the nearest bird

with its wings and chased them till they were

out of sight.

When the family encroached upon the home-

area of the subadult pair of cranes, they

gradually became aggressive towards the ori-

ginal residents and often drove them away.

Interspecific behaviour

The cranes did not take notice of Brahminy

Ducks, Marsh Harriers and other smaller birds

at their established foraging sites even if they

came very close. The adults of the family at

Hanle, however, drove a Grey Heron away

if it came closer than 25 m. The heron curious-

ly wanted to forage very close to the family.

The cranes became alert whenever Ravens

( Corvus corax ) came to their foraging site but

no interaction was observed.

The Common Terns breeding in the crane

habitats were highly pugnacious and often

dived at the family if they moved close to the

tern nests. The cranes usually ignored them.

Once a new pair of adult cranes, who stayed

at Chushul for a day, were mobbed by terns

188

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83 (supplement)

Goutam et a1.\ Blacknecked Crane

Plate 3

Blacknecked Cranes ( Grus nigricoUis) in Ladakh.

BLACKNECKED CRANE (GRUS NIGRICOLLIS) IN LADAKH

on their arrival at Shigul Tso. They finally

left the site after being mobbed and chased

by flocks of Brahminy Ducks the next day.

The response of Blacknecked Cranes to

other animals and human beings has been

described under Wariness.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Present status

Breeding Pairs

In the study season Blacknecked Cranes

were reported from Chushul, Hanle, Fukche,

Staglun and Lam Tso but they were actually

sighted only at Chushul and Hanle. At both

these sites a pair of cranes bred successfully

and reared two youngs each till they were

fully fledged. This is contrary to the belief

that only one young is reared by a pair. Local

enquiries revealed that rearing of two young

by a pair is not uncommon. Sometimes, the

adult pair reportedly even returns in the next

breeding season with the previous years off-

spring who separate from their parents only

after commencement of fresh nesting by the

adults. These immature birds usually take up

residence in areas close to their parents terri-

tory and are constantly chased by them if

they enter the territory. The non-breeding

subadults studied by us at Chushul are sus-

pected to be such a case. Thus, it is possible

that every pair coming to Ladakh may not

be breeding pair, and the singletons could

either be unmated or immature birds.

Non-breeding Pairs

In addition to the resident non-breeding

subadults, five more crane pairs were sighted

at Chushul during the study period, but it is

not certain whether these were different as

they were seen separately and at different

times. During the survey the locals reported

sighting cranes at Staglun and Lam Tso earlier

in the season. A singleton was reported by

ITBP officer at Lam Tso at the time of our

visit. These cranes could either be unsuccess-

ful breeding pairs or unmated birds. It is also

possible that they were temporary visitors to

the areas.

Nesting Sites

Blacknecked Cranes were never plentiful in

Ladakh since the region lies in the periphery

of the birds breeding range, and all the cranes

coming to the area probably do not nest.

Moreover, even at Chushul and Hanle where

the huge marshes can support more than one

breeding pair, this seems to have never hap-

pened. This season the Chushul pair had nest-

ed at their traditional site in Demik, while

the Hanle birds nested at Bukh in the Hanle

plains. No crane was sighted at Lai Pahari

or Purple Mountain marsh (18 km from

Hanle) where a pair had nested in 1983

(Hussain 1985). Cranes were not seen even

at Tso Kar where a pair reportedly reared a

young in 1982.

So far, crane nests have actually been sight-

ed only at Chushul and Hanle inspite of reports

of their nesting in other areas. During this

survey suitable nesting sites were found at

Startsapuk Tso near Tso Kar, Staglun,

Fukche, and Lam Tsanya near Chumur. Other

areas in the region may also have suitable

sites and it is possible the cranes nest there.

It is, however, clear that crane pairs or single-

tons visit many of the these places at different

times between late April and November.

Factors affecting breeding

Natural

One of the basic requirements for nesting

of Blacknecked Crane seems to be a small

mound or island in a shallow pond or lake

in large undisturbed marshy area abounding

189

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

in slow-flowing streams, with the pair holding

a vast portion of the marsh and adjoining

areas as their territory. This study has revealed

that they mainly depend upon smaller fishes

to feed their growing young who follow them

through treacherous bogs and streams safe

from human and land predators. Presence of

sedges and some partly submerged vegetation

is also required in their foraging site. The

nests are preferably built well away from

human habitation and settlements as these

attract predators such as ravens, foxes and

wolves in addition to harbouring ferocious

shepherd dogs.

These combined with unpredictable climatic

conditions controlling water supply and abun-

dance of food plants and animals in the eco-

system are some of the factors affecting the

nesting of the cranes. Thus, even if an areas

appears apparently suitable for supporting one

or more breeding crane pairs it may lack in

some of these known and other unknown

factors.

Human factor

The main threat for the cranes in Ladakh

seems to be loss of suitable habitat due to

increasing human and livestock population.

The marshes and meadows in the crane habi-

tat are extensively used for livestock grazing

and although its effect is not fully known,

there is little doubt that an unchecked growth

will adversely affect the habitat. Diversion of

water flow to crop fields as well as to forest

department plantations may also affect the

productivity of the crane habitat.

Protection

The cranes are- used to physical presence

of livestock and local shepherds as the

Ladakhis do not disturb or harm the bird in

any way. Others, however, are not so pro-

tective.

The first BNHS-WWF expedition reported

removal of eggs from the nest of Chushul

pair in 1976 by one of the ‘jawans’ stationed

in the area. Gole (1981) reported that a crane

pair was killed in one of the areas visited by

him in 1978. During our visit we received

another report of shooting of a crane pair at

Hanle in 1983 by some paramilitary force

personnel. These incidents have taken place

after the civil, military as well as paramilitary

authorities had agreed to provide all protec-

tion to the wildlife of the region.

Although the cranes had bred successfully

at Chushul and Hanle this year, we did not

find any one from the state department of

wildlife protection on our arrival at the sites.

Local enquiries revealed that even the guards

posted to these places come there only at the

time of short visits by higher officials of the

department. Inspite of instructions from their

superiors the guards at Chushul and Hanle

joined us only after one month and ten days

of our arrival at the sites respectively.

Recommendations

a. There is an immediate need for a

proper detailed investigation at the known

and probable nesting sites simultaneously to

determine and assess the natural as well as

man-made factors affecting the breeding of

cranes in Ladakh. This could be done by

effectively monitoring the breeding habitats

from late April to November and comparing

data collected from sites with successful and

unsuccessful crane pairs as well as from

probable sites with no resident crane.

b. Augmentation of livestock population,

spread of cultivation, and plantation of trees

should be carefully planned after thoroughly

assessing their impact on the crane habitats.

Only after determining the optimum water

level in their breeding habitats, diversion of

190

BLACKNECKED CRANE (GRUS NIGRICOLLIS) IN LADAKH

water-flow to or from the marshes and lakes

should be considered.

c. The state department of wildlife protec-

tion, civil administration and the various

police, military and paramilitary organisations

should join hands in effectively protecting the

crane habitats taking advice from the Depart-

ment of Environment, Forest and Wildlife,

Govt, of India, Bombay Natural History

Society, World Wildlife Fund, and Inter-

national Crane Foundation. The state forest

department should consider stationing field bio-

logists along with permanently stationed watch

and ward staff. They could begin with recruit-

ing guards from the villages near traditional

crane breeding sites.

Similar recommendations forwarded after

the BNHS-WWF expeditions in 1976 and

1983 were greeted with much enthusiasm,

however, little was done towards implement-

ing the suggestions. It is hoped that the earlier

as well as these recommendations will be

implemented before it is too late.

Refer

Ali, Salim and Ripley, S. D. (1969): Handbook

of the Birds of India and Pakistan. Vol. 2, Oxford

University Press, Delhi.

Betts, F. N. (1954) : Occurrence of the Black-

necked Crane in Indian Limits. J. Bombay nat. Hist.

Soc. 52: 605-606.

Bhat, G. M. (1965): The Soils of Kashmir. Bull

Agi. Dept., J. & K. Government.

Gole, Prakash (1981): Black-necked Cranes in

Ladakh. Crane Research Around the World: Pro-

ceedings of the International Crane Symposium at

Sapporo, Japan in 1980.

Hussain, S. A. (1976): Preliminary Report. Bom-

bay Natural History Society/World Wildlife Fund

—India. Ladakh Expedition (Memeographed report

submitted to BNHS/WWF-India).

Acknowledgements

Organisations :

Department of Wildlife Protection, Jammu &

Kashmir.

The Indian Army, specially the Ladakh Scouts.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police.

Indo-Tibetan Border Force.

Individuals* :

Dr. Salim Ali, BNHS

Dr. Uppeandra Dhar, Survey of Medicinal

Plants, Srinagar.

Md. Mir Inayatullah, Chief Wildlife Warden,

J & K.

Dr. Kagwade, CMFRI, Bombay.

Mr. Kapur, DC, Leh.

Dr. Surendra Nath, Islamia College, Srinagar.

Mr. Tilak Nath, IX Btn., ITBP.

Mr. Chering Norbu, RFO, Leh.

Mr. Nwang Norbu, Hanle.

Maj. Gen. D. D. Saklani.

Mr. Y. D. Sharma, ITBP.

Maj. Tirlok Singh, Ladakh Scouts.

Mr. T. S. Singh.

Mr. R. D. Tiwari, DFO, Leh.

* Listed in alphabetical order.

ENCES

(1985): Status of Blacknecked

Crane in Ladakh — 1983, Problems and Prospects.

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 82: 449-458.

Ludlow, F. (1920) : Notes on the nidification of

certain birds in Ladakh. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc.

27: 141-147.

Meinertzhagen, R. (1927) : Systematic results of

birds collected at high altitudes in Ladak and

Sikkim, Part II. Ibis 69: 571-633.

Osmaston, B. B. (1925) : On the birds of Ladakh.

Ibis 12: 662.

Schafer, E. (1938) : Ornithologische ergebnisse

Zweier for schungsreisen nach Tibet. J. Ornithol.

86: 106.

Sapru, B. L. and Kachroo, P. (1976): Bio-

spectral analysis of Ladakh Vegetation. J. Bombay

nat. Hist. Soc. 74: 421-426.

191

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

APPENDIX I

List of plants collected

Note: Unidentified plants include five species of sedges (Cyperaceae) .

192

Chushul Hanie Chumur Other Areas Remarks

BLACKNECKED CRANE (GRUS NIGRICOLLIS) IN LADAKH

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BLACKNECKED CRANE (GRUS NIGRICOLLIS) IN LADAKH

APPENDIX II (contd.)

195

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

1. PAINTED BATS AND NESTS OF BAYA WEAVER BIRD

During July- August 1984 while I was study-

ing some colonies of Baya Weaver Bird

( Ploceus philippinus) at Kishore Pura Mixed

Plantation Area in Alwar District, Rajasthan.

I found three different half built nests of the

baya, P. philippinus on different trees of

Prosopis spicigera which were occupied by

painted Bat Kerivoula picta. My observations

are as follows (Table 1).

I never saw any male baya on such encroached

nests.

The observed area is an undulating, hilly

area with sparse vegetation. Prosopis spicigera ,

Saccharum munja, Leptadinia sparitum, Lizy-

phus spp., Calotropis procera etc. are impor-

tant species growing here. Most of Prosopis

spicigera trees are rather stunted due to

repeated illicit felling and lopping. A lot of

Table 1

SI. Date of observation Area Stage of Time of Host plant on No. of bats

No. Surveyed nest occupi- observation which baya colony observed in

ed by bats was present the nest

1 15th July 1984 25 ha. Half built 1400 hrs. Prosopis spicigera 1

2 1st August 1984 25 ha. Half built 1500 hrs. P. spicigera 4

3 4th August 1984 25 ha. Half built 1000 hrs. P. spicigera 1

Along with half built nests, I have examined

a large number of completed nests also but

these held no bat. I have observed a fair

number of half built and completed nests of

P. benghalensis also but all were without bats.

The Bats use the ceiling of the nest for

hanging instead of the chinstrip of the nest.

Forest Range Officer,

Udaipur (West) Range,

Gulab Bagh Zoo,

Udaipur-313 001,

Rajasthan,

February 13, 1986.

old trees have been hacked down for firewood

and fodder, with the result that several hole

nesting and roosting birds, mammals and other

animals have no suitable site for making nests

or roosts. Bats are probably using these baya

nests as roosting place owing to scarcity of

roosting sites.

SAT1SH KUMAR SHARMA

196

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

2. A NOTE ON THE RHESUS MACAQUE (MAC AC A MULATTA)

FEEDING ON

While walking through the woodlands of

Bharatpur, Keoladeo National Park, I saw

near the Bison mori area a troop of Rhesus

monkeys feeding on the ground vegetation.

An adult female was sitting near a termite

mound. She suddenly captured a calotes

lizard and carried it to an Acacia mound

nearby. Holding the lizard by its upper part,

she bit off its head with lightning speed and

devoured it immediately. Next she ate the tail,

followed by the thighs. She then opened its

belly, threw away some of the intestinal parts

and ate the rest. She then sat down more

comfortably, peeled off the skin let it drop

and ate practically the entire remaining portion.

Junior Field Biologist,

BNHS Ecological Research

Centre,

331, Rajendra Nagar,

Bharatpur-321 001,

Rajasthan, India,

August 30, 1986.

Refer

Prater, S. H. (1971): The book of Indian ani-

mals. 3rd ed. Bombay Natural History Society, Bom-

bay.

3. A PANTHER’S

On 13-8-82 tribals noticed unusual agitation

among common langurs, between the footpath

from Loghouse at Theppakkadu to the first

watch tower. The focus of their attention was

the carcass of a panther hanging on a Teak

tree, neck held in a fork of a branch at a

height of about 25 m. The carcass which was

well hidden in the canopy was dry and the

CALOTES

According to Roonwal and Mohnot

(1977) ‘M. mulatta is largely vegetarian, its

diet including leaves, flowers, fruits, berries,

seeds of many species of plants, grass, grains,

and algae from ponds. It is not known to eat

small birds, lizards or similar small animals’.

Prater (1971) states that ‘Ground plants,

insects and spiders are their usual fare’.

Acknowledgements

I thank Dr. V. S. Vijayan, Project Scientist

and Dr. (Mrs.) Lalitha Vijayan, Senior Field

Biologist, BNHS Ecological Research Centre,

Bharatpur, for their encouragement.

C. SIVASUBRAMANIAN

ENCES

Roonwal, M. L. & Mohnot, S. M. (1977) :

Primates of South Asia. Ecology, Sociology and

Behaviour. Harvard University Press, Cambridge,

Mars.

MISADVENTURE

fur was falling off in flakes and floating in the

air. The langurs were coughing at the fallen

and floating fur pieces and at the carcass. The

carcass appeared to be 20-25 days old. No one

had noticed it though the footpath was almost

directly underneath and was being used fre-

quently.

We could only guess at the cause: It is

197

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 (, SUPPLEMENT )

possible that the Panther attempted to chase

or catch a langur missed a hold or slipped,

and the head got irretrievably caught in the

fork. Was death instantaneous from the

momentum of the moving body causing the

break in the neck when the head was caught

in the fork ?

