The document discusses the field of batrachology in India, covering its taxonomic patterns, research processes, causes for increased discoveries, and future implications. It highlights the current status of amphibian species in India, emphasizing the contributions of numerous researchers and the rising number of species descriptions since 2000. Additionally, it addresses challenges faced in taxonomy, the evolving nature of research, and calls for collaboration and technological integration in future studies.

1. Taxonomic Studies In
Indian Batrachology:
Batrachology:
Patterns, Processes, Causes & Consequences
Gururaja KV, Ph.D.,
Research Scientist, IISc, Bangalore
gururajakv@gmail.com

2. Flow of the talk
 Batrachology in India
 Patterns
◦ Taxonomic descriptions
over time, space, authors,
etc.
 Processes
◦ Processes behind such
description
 Causes
◦ Reasons for the spurt in
discoveries
 Consequences
◦ What next!
◦ Journey of an ecologist in
Taxonomy!

3. Whom do you call amphibians?
 Those vertebrates that live both in water as well as
land
 That means ...we too?
Photo credit:
http://divebarbados.net/Current%20Photos/Pictures/Green%20Turtle%201.jpg
http://www.kidcyber.com.au/IMAGES/hippoaggro_s.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/wildlifeweb/reptile/gharial/gharial03tfk.jpg

4. In fact, amphibians are ...
 Dual lifers ...
◦ Two stages in life – a tadpole stage and an adult
stage
◦ From Greek, Amphi – dual, bian – life forms

5. What’s unique in them?
 Generally, aquatic and terrestrial
inhabitants, Some are arboreal, and some
fussorial too

6. Metamorphosis
They metamorphose from
tadpole to adult
Life span: from 10 months
to 55 years

7. Ectotherms
 Body temperature externally maintained
Hiding away from Sun
Basking in Sun

8. Skin breathers

9. Anamniotes
Eggs of a bird Eggs of a frog

10. Evolution
About 360 million years ago, late Devonian period
Early amphibian!!!
Triadobatrachus Beelzebufo ampinga

11. Systematics
• Globally: 6638 species
3 orders – Apoda (183species)
Caudata (597)
Anura (5858)
• India: 3 orders – Apoda (33)
Caudata (1), Anura (274)
caudata
apoda
anura

12. Batrachology in India
 As of today 308 species, belonging to 14 families,
54 genera (4.64% of 6638 species in the world),
248 Species described from India (80.5%)
 124 authors, single species description to as
many as 43 species
 Since 2000, 81 new species (33%) with 46 papers
on Taxonomy and taxonomy related issues, 12 on
ecology, 6 on reproduction, 10 on others
 So Taxonomy ‘rules’ at present Indian
Batrachology!!!

13. Research in Batrachology
 Viviparity in caecilians
Geneophis seshachari
Gower et al., 2008. J Evol Biol. 21(5):1220-6

14. Other issues…
 Frog skipping tadpole stage
Gururaja and Ramachandra, 2006. Curr. Sci. 90(3):450-454

15. Other issues…
Biju and Bossyut, 2003. Nature. 425: 711–714

16. India’s smallest frog
Biju et al., 2007. Current Science 93(6): 854-858.

17. Skin extracts and pesticidal
impacts…
1. Giri et al., 2006. doi:10.1016/j.toxicon.2006.06.011
2. Sai et al., 2001. doi:10.1074/jbc.M006615200
3. Gurushankara et al., 2007. doi:10.1007/s00244-006-0015-5

18. Conservation and Management
Das, A., Krishnaswamy, J., Bawa, K. S., Kiran, M. C., Srinivas, V., Kumar, N. S., et al. 2006.
Prioritization of conservation areas in the Western Ghats, India. Biological Conservation,
133, 16−31.
Gururaja KV, Sameer Ali and Ramachandra TV. 2008. Influence of land-use changes in
river basins on diversity and distribution of amphibians. In: Environment Education
for Ecosystem Conservation

19. Patterns exhibited
 Temporally
50
40
30
# Species
20
10
0
1799 1809 1819 1829 1839 1849 1859 1869 1879 1889 1899 1909 1919 1929 1939 1949 1959 1969 1979 1989 1999 2009
Year
350
300
# Cumulative Species
250
200
150
100
50
0
1799 1809 1819 1829 1839 1849 1859 1869 1879 1889 1899 1909 1919 1929 1939 1949 1959 1969 1979 1989 1999 2009
Year

20. Patterns exhibited …
Spatially
53
150 141
125
New species discovered
100
75 141
53
50
29
25 11
5 6
0 1 1 1
0

21. Patterns exhibited
 Spatially continued…
25 Western Ghats 160
Cumulative number of species
140
20
120
15 100
# Species
80
10 60
40
5
20
0 0
1799 1809 1819 1829 1839 1849 1859 1869 1879 1889 1899 1909 1919 1929 1939 1949 1959 1969 1979 1989 1999 2009
25 North-east hills 60
Cumulative number of species
50
20
40
15
# Species
30
10
20
5
10
0 0
1799 1809 1819 1829 1839 1849 1859 1869 1879 1889 1899 1909 1919 1929 1939 1949 1959 1969 1979 1989 1999 2009

