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OCCASIONAL PAPER No. 201 RECORDS OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA Endemic Mammals of India J .R.B. ALFRED and S. CHAKRABORTY "' Zoological Survey of India M-Block, New Alipore, Kolkata-700 053 Zoological Survey of India Kolkata CITATION Alfred, J.R.B and Chakraborty, S. 2002. Endemic Mammals of India, Rec. zoo I. Surv. India, Dcc. Paper No. 201 : 1-37 (Published - Director, Zool. Surv. India, Kolkata) Published : September, 2002 ISBN 81-85674-81-6 © Govt. of India, 2002 All RIGHTS RESERVED • No part of this publication my be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. • This book is sold subiect to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade, be lent, re-sold hired out or otherwise disposed of without the publisher's consent, in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published. • The correct price of this publication is the price printed on this page. Any revised price indicated by a rubber stamp or by a sticker or by any other means is incorrect and should be unacceptable. PRICE India Rs. 200.00 Foreign $10 £ 8 'Published at the Publication Division by the Director, Zoological Survey of India 234/4, A. J. C. Bose Road, 2nd MSO Building, Kolkata -100 020 and printed a Calcutta Repro Graphics, Kolkata -700 006 Records of the Zoological Survey of India OCCASIONAL PAPER No. 201 No. 201 2002 1-37 CONTENTS ...................................................................................................... 1 ~<:>J:)1.J~<:>1'J SYSTEMATIC ACCOUm Family- ERINACEIDAE 1. Hemiechinus mediventris (Horsfiedl) .................................................. 2 Family SC>RICIDAE 2. Crocidura andamanensis Miller .................................................... 2 3. Crocidtlra nicobarica Miller ................................................................... 3 4. Croddura jenkinsi Chakraborty .......................................................... 3 5. Crocidura hispida Thomas .................................................................... 4 6. Suncus dayi (Dobson) .......................................................................... 4 Family TUPAIIDAE 7. Anatltana· ellioti (Waterhouse) ............................................................. 5 8. TIlpaia nicobarica (Zelebor) .................................................................. 5 Family PTEROP<:>DIDAE 9.. LAtidens Salimali (Thonglongya) ......................................................... 6 10. PteropltS faunrllus Miller ...................................................................... 7 Family RHINOL<:>PHIDAE 11. Rhinolophus mitratus Blyth .................................................................. 7 12. Rhinoloplzus cognatus Andersen .......................................................... 8 13. Hipposideros schistacellS Andersen ....... ............................................. 8 ~ 14. Hipposideros Itypophyllus Kock and Bhat ......................................... 9 iv Family MOLOSSIDAE 15. Otomops wroughtoni (Thomas) .............. ~ ............................................. 9 Family VESPERTILIONIDAE 16. Eptesiclls tatei Ellerman and Morrison-Scott ................................ ·10 17. Mllrina grisea Peters ............................................................................ 11 18. Scotomanes emarginatlls (Dobson) .................................................... 11 Family CERCOPITHECIDAE 19. Macaca silenus (Linnaeus) .................................................................. 12 20. Macaca radiata (Geoffroy) .................................................................. 12 21. Trachypitltecus johnii (Fischer) ........................................................... 13 Family VIVERRIDAE 22. Paradoxllrus jerdoni Blanford ............................................................ 14 23. Vit'erra civet tina Blyth ........................................................................ 15 Family HERPESTIDAE 24. Herpestes paltlstris Ghose .................................................................. ,16 Family MUSTELIDAE l' 25. Martes gwatkinsii Horsfield ............................................................... Family BOVIDAE 26. Hemitragus Izylocrius (Ogilby) ........................................................... 17 Family SCIURIDAE 27. Ratufa indica (Erxleben) ..................................................................... 