Wildlife Warden, j. MANGALRAJ JOHNSON

Mudumalai Sanctuary,

Templeton Cottage,

Udhagamandalam,

Tamil Nadu,

June 28, 1986.

4. IMPRINTING IN SPOTBILL DUCK ANAS POECILORHYNCHA

It is well known that the eggs of wild birds

can be successfully hatched in incubators or

under domestic hens. Artificially reared chicks

of wild geese and ducks, during their early

life, recognise any large moving object as their

mother and start following it. The foster birds

which rear them or even human beings are

also followed by such chicks. This following

response, technically known as imprinting,

was first described by Heinroth (1910). This

communication reports on imprinting in a

Spotbill Duck Anas poecilorhyncha reared

under a domestic hen at Harike (Punjab).

Though imprinting has been well established

in Mallard Anas platyrhynchos , Tufted Duck

Aythya fuligula, Moorhen Gallinula chloropus,

Coot Fulica atra, Wood Duck Aix sponsa and

Shelduck Tadorna tadorna (Hinde et al. 1956,

Hess 1957, Thorpe 1964, Van Tyne and

Berger 1976), it had not been reported in

Spotbill Duck so far.

We came to know about the Spotbill Duck

on 5 February 1985 when one of us (MSD)

visited the Harike Bird Sanctuary along with

Dr. Robert Grubh and Mr. S. A. Hussain of

the Bombay Natural History Society. The

Spotbill was feeding in shallow water just at

the bank of the lake along with a domestic

duck. Mr. Sucha Singh, Boatman of the

Punjab State Fisheries Department, who had

hatched the duck under a domestic hen, could

not be contacted that day. On 27 March, we

again visited Harike and interviewed Sucha

Singh. Following is the summary of what he

told us about the duck.

A nest of the Spotbill was found in a bunch

of Phragmites in the littoral zone of the lake

during April 1984. There were six eggs in the

nest which seemed to be deserted. Fearing

that the eggs will be devoured by some preda-

tor, Sucha Singh collected them and put them

under an incubating domestic hen. Only three

eggs hatched in about 25 days. He fed the

Spotbill chicks on moistened wheat flour plus

wheat bran and provided water ad libitum.

The chicks followed the foster hen who look-

ed after them just like other chicks. Two

chicks fell to some predator at the age of one

month whereafter he took special care of the

third chick so that it may survive. Every day

in the morning, he would make an enclosure

with a fish net in shallow water just near the

margin of the lake and release the chick in

it for feeding. He would take out the chick

in the evening. The chick then started follow-

ing him to his house where it was offered

198

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

additional food and put in a cage for night.

This chick, a female, has survived.

The Spotbill is now one year old. She leaves

home daily and flies to the distant parts of

the lake to feed in the company of wild birds

but regularly returns home. Sometimes she

does not go far away and feeds in shallow

water near the bank of the lake along with

a female domestic duck which was also reared

under the same hen. Whenever the Spotbill

starts going away from the lake shore, the

domestic duck makes a lot of noise as if calling

her back. She often leaves water and comes

to Sucha Singh’s house during the daytime

where she is offered chapati pieces.

Whenever he called aa. ...aa... .aa. .. .aa,

she obliges and comes out of water to feed

on whatever is offered by him. Curiously, since

Dept, of Forestry & Natural

Resources,

Dept, of Zoology,

Punjab Agricultural University,

Ludhiana-141 004, Punjab,

April 30, 1985.

Refer

Heinroth, O. (1910) : Beitrage zur Biologie,

namentlich Ethologie und Physiologie der Anatiden.

Verhl. V Internat. Orn. Kongr., Berlin 1910 : 589-

702.

Hess, E. H. (1957): Effects of meprobamate on

imprinting in waterfowl. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 67:

724-732.

Hinde, R. A., Thorpe, W. H. & Vince, M. A.

the last two weeks, a wild male Spotbill

accompanies her from the lake up to the shore

as if to say “good bye” to her. Sometimes

while following her, he even comes out of

water but remains at a distance. Probably she

has mated with this male but whether they

have made a nest is not known.

Having lived in association with Sucha

Singh for about a year, the Spotbill seems to

have no fear of man. We photographed her

from as close as 3 m and she was not at all

disturbed. This case seems to be the extreme

case of imprinting in which, according to

Thorpe (1964), the young bird comes to accept

a “human being as its proper associate and

to retain for the rest of its like a tendency

to regard human beings as fellow members

of its species”.

MANJIT S. DHINDSA

JASWINDER S. SANDHU

ENCES

(1956) : The following response of young Coots

and Moorhens. Behav. 9: 214-242.

Thorpe, W. H. (1964): Imprinting. In: A New

Dictionary of Birds. Thomson, A. L. (ed.). Thomas

Nelson and Sons Ltd., London, pp. 393-396.

Van Tyne, J. & Berger, A. J. (1976) : Fundamen-

tals of Ornithology. 2nd Ed. John Wiley & Sons,

New York.

5. DUCK MIGRATION ACROSS THE HIMALAYA — TUFTED

DUCK AYTHYA FULIGULA AT 13,700' ON ROHTANG

PASS, HIMACHAL PRADESH

On 15th June 1985, I set off from the

13,000 ft. Rohtang Pass diagonally traversing

the 15,000 ft. Rohtang Pyramid on the west

flank of the pass to visit Dashawe Kund a

high altitude lake at over 14,500 ft. on the

main Pir Panjal range across which the

Rohtang Pass gives passage to Lahoul.

About 700 ft. above the pass I came across

199

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

a dead drake of the Tufted Duck Aythya

fuligula. The bird was in good state of pre-

servation and had apparently died a few days

earlier, though small red ants had attacked the

eyes. The bird had an injury on its left side

suggesting that it had struck the mountain

while speeding north across the pass, pre-

sumably in bad weather when clouds make

for poor visibility well below the pass itself.

14 Jayant Society,

Rajkot 360 004,

Gujarat,

June 27, 1985.

Even if the crossing is attempted on a clear

day, strong winds blow down the pass forcing

birds to fly low against the head wind and an

accident might easily be caused.

Several years ago I had reported the reco-

very of a Common Teal exhausted on the Beas

Kund Glacier not far from where the Tufted

Duck was located.

LAVKUMAR KHACHER

6. COMMUNAL GATHERING OF BLACKWINGED KITES

t ELANUS CAERULEUS VOC1FERUS)

On 6.5.84 in the Ranthambhor Tiger Re-

serve Shri Fateh Singh, the Field Director,

two friends and I set off from Jogi Mahal at

about 3.40 p.m. to locate and photograph

tigers. Opposite the second lake we approach-

ed a Dhok tree, Anogeissus pend ala, on the side

of the road in the vicinity of which a pair of

Blackwinged kites were observed for the past

few weeks and on many occasions also perch-

ed on the tree. As we passed the tree three

Blackwinged kites flew from it immediately

followed by many more. We stopped and

eventually counted positively twelve, and there

were altogether probably about fifteen to seven-

teen birds flying out of this single tree. They

then flew around, some settling on nearby

trees. As the evening’s purpose was to locate

tigers we unfortunately had to proceed and

thus no further observations were possible.

The park is well represented with Blackwinged

kites but gatherings of so many together have

Belha Court,

24, Strand Road,

Bombay-400 039,

July 29, 1985.

never before been recorded so early during the

day. Past records indicate that they are known

to roost communally at dusk. No signs of

breeding were evident though the breeding

season of this species is in April & May. It is

extended (according to Ali 1954, Ali & Ripley

1968) varying locally to cover practically the

entire year. No other evidence of easy availa-

bility of any concentrated food source was

observed, to account for this unusual gathering

behaviour. One can only speculate the reason

and put it down for the record.

Acknowledgements

I am indebted to Shri Fateh Singh Rathore

for taking me around and whose help and

support was invaluable during my search for

and photographic sessions on the Bonelli’s

eagle. Thanks also to Valmik Thapar and

Tejbir Singh for helping out in so many ways.

RISHAD NAOROJI

200

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

References

Ali, Salim (1954) : The Birds of Gujarat. J. hook of the Birds of India and Pakistan. Vol. 1.

Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 52(2) : 392. Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay, p. 213.

Ali, Salim & Ripley, S. Dillon (1968): Hand-

7. THE PARIAH KITE MILVUS MIGRANS (BODDAERT)

FEEDING ON FLOWERS !

On 26th March I was with the Sarabhai

family having a picnic lunch on the lawn of

their Usmanpura house across the Sabarmati

River to Ahmedabad city. There was a brisk

breeze blowing in from the north-east provid-

ing ideal conditions for Pariah Kites to indulge

in their mastery of aerobatics. Admiring their

flight abilities we noticed individuals feeding

on some light coloured objects. Sometimes a

piece would fall and another kite would come

swooping in to catch the piece in mid air.

Some of us presumed they were playing, others

thought it was the passing of food between a

bonded pair and ofcourse a third opinion

was that we were seeing parents teaching their

14, Jayant Society,

Rajkot 360 004,

April 2, 1986.

fully fledged young the art of catching objects

in mid air !

Observing the kites more carefully I noticed

that they came in against the wind to snatch

a flower from a tall Tubobea tree. The flower

would be eaten in the usual kite fashion in

flight and pieces accidentally being dropped in

the process would be swooped on by other

kites. Once a flower flew off from the tree

in a particularly strong gust of wind and a kite

immediately swooped down and caught it in

its extended talons. There were more than

half a dozen kites circling overhead eating the

flowers !

LAVKUMAR KHACHER

8 . PECULIAR FEEDING BEHAVIOUR OF THE SHIKRA ACCIP1TER

RADIUS (GMELIN) & THE HONEY BUZZARD PERNIS

PTILORHYNCUS (TEMMINCK)

On July 17, this year, I saw a Shikra along

with a Crow-Pheasant moving about on the

ground and constantly picking up something

with its bill. This was in my garden here in

Bhuj. On going closer to investigate as to

what it was eating, I found that the two birds

were feeding on flying termites as they emerg-

ed from underground. Elsewhere in my

garden the termites which were coming out

and flying up were being caught on the wing

by crows, drongos etc. However the shikra

concerned, never even once made an effort

to catch a flying insect. While in the process

of eating it was twice disturbed by passers-by

when it flew up and sat on the branch of a

neem tree nearby to come down again to

resume its peculiar way of feeding. It remain-

ed on the ground for at least about 15

minutes, walking with an awkward gait and

picking up the winged termites.

201

14

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 {SUPPLEMENT)

I have also observed more than once a

Crested Honey Buzzard coming down on

an open plot in my garden to eat white ants.

This buzzard did not move about, but kept

sitting near the termites’ nest hole and con-

tinued eating the insects after exposing them

Jubilee Ground,

Bhuj, Kutch,

July 30, 1985.

[Though the Shikra is known to take flying insects

on the wing by dashing after them, Hume and

Davison record them frequently descending to the

ground to pick up something ( Stray Feathers 6:

7-8). As regards Honey Buzzard, Major R. S. P.

Bates records one of the pair hanging about his

by removing the sand covering with sideways

movements of its beak.

This mode of feeding by these two birds

of prey has not been mentioned in any of

the reference work I have with me, and

hence this note to elicit information whether

this has been ever observed by any one else.

HIMMATSINHJI

bungalow in Chittagong busily devouring termites

on the ground. Whenever winged swarms appeared

along with the Pariah and Brahminy kites, mynas

and crows, the Honey Buzzards were seen wheeling

to and fro screaming continuously (/. Bombay nat.

Hist. Soc. 38: 162) — Eds.]

9. A CRESTED HAWK-EAGLE SPIZAETUS CIRRHATUS

(GMEL1N) KILLING A PEAFOWL PAVO CRISTATUS

LINNAEUS

A leopard had hidden its sambar kill in

some thick lantana scrub, very close to our

observation hut in the Koktu-Valley in the

core area of the Melghat Tiger Reserve. In

the early hours of 29th May 1986, we were

trying to stalk the leopard which seemed

reluctant to leave the kill area, possibly owing

to the presence of other carnivora. Suddenly,

very agitated alarm calls of a peafowl ( Pavo

crist at us) and Grey Junglefowl ( Gallus son-

neratii), of which the undergrowth seemed to

be full of, erupted all round us. Sinking to

the ground, we saw an adult Crested Hawk-

Eagle ( Spizaetus cirrhatus), go skimming over

the lantana. Sighting two peahens, i.e. ( landor )

108, Ramdaspeth,

Nagpur - 440 010,

July 8, 1986.

it swerved with spread wings and attempted

to herd them towards the embankment. One

of the Peafowl managed to take off but the

other skidded around. The eagle fanning its

huge wings hopped after her and jumped on

her back, wrapping its wings around its prey.

They tumbled behind some rocks accompani-

ed by desperate screams of the landor. After

three or four seconds there was total silence.

We waited for 15 minutes, but the birds did

not appear. Next day some bits of skin and

feathers were found. The Peafowl must have

been at least one-third bigger than her

attacker.

AMRUT S. DHANWATEY

202

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

10. PREDATION ATTEMPT BY BLACK EAGLE ( ICTINAETUS

MALAYENSIS PERNIGER) ON INDIAN GIANT

SQUIRREL ( RATUFA IND1CA ELPHINSTONII )

On the 13th of December 1985, at Bhima-

shankar (District Pune, Maharashtra. Lat:

19°4'N. Lon: 73°32'E.), I witnessed a pre-

dation attempt by a black eagle ( lctinaetus

malayensis perniger) on an adult male Giant

Squirrel ( Ratufa indica elphinstonii) . The in-

cident occurred at 1036 hrs. It was a cold

morning and the adult male squirrel, exposed

fully to the sun, was feeding on the inner bark

of the wild mango ( Mangifera indica ), at the

top of the tree. I observed a black eagle that

had been gliding over the canopy, suddenly

swoop so low over the squirrel that it smacked

the vegetation with its wings. The sound on

impact was considerable. The squirrel dashed

away without sounding an alarm and conceal-

Bhimashankar,

Taluka Ambegaon,

District Pune,

Maharashtra,

March 6, 1986.

ed itself in thick foliage at a lower level. It

remained there, motionless and quiet, for

nineteen minutes while the eagle continued

to glide in the vicinity before moving out of

view.

Squirrels generally sound an alarm when

a Crested Serpent Eagle ( Spilornis cheela) or

a Black Eagle is overhead. Therefore, avian

predation on these squirrels must occur.

Though, I have often heard locals in the semi-

evergreen forest of Yellapur in the Malnad

region of Karnataka, relate incidents of actual

predation by the Crested Serpent Eagle (S', c.

melanotis) on the Giant Squirrel (R. i. indica)

this is the first time I have observed a preda-

tion attempt by a raptor on this squirrel.

RENEE BORGES

11. A LARGE ROOST OF HARRIERS IN ANDHRA PRADESH,

INDIA

Near Rollapadu village, which is 20 km

east of Nandikotkur town (15°52'N and 78°

18' E) in Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh,

India, an eight hundred acre grassland plot has

been protected (from grazing) from 1984 for

the breeding of the Great Indian Bustard.

