Subramanian Bhupathy (also spelled as Subramaniam Bhupathy) (17 July 1962 Nayaganaipiriyal,

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

– 28 April 2014

Agastya Malai Agastyaarkoodam is one of the peaks in the Western Ghats of Tirunelveli District of Tamil Nadu, India. This peak is a part of the Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve which lies on the border between the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Tirunelveli d ...

Hills,

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

, India) was an Indian

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...

wildlife biologist A wildlife biologist studies animals and their behavior along with the role each animal plays in its natural habitat. The duties of a wildlife biologist can include: developing and conducting experiments/studies on animals in their natural habitats, ...

and

researcher Research is " creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...

. He was a principal scientist at the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON). He headed a three-year study on the patterns of distribution of selected faunal groups on the

Agasthyamalai hills The Pothigai Hills, also known as Agasthiyar Mountain is a 1,866-metre (6,122 ft)-tall peak in the southern part of the Western Ghats of South India. The peak lies in Tirunelveli District of Tamil Nadu near the border of Kerala. The ar ...

. He worked on

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...

s and

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

s and his contributions and works were more focused on

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

s. Dr Bhupathy was noted for work on pythons and python ecology in India and Indian

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked tu ...

s and

tortoise Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a turtle shell, shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, ...

s. He began his career in the mid-1980s when laboratories were not well-equipped. He held a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

Zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

(

Ornithology Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

) from

University of Rajasthan University of Rajasthan is a public and state university in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India and is one of the oldest universities in the state. It was set up on 8 January 1947 as the University of Rajputana and was given its current name in 1956. ...

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi Language, Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Rajasthan. , the city had a pop ...

. At the age of 51, Bhupathy died after a fall while conducting

herpetology Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...

field work near Agastya Mala hills on 28 April 2014.

Recognition

* He was posthumously honored with the Turtle Conservation Appreciation Awards in 2015 by the Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group,

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

(IUCN) and

Species Survival Commission The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natur ...

(SSC), for his contributions to the Conservation and Biology of Indian Chelonians. * The species ''

Nasikabatrachus bhupathi ''Nasikabatrachus bhupathi'', or Bhupathy's purple frog, is a frog species belonging to the family Nasikabatrachidae. It can be found in the Western Ghats in India and was discovered near the Srivilliputhur Grizzled Giant Squirrel Wildlife S ...

'', a frog discovered in 2017 in the Western Ghats, and ''

Uropeltis bhupathyi ''Uropeltis bhupathyi'', commonly known as the Bhupathy’s shieldtail, is a species of snake in the family Uropeltidae. The species is endemic to the Western Ghats in southern India. Etymology ''U. bhupathyi'' is named in honour of Indian h ...

'', a snake discovered in 2018 in

, were named in his honor. *Bufoides Bhupathyi, a toad specied found in Dampa Tiger reserve is also named after him

References

External links

Articles written by Bhupathy Subramanian
at ''

Current Science ''Current Science'' is an English-language peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journal. It was established in 1932 and is published by the Current Science Association along with the Indian Academy of Sciences. According to the ''Journal C ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Bhupathy, Subramanian 1963 births 2014 deaths Nature conservation in India Indian herpetologists Indian conservationists 20th-century Indian zoologists University of Rajasthan alumni