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Micrixalus Adonis
''Micrixalus adonis'' is a newly described species of frogs in the family Micrixalidae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats in southern India, restricted to areas between the Palghat Gap and Shencottah Gap. Common name beautiful dancing frog has been proposed for this species, in reference to its vividly rich colouration. Description ''M. adonis'' is within the colloquial ''Micrixalus fuscus'' group, including ''M. fuscus'', ''M. herrei'', ''M. kodayari'', ''M. mallani'', and ''M. nelliyampathi''. The species share similar physical characteristics, including slender bodies, the presence of dorsolateral folds, and among others a V-shaped glandular ridge on the anterior half of the body. While being similar to other species within the ''Micrixalus fuscus'' group, ''M. adonis'' is most noticeably different in the shape of its head, which is rounded laterally. Males measure and females in snout–vent length. Foot-flagging has not been observed in this species, presence of flas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sathyabhama Das Biju
Sathyabhama Das Biju (born May, 1963) is an Indian amphibian biologist, wildlife conservationist and heads the Systematics Lab at the University of Delhi, Department of Environmental Studies. He is dubbed as the "Frogman of India" by media for his passion for frogs and for bringing fresh fascination for Indian amphibians. In a recent interview with Sanctuary Asia, he was introduced as "one of the world's foremost amphibian experts". In 2010, Biju in collaboration with national and international institutions launched the nationwide Lost! Amphibians of India campaign to rediscover species thought to be extinct. In 2011, Biju was the recipient of the Sanctuary Wildlife Service AwardSanctuary Asia "Wildlife Service Award" 2011 , http://www.theearthheroes.com/the-awards/2011-awards/191-sathyabhama-das-biju for his "extraordinary passion which led to the discovery of several new species". In 2008, the IUCN recognized his "extreme dedication to discover and conserve the vanishing amphi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frog
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is known from the Early Triassic of Madagascar, but molecular clock, molecular clock dating suggests their split from other amphibians may extend further back to the Permian, 265 Myr, million years ago. Frogs are widely distributed, ranging from the tropics to subarctic regions, but the greatest concentration of species diversity is in tropical rainforest. Frogs account for around 88% of extant amphibian species. They are also one of the five most diverse vertebrate orders. Warty frog species tend to be called toads, but the distinction between frogs and toads is informal, not from Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy or evolutionary history. An adult frog has a stout body, protruding eyes, anteriorly-attached tongue, limb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemism
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be ''endemic'' to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can be also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or in scientific literature as an ''endemite''. For example '' Cytisus aeolicus'' is an endemite of the Italian flora. '' Adzharia renschi'' was once believed to be an endemite of the Caucasus, but it was later discovered to be a non-indigenous species from South America belonging to a different genus. The extreme opposite of an endemic species is one with a cosmopolitan distribution, having a global or widespread range. A rare alternative term for a species that is endemic is "precinctive", which applies to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia. Modern humans arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa no later than 55,000 years ago., "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by modern humans originating in Africa. ... Coalescence dates for most non-European populations average to between 73–55 ka.", "Modern human beings—''Homo sapiens''—originated in Africa. Then, int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palakkad Gap
Palakkad Gap or Palghat Gap is a low mountain pass in the Western Ghats between Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu and Palakkad in Kerala. It has an average elevation of with a width of . The pass is located between the Nilgiri Hills to the north and Anaimalai Hills to the south. Origin and History There are various theories about the origin of Palakkad gap. One among them is that it is caused by the landslide due to rivers flowing in opposite directions. The Bharathappuzha river (River Ponnani) originates in the Palakkad Gap from rivulets and tributaries feeding from steep escarpment slopes along the flanks of the Ghats. Another theory suggests that the gap may be created by an asteroid strike around 800 million to 550 million years ago. Palakkad gap has played a major role in enabling human migration into Kerala from parts of Tamil Nadu. From 300 B.C. to 13th century, it also helped the Cheras rule the entire Kerala and the Kongu Nadu as one geographical unit from Karur in Wes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sengottai