The dominant grass species are Heteropogon

contortus, Chrysopogon fulvus, Eremopogon

foveolatus, and Aristida funiculata. The sur-

rounding area is also open, flat or gently

undulating grassland, occasionally punctuated

by crop fields. Grasshoppers are so abundant

that one flushes a few at every step.

In winter, the grasslands of Rollapadu

attract large numbers of harriers and short-

toed larks. During the winter of 1985-86, our

estimate is that between 800 to 1,000 harriers

used to roost in the Rollapadu grassland

enclosure. During the day, fifty to sixty

harriers could be seen tirelessly quartering the

grassland and by evening, birds from the

surrounding areas would arrive and after sun-

203

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

set, hundreds of harriers could be seen either

sitting on the ground or flying just above the

ground in search of a roosting place. Due to

continuous movement of birds, it was extre-

mely difficult to count them, but our estimate

is that about one thousand harriers could be

seen. This could be vertified by the number

of roosting sites. In one open fallow field of

about five acres, we counted 42 rooting spots.

Both, tall grassland and bare open fallow

fields/burnt areas were selected for roosting

but more birds used to roost in the grassland.

In the grassland also, two areas were more

frequently used and about fifty per cent of the

harriers roosted in these areas. Apparently

similar areas were not occupied throughout

the winter.

Ninety per cent of the adult male harriers

were identified as Montagu’s ( Circus pygar-

gus), while the remaining were Pale (C.

macrourus) and Marsh (C. aeruginosus) . Ali

& Ripley (1968) opine that the Montagu’s

Harrier is perhaps slightly less common than

the Pale but both are equally widely distri-

buted over the subcontinent. However, in

Rollapadu we found that almost all the adult

male harriers which could be unmistakably

identified were Montagu’s. We do not know

the species composition of the immature and

female harriers because they were difficult to

identify in the field.

Bombay Natural History Society,

Hornbill House,

Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road,

Bombay-400 023,

May 24, 1986.

Reference

Ali, S. & Ripley, S. D. (1968) : Handbook of the

Birds of India and Pakistan. Vol. 1, Oxford Univer-

sity Press, Bombay.

12. PRE-MIGRATOR Y FLOCKING OF THE DEMOISELLE CRANE,

ANTHROPOIDES VIRGO (LINNAEUS)

ASAD R. RAHMANI

RANJIT MANAKADAN

The Demoiselle Crane, Anthropoides virgo,

is a common winter visitor in the north-

western and west-central parts of the Indian

subcontinent (Ali and Ripley 1983). The

Saurashtra region (lat. 20° 10' and 24° 45' N,

long. 68° 10' and 70° 30'E) of Gujarat State

is now recognised as an important wintering

ground of these cranes.

We frequently visit, the Lalpari Dam re-

servoir located within the Rajkot city limit and

the Nyari Dam reservoir outside the city limit,

and watch the cranes usually resting, but some-

times also feeding, on the banks and islands

of the reservoirs in the morning and evening.

During October to February the usual number

of cranes recorded by us ranged from about

300 to 2000 at Lalpari and 700 to 4000 at

Nyari (Table 1).

Between 1 and 20 March 1985, we visited

the Lalpari reservoir on several evenings and

counted about 2000 to 4000 cranes during

each visit. However, when we visited the

reservoir on the evening of 22 March, we

witnessed a spectacular assembly of cranes the

204

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

Table 1

Number of Demoiselle Cranes recorded at

Lalpari and Nyari reservoirs, Rajkot

* M — morning hours between 0900 to 1100.

E — evening hours between 1700 to 1900.

like of which we had never witnessed before.

When we reached the reservoir at about 1800

hrs, a few hundred cranes were feeding in the

crop fields near the reservoir. Then, more and

more birds started coming in from the sur-

rounding areas to land on the reservoir bank.

At first the inflow of birds was slow and we

could count the number of incoming birds,

but after sunset flocks after flocks of birds

from several directions started converging to

land on the reservoir banks in rapid succes-

sion so that after counting about 20,000 birds,

we gave up counting. When we left the site

under the rapidly fading light of the dusk, we

left behind a huge congregration of cranes

standing on a vast expanse of the gradually

Rajmoti Industries,

Bhavnagar Road,

Rajkot.

Senior Research Fellow,

Department of Biosciences,

Saurashtra University,

Rajkot-360 005,

August 30, 1985.

sloping reservoir banks, and still more cranes

coming in.

We visited the Lalpari reservoir again, on

the evening of 23 March and witnessed a large

number of cranes assembling as on the previous

day. However, on 24th evening, only about

3000 cranes assembled there in the evening

and on 25th evening none came there. On 22

March evening, some of our friends had gone

to Nyari reservoir and had seen there only

about 54 cranes. These observations suggest

that the cranes from the areas atleast around

Rajkot were flocking together and roosting at

Lalpari on 22 and 23 March.

The cranes are known to leave Saurashtra

for their return journey to their breeding

quarters in the second half of March. The

date of migration is usually inferred by noting

an increased nocturnal flights of cranes over

certain areas. Our observations reveal that

prior to migration the cranes from a vast area

tend to assemble at one particular site for

roosting, and this gathering of cranes may

occur over a few da}'s before they finally

depart. The observation is significant in that

by keeping the large assembly formation of

cranes under observation, the date of depar-

ture from an area can be determined with a

relatively high degree of precision.

Ack nowledgement

We are greatful to Prof. R. M. Naik, Depart-

ment of Biosciences, Saurashtra University,

Rajkot for his criticism and help.

MUKUND SHAH

MALAY SHAH

ARUN KUMAR BANERJEE

205

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

Reference

Ali, S. & Ripley, S. D. (1983) : Handbook of the

Birds of India and Pakistan. Compact Edition. Oxford

University Press, Bombay.

13. FEEDING METHOD OF SPOON-BILLED SANDPIPERS ON A

MUDFLAT IN SOUTH KOREA

The peculiar spatulate bill of Spoon-billed

Sandpipers Eurynorhynchus pygmaeus has led

to much speculation about the bill’s particular

function and evolution, which is, however,

hampered by the scarcity of detailed accounts

of the bird’s foraging behaviour (Burton

1971). This note is to add to the existing, but

rather anecdotal, information about the forag-

ing behaviour of Spoon-billed Sandpipers.

From 14 to 28 September 1984 the waders

of the Nakdong Estuary (35°15'N; 129°10'E)

near Pusan in South Korea were studied

(Piersma 1985). On 17 September 4 and on

26 September 1 1 Spoon-billed Sandpipers

were counted at high tide. On both occasions,

the birds roosted, one by one, over the 4 km

long and 100-200 m wide, sandy and bare

barrier island Galmaegi Deung, amongst flocks

of Red-necked Stints Calidris ruficollis. All

the Spoon-billed Sandpipers observed were in

juvenile or winter plumage.

On 24 September I encountered 5 Spoon-

billed Sandpipers during low tide on an inter-

tidal flat (unvegetated soft sandy mud, very

uniform), one km north of the roosting places

on Galmaegi Deung. The birds foraged indi-

vidually, in the neighbourhood of Dunlins

Calidris alpina. When foraging on dry surfaces,

the birds walked quickly, straight-on, and

pecked sideways, alternately to the left and

to the right, with a rate of about one peck

per one or two sec. During some of the pecks,

birds made short vibrations in the sediment

with the tip of the spatula. When arriving in

shallow water (1-2 cm, i.e. ’knee-deep’), the

foraging method changed abruptly. The birds

started to walk much slower and made conti-

nuous series of rapid but clearly discernible

sideways movements (left to right and vice

versa) of the spatula through the shallow layer

of water, alternated with short series of dis-

crete pecks. During foraging, the bill was held

down (almost) vertically. During a protocol

of 46 sec. (recorded on a tape-recorder), a

bird spent two bouts of 2 and 5 sec. preening.

In the remaining 39 sec, 54% of the time

(21 sec.), the tip of the bill was submerged,

making these rapid sideways swishing move-

ments in 5 different bouts. Between these

bouts, series of 7, 6, 10, 2 and 1 discrete pecks

were made. The swishing movements remind-

ed me strongly of the sideways sweeps made

during foraging by Spoonbills Platalea leuco -

rodia, although the tempo was much higher in

Spoon-billed Sandpipers. I was unable to

observe if the Spoon-billed Sandpipers had

their mandibles slightly opened during the

swishes, as can easily be seen in Spoonbills.

The birds were observed at a distance of 30-50

m with a 20X-60X zoom-telescope, but I was

unable to see any food items being ingested

by the birds. I therefore suggest that the

Spoon-billed Sandpipers took very small

macrobenthic animals (retained by a 1 mm

sieve), or even smaller, meiobenthic prey. The

sampling work of Y. W. Jo (Institute of

206

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

Marine Sciences, Pusan; pers. comm.) per-

formed at a nearby site one month before my

observations, suggests that the prey may con-

sist of small polychaete worms (notably

Prionospio krusadensis and Notomastus lati-

raceus, the only two abundant worms here)

and small crustaceans ( Corophium and

Haustoriidae species). No small bivalves or

small gastropods were found on this locality.

On their north-east Siberian arctic tundra

breeding grounds. Spoon-billed Sandpipers ate

many kinds of insects (adults and larvae),

which were captured in the air and on the

ground by discrete pecking movements (Por-

tenko 1957). Dixon (1918) saw birds foraging

along a shoreline, taking insects and their

larvae from piles of algae washed together.

Jahn (1942) mentions a bird in Japan that

made continuous sieving movements with its

bill through soft mud, in half circles around

itself and entering the water up to its belly.

Voronov (1980) observed a Spoon-billed

Sandpiper on a beach at Sakhalin Island,

racing up and down the shore following the

breaking waves (probably much like Sander-

lings Calidris alba). The bird took small crabs

which were washed out of the sediment by the

turbulent water, occurring in densities of

10 000’s per m2. At Hong Kong and at Point

Calimere, Tamil Nadu, India, Melville (1978

and pers. comm.) observed that foraging

Spoon-billed Sandpipers often made side to

side movements with their bill through the

upper layer of the sediment (resp. damp mud

and wet sand). Portenko (1981) mentioned

Zoological Laboratory,

University of Groningen,

P. O Box 14, 9750 AA,

Haren, The Netherlands,

December 7, 1985.

an observation by V. E. Yakobi of Spoon-

billed Sandpipers foraging on an estuary-bank

at low tide: ‘Running a little in the shallow

water, they would rapidly extract food con-

sisting of tiny larvae from the semifluid silt’

and, compared to nearby foraging eastern

little (?) stints. Spoon-billed Sandpipers ‘sub-

merged the beak in the water somewhat more

deeply and flicked it from right to left’.

Swennen & Marteijn (MS) made detailed

observations at an intertidal flat in Thailand

and reported that Spoon-billed Sandpipers

made drilling (up and down) movements with

their bill, usually in front of the body but

also to the sides. The bill never went deeper

down in the mud than the spatula.

This short review suggests that Spoon-billed

Sandpipers are able to use their spatulate

bill in a variety of ways. However, with the

possible exception of Portenko (1981), no

author has mentioned the Spoonbill-like side-

ways swishes of the spatula through a layer

of water on top of soft sediments, as was

observed in Nakdong Estuary.

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to NEDECO (Netherlands

Engineering Consultants) for financing this

study, to Marjolein Veldkamp for translating

a Russian note into Dutch, to Jan Hulscher

and David Melville for comments and to many

other people, mentioned in the report, for

other kinds of help.

THEUNIS PIERSMA

207

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 (SUPPLEMENT)

References

Burton, P. J. K. (1971): Comparative anatomy

of head and neck in the Spoon-billed sandpiper,

Eurynorhynchus pygmeus and its allies. J. Zool.,

Lond. 163 : 145-163.

Dixon, J. (1918) : The nesting grounds and nest-

ing habits of the Spoon Sandpiper. Auk 25: 387-

404.

Jahn, H. (1942) : Zur Oekologie und Biologie der

Vogel Japans. J. Orn. 90: 277-278.

Melville, D. S. (1978): Note on Spoon-billed

Sandpiper. Hong Kong Bird Report 1976: 19.

Piersma, T. (1985) : Wader studies, and water-

birds, in the Nakdong Estuary, South Korea, in

September 1984. WIWO report 7, Zeist.

Portenko, L. A. (1957) : Studien an einigen

seltenen Limikolen aus dem nordlichen und ostlichen

Siberian. I. Die Loffelschnepfe — Eurynorhynchus

pygmaeus. J. Orn. 93 : 454-466.

(1981): Birds of the Chukchi

Peninsula and Wrangal Island. Vol. 1. (Translated

from Russian 1972). Amerind, New Delhi.

Swennen, C. & Martexjn, E. C. L. (MS). Forag-

ing behaviour of Spoon-billed Sandpipers on a mud-

flat in peninsular Thailand.

Voronov, V. G. (1980): Observations on the

feeding of the Spoonbill Stint (Eurynorhynchus

pygmaeus) . In : New studies on the biology and

distribution of waders. (Ed. V. Flint), pp. 138-139.

Nauka, Moscow, (In Russian).

14. STRANGE DIVERSION ENACTED BY A NIGHTJAR

On the 7th of May ’85 at 5 p.m. I was

following a fresh trail to photograph a small

herd of Gaur at the Radhanagari Bison

Sanctuary at Dajipur in the Sahyadris. While

hurriedly crossing a small clearing in the dense

forest a nightjar took off from a shrub

nearby.

The bird promptly put up a convincing

broken wing display. In fact it performed so

well that my friends were sure it was dying

and wanted to help ! I took a hurried picture

since we were more interested in following

the disappearing Gaur.

When we came back to the same area half

an hour later the bird repeated the same be-

haviour. After I had followed it around for

a few minutes to get a picture, we left it

alone and began to carefully search for the

nest. The bird seemed to instantly realize that

the trick was a failure and we had seen through

it.

It then changed to a surprisingly different

strategy. Flying some distance away on per-

fectly healthy wings it settled down near a

bush on the ground, gently shuffling her wings

and breast feathers, as ground nesters do

when adjusting themselves on their nests.

I was so sure that we had located the nest

that I erept slowly towards the now quietly

settled nightjar, camera on the ready. As I

approached however it flew off and I went

closer to photograph the nest with the expected

eggs or chicks in it.

To my utter surprise there was nothing

there but bare lateritic rock.

The bird had enacted the whole episode,

pretending that it had settled on the nest,

while actually her eggs or chicks were surely

hidden safely elsewhere.

I had never heard of a bird pretending to

incubate on a non-existant nest so as to divert

attention from the site of the real nest to that

of fictitious one.

Recently I again saw a similar display by

a Pratincole though it appeared to be part

of the regular broken wing display. The hand-

book OF THE BIRDS OF INDIA AND PAKISTAN.

Vol. 3 (1969), p. 17 also describes a similar

pattern incorporated into the display.

208

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

I would like comments from any other species, wherein a bird has convincingly pre-

observers of a similar episode seen in any tended to incubate at a ‘pseudo nest’.

‘Saken\ Valantina Society, E. K. BHARUCHA

North Main Road,

Koregaon Park,

Pune 411 001,

April 12, 1986.

