Species Discoveries and Biodiversity Records in News: UPSC Prelims R...

16 May

Species / Discovery	Type / Status	Location / Site	Key Features / Importance
Taningia silasii	Deep-sea squid / Indian octopus squid	Arabian Sea; discovered by CMFRI, Kochi	Named after E.G. Silas; deep-sea biodiversity; published in Marine Biodiversity
Nine solitary bee species	Insect / pollinator	Kerala	Solitary bees live independently; important for pollination, agriculture, soil health; includes rediscovery of Gnathonomia argenteobalteata after a century
Apterichtus kanniyakumari	Finless snake eel / marine fish	Off Colachel coast, Kanniyakumari, Tamil Nadu; around 100 m depth	Golden-yellow body; new species by NBFGR, Kochi; 16th new species from Indian coast by NBFGR
Rusty-spotted cat	World’s smallest wild cat / Near Threatened	Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh	First record in VDTR; carnivorous, nocturnal wild cat; recorded through camera trap
Indian Wolf	Mammal / Vulnerable / expected new species	Semi-arid grasslands, scrublands; Deccan, Rajasthan, Gujarat, MP	Oldest living wolf lineage; carnivore; Schedule I protection; threatened by habitat loss, hybridisation, persecution
Japanese Sparrowhawk	Migratory raptor bird / Least Concern	Adyar Estuary, Chennai	First photographed record in mainland India; carnivorous bird of prey; breeds in East Asia, winters in Southeast Asia
Dunlin	Near Threatened shorebird	Puthuvype Beach, Kerala Bird Race	Small migratory shorebird with droopy bill; found on mudflats and beaches
Kaziranga Bird Survey	146 bird species recorded	Kaziranga National Park and Laokhowa WLS, Assam	Included endangered birds like Swamp Grass Babbler and Pallas’s Fish Eagle; citizen science initiative
Freshwater fauna of Western Ghats	Fish, decapod crustaceans, odonates	Western Ghats; Periyar River priority area	About 25% freshwater species globally threatened; Western Ghats identified as threatened freshwater hotspot
Woolly Rhino horn	Extinct Ice Age mammal fossil	Siberian permafrost, Russia	Around 19,700 years old; world’s longest woolly rhino horn; herbivorous Pleistocene megafauna
Burtele Foot	Hominin fossil	Afar Rift region, Ethiopia	Around 3.4 million years old; belongs to Australopithecus deyiremeda; bipedal but tree-climbing adaptation
Mosquito larva in amber	Insect fossil / new species	Kachin region, Myanmar	99 million years old; named Cretosabethes primaevus; oldest known mosquito larva in amber
Thorny bamboo fossil	Plant fossil	Chirang River, Imphal Valley, Manipur	Late Pleistocene/Ice Age fossil; genus Chimonobambusa; shows bamboo thorniness existed during Ice Age
Ophiorrhiza echinata	New coffee plant species	Shola forests, Devikulam, Idukki, Western Ghats	Rubiaceae family; related to Indian Snake Root; possible anti-cancer and anti-venom medicinal potential
Musa indandamanensis	Wild banana species	Andaman and Nicobar Islands	World’s longest banana infructescence, about 4.2 m; endemic and rare
Dipterocarpus bourdillonii	Critically Endangered tree	Western Ghats, Kerala	Threatened by fungus Corynespora cassiicola; important rainforest canopy tree; oleoresin used in traditional medicine
Kurinji — Strobilanthes sessilis	Flowering plant	Gudalur, Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu	Blooms once every 8 years; ecological indicator of grassland health; supports pollinators
Three new Melastomataceae plant species	New plant species	Western Ghats, Karnataka	Discovered by Davangere University botanists; important for taxonomy, ecology and conservation

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