The keeled box turtle Pyxidea mouhotii Gray - a new record for Manipur

2 Pages·1996·1.3 MB·

by  Anwaruddin Choudhury

590 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 93 (1996)
Gummudipoondi to Sathyavedu (north of Madras momeus) is a fairlycommon bird in thecoastal areas
city) and at Kaliveli. I am sure the bird occurs in of Madras and is seen in Guindy National Park,
appropriate habitats elsewhere in the state. Theosophical SocietyCampus, andMadrasChristian
TheBlack Redstart (Phoenicurusochruros) is CollegeCampus, besides other fairlywoodedvillage
an uncommon wintervisitor aroundMadras and has environs and scrub jungles. I am surprised that this
been recorded in different years at the Guindy specieshas notbeen recorded atPt. Calimereearlier.
National Park and the environs of the
SANTHARAM
Chembarambakkam Lake. Both male and female March 31, 1995 V.
birds have been seen in the winter months. It has ResearchAssociate,
also been recorded recently in Kerala (Neelakantan SalimAli Centrefor Ornithology andNatural
etal.A. Book ofKerala Birds(PartI)WWF-Kerala, History,
pp 88-89, 1993). Kalampalayam,
The Small minivet (Pericrocotus cinna- Coimbatore 641010.
NEW LOCALITIES FOR BROWN HILL TORTOISE MANOUR1A EMYS
15.
(SCHLECAGEL AND MULLER) FROM KARBI ANGLONG, ASSAM
The Brown hill tortoise (Manouria emys) is be measured(37 cm). In October, 1995, alive tortoise
also called the Asian brown tortoise, Burmesebrown was caught by some local tribals in Tarapung area
tortoise andEastern hill tortoise. Itis the largest land (26° 30'N; 93° 30' E) ofthesamedistrict andbrought
tortoise of Asia. The colour of the carapace is to Bokakhat market near Kaziranga National Park
brownish to brownish-black. The species attains a for sale. It was then rescued by the civil officials
length ofupto 60 cm. and sent to the Assam State Zoo at Guwahati.
In India, this tortoise has been recorded in It measured (in cm), Straight line carapace
Nagaland (Anderson, 1872), Nongkhyllem Reserved length: 53; Curved carapace length: 62; Straight line
Forest in Meghalaya (Das, 1991: Colour Guide), carapace width: 36; Curved carapace width: 56;
Langting-Mupa Reserved Forest and some other Plastron (greatest length): 56; Plastron length (notch
localities of North Cachar Hills in south-central to notch): 52; Shell height: 21. It weighed 21 kg.
Assam (Anderson, 1871, 1872). Outside, it extends
ANWARUDDIN
upto Sumatra. September 17, 1996
CHOUDHURY
In March, 1992, 1 examined apartly damaged
carapacein Kaliyani ReservedForestofnorthern part Near Gale No. 1 ofNehru Stadium,
ofKarbi Anglong district in central Assam (26° 25' Islampur Road,
N; 93° 35' E). Only the straightcarapace width could Guwahati 781 007 (Assam).
References
Das, I (1991): Colourguideto theturtles andtortoises ofthe description of some new species. J. Asiatic Soc. Bengal
R & A
Indian subcontinent. Publishing Ltd. Portished. 40 ([art 2): 12-39.
Anderson, J. (1871): A list ofthe reptilian accession to the Anderson, J. (1872): On Manouria and Scapia, two genera
Indian Museum, Calcutta, from 1865 to 1870, with a ofland tortoises. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 26: 132-144.
THE KEELED BOX TURTLE PYXIDEA MOUHOTII GRAY A NEW RECORD FOR
16. -
MANIPUR
The keeled box turtlePyxidea mouhotii Gray, in the north-east of India, i.e.. North Cachar Hills
1862, has been recorded from only a few localities (Das, 1991) and Karbi Anglong (Choudhury, 1993;
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 591
JBNHS 90:517) of Assam, Khasi and Garo Hills of c. 200 mabovemsl, inTamenglongdistrictofManipur.
Meghalaya, Namdapha National Park (Das, 1991), The turtle was caught by a labourer from a nearby
Mehao Sanctuary (Bhupathy and Choudhury, 1992) forested hill-slope.
and Drupong Reserved Forest (Choudhury, 1996; The carapace (AUC 45) measured (in cm):
JBNHS 93:97) ofArunachal Pradesh. Alltherecords Straight line carapace length 14.1; Curved carapace
except the last one were from the south bank areas length 15.9; Straightlinecarapace width 11.0; Curved
ofthe Brahmaputra river. carapace width 15.6 and Carapaceheight4.9
On 20January, 1996,whiledriving fromImphal
ANWARUDDIN
inManipurtoHailakandiin southern Assam, Iobtained September 17, 1996
CHOUDHURY
acarapaceofaKeeledboxturtlefromaroadlabourer’s
camp, locatedbetweentheBarakandMakrurivers (c. Near Gate No 1 ofNehru Statdium,
.
6 kmroaddistancefromBarakbridge), atan elevation Islampur Road Guwahti-781 007.
,
References
Bhupathy, S & B.C. Choudhury (1992): Turtle fauna of Das, I (1991): Colour guide to the turtles and tortoises
Assam Preliminary report. Wildlife Institute ofIndia, of the Indian subcontinent. R & A Publ. Ltd, Por-
Dehradun. tished.
OCCURRENCE OF INDIAN PEACOCK SHELL TURTLE IN GAUHATI
17.
UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
The Gauhati University Campus was built in nails were covered by skin and formed a pad - like
low marshy areas where a small fragmented wetland structure. After consulting various books the turtle
(not more than 2.5 ha.) still provides good habitat was identified as the Indian Peacock soft shell
for wetland fauna. Turtle Aspideretes hurum. The habitat where it was
On 12th August, 1995 a local villager from caught is low marshy land withpaddy cultivation on
nearby caught a soft shell turtle on his hook in the its edge line and was situated behind theDepartment
Gauhati University campus. The carapace length ofZoology, with an area ofabout 1 .5 ha. The person
and width were26 cm and22cmrespectively. Length who caught the turtle refused to sell it to me.
ofhead plus neck was 20 cm. The clearly reticulate
carapace was dark green in colour with four easily June 4, 1996 RATHIN BARMAN
distinguished round spots with lighter boundary. Animal Ecology and Wildlife Biology Lab,
The snout was light green with dark spots. Three Department ofZoology,
nails werepresent in each limb whereas another two Gauhati University 781 014, Assam.
A RECORD CLUTCH SIZE OF RAT SNAKE
18.
The normal clutch size ofRat Snake Coluber both sides equally domed and were stuck together.
(
mucosus) is reported to consist of6-14 eggs (Smith Young ones were also found at the site and measured
1943 & Daniel 1983). Recently we came across a about40cm. Theclutch size is arecord for Rat snake.
clutch of Rat snake’s eggs from Mannuthy, Kerala
on 28th September, 1995, from a heap ofsoil near a June 4, 1996 P.S. EASA
house. There were 32 eggs in theclutch. A few eggs JOSEPH THOMAS
could have been lost as evident from the remains of Division ofWildlife Biology,
shells. The eggs had an average size of46.8 x 31.5 Kerala ForestResearch Institute, Peechi-680 653,
mm
and weighed 19.35 gm. Theeggs were leathery, Kerala.