15. MASS COURTSHIP DISPLAY BY GREAT PIED HORNBILL,

BUCEROS BICORN IS

On the evening of 24th April 1985, while

staying at the Forest Rest House, near Tipi

Orchid Research Station, Arunachal Pradesh,

during the course of a survey on Butterflies

as a UN/FAO/UNDP Consultant, my com-

panion Dr. Pratap Singh, of the Forestry Re-

search Institute, Dehra Dun, drew my atten-

tion to the fact he had just seen no fewer

than eight hornbills fly across the river.

I immediately got my Nikon 10x25 Bino-

culars and quickly located them all in one

tree some 100 metres across the Bhalukpong

river. As we watched it seemed that some

unusual activity was taking place. There were

at that time 4 distinct pairs of birds standing

on the branches facing each other and with

some deliberation knocking their beaks toge-

ther and then rubbing them up and down.

While scanning a few trees further downstream,

I was excited to see more hornbills engaged

in the same antics.

Dr. Singh and I were frantically taking

turns with the binoculars to see this extra-

ordinary display and counting the number of

birds involved and each time the number

seemed to increase. When the count finally

reached 16 (at this time all in the same tree-

which was shaking visibly) we thought we

had witness something quite unusual, how-

ever. the best was yet to come !

We had noticed, briefly, that ever so often

a bird would appear to literally jump or fall

out of the tree, seemingly out of control, but

each time recovering some distance from the

ground and return to its original perch. Keep-

ing a very close watch on two males, visible

at the same time, we noticed one hop a short

way up a branch and tug with some vigour

at the bulb of some tree orchids (with yellow

flowers, that were everywhere). After a violent

tussle the bird, to our amazement, stepped

off the branch almost doing a somersault in

the process but still retaining a firm grip on

the orchid bulb. It hung there like a trapeze

artiste for a few seconds and then by holding

its wings half open (like a cormorant) and

flapping vigorously it started to twist back and

forth and jerk at the same time.

With the entire weight of the bird tugging,

of course he got the bulb dislodged and most

undignifiedly disappeared in reverse towards

the ground with wings flapping madly and

successfully pulled out before the reaching

the ground into orderly flight and return to

the patient waiting lady friend who was duly

presented with the hard won trophy. She held

it in her beak, but as far as I know didn’t

eat it. We watched several other males going

through the same performance. By this time

it was getting fairly late as we had been

209

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

watching them for a good hour. Suddenly, as

if on a given signal, they flew out of the tree,

one by one, back to our side of the river.

Like a countdown we checked the numbers

and came up with 21 birds — what the odd

one out thought about all these “spring in the

air” goings on we will never know !

In all my years of bird watching it was quite

one of the most remarkable displays I have

C/o Wildlife Institute of India,

F. R. I. Campus, New Forest,

Dehra Dun, U.P., India,

May 21, 1985.

ever seen. Dr Pratap Singh, who knows a lot

more about Indian birds than I do, reckoned

it had to be some kind of record so we share

it with other members of the BNHS — perhaps

someone else has seen a similar display ?

Only having a 100 mm lens I took a few

photos, but it was hopeless and needed a

600 mm lens at least. Also I only had 50ASA

film as 200 ASA was unavailable.

ANGUS F. HUTTON

16. DE-TICKING BY A LARGE GREY SHRIKE,

LANIUS EXCUB1TOR

( With a plate)

According to the handbook (Ali & Ripley

1983), the large grey shrike ( Lanius excubi -

tor) is a wary bird usually difficult to

approach. Its food is recorded as insects,

lizards, rodents, young and sickly birds.

During a recent great Indian bustard

( Ardeotis nigriceps) survey of Rajasthan, we

found that the large grey shrike was fairly

common around human habitation and could

be approached to within five metres.

In Jaisalmer district, on 25th January 1986

at the Desert National Park chowki of Sam,

we had a most interesting observation of the

shrike’s feeding habits. At about 0800 hours,

a large grey shrike was seen to de-tick a sit-

ting camel (Plate 1). At our approach it flew

off with a tick in its beak and consumed it

on the roof of a nearby hut before return-

ing to further investigate the camel’s body.

When a common myna ( Acridotheres tristis)

Bombay Natural History Society,

Hornbill House,

Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road,

Bombay - 400 023,

March 27, 1986.

hopped close to the camel, the shrike threaten-

ed it by fanning its tail, slightly parting its

wings and ruffling its neck feathers.

A few days later at the Miyajlar chowki

a shrike was seen perched on a branch just

above a camel. Still later at the Khuri area

of the Desert National Park, while scanning

for bustards from camel back, a shrike

alighted on a bush within 1 . 5 m of the camel.

It followed the camel for a short distance

before flying off. While in the latter two in-

stances de-ticking was not observed they in-

dicated an interest of the shrike in camels.

It seems that the large grey shrike has learnt

to de-tick camels in the desert areas probably

due to the scarcity of normal insects (especial-

ly during winter when insects population is

very low). As this behaviour has not been

recorded in other areas by us, it is obviously

a case of an acquired habit.

RAVI SANKARAN

ASAD R. RAHMANI

210

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83 (supplement) Plate 1

Sankaran & Rahmani: Lanius excubitor

Above: A large grey shrike with a tick in its beak sitting on the leg of a camel.

Below : Shrike perched on camel back.

( Photos : Asad R. Rahmani)

mm

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

Reference

Ali, S. & Ripley, S. D. (1983) : Handbook of the

Birds of India and Pakistan. (Compact Edition).

Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

17. RECOVERY OF AN INDIAN GOLDEN ORIOLE ( ORIOLUS

ORIOLUS KUNDOO) IN THE U.S.S.R.

{With a text-figure)

During the Society’s bird ringing camp at

Bhavnagar, Gujarat (21°46'N, 72°11'E) bet-

ween 12 and 30 September 1961, five Orioles

(3 females, 1 male, 1 unsexed) were ringed.

Of these one (unsexed) Wing 132 mm was

ringed (No. B-2575) on 29th September 1961.

The Centre of Ringing and Marking Birds,

Moscow, has informed the Society that this

bird was recovered at Ordjonikidzeobad

(38°29'N, 68°58'E), Tadzhikistan on 10th

June 1971.

Dewar (1908) summarizing the information

211

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. 83 (, SUPPLEMENT )

on the local movements of the Indian resi-

dent birds, concluded that the Indian Golden

Oriole (Oriolus oriolus kundoo ) is a migrant.

On the other hand Ali and Ripley (1972)

state, “Status difficult to define accurately,

varies with locality and season between resi-

dent, seasonal visitor, local and/or extralimital

passage migrant”. The recovery of this bird

in the USSR is noteworthy specially when

there is no definite information on the move-

ments of the Indian Orioles, though Demen-

tiev gives the status as nesting and migratory

Bombay Natural History Society,

Hornbill House,

Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road,

Bombay - 400 023,

December 17, 1985.

within the USSR and resident and nomadic

in India.

Although this is a single record, it furnishes

the first positive proof that the Indian Golden

Oriole migrates long distances including the

USSR where it also breeds (Dementiev 1970).

The bird had travelled approximately 2100

kilometres north of the ringing place and was

recovered 9 years 8 months and 16 days later.

Incidentally this is longest life span recorded

for the Oriole in the wild state.

V. C. AMBEDKAR

Refer

Ali, S. & Ripley, S. Dillon (1972): Handbook

of the Birds of India and Pakistan. Vol. 5: 103.

Oxford University Press, Bombay.

Dementiev, G. P. & Gladkov, N. A. (1970) :

18. ADDITIONAL RECORDS

( DICRURUS ADSIMILIS)

The Black Drongo has been occasionally

observed to include small birds in its diet.

Osmaston (1922) records an incident in which

a black drongo preyed on a white eye ( Zoste -

rops palpebrosa). Two other birds earlier re-

corded as having fallen prey to the drongo

are Prinia and Aegithina (Ali & Ripley 1983).

While walking through the woodlands of

Bharatpur’s Keoladeo National Park, we had

an opportunity to observe a black drongo

feeding on an Indian wren warbler ( Prinia

subflava). The drongo swooped down and

captured the warbler, which was foraging in

the lower thickets, and carried it away to an

Acacia tree whereupon it started devouring

NCES

Birds of the Soviet Union. Vol. 5 : 175.

Dewar, D. (1908) : Local bird migration in India.

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 18: 343-356.

OF THE BLACK DRONGO

FEEDING ON BIRDS

it. It took exactly 50 minutes for the bird to

complete its meal.

A few days later (7.1.85), one of us

(U.S.), along with another BNHS biologist

Mr. Vibhu Prakash, observed a similar inci-

dent in which a black drongo was preying on

an Indian cliff swallow ( Hirundo fluvicola).

This was seen on an Acacia tree standing by

one of the dykes intersecting the wetland.

Identity of the prey was confirmed by view-

ing through a high power telescope.

Both the above incidences happened during

the peak of the cold season, a time during

which insects are bound to be scarce. A highly

212

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

insectivorous bird like the drongo is perhaps

forced to make an unusual meal of a bird or

two as a compensation for the dearth in insect

population.

No such event was, however, recorded dur-

Field Biologists,

BNHS Eco. Res. Centre,

Bharatpur-321 001, (Rajasthan),

June 2, 1986.

ing the following winter (1985-86). Further

observations are required to substantiate the

theory that drongos take to preying upon

birds more often in winter than in the other

seasons.

U. SRIDFIARAN

C. SIVASUBRAMANIAN

Osmaston, B. B. (1922) : Predaceous habit of the

common king crow. J. Bombay mat. Hist. Soc., 28

(2): 546.

References

Ali, Salim & Ripley, S. D. (1983) : Handbook

of the birds of India and Pakistan, Compact edition,

pg. 353. Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

19. DISPLA Y OF THICK BILLED FLOWERPECKER

DICAEUM AGILE

On 2nd February 1985 in company with

Nitin Jamdar, Atul Jamdar and Kiran

Shrivastava I visited Karnala Bird Sanctuary.

At a point where the path levels out before

the final climb to “Fort”. I saw a Thickbilled

flowerpecker ( Dicaeum agile) among the

branches of an almost leafless tree about 5 m.

tall which had many small fruits along the

thin upper branches (Earlier I had seen a

‘Blue Rock Thrush’ Monticola solitarius take

one of these small round fruit which it

swallowed) .

While watching the flowerpecker, which was

also seen by the other members of the party

a second bird flew towards it giving excited

twittering calls and fluttered over it. It did

this several times and it was evident that it

7, Murley Close,

George Hill,

Crediton, Devon, U.K.,

April 30, 1985.

was engaged in a form courtship display and

was presumed to be the male of a pair.

As it was displaying, I noted that there

was a distinct white line showing as a mesial

streak across the crown and down the nape.

At one time when its excitement was intense,

the centre of the crown seemed to be flecked

with white looking like a small brown and

white flower. When it moved, away from the

presumed female the white was not apparent.

My impression was that in display, it could

erect and open out the feathers of the

crown and nape to show the white feather

bases. Identification of the bird was easy as

it was in strong sunlight and the dark stubby

bill was seen and tail-moving noted, and was

confirmed by Nitin Jamdar who is familiar

with the species.

S. G. MADGE

213

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

20. COLOUR SELECTION BY THE BLACKTHROATED WEAVER

BIRD PLOCEUS BENGHALENSIS

Examination of half-built nests of Ploceus

benghalensis at the forest plantation Tatarpur

(Alwar), Rajasthan, showed that they were

decorated with yellow coloured (or some

close variant of yellow) floral material around

their egg chambers. This type of adornment

was associated with the half-built nests only

and not with the completed nests. Implanta-

tion of yellow floral parts was done on the

margin of the egg-chamber and not at the

deeper points of the same. The implantation

was done on a bed of wet cowdung which was

deposited before flower insertion. In a very

few cases flower insertion was done without

deposition of wet dung. The following floral

material has been noted so far (Table 1).

From the Table 1 it can be clearly seen

that P. benghalensis has a definite preference

for using yellow floral material to decorate

its half-built nest.

Response of d P. benghalensis to artificial

adornment

Experiments were conducted to judge the

response of the male P. benghalensis to arti-

ficial adornment of its nest. Three males (Pbl,

Table 1

214

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

Table 3A

Pbl in N1

215

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

Pb2 and Pb3) and their half -built nests (Nl,

N2 and N3 respectively) were selected. In

nests N2 and N3 the birds had inserted male

flowers of M. dioica after heavy deposition of

cowdung. In the third nest, Nl, a flower head

of A. nilotica had been inserted without any

dung deposition. Taking care not to disturb

the floral material already present in the three

nests, various flowers, one of each kind, were

put in the egg chambers of each nest. See

Table 2.

The birds were then observed from within a

hide. It was noted that all three birds removed

the red flowers of T. purpurea first. The ex-

periment was repeated several times. The

frequency and sequence in which the flowers

were removed differed for the three nests. See

Tables 3A, 3B and 3C.

Pvemoval of the flowers was not a continu-

ous activity but done along with the weaving

of the nest. The response of the birds to the

flowers artificially put in their nests decreased

when the experiment was repeated more than

twice. After the first, or second time the birds

ceased to be much disturbed by the extra

floral material placed in their nests. It was

also noted that the birds removed the flowers

one at a time. However, when two flowers

were kept very close together, they were some-

times removed in twos.

Forester,

I/c Mixed Plantation,

Tatar pur (Alwar),

Rajasthan,

October 15, 1984.

Response of female P. benghalensis to artificial

adornment

During the experiments Nest N2 was visited

twice by prospecting females; first by a single

female and later on by two. One of the latter

entered the half-built nest. She did not touch

or seem disturbed by the floral material put

there. However, after a few minutes she picked

up one flower of M. dioica and inserted it in

the wail of the egg chamber. When nest N2

was completed, a female (perhaps the same)

occupied it for breeding. When there was only

one egg in the egg chamber many flowers of

various colours were inserted in the egg

chamber by me. Some of these were thrown

out of the nest by the male and the remaining

were later thrown out by the female. This

experiment was repeated several times for nest

N2 that day. The next morning the nest was

found empty; the one-day old egg had also

been thrown out of the nest.

Thus it can be said that the male P. benghal-

ensis has an affinity for yellow or its close

variant colours for decorating its nest. When

the nest is artificially decorated, the bird first

rejects the red, blue and white flowers. How-

ever, if many flowers of each species are in-

serted together, their removal becomes

haphazard. The value of decorating the nest

exists until the nest is accepted by a female;

after acceptance by her the nest decoration

loses its importance.

SATISH KUMAR SHARMA

216

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

21 SOME COMMENTS ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE OSTRICH

IN ASIA AND NORTH AFRICA

As an inhabitant of the deserts of Asia, the

ostrich Strut hie camelus is generally considered

to have died out by the end of the Pleistocene

(Brodkorb 1963) but my attention was recent-

ly drawn to a paper by E. D. Ross (1909)

which may have escaped the notice of ornitho-

logists. Ross discusses, and attempts to identify

a number of descriptions of birds contained

in the so-called “Manchu-Chinese Mirror” an

exhaustive vocabulary of the Manchu language

published in 1771. A number of the birds des-

cribed are readily identifiable, but a consider-

able number are not, and some of these may

represent aberrant individuals, hybrids, domes-

tic varieties, or frankly fictitious species. On

the other hand it is quite possible that some

of them may represent species which formerly

occurred in eastern Asia, but are now extinct.

