A Herpetofaunal Inventory of Vidarbha Region, Maharashtra, India

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1 Bioscience Discovery, 8(3): , July RUT Printer and Publisher Print & Online, Open Access, Research Journal Available on ISSN: (Print); ISSN: X (Online) Research Article A Herpetofaunal Inventory of Vidarbha Region, Maharashtra, India Joshi PS 1 *, Charjan AP 1 and VT Tantarpale 2 1 Department of Zoology, Dr. R. G. Rathod Arts and Science College, Murtizapur, Maharashtra, India. 2 P. G. Department of Zoology, Vidya Bharti Mahavidyalaya, Amravati, Maharashtra, India. *psjoshi009@gmail.com Article Info Received: , Revised: , Accepted: Keywords: Herpetofauna, India, Maharashtra, Vidarbha. Abstract The present report provides knowledge about the herpetofauna of Vidarbha region of Indian state Maharashtra. The present inventory of herpetofauna has been compiled primarily from articles and technical reports published in scientific journals. However reports in newsletters, unpublished reports, personal field observations and personal communications with other herpetologists and field workers have also been taken into account. Information on species distribution and taxonomy has been compiled from literature published over past two decades until July The review cleared the presence of seventy species belongings to four order and seventeen families. There are, in future, chances of more species being reported because few pockets and habitats in the Vidarbha region required extensive exploration. INTRODUCTION The diversity of flora and fauna on the earth and its genesis has long been a source of questionable curiosity (Joshi et al., 2015). The study of biodiversity includes both the inherent and anthropocentric principles allied with it. The importance of these incredible biological factors is renowned in relation of the ecosystem services. Biodiversity is the foundation for maintaining the ecosystem and the operative facets of the species that offers many goods and services to for human well being. Examinations of species diversity of a region facilitate the evaluation of potential serviceable role of the species. In any ecosystems, observing the species diversity can be used as a contrivance to minimize the mismanagement and contamination in urbanized, industrial, rural, and managed areas by human (Baumgartner, 2007). Extending this view, the species diversity review in any ecosystems is essential to understand the effect of anthropocentric development on the integrity and sustenance of ecosystem. The inventories of species diversity are immense resource that provides recent and previous information on their topographic distribution. The elementary species occurrence data have various applications. Species inventories that contain such elementary and collective species-occurrence data, plays a fundamental role in providing information on the status of species transpire in different spatial scales. These inventories have been used for taxonomic and biogeographic studies as well for conservation planning, reserve selection, climate change studies, agriculture, forestry and fishery, and species translocation studies (Chapman, 2005a). The meticulousness of the taxonomic and spatial information is valuable reflection for determination of data quality and validation of the species occurrence data. Hence the significance of the data excellence in the inventory of Indian herpetofauna hardly needs emphasis (Chapman, 2005b). In this perspective, the present communication is part of an effort to verify the validity of herpetofaunal species based on a review of the earlier checklists published over the past two decades ISSN: (Print)

2 Finally, a comprehensive herpetofaunal inventory of Vidarbha region of Maharashtra has been provided along with source literature. Materials and methods Study area: Vidarbha is one of the most diversified Regions in Maharashtra State of India, with respect to biodiversity. Its healthy climate, mountainous terrain, rugged configuration and sudden fall in elevation are phenomenal. It is located between north and east. It has a total area of 97,321 square kilometers. The climatic condition of this district is characterized by a hot summer, well-distributed rainfall during the south-west monsoon season and generally dry weather during rest of the year. The cold season is from December to February. The average annual rainfall in the district is mm. During summer the mean daily maximum temperature in summer was 44.2 C to minimum as 26.7 C while it decreased toward winter with the mean daily maximum temperature was 27.8 C and minimum 14.9 C. Primary inventory: The present inventory of herpetofauna has been compiled primarily from articles and technical reports published in scientific Joshi et al., Table 1: A Herpetofaunal inventory of Vidarbha region, Maharashtra, India journals. However reports in newsletters, unpublished reports, personal field observations and personal communications with other herpetologists and field workers have also been taken into account. Information on species distribution and taxonomy has been compiled from literature published until December Taxonomic Treatise: The list provided, is at the species level and the taxonomy follows, Daniel (2002), Das (2003), Whitaker and Captain (2004), Ahmed et al. (2009), Khaire (2010) and Venugopal (2010). Validity of species listed: Based on the distributional records available, the validity of the species listed in the earlier checklists of India, particularly Maharashtra and neighborhood published in the past two decades has been reviewed. RESULTS/ SPECIES ACCOUNTS The present comprehensive inventory is based on a review of the earlier checklists of the herpetofauna published over a past decade. The review cleared the presence of following seventy species belongings to four order and seventeen families (Table 1). Sr. Order Family Species Common name 1. Anura Bufonidae Duttaphrynus melanostictus Asian common toad (Schneider,1799) 2. Duttaphrynus stomaticus (Lutken, 1864) Indian marbled toad 3. Dicroglossidae Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis (Schneider, 1799) Indian skipper frog 4. Euphlyctis hexadctylus (Lesson, 1834) Indian green frog 5. Fejervarya limnocharis (Gravenhost, 1829) Asian grass frog 6. Hoplobatrachus tigerinus (Daudin,1803) Indian bullfrog 7. Hoplobatrachus crassus (Jerdon,1853) Jerdon s bullfrog 8. Sphaerotheca breviceps (Schneider, 1799) Indian burrowing frog 9. Microhylidae Microhyla ornata (Dumeril and Bibron, Asian ornate frog 1841) 10. Kaloula taprobanica (Parker 1934) Asian painted frog 11. Ranidae Hylarana malabarica (Tshudi, 1838) Fungoid frog 12. Rhacophoridae Polypedatus maculatus (Gray, 1830) Indian tree frog 13. Testudines Trionychidae Lissemys punctata (Lecepede, 1788) Indian flapshell turtle 14. Squamata Agamidae Calotes versicolor (Daudin, 1802) Indian garden lizard (Sauria) 15. Calotes rouxii (Dumeril and Bibron, 1837) Indian forest lizards 16. Sitana ponticeriana (Cuvier, 1829) Fan throated lizard 17. Psammophilus blanfordanus (Stoliczka, Blanford s rock agama 1871) 18. Chamaeleonidae Chamaeoleo zeylanicus (Laurenti, 1768) Indian chamaeleon 19. Gekkonidae Geckoella collegalensis (Beddomi 1870) Forest spotted gecko 20. Geckoella nebulosus (Agawal and Karanath 2015) Common spotted gecko ISSN: X (Online)