22. Family Genera Species
Bufonidae 7 27
Dicroglossidae 12 58
Pattern exhibited … Hylidae
Megophryidae
Micrixalidae
1
4
1
1
16
11
Microhylidae 7 23
Nasikabatrachidae 1 1
 Family/Genera/Species Nyctibatrachidae
Ranidae
1
6
16
28
Ranixalidae 1 10
18
Fejervarya
Rhacophoridae 8 83
16
14
Fejervarya Salamandridae 1 1
Caeciliidae 2 12
12
Ichthyophiidae 2 21
# species
10
8
6 18
Nyctibatrachus
4 16 Nyctibatrachus
2 14
0 12
1850 1870 1890 1910 1930 1950 1970 1990 2010
# species
10
8
50 6
Philautus
Pseudophilautus 4
40 2
0
30 1850 1870 1890 1910 1930 1950 1970 1990 2010
# species
20 12
Gegeneophis
10
Gegeneophis
10
8
# species
0
6
1850 1870 1890 1910 1930 1950 1970 1990 2010
4
2
0
1850 1870 1890 1910 1930 1950 1970 1990 2010

23. Patterns exhibited …
 Authors per species
7
6
# Authors/Species
5
4
3
2
1
1799 1809 1819 1829 1839 1849 1859 1869 1879 1889 1899 1909 1919 1929 1939 1949 1959 1969 1979 1989 1999 2009
Year

24. Patterns exhibited
 Species per author (~ 2.5 per author, 124
authors) Boulenger 43.0
Gunther 19.0
Rao 18.0
Jerdon 15.0
Biju 26.0
Bossuyt 23.0
Annandale 11.0
Dubois 11.0
Pillai 12.0
Sen 17.0
Mathew 17.0
Anderson 7.0
Das 11.0
Stoliczka 6.0
Scheinder 5.0
Chanda 9.0
Blyth 5.0
0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0 40.0 45.0 50.0

25. Patterns exhibited …
Organization Specimens
 Specimen deposited ZSI 109
BNHS 39
NHM, London 63
Outside India 60
 Collaborators/Institutes involved in
description are on rise

26. Processes
 For temporal patterns
◦ Historical perspective (pre-independence,
world war, post-independence)
◦ Authors
◦ Journals
350
300
# Cumulative Species
250
Annandale Biju
200
Günther Rao 150
Boulenger Bossuyt
100
50
0
1799 1809 1819 1829 1839 1849 1859 1869 1879 1889 1899 1909 1919 1929 1939 1949 1959 1969 1979 1989 1999 2009
Year

27. 25 Western Ghats 160
Cumulative number of species
140
20
120
15 100
Processes
# Species
80
10 60
40
5
20
0 0
1799 1809 1819 1829 1839 1849 1859 1869 1879 1889 1899 1909 1919 1929 1939 1949 1959 1969 1979 1989 1999 2009
 For spatial patterns
◦ War was the key!! 25 North-east hills 60
Cumulative number of species
50
20
40
◦
15
Biogeography!
# Species
30
10
20
5
10
◦ Accessibility 0
1799 1809 1819 1829 1839 1849 1859 1869 1879 1889 1899 1909 1919 1929 1939 1949 1959 1969 1979 1989 1999 2009
0
◦ Authors (work/origin): Biju, Rao, Pillai from
South India; Das, Chanda, Mathews from
North East/Kolkata

28. Processes
 For Authors patterns
◦ Passion/inquisitiveness
◦ Advance in technology
◦ Collaboration
◦ Permission issues

29. Causes
◦ Global amphibian decline
◦ Paradigm shift from IAC
◦ Revision
◦ Mess
◦ Mudslinging
◦ Taxonomic nirvana
◦ Technological advancement

30. Consequences
◦ Newer perspective
◦ Better understanding
◦ Dynamic nature of taxonomy
◦ Network is the best way ahead

31. Journey of an ecologist in Taxonomy!

42. Meanwhile,
N.hussaini became an invalid name

43. What was the reason?
 No proper typification
 No specimen deposition in a museum
 No knowledge of ICZN Codes to the
authors
 To certain extent...”EGO”

44. What we did...?
 Called up first author! ...
 Joined hands with ZSI people, who
happened collect one individual with
permission from Kudremukh
 They also contacted first author...No
response
 Took decision, after an year of
communication with first author, to
publish it with a new name....

45. So N. karnatakaensis...replaced
karnatakaensis...replaced
N.hussaini

46. Uproar among the seniors ...
 Deniels wrote “Taxonomic Vandalism...” in
current Science
 But we responded in most polite way,
though protested to the Editor of the
Journal on using such words and in most
scientific way lambasted “Vandalism”

47. To look further
 Do not lose original tree
for phylogentic tree
 Integrate phylogenetics,
acoustics, osteology,
etc...to understand a
species better
 Make taxonomy a After Odem (1971)
passion and not a
profession...
 Take it to simpler level
...Heisenberg’s Principle

48. Eight steps to Enlightenment and
Taxonomic Nirvana – Evanhuis (2007)
 enjoyment of nature
 enjoyment of collecting
 enjoyment of sorting
 enjoyment of the discovery
 enjoyment of researching taxonomic
literature
 enjoyment of describing
 enjoyment of submitting your
manuscript for publication.
 enjoyment of educating others

49. There was a time, when
taxonomist used to describe more
than 5 species in a single paper
Now we are in such a time, where
5 papers are written on a single
species
Do not get into the ‘RAT
RACE’

50. Acknowledgements
 www.wikipedia.org for photographs of
Boulenger, Gunther, Jerdon and Annandale
 Current Science for CRN Rao’s
photograph

51. Advance wishes for
SAVE THE FROG DAY
(APRIL 30TH 2010)
Thank you