Hemidactylus paucifasciatus (Squamata: Gekkonidae), a new species of large-bodied, tuberculate gecko from Northern Odisha, India.

A new Hemidactylus belonging to the H. prashadi group is described herein, based on a series of four specimens from the Chota Nagpur Plateau in northern Odisha. Hemidactylus paucifasciatus sp.

King or royal family? Testing for species boundaries in the King Cobra, Ophiophagus hannah (Cantor, 1836), using morphology and multilocus DNA analyses.

In widespread species, the diverse ecological conditions in which the populations occur, and the presence of many potential geographical barriers through their range are expected to have created ample opportunities for the evolution of distinct, often cryptic lineages. In this work, we tested for species boundaries in one such widespread species, the king cobra, Ophiophagus hannah (Cantor, 1836), a largely tropical elapid snake distributed across the Oriental realm. Based on extensive geographical sampling across most of the range of the species, we initially tested for candidate species (CS) using Maximum-Likelihood analysis of mitochondrial genes.

A novel, diminutive Hemiphyllodactylus Bleeker, 1860 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from a sacred grove in Odisha, eastern India.

We describe a distinct new species of Hemiphyllodactylus from a sacred grove near Humma in Ganjam District of Odisha state, eastern India. Hemiphyllodactylus minimus sp. nov.

"Endangered or an artifact of unsound taxonomy? Case of the critically endangered bush frog Philautus sanctisilvaticus Das and Chanda, 1997".

We investigated the phylogenetic relationship of the Critically Endangered bush frog Philautus sanctisilvaticus Das and Chanda, 1997 and other species distributed across the fragmented forests of Deccan Peninsula and the northern Eastern Ghats. A short fragment of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene was employed to assess phylogenetic relationships across Philautus sanctisilvaticus Das and Chanda, 1997, Raorchestes terebrans (Das and Chanda, 1998) and Philautus similipalensis Dutta, 2003. All sequenced specimens, including material from near the type localities of P.

A new genus and species of arboreal toad with phytotelmonous larvae, from the Andaman Islands, India (Lissamphibia, Anura, Bufonidae).

A new bufonid amphibian, belonging to a new monotypic genus, is described from the Andaman Islands, in the Bay of Bengal, Republic of India, based on unique external morphological and skeletal characters which are compared with those of known Oriental and other relevant bufonid genera. Blythophryne gen. n.

Hematology and plasma biochemistry of wild-caught Indian cobra Naja naja (Linnaeus, 1758).

Background: Hematology and plasma biochemistry parameters are useful in the assessment and management of snake physiological status. Although reference ranges are readily available for many snake species, they are lacking for most venomous ophidians. We determined hematology and plasma biochemistry reference ranges for the wild-caught Indian cobra, Naja naja.

A new species of Duttaphrynus (Anura:Bufonidae) from Northeast India.

A new species of montane toad Duttaphrynus is described from Nagaland state of Northeast India. The new species is diagnosable based on following combination of characters: absence of preorbital, postorbital and orbitotympanic ridges, elongated and broad parotid gland, first finger longer than second and presence of a mid-dorsal line. The tympanum is hidden under a skin fold (in male) or absent (in female).

The first teresomatan caecilian (Amphibia: Gymnophiona) from the Eastern Ghats of India--a new species of Gegeneophis Peters, 1880.

A new species of caecilian amphibian, Gegeneophis orientalis sp. nov., is described based on a series of nine specimens from high elevation (ca.

In Vitro Antibacterial and Antioxidant Studies of Croton roxburghii L., from Similipal Biosphere Reserve.

In vitro antibacterial activities of acetone, ethanol, methanol and water extracts of leaves and bark of Croton roxburghii L. studied against ten human pathogenic bacterial strains showed significantly higher activity in acetone extract and least activity in case of aqueous. Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of all extracts ranged between 0.

Histology of vitamin A induced ectopic limbs and normal hind limbs in tadpoles of Polypedates maculatus.

Marked histological similarities were observed between normal and vitamin A induced ectopic limb buds of P. maculatus. However, close association of nephric tubule and lateral plate mesoderm, as seen in normal hind limb bud does not seem to be essential for ectopic limb development.