3 21. Hemidactylus brookii (Gray, 1845) Brook s house gecko 22. Hemidactylus flaviviridis (Murray, 1886) Yellow-green House Gecko 23. Hemidactylus frenatus (Schlegel, 1836) Asian house gecko 24. Hemidactylus giganteus (Stoliczka, 1871) Giant Indian gecko 25. Hemidactylus hemchandrai (Dandge and Hemchandrai s gecko Tiple 2015) 26. Hemidactylus leschenaultia (Dumeril and Common bark gecko Bibron, 1836) 27. Hemidactylus triedrus (Daudin, 1802) Termite hill gecko 28. Scincidae Eutropis beddomii (Jerdon, 1870) Beddome's skink 29. Eutropis carinata (Schneider, 1799) Keeled grass skink 30. Eutropis macularius (Blyth, 1853) Bronze grass skink 31. Lygosoma lineate (Gray, 1839) lined writhing skink 32. Lygosoma punctatus (Gmelin, 1799) Spotted supple skink 33. Varanidae Varanus bengalensis (Daudin, 1803) Bengal monitor lizard 34. Squamata Typhlopidae Grypotyphlops acutus (Dumeril and Bibron, Beaked worm snake (Ophida) 1844) 35. Ramphotyphlops braminus (Daudin, 1803) Common worm snake 36. Pythonidae Python molurus molurus (Linnaeus, 1758) Indian rock python 37. Boidae Gongylophis conicus (Schneider, 1801) Common sand boa 38. Eryx johnii (Russell, 1801) Red sand boa 39. Colubridae Ahaetulla nasuta (Lacepede, 1789) Common vine snake 40. Amphiesma stolatum (Linnaeus, 1758) Striped keelback 41. Argyrogena fasciolata (Shaw, 1802) Banded racer 42. Atretium schistosum (Daudin 1803) Olive kill back 43. Boiga forsteni (Dumeril, 1854) Forsten s cat snake 44. Boiga trigonata (Bechstein, 1802) Indian cat snake 45. Coelognathus helena helena (Daudin, 1803) Common trinket snake 46. Coelognathus helena monticollaris (Schulz, Montane trinket snake 1992) 47. Coronella branchyura (Gunther, 1866) Indian smooth snake 48. Dendrelaphis tristis (Daudin, 1803) Bronzback tree snake 49. Elachistodon westermanni (Reinhardt, 1863) Indian egg eater 50. Lycodon aulicus (Linnaeus, 1758) Common wolf snake 51. Lycodon flavomaculatus (Wall, 1907) Yellow spotted wolf snake 52. Lycodon striatus (Shaw, 1802) Barred wolf snake 53. Macropisthodon plumbicolour (Cantor, Green keelback 1839) 54. Oligodon arnesis (Shaw, 1802) Common kukri snake 55. Oligodon taeniolatus (Jerdon, 1853) Russell s kukri snake 56. Psammophis condanarus (Merrem, 1820) Condanarus sand snake 57. Psammophis leithii (Gunther, 1869) Leith s sand snake 58. Psammophis longifrons (Boulenger, 1897) Stout sand snake 59. Ptyas mucosa (Linnaeus, 1758) Indian rat snake 60. Sibynophis subpunctatus (Dumeril, 1854) Black headed snake 61. Xenochrophis piscator (Schneider, 1799) Checkered keelback 62. Elapidae Bungarus caeruleus (Schneider, 1801) Common krait 63. Bungarus fasciatus (Schneider, 1801) Banded krait 64. Bungarus sindanus walli (Wall, 1908) Wall s sind krait 65. Calliophis melanurus (Shaw, 1802) Slender coral snake 66. Naja naja (Linnaeus, 1758) Indian spectacle cobra 67. Daboia russelii (Shaw and Nodder, 1797) Russell s viper 68. Echis carinatus (Schneider, 1801) Saw-scaled viper 69. Trimeresurus gramineus (Shaw, 1802) Green pit viper 70. Crocodilia Crocodylidae Crocodylus palustris (Lesson, 1831) Mugger crocodile ISSN: (Print)

