In Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya, India
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HTTPS://JOURNALS.KU.EDU/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSTABLE OF CONTENTS IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANSREPTILES • VOL &15, AMPHIBIANS NO 4 • DEC 2008 • 27(3):508–511189 • DEC 2020 IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY TABLE OF CONTENTS FEATURE NotesARTICLES on Asian Glass Lizards, . Chasing Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in Wisconsin: On the RoadDopasia to Understanding the Ecology gracilis and Conservation of the Midwest’s(Gray Giant Serpent ......................1845), Joshua M. Kapfer 190 . The Shared History of Treeboas (Corallus grenadensis) and Humans on Grenada: inA HypotheticalDarjeeling-Sikkim Excursion ............................................................................................................................ Himalaya,Robert W. Henderson India 198 RESEARCH ARTICLES . The Texas Horned Lizard in Central and WesternAditya Texas Pradhan .......................1 and Emily Rujas Henry, Yonle Jason Brewer,2 Krista Mougey, and Gad Perry 204 . The Knight Anole (Anolis equestris) in Florida 1 .............................................Ashoka Trust for ResearchBrian in J.Ecology Camposano, and Kenneth the Environment, L. Krysko, Kevin Regional M. Enge, Office Ellen M.Eastern Donlan, Himalaya-Northeast and Michael Granatosky India, 212 NH 10 Tadong, Gangtok-737102, Sikkim, India ([email protected]) 2DepartmentCONSERVATION of Zoology, Environmental ALERT Biology Laboratory, Darjeeling Government College, Darjeeling 734101, West Bengal, India . World’s Mammals in Crisis ...............................................................................................................................([email protected] [corresponding author]) .............................. 220 . More Than Mammals ...................................................................................................................................................................... 223 . The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity ........................................................................................................................................... 225 HUSBANDRY lthough the .EasternCaptive Care Himalaya of the Central Nettedis a globalDragon ....................................................................................................... biodiversity recent studies (Chettri andShannon Bhupathy Plummer 226 2007; Chettri et al. Ahotspot (Mittermeier et al. 2011) and a number of 19th- 2010, 2011) have addressed the reptilian fauna of Darjeeling- century works (GrayPROFILE 1845, 1853; Anderson 1871; Boulenger Sikkim Himalaya. The area is home to 100 species (Chettri . 1885) documentedKraig reptilian Adler: A Lifetime diversity Promoting inHerpetology the region, ................................................................................................ few and Bhupathy 2007; Pan Michael et al. L. Treglia2013; 234 Pradhan et al. 2020), COMMENTARY . The Turtles Have Been Watching Me ........................................................................................................................ Eric Gangloff 238 BOOK REVIEW . Threatened Amphibians of the World edited by S.N. Stuart, M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox, R. Berridge, P. Ramani, and B.E. Young .............................................................................................................. Robert Powell 243 CONSERVATION RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Conservation Research Reports ................................. 245 NATURAL HISTORY RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Reports on Natural History ................................. 247 NEWBRIEFS ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 248 EDITORIAL INFORMATION ..................................................................................................................................................... 251 FOCUS ON CONSERVATION: A Project You Can Support ............................................................................................... 