A new ancient lineage of ablepharine skinks (Sauria: Scincidae) from eastern Himalayas with notes on origin and systematics of the group.

The Himalayas represent a renowned biodiversity hotspot and an important biogeographic realm that has influenced origin and diversification of multiple taxa. A recent herpetological investigation of the eastern Himalayas of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh led to the discovery of a unique lineage of ablepharine skink, which is herein described as a new genus along with a new species. The findings are based an integrated taxonomic approach incorporating data from external morphology, microCT scans of the skull and molecular data.

A new species of fossorial natricid snakes of the genus Trachischium Günther, 1858 (Serpentes: Natricidae) from the Himalayas of northeastern India.

A new species of natricid snakes, Trachischium apteii sp. nov. is described from the northeastern Indian State of Arunachal Pradesh.

Wind farms have cascading impacts on ecosystems across trophic levels.

Wind farms are a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels for mitigating the effects of climate change, but they also have complex ecological consequences. In the biodiversity hotspot of the Western Ghats in India, we find that wind farms reduce the abundance and activity of predatory birds (for example, Buteo, Butastur and Elanus species), which consequently increases the density of lizards, Sarada superba. The cascading effects of wind turbines on lizards include changes in behaviour, physiology and morphology that reflect a combination of predator release and density-dependent competition.

A new large species of gecko of the genus Hemidactylus Oken, 1817 (Reptilia: Sauria: Gekkonidae) from the Eastern Ghats, India.

A new large species of gecko superficially resembling Hemidactylus maculatus Duméril & Bibron and its allied large Hemidactylus is described from Eastern Ghats. The new species, Hemidactylus kangerensis sp. nov.

A new species of gecko of the genus Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 from the Western Ghats, India.

A new species of the gekkonid genus Cnemaspis is described from the lateritic plateau of the northern Western Ghats of Maharashtra, western India. The new species is diagnosed by the following suite of characters: small sized Cnemaspis, SVL less than 35 mm (21.52-33.

Preliminary review of Indian Eumenophorinae (Araneae: Theraphosidae) with description of a new genus and five new species from the Western Ghats.

The theraphosid spider genera Heterophrictus Pocock, 1900 and Neoheterophrictus Siliwal & Raven, 2012 are rediagnosed in this paper and a new genus, Sahydroaraneus gen. nov. is described from Southern Western Ghats.