4 Discussion Vidarbha is most diversified region with lush green deciduous forests through large protected areas which are home to variety of flora and fauna. It has approximately 37,251 km 2 forest cover. Vidarbha also has many popular wildlife sanctuaries and parks viz. Melghat in Amaravti, Amba-barwa and Nalganga in Buldhana, Tadoba- Andhari in Chandrapur, Nagzira and Navegaon Bandh in Gondia, etc. The region is represented with rich herpetofaunal diversity. The utility of herpetofaunal species as indicators of environmental conditions is a basis for preparation of present inventory. The present inventory of herpetofauna of Vidarbha region is based on available locality records by providing relevant source literature on specimens that would be ensuring its quality. Because, the accurate and precise quality data on species occurrences are imperative for the assessment of conservation status and drawing management considerations hence used for further research purposes such as predictions on species distributions, habitat suitability, and threat assessments etc. Many researchers from Vidarbha region had given their valuable contribution in development of herpetofaunal studies. The monumental works on Herpetofauna of Vidarbha region mainly includes the Wadatkar (2003), Captain et al. (2005), Nande and Deshnukh (2007), Harney et al. (2009), Joshi (2009), Sawarkar and Kasambe (2009), Harney (2011), Joshi (2011), Narayanan (2012), Dhande and Khandare (2013), Kumbhar et al. (2013), Uke et al. (2013), Ingle et al. (2014), Joshi et al. (2014), Charjan and Joshi (2015), Dandgge and Tiple (2015), Deshmukh et al. (2015), Joshi et al. (2015), Kakde and Thakur (2015), Khobragade and Pawar (2015), Pandharikar et al. (2015 a, b and c), Amjad et al. (2016), Joshi et al. (2016), Joshi and Tantarpale (2016), Wagh et al. (2017) to name a few. These studies explained the herpetofaunal dominance in the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and also the provision of ecosystem services (Sirsat et al., 2016). According to Joshi et al. (2015), the herpetofauna is always threatened by anthropogenic and environmental factors. The diverse habitats of the Vidarbha Region are rapidly changing due to new irrigation projects and industrialization. Forest areas are being de-notified for implementing development projects such as mining, industry, communication and tourism. This has resulted in Bioscience Discovery, 8(3): , July alternating climate as well shrinkage, fragmentation, degradation and destruction of natural habitats. Road accidental killing on highways across wildlife refuges are an intrusion and affect the wildlife and its habitats adversely. Misconceptions and fear about these species especially about snakes are also threatening this important creature of the ecosystem. In parity with the herpetofaunal species observed in Vidarbha region, Maharashtra, India, it may be assumed that the species carry out diverse functional roles for the sustenance of the ecosystems. The availability of the green space and the heterogeneity of the habitats in terms of the available vegetation and allied factors that render stability to the population and species assemblages in the landscapes are possibly important contributors to the observed variations in the saurian species observed in the present study. The present diversity study is confined to limited area and selected habitats. There are, in future, chance of more species being reported because of few pockets and habitats in the studied area required more extensive exploration. Acknowledgements The authors are thankful to Dr K.M. Kulkarni, Former Vice Chancellor (Swami Ramanand Tirtha Marathwada University, Nanded, India) and Former Director (Higher Education, Government of Maharashtra, Pune, India) for erudite guidance during conduct of this study. REFERENCES Ahmed MF, Das A and Dutta SK, Amphibians and Reptiles of Northeast India-A Photographic Guide, Aaranyak, Guwahati, India. Pp Amjad H, Joshi PS, Tantarpale VT, Record of Leucism in Green Keelback Macropisthodon Plumbicolor (Cantor, 1839) in Amravati District, Maharashtra, India. Weekly Science, 16 (28): 1-5. Baumgartner SS, The insurance value of biodiversity in the provision of ecosystem services. Natural Resource Modelling, 7 (20): Captain A, Tillack F, Gumprechet A and Dandage P, First record of Elachistodon westermanni from Wardha District of Maharashtra, India. Russian Journal of Herpetology 12(5): Chapman AD, 2005 a. Uses of Primary Species- Occurrence Data version 1.0. Report for the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, Copenhagen ISSN: X (Online)

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