Sengottai (also known as Shencottah, Chenkotta or Shenkottai) is a town in the Tenkasi district, of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the gateway to southern Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Spread over an area of 2.68 km2 with a population of over 26,823, the economy of the town revolves around the cultivation of rice. History Sengottai was originally part of the Travancore Kingdom. In December 1851, the boundary between Tirunelveli and Travancore on the Sengottai side was clearly defined as proposed by General Cullen as early as 1846, and finally sanctioned by the Madras Government. Sengottai Municipality was constituted in 1921. In 1949, Sengottai was part of the newly formed state of Travancore-Cochin. The States Reorganisation Act, 1956 came into effect from 1 November 1956, and consequently, the Tamil-speaking area of Sengottai taluk of Quilon district were transferred from Travancore-Cochin to Tirunelveli district of Madras State. Sengottai was reclassified from a Grade III muni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Micrixalus Fuscus
''Micrixalus fuscus'' (dusky torrent frog or brown tropical frog) is a species of small frog found in dense forested hill streams in the Western Ghats of India. '' M. herrei'' was formerly synonymized within this species. Description Males measure and females in snout–vent length. Male ''Micrixalus fuscus'' have a single vocal sac, a white patch on the lower jaw, and a prominent nuptial pad on the first finger. Characteristic for the genus, they display the "foot-flagging" behavior, where males tap their hindfeet and extend it, then stretching it out and shaking the foot at prospective mates and rival males. Male-male combats also involve kicking. Description from G. A. Boulenger's (1890) "Fauna of British India": : Snout pointed, prominent, generally longer than the orbital diameter; canthus rostralis angular: loreal region flat, vertical; nostril halfway between the eye and the tip of the snout; interorbital space as broad as the upper eyelid; tympanum small, indistinct. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ecological niche. Thus "habitat" is a species-specific term, fundamentally different from concepts such as environment or vegetation assemblages, for which the term "habitat-type" is more appropriate. The physical factors may include (for example): soil, moisture, range of temperature, and light intensity. Biotic factors will include the availability of food and the presence or absence of predators. Every species has particular habitat requirements, with habitat generalist species able to thrive in a wide array of environmental conditions while habitat specialist species requiring a very limited set of factors to survive. The habitat of a species is not necessarily found in a geographical area, it can be the interior ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
River
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of water. Small rivers can be referred to using names such as Stream#Creek, creek, Stream#Brook, brook, rivulet, and rill. There are no official definitions for the generic term river as applied to Geographical feature, geographic features, although in some countries or communities a stream is defined by its size. Many names for small rivers are specific to geographic location; examples are "run" in some parts of the United States, "Burn (landform), burn" in Scotland and northeast England, and "beck" in northern England. Sometimes a river is defined as being larger than a creek, but not always: the language is vague. Rivers are part of the water cycle. Water generally collects in a river from Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation through a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Micrixalus
''Micrixalus'' (commonly known as dancing frogs, tropical frogs, and torrent frogs) is a genus of frogs from that are endemic to the Western Ghats in India. They are Monotypic taxon, monotypic within the family Micrixalidae. Before being raised to the family level they were classified as the subfamily Micrixalinae within Ranidae. ''Micrixalus'' frogs, such as ''Micrixalus saxicola'', are popularly known as "dancing frogs" due to their peculiar habit of waving their feet to attract females during the breeding season. Dancing frogs are extremely vulnerable as their habitat is severely threatened. Description The family is characterized by having a pectoral girdle that is firmisternal and tadpoles having a single row of labial teeth. Biju ''et al.'' (2014) list the following characteristic features as common to all species of ''Micrixalus'': Natural history Dancing frogs are found in the vicinity of fast and slow moving perennial streams in the forests of the Western Ghats. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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