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Bioscience Discovery, 8(3): 582-587, July - 2017

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Research Article

A Herpetofaunal Inventory of Vidarbha Region, Maharashtra, India

Joshi PS1*, Charjan AP

1 and VT Tantarpale

2

1Department of Zoology, Dr. R. G. Rathod Arts and Science College, Murtizapur, Maharashtra, India.

2P. G. Department of Zoology, Vidya Bharti Mahavidyalaya, Amravati, Maharashtra, India.

*psjoshi009@gmail.com

Article Info

Abstract

Received: 01-06-2017,

Revised: 26-06-2017,

Accepted: 29-06-2017

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 However reports in newsletters, unpublished reports, personal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 2016. 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.

Keywords:

Herpetofauna, India,

Maharashtra, Vidarbha.

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.

http://biosciencediscovery.com 583 ISSN: 2231-024X (Online)

Joshi et al.,

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 20.9374° north and 77.7796°

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 795.7 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

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 2016.

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).

Table 1: A Herpetofaunal inventory of Vidarbha region, Maharashtra, India

Sr. Order Family Species Common name

1. Anura Bufonidae Duttaphrynus melanostictus

(Schneider,1799)

Asian common toad

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,

1841)

Asian ornate frog

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

(Sauria)

Agamidae Calotes versicolor (Daudin, 1802) Indian garden lizard

15. Calotes rouxii (Dumeril and Bibron, 1837) Indian forest lizards

16. Sitana ponticeriana (Cuvier, 1829) Fan throated lizard

17. Psammophilus blanfordanus (Stoliczka,

1871)

Blanford’s rock agama

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

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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

Tiple 2015)

Hemchandrai’s gecko

26. Hemidactylus leschenaultia (Dumeril and

Bibron, 1836)

Common bark gecko

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

(Ophida)

Typhlopidae Grypotyphlops acutus (Dumeril and Bibron,

1844)

Beaked worm snake

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,

1992)

Montane trinket snake

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,

1839)

Green keelback

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

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Bioscience Discovery, 8(3): 582-587, July - 2017

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 km2 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

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.

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How to Cite this Article:

Joshi PS, Charjan AP and VT Tantarpale, 2017. A Herpetofaunal Inventory of Vidarbha Region,

Maharashtra, India. Bioscience Discovery, 8(3):582-587.