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On the Population Status of Indian Spiny-Tailed Lizard, Saara Hardwickii

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On the Population Status of Indian Spiny-Tailed Lizard, Saara Hardwickii Herpetology Notes, volume 8: 51-54 (2015) (published online on 10 March 2015) On the population status of Indian spiny-tailed lizard, Saara hardwickii outside the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, with a preliminary report on the herpetofauna of Sariska National Park Sanjay Keshari Das*, Manish Joshi & Somanath Sahoo The Indian spiny-tailed lizard, Saara hardwickii has a revealed that the area has been altered during the last patchy distribution in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan decade to settle relocated families from Sariska National (Wilms et al., 2009). In India, it is the only herbivorous Park. lizard and distributed mostly throughout the Thar Desert Extensive survey, however, helped us to locate a of Rajasthan and Gujarat (Das, 2002; Daniel, 2002; small population of S. hardwickii (Fig. 2A) at Kalakadi Ramesh and Ishwar, 2008; Wilms et al., 2009; Das et (27°22’22.30”N, 76°32’1.46”E) near Prithvipura al., 2013). Once common, the species now occurs in small, fragmented, and declining populations and is considered to be threatened due to habitat destruction and illegal collecting for the pet trade (Das et al., 2013). In Rajasthan, outside the Thar Desert, the species is known only from Bardod Closed Area, Alwar District (Sharma, 2001). In order to study the present population status of S. hardwickii outside the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, a survey was conducted at Bardod Closed Area and Sariska National Park, Alwar (Fig. 1) in May 2014. During the study the entire Bardod (~0.5 sq. km) (27°53’33.576”N, 76°20’40.02”E) area was intensively searched for 4 hrs (9 am to 1 pm) a day by three people for two days. Rest of the time of these two days opportunistic search was carried out at places between Behror to Alwar (Fig. 1). In spite of our best effort neither spiny-tailed lizards nor their burrows were observed in Bardod and its adjoining areas. Instead it was found that the study area has experienced a lot of anthropogenic impact with a creation of agricultural fields and human settlements throughout the area. Interaction with the local people University School of Environment Management, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Sector 16-C, Dwarka, New Delhi 110075, India. Figure 1. Map of Sariska National Park and Bardod Closed * Corresponding author: [email protected] Area 52 Sanjay Keshari Das et al. Figure 2. A) Spiny-tailed lizard during foraging; B) Spiny-tailed lizard habitat at Kalakadi; C) Digitaria adscendens; D) Borreria articularis; E) Unusual burrow of spiny-tailed lizard; F) Normal burrow of spiny-tailed lizard; G) Sitana ponticeriana during foraging; H) Nilssonia gangetica during swimming On the population status of Saara hardwickii outside the Thar Desert of Rajasthan 53 Village, which falls within the jurisdiction of Akbarpura Borreria articularis, Cyperus rotundus, Desmostachya Range of Sariska National Park, an area from which bipinnata, Digitaria adscendens, Heliotropium the species was hitherto unknown. The area was a marifolium, Lepidagathis trinervis, Leptadenia small rocky plain lying in the foot hills of Aravali (Fig. pyrotechnica, shrubs included Adhatoda zeylanica, 2B), covering less than a square km, and bounded by Euphorbia hirta, Xanthium strumarium, Zizyphus agricultural fields and human settlements. Vegetation nummularia while Acacia leucophloea mainly formed was mainly composed of very short grasses (<3 cm high), the tree components. During our investigation it was with patches of herbs (<30 cm high), shrubs (ca. 30-90 observed that the lizard mainly consumed the tips and cm high), and a few trees. Grasses and herbs included leaves of D. adscendens and B. articularis (Fig. 2C, D). Table 1. Herpetofauna of Sariska National Park. * Species which are sighted in Saara Table 1. Herpetofauna of Sariska National Park. * Species which are sighted in Saara hardwickii habitat at Kalakadi hardwickii habitat at Kalakadi Family Species Location AMPHIBIA Dicroglossidae Euphlyctis cyanophyctis Sariska National Park (SNP) Rest (Schneider, 1799) House (27°23'29.31"N, 