Bengal's 16 in 262 new species found in India

The Times of India , Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Correspondent : TNN
Kolkata: In 2015, Indian taxonomists discovered 262 species of animals that are new to science and were not known to exist. These include 26 fish species, six frogs, four lizards, 16 types of crabs, 33 species of spiders and a whole range of insects. This takes the biodiversity of India to 97,515 animal species.

West Bengal, that has the highest diversity of animals with 11% of all species found in India present in the state, contributed to 16 new discoveries last year. Most of them were discovered in the Darjeeling Hills. Out of the 4,669 new species discovered in India in the past 100 years, 638 were found in Bengal. Also, of 105 species recorded in India for the first time last year, five were from Bengal.

The list of discoveries as well as new recordings is the highest in recent years and reflects a renewed focus on taxonomy that had once been dubbed a dying branch of science. The renewed focus on biodiversity in the past five years has seen a spate of recruitments at Zoological Survey of India , the century-old premier research organization on animal taxonomy in India.

In 2014, the number of new species of animals discovered was 176. The year before, it was higher at 248. Similarly, in terms of species known to the world but recorded in India for the first time, the figure was 61 in 2014 and 54 in 2013.

"There has been a surge in discoveries with renewed interest in the subject in recent years. This has been possible due to a focus on biodiversity as realization has dawned that the discoveries are biodiversity currency for future India. Commercial exploitation through biotechnology can lead to great strides in healthcare and fisheries," ZSI director Kailash Chandra said.

The spike in discoveries has also been facilitated by fresh recruitments at ZSI. Though 60 of 136 posts at ZSI are still vacant, the 20-plus scientists recruited in the past two years have boosted the morale and led to the high discovery count. The introduction of integrated taxonomy - morphology-based taxonomy and molecular taxonomy - has helped as well.

But the figures still remain short of the period 1975-1985 when ZSI scientists used to discover 125-130 new species annually. In contrast, ZSI discovered 70 new species last year with the remaining 192 species being discovered by various universities and institutes like Ballygunge Science College of Calcutta University, Patiala University, Manipur University, Delhi University and Wildlife Institute of India.

Around 60% of all biodiversity is located in four biodiversity hotspots in the country: Western Ghats, Himalayas, North-East and Andamans.

A new project on impact of climate change on fauna of Himalayas is under way with ZSI setting up 5 long-term monitoring plots in Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh,Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Sikkim. Digitization of National Zoological Collection is also under way. Of the 90,000 species in ZSI's custody, it has uploaded data on 1,300 species that include fishes, reptiles, amphibians and birds. In first phase, digital data of 15,000 species will be uploaded.

"Preparation of digital catalogues, particularly of type specimens, has been undertaken to prepare a database for global access and facilitate capacity building and global diversity information system," Chandra added.

262 Species of Animals new to science from India

3 species of Platyhelminthes (flat worm)

7 species of Nemathelminthes (round worm)

2 species of Annelida (leech)

13 species of Collembola (soil insect)

149 species of Insecta (insect)

16 species of Arachnida (crab/prawn)

3 species of Mollusca (snail/squid)

26 species of Pisces (fish)

6 species of Amphibia (frog)

4 species of Reptilia (lizard)

 
SOURCE : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Bengals-16-in-262-new-species-found-in-India/articleshow/52963316.cms
 


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