252 Front Cover. Shannon Plummer. Back Cover. Michael Kern Totat et velleseque audant mo Totat et velleseque audant mo estibus inveliquo velique rerchil estibus inveliquo velique rerchil erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque fugiatis maionsequat eumque moditia erere nonsedis ma sectiatur moditia erere nonsedis ma sectia- ma derrovitae voluptam, as quos tur ma derrovitae voluptam, as accullabo. Fig. 1. Map showing historical records of Dopasia gracilis across the Indo-Chinese sub-region, accompanied by the current sighting records along an eleva- tion gradient. Copyright is held by the authors. Articles in R&A are made available under a 508 Reptiles & Amphibians ISSN 1098-6324 Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license. PRADHAN AND YONLE REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 27(3):508–511 • DEC 2020 Fig. 2. Field observations made during the study in Darjeeling, India, Eastern Himalaya (A). Dorsum of the dead individual of Dopasia gracilis (B). The dead individual of Dopasia gracilis being measured with an mm-scale ruler, showing the two injury marks on the ventrum. (C). The live individual of Dopasia gracilis brooding with an egg under a pile of decaying leaf-litter (D). A typical micro-habitat where the live individual of Dopasia gracilis was encountered. Photographs by Aditya Pradhan. including the recently documented Himalayan Lancehead veys are yet to be conducted in the Darjeeling Hills. Also, (Protobothrops himalayanus) and Assam Leaf Turtle (Cyclemys although this species has been previously described and gemeli), but also including some species that have not been reported from elevations above 1,000 m asl in Darjeeling- encountered in recent years. One of the latter is the Asian Sikkim Himalaya (Anderson 1871; Boulenger 1885; Gammie Glass Lizard (Dopasia gracilis). 1928), no precise localities were listed. Herein, we present the Dopasia gracilis (Gray 1853) is distributed from northern first detailed locality and elevational records for the area. India through the Indo-Chinese Peninsula south to Indonesia We conducted a Visual Encounter Survey (VES) (Chettri (Nguyen et al. 2016) (Fig. 1) primarily at elevations of 3,000– et al. 2010) supplemented by opportunistic sampling to doc- 5,000 ft (~900–1,500 m), with a maximum elevation of ument the reptilian fauna (not presented in this paper) in a 8,000 ft (= 2,438 m) near Shimla in Himachal Pradesh, India human-modified ecosystem at elevations of 1,550–1,600 (Smith 1935). m asl in the Darjeeling Hills of northern India (27.04°N, This species has been recorded from many parts of the 88.36°E) (Fig. 1). The area is characterized by abandoned eastern Himalayas of Assam and Himachal Pradesh (Smith farms and private forests and borders a reserve forest to 1935; Tikader 1967). In recent years, however, it has been the west, which is continuous with the Senchal Wildlife reported only from Mizoram (Lalremsanga et al. 2010) and Sanctuary. The region receives heavy rainfall during the mon- occasionally photographed by nature enthusiasts in Arunachal soon (May–August) and occasional showers in winter, which Pradesh (Uetz et al. 2020). In Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya, lead to damp foggy conditions (Chaudhary and Bawa 2011). records date to Boulenger (1885) and Gammie (1928), with Plantations of Japanese Cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) are scat- subsequent reports of its occurrence in the region (Ahmed and tered among the montane subtropical and montane wet tem- Dasgupta 1992; Jha and Thapa 2002; Chettri and Bhupathy perate broadleaf forests (Meura et al. 1983). 2007) based on historical records or museum specimens. From May and August 2017, we encountered three Asian Moreover, recent herpetological studies in Sikkim Himalayas Glass Lizards (Dopasia gracilis) at three proximate sites (sepa- (Chettri et al. 2011) failed to document this species and sur- rated by no more than about 500 m) in the Darjeeling Hills 509 PRADHAN AND YONLE REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 27(3):508–511 • DEC 2020 (Fig. 1). The first individual, which we were unable to pho- Acknowledgments tograph, was on a roadside near a small stream (27.04172°N, We thank Dr. Kaushik Deuti, Scientist-C, Zoological Survey 88.36168°E; elev. 1,578 m asl) on 2 May 2017. The sec- of India, Kolkata, for the help and support he provided dur- ond individual (SVL 144 mm, total length 262 mm with a ing the archival work. We are grateful to members of the local regenerated tail; Fig. 2A) was dead on a trail (27.03954°N, community for sharing their local knowledge of the species. 88.35796°E; elev. 1,590 m asl) with two injuries on its venter We also thank the Head of Post Graduate Department of (Fig. 2B) on 14 May 2017. The third individual (estimated Zoology, Darjeeling Government College for all the support. total length >300 mm, also with a regenerated tail), encoun- tered during a VES (27.03956°N, 88.35774°E; elev. 1,600 Literature Cited m asl) on 15 August 2017, was brooding an egg under a pile Ahmed, S. and G. Dasgupta. 1992. Reptilia, pp. 1–65. In: A.K. Ghosh (ed.), Fauna of West Bengal. Part 2 (Reptilia, Amphibia, Fishes, Hemichordata and of decaying leaf litter (Fig. 2C). When disturbed by our pres- Archaeozoology). State Fauna Series 3. Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, ence, it escaped, leaving the oval egg that measured 19 mm India.