18 28. Funal1lbllillS tristriatus Waterhouse) ................................................ 19 29. BiswQ17loypterus bislvasi Saha ............................................................. 20 Family MURIDAE 30. Cremno17IYs elvira (Ellerman) ............................................................. 20 31. Cr em nonlYs cu tchicus Wroughton .................................................... 21 32. Alticola albica.ttda (True) ...................................................................... 22 33. Alticola montoSQ (1'rue) .................................................................•.••..• 22 34. Alticola roylei (Gray) ........................................................................... 23 35. Millardia kondana Mishra and Dhanda 24 36. Rattus palmanlm (Zelebor) ................................................................ 24 37. Rnttus ranjiniae Agrawal and Ghosal ............................................ 25 38. Rattus stoicus (Miller) ............................................................. 25 0 •••• 0 ••••• 0 39. Rattus (Miller) ........................................................................ 26 bltmiS 40. Mus famult.ts Bonhote ........................................................................ 26 41. Mus phillipsi Wroughton ................................................................... 27 42. Mus platythrix (Bennett) .................................................................... 27 43. Apodemus rusiges Miller .................................................................... 28 44. Platacanthomys lasiunls Blyth ............................................................ 28 DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................ 29 ~~ ••••.••.•••.••••••••••.•.••.••.•••.•.•...•.............•....•.....•.....•...•...•••.••....•.•...••.......••.... ~ REFERENCES ......................................................... 31 0 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• TABLE-l ................................................................................................................ 35 INTRODUCTION Today, the world is on the threshold of major changes brought about by the revolutionary developments in the field of biotechnology. This has resulted the development of new Intellectual Property Right (IPR) regimes and also new regimes of management of biodiversity resources embodied in the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) component of GATT and in the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD). In CBD regime genetic resources are the soverign property of a country. As such, each and every component of a country's biodivesity may be ta gged with economic significance. Under the situation, a species endemic to a country becomes most important in the context of patent right. Moreover, assessment of endemic species of a country and their range provide a key for determining the areas of conservation priority. Obviously the areas, holding high concentration of endemic species, deserve topmost conservation priority. Of all the living creatures, mammals are by far the most important in their economic uses. In addition to being the only animals capable of giving labour for mankind, they furnish the greatest portion of animal food of many races of man and likewise a large amount of their clothings. They are also most important as experimental animals. Thus, from the dawn of civilization, mammalian species are being demosticated and native breeds are developed for more and more meat, milk, wool, etc. India alone has developed atleast 16 native breeds of buffalo, 56 of cattle, 32 of goat, 7 of horse, 3 of pig, 56 of sheep and one of Ass 1992). Thus, from (Groom~ridge the conservation as well as economic point of view, it is most important to identify the. endemic components of Indian mammalisn fauna. Lists of Indian endemic mammals have been provided by Chakraborty (1997), Agrawal (1998), Molur et ale (1998) and Mandai (1999). However, none of the list is complete. In the present paper an attempt has been made to list the endemic mammals of India alongwith their diagnostic characters, distribution, intraspecific variations, habitat, population and status. In this connection a survey was undertaken to the Western Ghats, the areas with highest concentration of endemic species, to study the status of different species. While making the list it has been found that for many of the species there are difference of opinions among the various