It is regrettable that so many of the descrip-

tions appear to be vague, however among them

a rather unmistakable bird, the ostrich, seems

to occur. This is Ross’s bird no. 113 which is

variously called Ustur Murgh in Turki, Temege

coko in Manchu, and T’o chi [using the Wade

spelling] in Chinese. All these names seem to

mean literally “Camel Fowl” or “Camel Bird”

a very reasonable description of the ostrich.

According to Ross, the “Mirror” describes the

bird thus:-

“This bird in the Southern Seas and in

the south of the province of Fu-Kien. It is

very large, measuring six feet in height. It is

unable to fly. When full grown, five colours

are represented on its body.”

Although the last statement is rather obscure,

this description, if accurate, can only refer

to a large ratite, and the ostrich seems the

most likely candidate. As Chinese civilisation

probably began in the Hwang-ho river valley,

and gradually spread southward; until quite

late in history the southern part of the country

was probably comparatively sparsely popu-

lated. The coastal region of South China (e.g.

Fukien) is therefore just the sort of place

where a population of a bird such as the

ostrich might be expected to finger long after

the species had died out elsewhere. Although

the date of publication of the “Mirror” (1771)

is no proof that the bird was still extant at

that date, it does suggest the possibility that

a bird of the genus Struthio persisted in South

China until perhaps the seventeenth or early

eighteenth centuries.

A study of the literature of the Indian sub-

continent might perhaps reveal similar records

there.

After the publication of a previous note

(Walters 1982) further confirmation of the

probable existence of a population of small

ostriches in Northern Africa came to fight in

the form of an egg brought to the Museum

by Mr. Philip Carter who had spent some

time in Libya as an employee of an oil con-

cern. Mr. Carter’s egg was picked up in the

Libyan Desert, having already been exposed

both totally and partially for varying periods.

The whole of the outer porcellainous layer

had been removed, resulting in a matt chalky

surface over part of the shell — this chalky

surface could easily be scratched with a

finger-nail. Subsequently the egg seems to have

lain partly exposed for a considerable time,

as the rest of the shell was highly eroded, and

subsequently polished by wind or sand abra-

sion to a gloss. This gloss was most pro-

nounced in one small area, and here the shell

appeared darker than elsewhere. The egg had

a hole in one side which was clearly old,

217

15

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. 83 (, SUPPLEMENT )

the edges having been smoothed and eroded;

and this suggested that the egg may have been

used as a water container. When found it was

completely buried in the sand, and is now in

Mr. Carter’s possession.

It measured 147 x 126 mm and is therefore

comparable in size with the eggs of Struthio

British Museum (Natural History),

Tring, Hertfordshire,

England HP23 6AP,

March 6, 1985.

Refer

Brodkorb, P. (1963): Catalogue of Fossil Birds,

pt. 1. Bull. Florida State Mus. 7(4) : 196-199.

Ross, E. Denison (1909): Polyglot List of Birds

— Turki, Manchu, Chinese. Memoirs As. Soc. Ben-

gal, 2(9): 253-340.

camel us syriacus and S. c. spatzi (Schonwetter

1960). Although it also falls within the range

quoted by Schonwetter (142-175 x 120-145

mm) for S. c. camelus it is quite possible that

Schonwetter’s figures may be biased to the

bottom end of the range by the inclusion of

one or more eggs of this small form.

MICHAEL WALTERS

iNCES

Walters, M. (1982): A small ostrich egg from

Egypt. Sand grouse 4: 116-117.

Schonwetter, M. (Ed. M. Meise) (1960) : Hand-

biich der Oologie, part. 1.

22. MORTALITY FROM A HAIL-STORM AT THE KARERA

BUSTARD SANCTUARY, MADHYA PRADESH

(With a plate)

Natural calamities like floods, forest fires

and earthquakes are known to cause consider-

able damage to living organisms. A similar

natural calamity was witnessed by us recently

which created panic and confusion leaving

behind a trail of destruction.

On 10th February 1986, around 1500 hrs

an unprecedented hail-storm lashed parts of

Shivpuri district, Madhya Pradesh. The effect

of this hail-storm was very severe in the Karera

Bustard Sanctuary (lat. 25°30' to 25°40'N and

longitude 78°5' to 78° 12' E). The hail-storm

lasted for about 25 minutes. The weight of the

hailstones varied from 250 to 350 gm.

The effect of the hail-storm was very severe

around the Diyala Jheel situated in the Karera

Bustard Sanctuary. The Jheel at that time

sheltered a large number of migratory water-

birds like ducks, geese and smaller waders.

As the hail-storm lashed, the birds tried to take

off and escape but were dashed to the ground

by the heavy hailstones. According to our

estimate, about two thousand waterbirds alone

died or were badly injured. Soon after the

storm abated, the villagers from nearby villages

rushed towards the jheel and carried away

dead and dying birds in gunny sacs. Dead birds

were strewn all over the place.

Next morning one of us (EDC) with the

help of a bird trapper collected some of the

dead bodies of birds from the jheel, recover-

ing 130 of them. Most of them had been killed

from injury to the wings, rump and head and

neck. Some had broken wing bones jutting out.

A few had their eyes gouged out. We saw a

Sarus Crane (Grus anti gone) immobilised

218

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83 (supplement)

D’Cunha & Akhtar: Karera Bustard Sanctuary

Plate I

Above: Piles of birds killed by the hail-storm. Below: A sarus crane with wings

broken by the hail-storm.

( Photos : Asad R. Rahmani)

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

with broken wings and feet (Plate I). It was

calling helplessly and it died after a day. A

Demoiselle Crane ( Anthropoides virgo) was

found limping. Three whitebacked vultures

( Gyps bengalensis) also died. Apart from

birds, two blackbuck ( Antilope cervicapra)

and a good number of livestock also perished.

Two shepherds who wer e out in the field were

hit but they managed to save their lives. The

hail-storm caused considerable damage to the

standing wheat and groundnut crops.

Given below is a list of birds that were

collected by us from the jheel on 11.2.1986

in the morning between 1000 and 1200 hrs.

The list represents but only a small

percentage of the birds killed. Since these were

entangled in the grass in deep water the villa-

gers were unable to collect them. Many birds

with deep gashes could be seen fluttering

around the whole sanctuary for a couple of

days. In all it was a pathetic sight.

Bombay Natural History Society,

Hornbill House,

Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road,

Bombay 400 023,

April 2, 1986.

Species

1. Phalacrocorax fuscicollis

2. Threskiomis aethiopica

3. Platalea leucorodia

4. Anas acuta

5. Anas crecca

6. Anas strepera

7. Anas penelope

8. Anas clypeata

9. Netta rufina

10. Ay thy a ferrina

1 1 . Aythya fuligula

12. Fulica atra

13. Hydrophasianus chirurgus

14. Vaneltus leucurus

15. Tringa erythropus

16. Gallinago gallinago

17. Calidris testacea

18. Philomachus pugnax

19. Streptopelia tranquebarica

20. Streptopelia decaocto

21 . Psittacula krameri

* denotes birds with BNHS rings.

A denotes collected from outside the jheel.

E. P. ERIC D’CUNHA

ASAD AKHTAR

No. of birds

1

6

5

7

5

2* F 59014

1

9

3

6

76

2

1* 1B46852

1

1* AB 117351

1* B 64617

1A

2A

1A

23. INTIMIDATION AMONG WATERBIRDS AT BHARATPUR

On 28th February 1985 at about 16 hours,

we were watching a mixed flock of birds feed-

ing at the Keoladeo Temple at the Keoladeo

Ghana National Park, Bharatpur. The mixed

flock included purple moorhens, whitebreasted

waterhens, pond herons, little egrets, cattle

egrets, median egrets, glossy ibis, purple

herons, grey herons, a blacknecked stork, Sarus

cranes, Siberian cranes, whitetailed lapwings,

and some ducks, amongst others.

Whilst most of the other bird species were

engaged in feeding, some competition for food

was observed between the several pond herons

at the site. Some aggressive behaviour was also

observed between the purple moorhens.

One of the more successful pond herons

suddenly came up with a prize catch — a

black catfish over six inches long. Perhaps

apprehensive of the fact that the other pond

herons might deprive him of this catch, he

quickly flew off with the fish, which, held at

right angles to his beak, was making a valiant

attempt to escape.

Unfortunately, though the pond heron suc-

ceeded in evading the unwelcome attentions of

his comrades, a purple heron decided to in-

219

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JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

vestigate. Deciding that the catfish was too

much of a mouthful for the pond heron, the

purple heron attacked the pond heron, who

promptly dropped the fish and sat down with

a loud squawk. The purple heron swooped

down on the fish and picked it up without

alighting, but unfortunately for him, the pond

heron’s cry had attracted the attention of a

grey heron and a blacknecked stork. We were

treated to the rare sight of the purple heron

being chased by the grey heron which in turn

was being chased by the blacknecked stork.

Flying at a height of not more than fifty feet,

the purple heron made a valiant attempt to

escape by circling back. The grey heron sud-

denly decided that discretion was the better

13 Neet Tarang,

210, Veer Savarkar Marg,

Mahim, Bombay-400 016.

part of valour and gave up the chase after

about 30 seconds, flying off at a tangent,

leaving the field clear for the black-necked

stork. Realizing that the blacknecked stork was

not going to give up so easily, the purple

heron dropped the fish and settled down at a

distance, while the blacknecked stork dived

triumphantly to retrieve the fish.

Alas, there is many a slip ‘twixt the cup

and the lip, for this time, the fish had fallen

in one of the shallow marshy pools. Though

the blacknecked stork settled down very quick-

ly and made a number of attempts to locate

the fish, he was unable to do so. When we left

half an hour later, he was still jabbing away.

Intimidation doesn’t always pay !

DEBI GOENKA

74 Turner Road, HETA PANDIT

Bandra,

Bombay-400 050,

July 10, 1985.

24. NOTE ON THE STRANGE BEHAVIOUR OF A MARSH

CROCODILE ( CROCODYLUS PALUSTRIS)

(With a plate)

On 3rd of June, 1986, I was at the Raj Bagh

Lake in Ranthambore National Park observ-

ing the activity around a female sambar kill

of a tiger on the edge of the lake. The kill

was half eaten and vultures were already on

it.

Around 2.00 p.m. a crocodile came out of

the water, went to the dead sambar and after

a spell of inactivity, took three bites out of

it. Soon this crocodile was followed by an-

other who settled down near the kill on the

opposite side. The first returned to the water

and so did the second without eating anything.

The third crocodile (all of them were around

ten feet in length) came out of the water, went

to the kill, caught the dead sambar by the

neck and spun round five to six times with

the kill still in its mouth. The crocodile came

to rest with all its feet in the air and remained

in this position for a few seconds before turn-

ing right side up on to its feet. Soon thereafter,

this crocodile also went back into the lake

without attempting to eat anything from the

kill.

220

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Crocodile spinning with the kill in its mouth.

(Photo: Udaybhanusinh)

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

I have never seen such behaviour and nor

can I explain it in any way apart from the

possibility of the crocodile repeating on the

ground certain motions which it performs in

the water. It appeared to me to be an attempt

of the crocodile to dismember the kill. How-

No. 1, Mansingh Road,

New Delhi-110 011,

July 8, 1986.

ever, in this case the latter remained intact

after the crocodile’s efforts.

The accompanying photograph (Plate I)

shows the crocodile spinning round with the

kill in its mouth, it is in “mid-air” so to speak.

DIVYABHANUSINH

25 . IDENTITY OF “BAHEL SCHULLI” OF HORTUS MALABARICUS

“Bahel Schullii” was the local name used

by Draakestein van Rheede for the acantha-

ceous plant presently known in our Indian

Floras as Hygrophila auriculata (Schumach.)

Heine. The first valid binomial used for this

taxon was Barleria longifolia Linn. (Amoen.

Acad. 4: 320, 1759). This species was placed

under the genus Hygrophila R. Br. as H.

spinosa. T. Anders, by its author on taxono-

mical grounds. The specific epithet longifolia

is occupied by another distinct species in that

genus by Hygrophila longifolia Nees (1847)

and therefore a new combination H. auriculata

(Schumach.) Heine (Kew Bull. 16: 172, 1962)

was proposed based on the earlier name Barle-

ria auriculata Schumach. (Schumach. & Tonn.

Beskr. Guin. PI. 285, 1827).

Francis Hamilton (1824), unaware of the

earlier Linnean binomial Barleria longifolia

Linn. — for this plant thought that this well

described and figured plant of Rheede’s Hortus

Malabaricus is devoid of any valid binomial

and proposed a new binomial Bahel schulli

Hamilt. (Trans. Linn. Sco. Lond. 14: 289,

1824), treating Bahel as generic name and

schulli as specific epithet, giving pre-Linnean

identity of the species and a first-hand fresh

description. However, Hamilton’s binomial has

escaped the attention of the modern taxono-

mist because of the later generic homonym

Bahel proposed by Hamilton.

In fact Rheede (Vol. 9: 169, t. 87, 1689)

had used the orthographic varient of local

name “Bahel tsjulli” for another distinct species

belonging to family Scrophulariaceae, now

placed in genus Art enema Don.

Adanson (Fam. PI. 2: 210, 1763), however

had used Generic name Bahel for Scrophula-

riaceous “Bahel tsjulli”.

Hamilton’s generic name Bahel is therefore

later homonym of Adanson’s name. However

his binomial Bahel schulli Hamilt. is validly

published and according to Article 68.1 its

specific epithet schulli is available for use in

genus Hygrophila R. Br., which has priority

over Barleria auriculata Schumach.

We, therefore propose a new combination

Hygrophila schulli (Hamilt.) comb. nov.

(Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond. 14: 289, 1824).

Basionym: Bahel schulli Hamilton.

Hamilton also mentions a variety of this

species having pure white flowers. There is no

subsequent record of this species having seen

in pure white flowers. We have recently col-

lected this pure white-flowered variety at

Nandur-Madhmeshwar.

221

JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 (, SUPPLEMENT )

Alchemie Research Centre, M. R. ALMEIDA

Thane-Belapur Road,

Thane-400 601.

Blatter Herbarium, S. M. ALMEIDA

St. Xavier’s College,

Bombay-400 001,

October 22, 1986.

26. NOTES ON IDENTIFICATION OF SOME UNIDENTIFIED

PLANT-SPECIES IN HORTUS MALABARICUS

During our studies on plants of Western

Ghats (Maharashtra) we had the opportunity

to go through the pioneering work on Indian

plants by Draakestein van Rheede (1678-

1693). In spite of a number of attempts to

identify and name the species figured and

described in the 12 volumes of van Rheede’s

work, a number of species still lack proper

identifications and good nomenclatural con-

cepts. We have tried to interpret the plates in

these volumes and assign them correct botani-

cal names. The following three are unknown

or obscurely known in modern taxonomical

terms and are attempted below:

1, katou-theka (Catu-tekka in English)

Ranpaphla (Brahmin).

