Short course in Herpetology November 1-6, 2016 Venue: CES Seminar hall, IISc, Bangalore Day 1: 01/11/2016 Tuesday Introduction Sushil Dutta History of Herpetology & Herpetology in India Varad Giri 11:00 am 11:15 am Tea Important books in Herpetology Sushil Dutta On Writing Well (part I) Karthik Ramaswamy 3:00 pm 3:15 pm Tea 3:15 pm 4:30 pm On Writing Well (Part II) Karthik Ramaswamy 4:30 pm 6:00 pm Photography and preparing images for publication Varad Giri & Ashok Captain Day 2: 02/11/2016 Wednesday Concepts Why is taxonomy so important? An Indian perspective. Varad Giri Physics and physiology Maria Thaker
11:00 am 11:15 am Tea 11:15 am 12:30 pm Basics of tree building Praveen Karanth Understanding biogeography of India using lizards as a model system Praveen Karanth 3:00 pm 4:00 pm Developmental biology of amphibians and reptiles Sushil Dutta 4:15 pm 6:15 pm Hands-on session for phylogenetic tree building Praveen Karanth lab Day 3: 03/11/2016 Thursday Amphibians Evolution of Amphibians Varun Torsekar What makes frogs and toads so interesting (Including taxonomy)? Sushil Dutta 10:30 am 11:00 am Tadpoles: Why are they so interesting? Prudhviraj 11:00 am 11:15 am Tea What makes caecilians so interesting (Including taxonomy)? Varad Giri 2:00 pm 2:45 pm Ecology of amphibians: Understanding their abode that determines where and how they live Ashish Thomas 2:45 pm 3:15 pm
Reproductive modes and mating systems of anurans in the Northern Western Ghats Nikhil Gaitonde 3:15 pm 4:00 pm Understanding vocalization in amphibians Robin Panjikar Amphibian phylogenetics: Case studies Varun Torsekar 5:15 pm 6:15 pm Hand-stand to Foot-flag: Why do frogs do what they do? - Gururaja K. V. Day 4: 04/11/2016 Friday Snakes Evolution of reptiles Aniruddha Datta-Roy Degeneration and diversification of venom systems in reptiles Kartik Sunagar 10:30 am 12:00 pm Taxonomy of snakes and hands-on session on snake taxonomy Ashok Captain 12:00 pm 12:30 pm Hemipenis as an additional character in snakes Pratyush Mohapatra Ecological sampling techniques (Lizards & Snakes) Part I S. Harikrishnan 3:00 pm 4:00 pm How do Kings live? Habitat use of King cobras (Ophiophagus hannah) in a heterogeneous landscape in the Western Ghats Chetan Rao
Snake phylogenetics: Case studies Chinta Sidharthan 5:15 pm 6:15 pm A journey into natural history of the king cobra - P. Gowri Shankar Day 5: 05/11/2016 Saturday Lizards Dragon s tale: Diversity, distribution and taxonomy of agamids V. Deepak Why study Geckos? Aparna Lajmi 10:30 am 11:15 am Mysteries of a scaly kind: Skinks as model systems for various biological studies Aniruddha Datta- Roy 11:15 am 11:30 pm Tea 11:30 am 12:30 pm Taxonomy of lizards in an Indian perspective Varad Giri 2:00 pm 2:45 pm Ecological sampling techniques (Lizards & Snakes) Part II S. Harikrishnan 2:45 pm 3:45 pm Sex, survival & the spectrum of colour Maria Thaker & Anuradha Batabyal 3:45 pm 4:00 pm Tea 4:00 pm 4:30 pm Diversification in a continental radiation of Hemidactylus geckos Aparna Lajmi 4:30 pm 5:00 pm Species delimitation in Fan-throated lizard complex V. Deepak 5:00 pm 5:30 pm A peek into the evolutionary origins of Indian skinks Aniruddha Datta-Roy
5:30 pm 6:00 pm Hands-on lizard taxonomy Varad Giri, P. Pratyush, V. Deepak & Aniruddha Datta-Roy Day 6: 06/11/2016 Sunday Turtles, tortoises and crocodiles Freshwater turtles & tortoises: Phylogeny, diversity & distribution V. Deepak An introduction to the biology and conservation of sea turtles: A review of associated research in the Indian Sub-Continent Muralidharan. M 11:00 am 11:15 pm Tea Home range and movement patterns in two endemic chelonians V. Deepak The evolution of Crocodiles and their biology Ajay Karthik 3:00 pm 3:30 pm Muggers Dilemma: To be or not to be Raju Vyas 3:30 pm 3:45 pm Tea 3:45 pm 4:15 pm Special talk Snake bite management (plus discussion) Kedar Bhide Curation techniques and repositories for herpetofauna in India Varad Giri 5:15 onwards Discussion and feedback