authors as regard to their taxonomic status. The present listing was mainly done on basis of Wilson and Reeder (1993), with remarks wherever necessary. th~ IUCN status for different species is given after Molur et al. (1998). acc. REC. ZOOL. SURV. INDIA, PAPER No. 201 Following abbreviations have been used in the text. = Hb = Head and body length; Fa Length of forearm; ROB - N (1994) = = Red Data Bood - National (1994); IWPA - 1972 Indian Wildlife (protection) Act, 1972. Unless otherwise mentioned all measurements are in millimetres. SYSTEMATIC ACCOUNT Order INSECTIVORA Family ERINACEIDAE 1. Hemiecllinus nudiventris (Horsfield) 1851. Eri1taceus nudiventris Horsfield, Cat. Mom",. Mus., E. India Co., p. 136. Common Name : Eng. South Indian Hedgehog. Diagnostic characters: Head and body aro~d 165, ear 24-27 and does not rise above spines. Dorsum brownish; a brown bangie above wrist and a brown collor throat present. o~ Distribution : Kerala, Tamil Nadu. Intraspecific variation : Not known. Habitat : Plains with patches of bush or scrub for~st. Population : Not known, but there is only a few records of its occurrence. Status : Not determined. Remarks : Ellerman and Morrison-Scott (1951), Corbet and' Hill· (1992) cons~id ered nudiventris as a subspecies of Paraechinus m, icropus «Blyth). Biswas and Ghose (1970~ provided the species specific distinctive characters of nudiventris' and' Hutterer (in Wilson and Reeder 1993) maintained it as a distinct species. Family SORICIOAE 2. Crocidura andamanensis Miller 1902. Crociduro Qllda'1Ianensis Miller, Proc ..U .S. natl. Mus., 24 : 771. ALFRED and CHAKRABORTY : Ende,,,ic Mnmmals of India 3 Common name : Not available. Diagnostic cMracters : Large-sized (Hb : 114), tail about 750/0 of Head and body length. Dorsal pelage soft; hairs long (7 mm) and medium brown in colour. Ventral pelage grey. Distribution : South Andaman Island. Intraspecific variation : Not known. Habitat : Not known. Population : Not known. Apart from the type specimen, no other record is available. Stlltus : IUeN : Data Deficient. 3. Crocidura nicobarica Miller 1902. Crocidura nicobarica Miller, Proc. U.S. Natl. Mus., 24 : 776. Common name : Eng.-Nicobar Shrew. Diagnostic characters: Large-sized (Hb : 107-120), tail abollt 67% of head and body in length. Dorsal pelage.short (4 mm), bristly and sooty brown in colour. Distribution: Nicobar Islands. Intraspecific variation : Not known. lIabitat : Not known. Pupulation : Not known. Status : lUeN : Krumbiegel (1978) listed nicobarica under the genus Ehren\berg without any explanation. However, Corbet and Hill SI~l1CUS described the. skull and teeth of nicobarica as similar to those of (19~2) mllrinus (Linnaeus) from Jammu ad Kashmir except for the absence S"f.CUS of 4th unicuspid. 4. Crocidura jenkinsi Chakraborty 1978. Crocidura jenkinsi Chakraborty, Bull. zool. Surv. India, 1 : 303. Comnwn name : Eng.-Jenkins' Shrew. DiagnllStiC characters : Large-sized (Hb : 100-107), tail slightly smaller being 980/0 of head and body length. Dorsal pelage long (7 mm), bristly and bfllwn in colour. acc. 4 REC. ZOOL. SURV. INDIA, PAPER No. 201 Distribution : South Andaman Islands. Intraspecific variation : Not known. Habitat : Scrub jungle, preferably adjacent to human habitation. Population : A gOQd population of this species was recorded in Mt. 1 Harriet during 1997. Appears to be common. Status : IUCN : Data Deficient. 5. Crocidura Ilispida Thomas 1913. Crocidura hispida Thomas, Ann. Mag. nat. Hist., sere 2, 17 : 23. name : Eng.-Andaman Island Spiny Shrew. C~mmon Diagnostic characters : Medium-sized (Hb : 85), tail longer than head and 0 body, being 121 /0. Dorsal pelage bristly, grey in colour, with brownish wash. Distribution : Middle Andaman Island. Intraspecific variation : Not known. Habitat : Not known. Population : Not known. Status IUCN : Endangered. 6. Suncus dayi (Dobson) 1888. Crocidura dayi Dobson, Ann. Mag. Hist., sere 6, 1 : 428. 1l1lt. Common name: Eng.-Day's Shrew. Diagnostic characters : Small-sized (Hb. : 71), hind foot relatively large being 15. Dorsum dark brown, beneath dark with silvery sheen. Distribution : Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Intraspecific variation : Not known. Habitat : Montane h\lmid forests at elevations from 1000 to 2500. Population: Recently recorded from 'a number of localities in Anamalai and 'Nilg~ri hills. However, exact population is not known, but appears to be moderately common. Status : IUCN : Vulnerable.