Rheede, Hort. Mai. 4: 59, t. 28, 1683.

In the post Linnean period, Poir (Lamarck

Encycl. 5: 1, 1804) identified this figure as

belonging to a species of Psychotria. Hamilton

while giving the commentary on this species

concluded that, as suggested by Wildenow,

Katou-theka is the same ‘cupi’ of another

figure of Rheede (Hort. Mai. 2: 37, t. 23,

1679); he identified it as Webera corymbosa

Willd. After careful study of van Rheede’s

figure and the description, we have come to

the conclusion that the Rheede’s species re-

presents the Rubiaceous plant Psychotria

dalzelli Hook. f.

We justify the identity of this figure as

Psychotria dalzellii Hk. f. on the bases of fol-

lowing reasons:

1 . Leaves in this taxon are given as more

or less spatulate as in Psychotria dalzellii

Hk. f.

2. Inflorescence is a terminal cyme, the cyme

branches whorled, the lower in whorls of

4, subtended by 4 large bracts.

3. Flowers crowded at the tips of branches.

4. Fruit sub-globose, crowned by calyx limb,

subtended by persistent bracts.

Typical specimen : S. M. Almeida 420,

Charatha-Savantwadi (25-7-77). J. F. Fernan-

des 1626 — Yellapur N. K. (1-6-1950),

(BLAT).

We do not concur with Hamilton (1835)

that the Rheede’s figure belongs to Webera

corymbosa due to following reasons:

1 . Leaves in Webera corymbosa Willd. are

not spatulate; they are linear-lanceolate

or oblong-lanceolate.

2 . Inflorescence terminal, compound dicha-

sial cyme, not arising in whorls of 4; not

subtended by large bracts.

3 . Fruit globose, not subtended by large

bracts.

4. Webera corymbosa Willd. is already sepa-

rately figured and described as ‘cupi’ by

van Rheede, (Vol. 2: 37, t. 23, 1679).

222

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

2. ben-teka (Malayalam)

Saili (Brahmin).

Rheede Hort. Mai. 4: 63, pi. 30, 1683.

The Figure of this species in Hortus Mala-

baricus is botanically not well represented, but

after studying the figure and the text, we have

come to the conclusion that it belongs to the

species presently known as Hymenodictyon

excelsum Wall.

Lamarck (Encycl. 1: 401, 1785) gave the

description of this species under its local name

‘ben-teka’ without any specific epithet and with-

out a validly published generic name. Denn-

staedt provided the botanical binomial Kasailo

racemosa Dennstd. which is also considered as

an invalid name (see Article 42. IC of ICBN).

The first valid binomial for the taxon was

published by Roemer & Schultes (1819) as

Ben-teka rheedii Roem. & Schult. (Syst. 4:

706 1819). However, this binomial was con-

fused as belonging to family Apocynaceae

due to Ben-teca Adanson (Fam. 2: 166, 1763),

Ben-teka Adanson (Fam. 2: 525, 1763). These

v/ere considered congeneric and equated with

Ambelania Aubl. (Apocynaceae).

There are a number of defects in Rheede’s

figure which has made this taxon unrecogniz-

able to the commentators. We enumerate the

following few defects which have made the

figure unrecognizable —

1 . Fruits in some cases have been shown

blunt at apex; whereas they are always

acute at the apex when they are young

or unopened.

2. Fruits are shown without stalk borne on

the inflorescence branches, but actually the

fruits are stalked and do not originate in

clusters as shown in the figure.

3. The leaves are shown as alternate or as

if they are coming only from one side

of the stem; whereas they are typically

opposite in actual plants.

We could at once recognize this plant as

belonging to presently known species Hyme-

nodictyon excelsum Wall, due to the follow-

ing reasons —

1 . Leaves broadly ovate, long-petioled, acu-

minate at apex, narrowing to the base to

the petiole.

2. Inflorescence a long raceme, flowers in

clusters, shortly pedicellate; style exerted,

stigma large, capitate.

3 . Fruit ellipsoid, acute at apex, on decurved

stalks.

But for expert field knowledge of this

species, it is impossible to place this taxon in

its proper place. We cannot understand the

basis of Francis Hamilton (1825) placing this

taxon in “The order” Solanaceae.

As the identity of the taxon is clear to us

now, we find the earliest validly published

name for this species is Benteka rheedii R. &

S. Therefore, we propose the following new

combination for this taxon.

Hymenodictyon rheedii (R. & S.) comb,

nov.

Basionym ; Benteka rheedii R. & S. Syst. 4;

706, 1819.

Benteca Adanson is heterotypic generic

homonym and orthographic variant of this

taxon.

In the latest code of ICBN, on page 411, in

entry No. 8197, we find Benteca Adanson is

given as a rejected name (Nom. reiicienduml

against Hymenodictyon Wall, ex Roxb. and

they are shown as taxonomic synonyms based

on different types. This entry needs two cor-

rections in view of our findings:

1. Benteka Adanson (Fam. 2: 525, 1763)

based on the type of Rheede Hortus

Malabaricus 4: 63, pi. 30, 1683 is con-

generic with Hymenodictyon Wall, ex

Roxb. and not with Benteca Adanson

(Fam. PI. 2: 166, 1763), which is based

223

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

on different type species Benteca odorata

Rafin.

2. Benteka Adanson is not only a taxonomic

synonym, but it is a nomenclatural syno-

nym of Hymenodictyon Wall, ex Roxb.

Typical specimen — K. V. Shenoy: 3719 —

Mumbra (9-7-1954) (BLAT).

3. sundari: Rheede, Hort. Mai. 5: 79, t. 40,

1685.

In our opinion this taxon belongs to the

species known today as Ehretia laevis Rox-

burgh. It is called ‘Sundari’ by van Rheede,

but there is no indication to suggest whether

it is the Malayalam name or the Brahamin

name of the species. It was described as

‘Kaka-ponna’ allied to genus Euonymus

(Celastraceae) by Poiret (Ency. 8: 228, 1834)

Alchemie Research Centre,

Thane-Belapur Road,

Thane 400 601.

Blatter Herbarium,

St. Xavier’s Colloge,

Bombay 400 001,

November 4, 1986.

and was given the binomial Sundaria cranga-

noorensis by Dennstaedt. Dennstaedt’s name

is invalid under Article 42. IC of ICBN. Hamil-

ton identified this as a species of Rhamnaceae,

where as Don and Poiret thought it to be be-

longing to Celastraceae. Ultimately, nobody so

far has correctly identified this plant belong-

ing to Ehretiaceae.

The plant when in bloom, is very beautiful

and it attracts number of bees and other in-

sects. The local name sundari might be indi-

cative of aesthetic beauty of this species.

Typical specimen : Santapau — 18396 Waghai-

Dangs forest (12.3.1954), (BLAT).

We are grateful to the authorities of Blatter

Herbarium for providing facilities to work, and

to Dr. (Mrs.) A. R. Daruwalla for making

necessary corrections in the manuscript.

M. R. ALMEIDA

S. M. ALMEIDA

27. PROLIFERATION IN OPUNTIA DlLLENll (KER-GAWLER)

HAW.

(With a photograph)

Opuntia dillenii (Ker-Gawler) Haw., an

introduced cactus from Californian Peninsula,

is frequent in various places of Deccan

Plateau, along hedges and wastelands; it is

also occasionally cultivated in gardens as an

ornamental plant. In one of the plants grow-

ing in our garden mature fruits are never pro-

duced and young fruits wither and fall off

after some time. However, in a few cases,

surprisingly, I observed the development of

normal flattened joints with spines from the

fruit when it is still attached to the mother

plant. On critical observation, these fruits

showed no viable seeds but only sterile ovules.

Sections of such fruits revealed that prolife-

ration took place from the receptacular part

of the inferior ovary. The ovary, thus, func-

tioned as a joint of the stem. These fruits never

ripened and remained green without any

significant enlargement.

224

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

Photo. 1. Opuntia dillennii (Ker-Gawler) Haw. showing the development of normal

joints from the fruit (arrow).

The inferior ovary, in members of Cacta-

ceae, is commonly interpreted as having

originated by the sinking of the gynoecium

into the floral axis (receptacle) and the present

observation is a strong evidence in favour of

this interpretation.

Department of Botany,

POORNAPRAJ NA COLLEGE,

Udipi - 576 101,

Karnataka,

May 30, 1986.

Acknowledgement

The photographic assistance rendered by

Dr. N. A. Madhyastha is gratefully acknow-

ledged.

K. GOPALAKRISHNA BEAT

■ it i

225

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

28. A NEW EXOTIC SOLANACEOUS WEED IN OLD WORLD

TROPICS

{With a plate and three text-figures)

Introduction

Plant migrations have not only enabled

human civilizations to flourish in different con-

tinents of the globe, but also caused natural

calamities that led to human migrations (Baker

1974, Hutchinson 1965). These catastrophies

are the consequences of conversion of produc-

tive ecosystems into non-productive ones due

to invasion of aggressive exotic weeds and the

outbreak of epidemics of plant, animal and

human diseases through the accidental intro-

duction of virulent pathogens and pests from

one country into another. The former is

exemplified by the rapid invasion of life sup-

porting aquatic systems by the obnoxious

South American weed — Eichhornia crassipes

Solms, resulting in the eutrophication of lakes

and in the disruption of ecological balance;

the latter is exemplified by another American

weed, the congress grass ( Parthenium hystero-

p horns Linn.) causing allergy to animals and

humans; and the damage caused by the pests

is best illustrated by the crop losses due to

accidental introduction of weed seed carrying

virus and bacterial diseases. These facts de-

monstrate that plant migrations have played

havoc with human civilizations.

Weeds have been the subject of much

research because of their importance in agri-

culture and horticulture (Baker l.c.). Weed

floras include both native and immigrant weeds.

The naturalized exotic weeds (aliens) often

displace native flora and cause an ecological

disturbance. In fact, in tropics a genus {or

even family) where weediness is not prevalent.

226

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

may contain an occasional species with an

evolved combination of characters that have

enabled it to ‘hit the weed jackpot’ and spread

widely with human aid (Baker l.c.)- This

aspect of evolution of weeds is evident from

the weeds of South American origin in India,

which is represented by the members of

Amaranthaceae, Asteraceae, Malvaceae, Sola-

naceae, and others. Within Solanaceous weeds.

a majority of them belong to Solarium and a

few of them are represented by the species

of Physalis. The genus Petunia comprises

species which are chiefly American in distri-

bution, the nomenclature of the genus itself

having been derived from the South American

aboriginal name, ‘Petu-nia’ (Bailey 1944). The

genus contains 40 species, mainly South Ame-

rican in occurrence, among which Petunia par-

80 1 84°' 8ef> 9^* 9^'

I ' s ^

> '7 INDIA

(

227

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 (, SUPPLEMENT )

viflora Juss. is a remarkable species with a

wide range of disjunct distribution (Fig. 1),

and is of South American (Brasilian) origin;

it occurs as a common weed in the dry areas

of South Western, Central, North Eastern and

North Western United States (D’Arcy 1978,

Munz & Keck 1959). The genus contains

many species of horticultural value, the culti-

gen. Petunia hybrida Vilm., being grown in

Indian gardens too. But the occurrence of a

weed species of Petunia — P. parviflora

Juss., is reported here for the first time from

the Old World tropics.

Observations and Discussion

In the course of our investigations on the

Flora of Delhi, we encountered a population

of plants in cultivated fields of Purana Basant

village located about 6-8 km east of Palam —

the International Airport, at New Delhi (Fig.

2). Detailed examination of these plants indi-

cated that the population represents an unusual

taxon not reported so far from the Indian Sub-

Continent, and resembles superficially, Bacopa

of Scrophulariaceae. Further studies revealed

that the plants did not belong to Scrophularia-

ceae, but could be referred to Salpiglossidae

of the family Solanaceae. Since we could not

identify the species locally, the specimens were

sent to Dr. William D’Arcy (Missouri Bota-

nical Garden), Dr. Michael Nee (New York

Botanical Garden) and to Dr. Dan Nicolson

(Smithsonian Institution, Washington) all of

whom are authorities on Solanaceae and who

have identified the species as Petunia parviflora

Juss. of Salpiglossidae of Solanaceae.

The occurrence of P. parviflora the type

species of the genus, in the Indian subconti-

nent gives a clue that it may also occur else-

where in the Old World tropics as an

accidental introduction. The fact that the

population is restricted to a field close to the

International Airport suggests that the seeds

of P. parviflora might have arrived alongwith

the air cargo. It is now spreading fast in the

nearby fields. The observations demonstrate

that the species is of recent introduction and

is now getting naturalised as an alien species.

Since it forms a component of weed flora of

agricultural fields, it is essential to eradicate

it right in the initial stages before it could

spread to other parts of the country and

to neighbouring countries in the sub-continent.

Petunia parviflora is a creeping herb, rooting

at nodes and often forming mats (Plate, Fig.

3). It is usually associated with other weeds

such as Chenopodium, Amaranthus, and Por-

tulaca. Besides vegetative reproduction by stem

stolons, the species produces copious seeds.

On an average, a single plant produces about

60 to 80 seeds per capsule, which have con-

siderable dormancy. The seedlings usually

emerge during the months of March/ April and

the plants flower and fruit in the months of

May- June and this continues till the advent of

winter.

In order to facilitate easy identification of

the species, diagnostic morphological features

are provided here.

Petunia parviflora Juss. (Fig. 4)

Creeping annual herbs, rooting at nodes;

branches glandular-hairy, with purple, 2-3

celled hairs, particularly when young. Stems

terete, yellowish-green when dry. Leaves alter-

nate in the lower part and opposite in the

upper part, often fascicled because of con-

densation of intemodes, obovate, spathulate,

subsessile or shortly petioled, obtuse or

obtusely acute at apex, entire, glandular ciliate,

glandular hairy on both surfaces, with a pro-

minent midrib, 4-20 mm x 1-4 mm. Flowers

solitary axillary, bract eate, upto c 10 mm

long; subsessile or shortly pedicellate, pedicel

228

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83 (supplement) Plate

Viswanathan & Singh: Petunia parviflora

Petunia parviflora — a creeping herb.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

Fig. 4. Petunia parviflora Juss.

A. Habit; B. Calyx; C. Flower L. S.; D. Pistil; E. Ovary C. S.; F. Capsule enclosed

in calyx; G. Capsule-open; H. seed.

upto c 6 mm long, glandular hairy. Calyx 5

lobed, glandular hairy, lobes oblong, broader

towards the apex, obtuse, unequal in size,

posterior one being larger, 2-6 mm long, and

0.5-1 mm broad, 1 -nerved. Corolla slightly

longer than the calyx, upto 10 mm long, in-

fundibuliform; tube greenish outside, yellowish

within, 1-2 mm broad; throat glabrous; lobes

5, pink, slightly irregular, upper 3, lower 2,

roundish, acuminate, glandular hairy on the

outer surface, glabrous within, 2x2 mm.

