Submitted date: 20 July 2011 Accepted date: 27 July 2011 Published date: 30 July 2011 Pp. 47–48.
Red morph of silvered lutung (Trachypithecus cristatus) rediscovered in Borneo, Malaysia
Lee E. Harding* *E-mail: harding@sciwrite.ca
The red morph of Silvered Lutung (Trachypithecus cristatus) a leaf monkey that reportedly occurs or occurred in northeast Borneo, has heretofore been more mythological than real. As far as I can discover, the red morph was only actually observed and reported once, by Allen & Coolidge Jr. (1940). They recorded that seven out of fifteen adult males, but only three out of twenty-six adult females collected at Abai, were reddish. Abai is 47 miles/76 km from the mouth of the Kinabatangan River. This observation was repeated by others. Payne et al. (1985), who lived in Sabah, wrote that the red form occurs at the mouth of the Kinabatangan River.
Butterflies are a group of charismatic insects, which forms a major component of Sri Lankan biodiversity. The total butterfly species recorded in Sri Lanka consists of 244 species and among them 20 (8.1%) are endemic to the island. Overall, 22 butterfly species are critically endangered, 29 endangered and 15 vulnerable and insufficient data are available for rating the status of 29 species. The distribution and ecology of butterflies, as well as of other insects, has been underestimated or neglected over the last few decades in Sri Lanka. Here we extend the distribution of two endangered butterflies in Sri Lanka.
Submitted date: 16 May 2011 Accepted date: 24 June 2011 Published date: 30 July 2011 Pp. 42–43.
Additions to black mildews of India
V.B. Hosagoudar*, Jacob Thomas & D.K. Agarwal *Corresponding author. E-mail: vbhosagoudar@rediffmail.com
Kerala is located in the south-west corner of peninsular India and towards the western side of the southern Western Ghats, harbouring rich vegetation. It is a treasure of biological wealth and it needs the specialized personalities to identify and name them. Senior author is being engaged in the study of this never completing treasure of microfungal wealth of Kerala state since three decades. This paper gives an account of four taxa, hitherto unrecorded from India, belonging to the genera Asterina and Meliola, namely, Asterina garciniicola, Meliola abrupta, Meliola bakeri and Meliola hugoniae are described and illustrated.
Submitted date: 28 June 2011 Accepted date: 29 July 2011 Published date: 30 July 2011 Pp. 38–41.
MUGGER CROCODILE (Crocodylus palustris Lesson, 1831) PREYS ON A RADIATED TORTOISE IN SRI LANKA
Mahesh C. De Silva, A.A. Thasun Amarasinghe, Anslem de Silva & D. M. S. Suranjan Karunarathna* *Corresponding author. E-mail: dmsameera@gmail.com
Abstract The Mugger crocodile is the second largest crocodile in Sri Lanka. Recently we observed a Mugger attacking an unidentified radiated tortoise. The body morphology and colouration of this particular tortoise appeared different to the native Star tortoise widely distributed in the country. Thus, the possibility of an escaped or released exotic pet is discussed.
Key words : Sri Lanka, Crocodylus palustris, Geochelone elegans, Stigmochelys pardalis, feeding
Abstract This paper presents the results of a two-year study of the sexual dichromatism, breeding, clutch size and development in a population of Sitana ponticeriana, conducted at Balukhand-Konark Wildlife Sanctuary, Orissa, India. Sexual dimorphism appears as a brighter overall colouration with red and dark blue gular pouch develops as outward projection at the neck. In the breeding season, mature males have crimson-red or brick-red colour at the base of the tail. Lizards start courtship in the early morning and afternoon, depending on the ambient temperature, during the early monsoons. Vitellogenic and gravid females occur simultaneously in early and mid-summer, and lay eggs during the onset of rains. Potentially, 2-3 clutches of 6- 23 eggs (mean 17.39 ± 4.39 eggs/clutch) are produced by each female each year. The smallest gravid female contained more eggs than larger ones. Eggs collected late in the reproductive season were significantly larger than those collected earlier. Freshly laid eggs are elliptical; during development, the shape, size and volume of the eggs were changed; hatchling success observed after 39 days of incubation.
Key words : ambient temperature, clutch size, development, Fan-throated lizard, India