76°22'29.82"E); Stream near Bhatrihari Tiraha (27°26'3.45"N, 76°25'30.80"E) Hoplobatrachus tigerinus Guvara Kundal Village (Daudin, 1803) (27°12'42.70"N,76°16' 30.62"E) Bufonidae Duttaphrynus stomaticus Throughout Sariska National Park Lütken, 1864 REPTILIA Gekkonidae Hemidactylus flaviviridis SNP Rest House Rüppell, 1835 Hemidactylus brookii Gray, Guwara Sahiba Village 1845* (27°11'50.21"N, 76°17'20.36"E); Kalakadi (27°22'22.30"N, 76°32'1.46"E) Agamidae Calotes versicolor (Daudin, Throughout Sariska National Park 1802)* Sitana ponticeriana Cuvier, Kalakadi 1829* Saara hardwickii (Gray, Kalakadi 1827)* Scincidae Lygosoma punctata (Gmelin, Bhangarh Fort (27°05'45.93''N, 1799) 76°17'21.98''E) Varanidae Varanus bengalensis Near Guvara Kundal Village (Daudin, 1802) (27°12'56.70"N, 76°16'19.90"E) Boidae Eryx johnii (Russell, 1801) On the way to Talvriksh (27°28'37.84"N, 76°23'38.61"E) Colubroidae Xenochrophis piscator Canal near Kala Chhara (Schneider, 1799) (27º 26' 03.5'' N; 76º 25' 30.8'' E) Trionychidae Lissemys punctata andersoni Canal near Kala Chhara; Naka Bara, Webb, 1980 Akbarpura Range (27º 25'24.0''N, 76º30'47.3''E) Nilssonia gangetica (Cuvier, Naka Bara, Akbarpura Range 1825) 1 54 Sanjay Keshari Das et al. A total of 109 inhabited burrows were recorded, which References suggests that the lizard population of that area was about Daniel, J.C. (2002): The Book of Indian Reptiles and Amphibians. 100 individuals. Inhabited burrows were identified by Bombay Natural History Society & Oxford University Press, observing lizard trail or fresh fecal pellets near burrow. Mumbai, 238pp. We also recorded a single, abandoned burrow with two Das, I. (2002): A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles openings (Fig. 2E), which is noteworthy in the sense that of India. New Holland (UK) Publishers Ltd., London, 144pp. the species is usually known to live in single-entrance Das, S.K., Dookia, S., Das, K., Dutta, S.K. (2013): Ecological observations on the Indian Spiny-tailed Lizard Saara hardwickii burrows (Fig. 2F). (Gray, 1827) (Reptilia: Squamata: Agamidae) in Tal Chhapar This population represents the only known population Wildlife Sanctuary, Rajasthan, India. Journal of Threatened living outside the Rajasthan Thar, as Bardod Closed Taxa 5: 3516-3526. Area no longer supports the species due to loss of Ramesh, M., Ishwar, N.M. (2008): Status and distribution of the original habitat. Rajasthan Forest Department is well Indian spiny-tailed lizard Uromastyx hardwickii in the Thar aware about the presence of the lizard population and Desert, western Rajasthan. Technical Report No T02, Group for has taken appropriate measure to safeguard the species Nature Preservation & Education, India, 48pp. Sharma, S.K. (2001): Survey of herpetofauna of Kela Devi and its habitat. The area where the species was observed Wildlife. Sanctuary, Machiya Safari Park and Bardod Closed is located in the Aravali foothills and future surveys Areas, Rajasthan. Cobra 46: 26-32. may discover additional populations within the region. Wilms, T.M., Bhome, W., Wagner, P., Lutzmann, N., Schmitz, Considering the fact that no baseline data is available A. (2009): On the phylogeny and taxonomy of the genus about the herpetofauna of Sariska National Park, Uromastyx Merrem, 1820 (Reptilia: Squamata: Agamidae: a comprehensive list (14 spp.) of the herpetofauna Uromastycinae): Resurrection of the Genus Saara Gray, 1845. encountered during the survey has been provided here Bonner Zoologische Beiträge 6: 55-99. (Tab. 1; Fig. 2A, G, H). Given that no systematic faunal surveys have so far been conducted, additional, extensive surveys are needed to accurately assess the herpetofaunal diversity of the region. Acknowledgements. Financial assistance from the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, New Delhi has made it possible to carry out this work. Authors are grateful to the Department of Forest, Government of Rajasthan, for according permission and providing logistic support during survey. Sincere thanks are due to Mr. Manoj K. Parashar (Deputy Conservator of Forests, Sariska National Park) for his help and valuable cooperation, Dr Pankaj Joshi (Programme Coordinator, Sahjeevan, Bhuj-Kutch, Gujarat) for his assiduous help in identifying the plant species. Accepted by Miguel Vences.
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