Stamens 5, included, inserted at the base of

corolla tube, unequal, longer ones 4-5 mm,

shorter one 3-4 mm; anthers bright yellow,

glabrous, 2 celled, cells distinct, parallel, diver-

gent at base, dehiscing longitudinally and late-

rally, posterior ones touching the stigma; pistil

6 mm long; ovary hypogynous, pink, glabrous,

ovoid, 1 mm long, 2-carpelled; ovules many

on swollen axile placenta; placenta somewhat

oblique, the septum pushed towards the poste-

rior wall of the ovary; style simple, 4-5 mm

long, dilated upwards; stigma capitate,

creamish, slightly 2-lobed. Capsule enclosed

within the persistent, enlarged calyx, brown,

glabrous, ovoid, septicidal, 2-valved, valves

entire, dehiscing from the top, separating from

the central column, 4 mm long. Fruiting calyx

upto 15 mm and 0.5 to 1 mm broad. Seeds

many, about 60-80 in each fruit, reddish-

229

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

brown, somewhat triangular, lenticular, faveo-

late, 0.5-0. 7 mm in diameter, with slightly

curved embryo.

Specimens examined : India: New Delhi,

Purana Basant, 21-5-1981, Viswanathan &

Singh 575 (RHMD).

Ack nowledgements

Our sincere thanks are due to Dr. Dan

Nicolson (Smithsonian Institution, Washington,

USA), Dr. William D’Arcy (Missouri Bota-

Raw Materials Herbarium & Museum,

Publications & Information

Directorate (CSIR),

Hillside Road, New Delhi- 110 012.

nical Garden, USA) and Dr. Michael Nee

(New York Botanical Garden, N.Y., USA),

for the identification of the specimen. We are

grateful to Dr. C. R. Babu (Botany Dept.,

University of Delhi, India) for his valuable

suggestions and guidance in the preparation

of this paper. We are indebted to the Editor-

in-Chief and Mrs. K. Ramachandran of the

Publications & Information Directorate, for

providing all facilities and constant encourage-

ment.

M. V. VISWANATHAN

H. B. SINGH

Referen ces

Baker, H. G. (1974) : The Evolution of Weeds.

Ann. Rev. Eco. Syst. 5: 1-24.

Bailey, L. H. (1944) : Manual of Cultivated

Plants. The MacMillan Company, London.

D’Arcy, W. G. (1978) : A preliminary Synopsis

of Salpiglossis and other Cestreae (Solanaceae) .

Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 65: 698-724.

Hutchinson, J. B. (1965): Crop Plant Evolu-

tion. Cambridge Univ. Press. London.

Munz, P. A. & Keck, D. D. (1959): A Cali-

fornia Flora. Univ. California Press, Berkeley & Los

Angeles, U.S.A.

29. REDISCOVERY OF BLECHNIDIUM MEL AN OPUS (HOOK.)

MOORE (BLECHNACEAE) — A RARE FERN FROM

ARUNACHAL PRADESH, INDIA

{With four text -figures)

During the course of botanical exploration

of Lower Subansiri District in April, 1980,

for preparation of District Flora, I collected

this rare and noteworthy fern from subtropi-

cal primary forest. Beddome in his hand book

of ferns of British India (1883) listed this plant

from Khasia hills of Meghalaya and Taiwan.

There is no other record of the occurrence of

this taxon from anywhere else. It is now being

reported for the first time from Arunachal

Pradesh. The present report is also significant

as this plant is collected after a considerable

lapse of time. Besides, it is not represented in

the Central National Herbarium (CAL) and

is not at all represented in the Regional Her-

barium at Shillong (ASSAM). Keeping in

view the taxonomic and botanical interest of

such taxon, it is necessary to recollect and

conserve this poorly represented monotypic

taxon and grow it under suitable conditions

for preservation. A detailed description, with

ecological notes and illustration based on my

collection is provided.

Blechnidium Moore, Octava Nat. Print. Brit.

Ferns 2: 210. 1860, Types Species: B.

melanopus (Hook.) Moore, l.c. (= Blechnum

230

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

Figs. 1-4. Blechnidium melanopus (Hook.) Moore.

1. Plant; 2. Scale; 3. A part of Lamina; 4. Sporangia.

231

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

melanopus Hook. Sp. Fil. 3: 64. t. 161. 1860).

Blechitidiiim melanopus (Hook.) Moore,

Octava Nat. Print. Brit. Ferns 2: 210. 1860.

Bedd. Ferns Brit. India t. 50. 1865; Handb.

Ferns Brit. India 133. t. 67. 1883 Blechnium

melanopus Hook. Sp. Fil. 3: 64. t. 161. 1860.

Terrestrial. Rhizomes creeping, slender, 5-8

mm diam., densely scaly, scout, with fibrous

roots. Roots Wiry, with dark brown ramenta.

Scales 4-6 x 1 .0-1 .5 mm, lanceolate to oblong-

lanceolate, acuminate, membranous, brown.

Fronds 25-45 cm long, 3. 0-4. 5 cm broad,

articulate. Stipes 12-30 cm long, =b 2 mm

across, wiry, terete or obscurely ridged,

glabrous, shining black, reddish-black when

young. Lamina 12-25 cm long and 3. 0-4. 5 cm

broad, lanceolate to oblong, narrowed at base,

acuminate, pinnatifid; lobes 20-22 pairs below

the acuminate apex, reflexed at margin, coria-

ceous glabrous; basal lobes 4-5 x 6-8 mm, sub-

orbicular, obtuse at apex; lobes 8-25 x 5-8 mm,

oblong, falcate, acute or obtuse at apex; apical

lobes 1-2 lobulate or entire, obtuse; veins

anastomosing forming large arched areoles.

ultimate veinlets free; costae distinct, whitish

grey. Rachis 10-20 cm long, glabrous, black

upto the middle of lamina from base. Sori

5-15 mm long, along either sides of costa,

linear, continuous, indusiate. Sporangia 200

mm. obovoid, annular, stalked, brown (Figs.

1-4).

Ecological notes : In undergrowth in primary

forest. Soil clay-loam with much humus.

Specimen examined : India, Arunachal Pra-

desh, Lower Subansiri District, 12 km East of

Begi, ± 1800 m; 26th April, 1980, G. D. Pal

78265 (ARUN).

Distribution : Taiwan, and India (Meghalaya,

Arunachal Pradesh).

Local name and uses : Tari in Apatani;

Tafeo in Nishi. The entire plant is used in all

festivals.

Note : This taxon should be incorporated in

the National List of endangered species.

Acknowledgement

I thank to Dr. K. Thothathri, Joint Direc-

tor, Botanical Survey of India for guidance.

G. D. PAL

Botanical Survey of India,

Arunachal Field Station,

Itanagar-791 111.

Reference

Beddqme, R. H. (1883): Handbook to the Ferns

of British India, Ceylon and the Malay Peninsula,

Calcutta.

232

APPENDIX

The Editors’ Who’s When

A scrutiny of the Journal for the names associated

with the editing of the 83 volumes, from its in-

ception in 1886 to the present day, reveals as

follows :

Vols. I-II (1886-7) : R. A. Sterndale & E. H. Aitken.

.. III-XI (1888-97): H. M. Phipson.

„ XII-XVI (1898-1904): H. M. Phipson & W.

S. Millard.

XVII (1907): W. S. Millard, E. H. Comber

& L. C. H. Young.

„ XVIII-XXVI (1907-1918): W. S. Millard,

R. A. Spence & N. B. Kinnear.

„ XXVII-XXIX (1920-23): R. A. Spence, B.

C. Ellison & S. H. Prater.

„ XXX (1924): R. A. Spence, P.M.D. Sander-

son & S. H. Prater.

., XXXI (1926) : R. A. Spence & S. H. Prater.

., XXXII (1927-8): R. A. Spence, P. M. D.

Sanderson, S. H. Prater & S&lim Ali.

„ XXXIII (1928-9): R. A. Spence, S. H.

Prater & Sfilim Ali.

„ XXXIV-XXXV (1930-32): R. A. Spence &

S. H. Prater.

„ XXXVI-XXXVII (1932-34): R. A. Spence,

P. M. D. Sanderson, S. H. Prater & C.

McCann.

„ XXXVIII-XL (1935-39): P. M. D. Sander-

son, S. H. Prater, C. McCann, H. M.

McGusty & J. F. Caius.

„ XLI-XLIII (1939-43): H. M. McGusty, J.

F. Caius & S. H. Prater.

,. XLIV (1943-44): J. F. Caius, S. H. Prater

& C. McCann.

„ 45-47 (3) (1944-48): S. H. Prater, C. Mc-

Cann & Salim Ali.

„ 47 (4) -48 (2) (1948-49): S&lim Ali & S. B.

Setna.

.. 48 (3) -51 (1949-53): Salim Ali, S. B. Setna

& H. Santapau.

„ 52-56 (1954-59) : S£lim Ali & H. Santapau.

„ 57-59 (1960-62) : H. Santapau & H. Abdulali.

„ 60-61 (1963-64): H. Santapau & Z. Futehally.

,, 62-63 (1965-66) : H. Santapau, D. E, Reuben,

Z. Futehally & J. C. Daniel

„ 64-67 (1967-70) : H. Santapau, Z. Futehally

& J. C. Daniel.

68-70 (1971-73): Z. Futehally, J. C. Daniel

& P. V. Bole.

„ 71-83 (1974-86): J. C. Daniel, P. V. Bole &

A. K. D. Nanavati.

The Editors’ Who’s Who

1. Humayun Abdulali

One of India’s leading ornithologists and author

of two regional checklists. He was the Society’s

Honorary Secretary from 1954 to 1962 when there

were many changes in its organisation. It was the

period when the Society cut its umbilical chord

with Phipson & Co. and the Natural History Sec-

tion of the Prince of Wales Museum. His most

notable contribution was the successful negotiation

with the Government of India and the Prince of

Wales Museum for the building to house the So-

ciety's offices — Hombill House.

2. Edward Hamilton Aitken

Better known as EHA, hardly requires introduc-

ing. As author of several books which have become

almost classics, he enjoys a wide reputation as a

naturalist. ‘Behind the Bungalow’, ‘Tribes on my

Frontier’, ‘A Naturalist on the Prowl’ and ‘Common

Birds of Bombay’ are amongst his most popular

writings. Indeed EHA is claimed by some to be

India’s greatest naturalist-writer, and a perusal of

his books shows that this is by no means an exagge-

rated view. He was an exceptionally keen observer

of nature, interested in everything that lived and

breathed and possessed the gift of humorous and

imaginative, yet scrupulously accurate, description

such as has seldom been surpassed or equalled.

When EHA resigned his editorship of the Journal

in 1887, presumably because of transfer from Bom-

bay, his place was taken by H. M. Phipson who

had in the meantime returned from leave in England.

Sir Norman Kinnear relates that in an obituary

notice that appeared on his death in 1909 in a

local newspaper of his provincial home town in

Scotland, EHA was described as an expert on Indian

birds, Bungalow Economy and the Frontier Tribes !

How EHA himself would have enjoyed this des-

233

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

cription can be imagined by any one familiar with

the spirit of his writings.

3. Salim A 1 i

Has had a long and active association with the

Society. His chief interest is birds, particularly the

field aspects of their study, and he is the author

of several books on Indian birds. He served as one

of the editors in 1927-28 (Vols. 32 and 33), and

resumed his connection with the Journal in 1944

(Vol. 45), collaborating with S. H. Prater and C.

McCann. Upon their leaving India, SMim Ali took

over as General Editor assisted by Dr. S. B. Setna

for a year, when Fr. H. Santapau joined the board.

Presently the Society’s President.

4. P. V. Bole

Retired as Professor of Botany at St. Xavier’s

College, Bombay and is actively associated with the

Blatter Herbarium and the Society for almost 30

years. He has contributed papers on floristics of

W. India, plant ecology and survey of economic

plants as well as on ethnobotany. He is interested in

conservation of natural habitat and propagation of

indigenous plants.

5. Fr. Jean Ferdinand Caius, s.j.

A distinguished biochemist, was Professor of Che-

mistry in St. Xaviers College, Bombay, from 1922,

and founder and first director of the Pharmacolo-

gical Laboratory at the Haffkine Institute (Govern-

ment of Bombay) from 1924-1932. He became

Honorary Secretary of the Society in 1941 and serv-

ed as Chairman of the Sub-Committee of Trustees

of the Natural History Section of the Prince of

Wales Museum, and as one of the editors of the

Journal till his death in 1944. He was an indefati-

gable worker and among his more outstanding

scientific achievements were the intensive investiga-

tions he carried out at the Haffkine Institute on the

therapeutic value of various remedies employed

against diseases caused by hookworm and roundworm,

so prevalent in India. His work has been recognised

as the most exhaustive and complete treatise on the

subject and is widely quoted in most text books on

pharmacology. Another contribution by Fr. Caius

was his extensive studies of the poison apparatus

of snakes and of the remedies employed against

snake poisons, particularly those alleged to be effi-

cacious in the Ayurvedic and Unani systems of

medicine. His experiments proved that all of such

cures, even those most widely reputed, were com-

pletely ineffective against cobra and viper venom.

He contributed a valuable series of articles to the

Journal on the Medicinal and Poisonous Plants

of India, and completed the revision started by the

late Fr. Blatter, of Kirtikar and Basu’s Medicinal

Plants of India’.

Fr. Caius died in Bombay in July 1944. A full

obituary notice appears in Vol. 45, pp. 79/80.

6. Edward Comber

A partner in the Liverpool firm of East India

Merchants, Lyon, Lord & Co., was one of the most

active members of the Society in its early years.

He was a great yachtsman, and keenly interested

in birds and insects though his many notes and

articles between Vols. 10 and 20 of the Journal

cover practically every branch of animal life and

reveal the wide range of his natural history interests.

Among his contributions is a series ‘Hints to Begin-

ners on collecting and preserving Natural History

Specimens’ — Mammals (Vol 13; 100), Birds (Vol.

13; 270), Reptiles & Amphibians (Vol. 13; 641)

and Fishes (Vol. 17; 396), which by the help they

afforded upcountry members, were largely instru-

mental in building up the Society’s zoological collec-

tions from different parts of the country. Comber

was largely responsible for the proper care and

cataloguing of the various collections, lists of which

he published in the Journal from time to time. Also

for preparing the first General Index for Vols. I to

XII.

7 . J. C. Daniel

Studied at the Madras Christian College and the

Madras University Zoology Research Laboratory.

He joined the Society as a Research Assistant in

1950. Joined the Natural History Museum at

Darjeeling as Curator in 1955 and returned to the

Society as its Curator in 1960. His interest in natu-

ral history is eclectic, with a leaning towards

reptiles and wildlife conservation.

8. Bernard C. Ellison

Was selected on behalf of the Society by R. C.

Wroughton (who was working in the British

Museum on the collections of the Mammal Survey)

on Kinnear’s departure from India, and sent out

as curator Bombay in 1920. The choice would,

on the whole, seem to be an unfortunate one since

234

APPENDIX

Ellison — overtly, at any rate — possessed few of the

qualifications that might be expected in the curator

of a natural history museum or in the editor of a

scientific journal. Ill health terminated his contract

with the Society early, and he returned to England

in 1923.

