New Record of Brachysaura Minor (Hardwicke and Gray), An Agamid Lizard from Orissa, India

2010·0.59 MB·

by  Rina Chakraborty

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
NEW RECORD OF BRACHYSAURA MINOR (HARDWICKEAND GRAY),
7.
AN AGAMID LIZARD FROM ORISSA, INDIA
RinaChakraborty1-2and GouriDas Gupta1-3
'ZoologicalSurveyofIndia, 27J.L.Nehru Road, Kolkata700016,WestBengal,India.
2Email: [email protected]
3Email: [email protected]
Duringthefaunisticsurvey,inandaroundthe Satkosia Colour: Dorsal olive-brown, with three rows ofdark-
Wildlife Sanctuary of Orissa, in February, 2009, one dead brown, light-edged spotsonthebackandbaseofthetail;the
specimenofBrachysaura minor(Hardwicke andGray) was spotsofthemiddleroware mostprominentandrhomboidal;
collectedandthreeotherswereobserved.AccordingtoSmith a white stripe on sides of nape, an oblique yellowish stripe
(1935),Sharma(2002)andDas(2002),B. minorhashitherto fromtheeyetotheangleofthemouth;limbswithdark-brown
not been recorded from eastern India. Since, compilation of cross-bars; throat profusely spotted with grey; belly whitish
a detailed report will take some time, it was considered yellow. The juveniles are olive or pinkish brown in colour
desirable to record the extension ofthe distributional range with dark brown bandbetween eyes.
ofthe species toeastern India up to Orissa. Habit and Habitat: Terrestrial, crepuscular and
Material: 1 (Juvenile); Loc. c. 200 m south to nocturnal; in the daytime hides in burrows, usually of rats;
Bhurbhuranallah,Labangi,districtAngul,Orissa;21.ii.2009; sluggish, prefersto rest on stone butcanclimb up to a metre
Coll. R. Chakraborty. ZSI Registration No. 25833. on vegetation; inhabitants of scrub forest and plains; diet
DiagnosticCharacters: Bodyfeeblydepressed,stout, comprises ofseeds, insects, and spiders.
headlarge;nostrilssituatedbelowthecanthusrostralis;snout Distribution: India: Presently known from Gujarat,
equalorslightly longerthanorbit; scaleskeeled, dorsal ones MadhyaPradesh,westernUttarPradesh.Extralimital:Pakistan.
largerthan ventrals; nuchal anddorsal crests are present but Status: Vulnerable(TikaderandSharma 1992);nothing
not well-developed; two sets of spines above the small is mentioned by IUCN (2007).
tympanum; throat fold present; 11-15 upper and as many
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
lower labials; 48-58 scales round the middle of the body;
gular scales either equal or larger than the ventrals; limbs
and digits short; tail covered with keeled scales; standard We are grateful to the Director, Zoological Survey of
length53-90mm;tailnotlongerthanheadandbody,rounded, Indiaforpermissiontocarryoutthissurveyworkandalsoto
slightly compressed, not annulated. Dr. Indraneil Das forhis kind guidance.
REFERENCES
Das, I. (2002): Snakes and Other Reptiles of India. Pp. 1-144. Smith. M.A. (1935): The Fauna of British India including Ceylon
New Holland Publishers Ltd., U.K. andBurma.ReptiliaandAmphibia.London,Vol.2,Sauria: xiii+
IUCN (2007): TheListofThreatened animals, www.iucn.org. Pp. 440,figs.,pi. 1 map.
Sharma,R.C. (2002):TheFaunaofIndiaandtheAdjacentCountries- Tikader, B.K. & R.C. Sharma (1992): Handbook, Indian Lizards.
Reptilia(Sauria),2,Pp. 1-430.ZoologicalSurveyofIndia,Kolkata. Pp. 1-250. Zoological SurveyofIndia, Kolkata.
OBSERVATIONS ON UNUSUAL FORAGING BEHAVIOUR OFACANTHODACTYLUS CANTORIS
8.
GUNTHER, 1864, IN WESTERN KACHCHH. GUJARAT, INDIA
Manojkumar Pardeshi1-3 V. Vijay Kumar'-4 and Sanjay K. Das2
,
'GujaratInstituteofDesertEcology,MundraRoad,POBox#83, Bhuj (Kachchh) 370001,Gujarat,India.
2UniversitySchoolofBasicandAppliedSciences,GuruGobindSingh IndraprasthaUniversity, KashmereGate, Delhi 110006, India.
Email: [email protected]
’Email: [email protected]
4Emuil: [email protected]
Survival and reproduction ofa species depends on its as itincreasessurvival andreproductionofanimals. In lizards,
abilitytosuccessfullyfindandcapturetheresourcesonwhich foragingbehaviourisstudiedbyvariousworkers(Pianka 1966;
itlives. Successfulforagingbehaviourisassumedtobeadaptive Schoener 1971; Huey and Pianka 1981; Regal 1983; Cooper
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 106 (2), May-Aug 2009 209