9. N. B. (Sir Norman B.) Kinnear

Came out to India in 1907 as the first wholetime

curator of the Society. He had had his training in

the Royal Scottish Museum at Edinburgh under the

wellknown ornithologist Dr. William Eagle Clarke,

and his advent marked the immediate shift of the

Society’s activities to a more scientific plane through

a proper rearrangement, labelling and cataloguing

of its various collections. His staff work in connec-

tion with the Society’s Mammal Survey was in-

valuable, and the success of the undertaking is due

in no small measure to the care he bestowed on its

planning and direction. His main influence on the

Journal was also in the direction of a greater scien-

tific bias. He encouraged and guided many young

people to develop their particular interests in natu-

ral history, and several of the names that have

since gained prominence in its pages can be claimed

to have derived their inspiration largely from

Kinnear. He published numerous notes and short

articles in the Journal on various branches of Indian

history, and through country-wide correspondence

with outstation members elicited a wide range of

useful and interesting matter for the Miscellaneous

Notes section.

Kinnear’s special interest lay in Mammals and

Birds, and field study in these two branches receiv-

ed a great fillip whilst he was in the country. Since

his return to London he has maintained a lively

interest in the affairs and progress of the Society

and rendered valuable assistance to it in various

ways. He has also contributed important papers on

birds of the Palaearctic and Oriental Regions to

the Journal including the report on the Vemay

Scientific Survey of the Eastern Ghats — writing in

collaboration with the late Hugh Whistler — which,

by showing up the many gaps in our knowledge

of Indian ornithology led the way to the useful

regional bird surveys that have since been sponsored

by the Society.

Kinnear left India in 1919 to take up an appoint-

ment in the Bird Room of the British Museum

(Natural History), London. He rose to be Director

in 1948, an eminence from which he retired in 1950.

10. Zafar Futehally

Took over from Humayun Abdulali as Honorary

Secretary. An avid birdwatcher, Zafar has the abi-

lity to communicate his enthusiasm to others. It was

during his stewardship that the Society stopped be-

ing introspective and widened the scope of its

activities. Zafar is the founder of the Bird-

watchers’ Field Club of India and editor since its

inception in 1960 of the Newsletter for Birdwatchers’

now in its 26th volume.

11. Charles McCann

Joined the Society as a collector in the Mammal

Survey in December 1921 and was appointed Assis-

tant Curator in 1922 and Joint Curator in January

1946. Later in the year he resigned his post and

left India.

The minute of the Society’s Executive Committee

dated 14th November 1946 recording its apprecia-

tion of his services and regret at his resignation

gives a good sketch of McCann’s career. It reads

in part as follows: —

‘The merit of his scientific work is evidenced in

his many biological contributions to the journal of

the Society. He is one of the outstanding botanists

in India and his monograph on Grasses which he

wrote jointly with the late Father Blatter, and which

was published under the aegis of the Imperial Coun-

cil of Agricultural Research, will remain for many

years the standard work on the subject. Equally

outstanding in merit are his various revisions of

the genera and species of Indian plants which the

Society was privileged to publish. Mr. McCann also

contributed various authoritative papers on Indian

Mammals, Reptiles and Amphibia. They are based

on careful field work and observations. The study

of Nature was his absorbing passion and his main

recreation.

In the Museum his services were invaluable, and

the galleries of the Natural History Section of the

Prince of Wales Museum and the fine range of

groups and well-mounted exhibits owe much to his

skill and ability. His resignation is a great loss to

the Society.’

McCann was indeed a phenomenal field natura-

list. His powers of observation were uncanny in

their keeness and incisiveness Nothing escaped his

attention as he tramped through the jungles of his

beloved Western Ghats. The degree of his familia-

rity with all living things was such that whether it

be plant or rat, bird or snake, lizard or frog, butter-

235

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

fly or snail, he could identify it pat and without

hesitation correctly down at least to the genus in

nine cases out of tea, and often give you the species

as well !

12. H. M. McGusty

Was a senior assistant in the firm of Phipson &

Co., which has had a traditional unbroken con-

nection with the B. N. H. Society from the time it

was founded. He served the Society variously as

Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer for

several years between 1934 and 1941 when he finally

left India. His connection with the Journal was,

however, purely ex-officio and titular, and he had

no active hand in editing it.

13. Walter Samuel Millard

Who took over from Phipson in 1906, had already

been associated with the editorship since Vol. 14

(1903). Millard proved an admirable successor to

Phipson, and the period of his stewardship may be

called the period of consolidation for the Society,

when it expanded widely both as regards member-

ship and usefulness. His most notable contribution

to its progress and scientific reputation was the

organising and carrying out of the Mammal Survey

of India, Burma and Ceylon, a full account of

which is contained in Part III (pp. 86-89) of the

Society’s Jubilee volume published in 1934.

Millard was an expert gardener, and his garden

on Malabar Hill is still remembered with pleasure

and nostalgic envy by some of the older residents

of Bombay. His short notes in the Journal cover

many branches of natural history, and jointly with

Rev. Fr. Blatter he was author of ‘Some Beautiful

Indian Trees’, an attractive well-illustrated book

published by the Society in 1937.

Millard left India on retirement in 1920, and died

in 1952. An obituary notice appears on p. 910 of

Vol. 50.

14. A. N. D. Nanavati

Was the first medical man to take over the

administration of the Society. A virologist, he was

Asstt. Director of the Haffkine Institute at Bombay

till his retirement in 1974. Dr. Nanavati’s

dispassionate assessment of issues has strengthened

the Society’s handling of problems that arise.

15. Herbert Musgrave Phipson

Was a truly remarkable man. During the early

years of the Society, Phipson as Honorary Secretary

and Editor was its virtual ‘Ma-bap’. It is largely to

his keenness and contagious zeal as a naturalist, his

devotion to the cause, his untiring enthusiasm and

energy, and above all to his wonderful personality

that the Society and its journal owe their growth

and prosperity. This was the truly formative period,

and the firm foundation upon which Phipson built

has enabled the Society to weather the storms and

stresses of subsequent years.

Phipson’s particular interest lay in Snakes and he

contributed a great deal to their study; but except

for a few short notes he unfortunately published

little of his own observations in the Journal. He

left India in 1906 and died in London in 1936.

A good biographical sketch of H. M. Phipson

appears on pages 152-154 of Volume 39 (December

1936).

16. Stanley Henry Prater

Had entered the Society’s service in 1907, work-

ing first under the guidance of E. Comber and sub-

sequently as assistant to N. B. Kinnear. He was a

voracious and discriminating reader, particularly of

natural history books in his early years, had the

power of assimilating what he read, and was blessed

with a remarkably retentive memory. He was a

clear and lucid descriptive writer with a pleasant

easy style; a good artist and modeller, and dextrous

with his hands in other ways. He possessed an

almost uncanny aptitude not only for picking up

techniques but for passing on what he learnt to

his assistants and then getting the best out of them.

These qualities, fortified by the practical experi-

ence he had acquired and a course of academic

grounding in systematic zoology with the late Fr.

E. Blatter to provide the necessary scientific back-

ground, fitted Prater admirably for taking charge

of the Society’s museum and journal. Prater’s forte

was his capacity to pick out the essentials of any-

thing he read — of separating the grain from the

chaff — and of clothing the substance in clear

jargon-free language. He was a master in the

art of compilation. The skill and discernment

with which he would browse among heavy scien-

tific literature and the facile way in which he

connect up and expound disjointed facts culled

from a dozen sources and produce harmony

from them, excited the admiration and envy

of less gifted souls. It is but natural that a person

possessing all these advantages should, up to a point,

236

APPENDIX

dominate his colleagues, and indeed from the time

his name first appears on the cover of the Journal

— Vol. xxvii (1920) — and up to the time of his

retirement in 1948. Prater virtually ruled the edi-

torial roost. He had the contents of all the previous

volumes at his fingers’ tips and could recall every-

thing published on any topic before, by whom and

when, and could turn to it without effort or fum-

bling. His familiarity with the Society’s reference

library was also such that he knew exactly where

to turn for just the information needed. And how

most effectively to make use of that information is

of course what he excelled in. As a natural histo-

rian he was an all-rounder, having had, during his

long connection with the Society, the opportunity of

working fairly thoroughly through all its collections

and acquiring a wonderful general knowledge of

the various branches. He could name straightway

almost at a glance, most specimens brought in by

members of the less uncommon mammals, birds,

reptiles, amphibians, fishes, butterflies and many

other groups of insects, and could usually tell of

their distribution and habits as well. His numerous

notes and articles in the Journal cover a very wide

range of natural history topics. Though not a

specialist in any particular branch, he was perhaps

more at home with birds and snakes than with

other groups. Yet such was his general grasp and

versatility that whatever he chose to write on bore

the imprint of authority. Indeed he wrote nothing

of doubtful authenticity since all his basic facts

wer e garnered from authoritative sources. His master-

ly treatment of The Whale Shark in Indian Coastal

Waters (Vol. 42; 255) and Fish Supply of the

West Coast of India (Vol. 34; 973 & Vol. 35; 77)

and The Game Fishes of Bombay, etc. (Vol. 36;

29) are examples. On perusing them it seems in-

conceivable that they should be written by any but

a specialist — so sound and facile are they.

It was largely during the run of Prater’s editor-

ship that the Society’s journal attained the esteemed

position it now enjoys among the scientific periodi-

cals of the world; of course we were fortunate also

in our contributors who included an increasing

number of workers of distinction in the international

field.

Prater retired in 1947 after some 40 years of

devoted service to the Society.

17. D. E. Reuben

A member of the ICS who retired as Chief

Justice of Bihar before settling in Bombay. Mr.

Reuben’s meticulous editing was of considerable

help when Salim Ali retired as Executive Editor.

Mr. Reuben though his name was on the editorial

board only very briefly was a de facto editor of the

Journal over several volumes.

18. P. M. D. Sanderson

Also of the firm of Phipsons, whose name flicks

sporadically on the editorial board first in 1924

(Vol. XXX) and again in 1928 as an editor for

Vol. XXXII (4), acted as Honorary Secretary dur-

ing Sir Reginald Spence’s periodic absences on leave

in England. He was also one of the old brigade

with Millard and Spence who had had their intro-

duction to Indian natural history under Phipson’s

tutelage. On Spence’s retirement from India in 1934,

Sanderson took over from him as Managing Direc-

tor of Phinson & Co. and, in keeping with the long

established tradition, more or less automatically

stepped in as Honorary Secretary of the Society as

well.

Though a keen naturalist and sportsman, and an

enthusiastic protagonist of the Society, Sanderson’s

activities in regard to the Journal were more of a

general supervisory character, and strangely enough

the Journal carries no article contributed by him.

19. Rev. Fr. H. Santapau, s, j.

Studied at the Imperial College of Science and

Technology, London, and in Kew Gardens and speci-

alized in Plant Taxonomy. He was particularly in-

terested in the botany of Western India and has

done intensive explorative work in Khandala, Puran-

dhar, Mahableshwar and in Saurashtra. He was

director of the Biology Department of St. Xavier’s

College, Bombay.

20. Dr. S. B. Setna

Studied under Dr. J. Gray, Professor of the Zoo-

logical Laboratory, Cambridge University, where he

obtained his Ph.D. degree. He was the Director of

Fisheries, Bombay State, since the inception of the

department in 1945. In this capacity he was respom-

sible for the development of freshwater and marine

fisheries in the State and. also for the maintenance

237

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83 ( SUPPLEMENT )

of the Taraporevala Aquarium. He was elected a

Fellow of the National Institute of Sciences of India

in 1947 and was awarded the first Chandra Kala

Hora Memorial Gold Medal in 1950 for conspicu-

ously important contributions to the development

of the fishing industry.

Dr. Setna was one of the editors of the Journal

since 1947 and was chiefly responsible for editing

the articles relating to fish and fisheries.

21 . R. A. (afterwards Sir Reginald) Spence

Who succeeded Millard, had likewise started his

career in India as a young assistant in the wine

business of Phipson & Co. He had early caught the

contagion of enthusiasm for natural history from

his chief, and was nurtured in this interest through

Phipson’s guiding care. During Spence’s long asso-

ciation as its Honorary Secretary, the Society may

be said to have attained its flowering. His genial

personality won him many friends, and the esteem

he commanded both with the public and with Gov-

ernment reflected beneficiently on the affairs of the

Society. He brought to fruition the negotiations

started by his predecessors regarding the transfer

of financial responsibility for the housing and pro-

per care of the Society’s zoological collections from

the Society to the Government of Bombay, and had

the satisfaction of feeling the imminent fulfilment

of his labours before leaving India in the detailed

plans for the completion and utilization of the

beautiful new natural history wing of the Prince

of Wales Museum, Bombay, which has since come

into being.

As editor of the Journal Spence was fortunate in

having the able collaboration first of N. B. Kinnear,

a trained and experienced zoologist lately out from

England as the Society’s first stipendiary curator,

and then, after 1919, of S. H. Prater who succeeded

him in office.

Though increasing demands on his time from

business and social work caused Spence latterly to

leave much of the actual editing to his colleagues,

he nevertheless continued to take a lively interest

in the welfare of the Journal and to guide its gene-

ral policy.

His outstanding contributions to the Journal,

both written jointly with Prater, were the articles on

‘The Fish Supply of the Western Coast of India’

(Part I, Vol. xxxiv; 973, Part II, Vol. xxxv; 77)

and ‘Game Fishes of Bombay, the Deccan and the

Neighbouring districts of Bombay Presidency’ (Vol.

xxxvi; 29).

Sir Reginald left India on retirement in 1934.

22. Robert Sterndale

Came to Bombay soon after the Bombay Natural

History Society was formed in 1883, and at once

joined it and worked for it with his characteristic

enthusiasm. The idea of starting a journal originat-

ed with him and ‘proved practicable only because

of the way in which his ready pen and pencil solved

all difficulties.’ Being an exceedingly keen and ver-

satile field naturalist, he himself contributed many

interesting articles and was largely responsible for

getting the Journal under way. Sterndale is perhaps

best known as the author of ‘Natural History of

Indian Mammalia’ which, published in 1884, is still

one of the standard reference books. He ended his

official career as Governor of the island of St.

Helena, and died in 1902.

23. L. C. H. Young

Who, with E. Comber, was an editorial collabo-

rator of Millard’s for Vol. 17, came out to Bombay

about 1903 on the staff of the insurance department

of Forbes, Forbes, Campbell & Co. He was a

Marlborough man, and a keen and knowledgeable

lepidopterist, being a disciple of the distinguished

entomologist, E. Meyrick, f.r.s., whom he got to

write the monumental papers on Indian Microlepi-

doptera, published between Vols. 18 and 23 of the

Journal. He reorganised, re-set and re-catalogued the

Society’s butterfly collection and published several

useful notes and papers, chiefly on butterflies, bet-

ween Volumes 15 and 17 of the Journal. The serial

on ‘The Common Butterflies of the Plains of India’

was originally started by Young in Vol. 16. He had

to give it up after the first 3 parts owing to ill

health. It was taken up by another distinguished

lepidopterist-member T. R. Bell, i.f.s., in Vol. 19

who conducted it for 16 years, concluding it finally

in Vol. 32.

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