Orchids found in India

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Orchids form 9% of flora and are the the largest family among higher plants in India. There are 1,256 species (140 genera) of orchids are found in India.

Some of the species are:

• Renanthera imschootiana (Red Vanda)

This species of orchid is found in eastern Himalayas.

• Bulbophyllum echinolabium

It is also known as hedgehog-shaped lip bulbophyllum.

• Aerides ordoreta

This species is found in Southeast Asia.

Conservation status: Endangered

• Vanda coerulea

It is known as Blue orchid. It is found in Northeastern India ( Assam & Manipur) to China. It is a medicinal herb. The juice of flower is used as eye drops against glacoma, cataract and blindness.

• Cymbidium aloifolium

It is known as aleo-leafed cymbidium. It is found from China to Indonesia.

• Dendrobium lindleyi

It is known as Lindleey’s dendrobium. It is found in China, Northeast India to Vietnam.

• Paphiopedilum druryi

This species is endemic to Agastyamalai Hills of Tamil Nadu in India.

• Striped Jug Flower Orchid (Acanthephippium striatum)

• Fox Brush Orchid (Aerides)

• Himalayan Grass leaf Orchid (Cymbidium orchid)

• Pigeon Orchid (Dendrobium crumeneatum)

• Pineapple Orchid (Dendrobium densiflorum)

Golden Birdwing- India's largest butterfly

Golden Birdwing

(Troides aeacus)

The Golden Birdwing is a large tropical butterfly belonging to the swallowtail family.

Conservation status: Vulnerable 

Scientific Classification:

Kingdom: Animalia 

Phylum:   Arthropoda

Class:      Insecta

Order:      Lepidoptera 

Family:    Papilionidae

Genus:    Troides

Species:  T. aeacus

                         Caterpillar of golden birdwing

It has a wingspan of reaching about 15 - 16cm (5.9 - 6.3in). In the male, the forewings are black, with veins bordered by whitish colour, while the hindwings are bright yellow. The female are double the size of the males and have dark brown or black wing. They mainly feed on Aristolochia and Thottea species of plants.

   

Wingspan of female: 194mm (19.4cm)

Wingspan of male:     106mm (10.6cm)

 

It is the largest butterfly species found  in  the Indian Subcontinent. It is found in northern India, Nepal, Manmar (Burma), China, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Taiwan, Cambodia, peninsular Malaysia and Indonesia.

        Largest specimen of Golden Birdwing 

It has a wingspan of 194mm (19.4cm). The specimen is present in Butterfly Research Centre at Bhimtal, Uttarakhand, India.

Ganges Shark

Ganges Shark 

(Glyphis gangeticus)

The Ganges Shark is a critically endangered species of requiem shark found in the Ganga river and the Brahmaputra river of India and Bangladesh.

Conservation status: Critically Endangered 

Scientific Classification:

Kingdom: Animalia 

Phylum:   Chordata 

Class:      Chondrichthyes

Order:      Carcharhinidae

Genus:    Glyphis

Species: Glyphis gangeticus 

It's size is estimated about 178cm (70in) to 204cm (80in). It is known to inhabit only in freshwater, inshore marine of the Ganga-Hooghly river system. They are viviporous.

It is one of 20 sharks on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Red List of endangered shark species. The species is currently classified as critically endangered. They are vulnerable to habitat changes and pollution. It is also believed to be part of the Asian shark fin trade. The species had last found at a Mumbai fosh market in 2016.

Purple Frog

  Purple Frog

(Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis)

The Purple Frog is one of only two species in the Nasikabatrachidae family. It is found in the Western Ghats in India. It is also known as Pignose frog.

Conservation status:- Endangered

Scientific classification:

Kingdom:   Animalia

Phylum:     Chordata

Class:        Amphibia

Order:       Anura

Family:     Nasikabatrachidae

Genus:     Nasikabatrachus

Species:  N. sahyadrensis

It is endemic to Southern Western Ghats in India. It remains underground most of the year except for 2-3 weeks during the monsoon when it comes out to mate.

It is a "living fossil", this species exist on Earth since 70 millions years ago (7 crores years) at that time, it co-exist which dinosaurs. It's closest relative is found in the Seychelles Archipelagos, the Indian Ocean. The Indian subcontinent and the Seychelles were once part of the same landmass "Gondawana land", but they were separated 65 millions years ago.

The purple frog has a bloated body with short stout limbs and is dark purple to greyish in colour. Reaching to about 7 centimetres, it has a small head in comparison to the body length, and an unusually pointed snout. Its short and muscular forelimbs with hard palms help it to burrow underground. Unlike other frogs, it has very short hind legs, which does not allow it to leap from one spot to another. As a result, it covers any distance with long strides. It depends more on its sense of smell to hunt out soil termites underground.

This burrow-dwelling frog prefers loose, damp and well-aerated soil close to ponds and ditches or streams. This makes it convenient for adults to come out to mate during the monsoon and the females lay eggs in the water bodies. Around 3000 eggs are laid in a rock pool and the tadpoles metamorphose after 100 days.

                             Tadpole of Purple Frog

Only 135 individuals of this species are known, of which only 3 are females. The major threat to it is habitat loss due to human encroachment.

Pygmy Hog

                                     Pygmy Hog

                                 (Porcula salvania)

The pygmy hog is a suid (boar or hog) which lives in the foothills of the Himalayas. They are the smallest member of the Suid (hog) family. Today, their only know population lives in Assam, India.

Conservation status: Critically Endangered 

Scientific classification:-

Kingdom:    Animalia

Phylum:      Chordata

Class:        Mammalia

Order:        Artidactyla

Family:      Suidae

Genus:      Porcula

Species:   P. salvania 

They are about 55-71 cm (21.5 to 28 in) long and stand at 20 to 30 cm (8 to 12 in), with a tail of 1 inch. They weight 6.6 to 11.8 kg. Their skin is dark brownish-black and hair is dark. They lives for about 8 years. That feed on roots, tubers, insects, rodents and small reptiles.

Their population is estimated around 200- 250 individuals. Thier only population lives in the Manas National Park. They were reintroduced in the Manas National Park, with 6 individuals and their population have grown upto 200 individuals.

Lion-tailed Macaque

Lion-tailed Macaque

(Maca silenus)

The lion-tailed macaque is an Old World monkey which is endemic to the Western Ghats of India.

Conservation status: Endangered

Scientific classification:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Primates

Suborder: Haplorhini

Infraorder: Simiiformes

Family: Cercopothecidae

Genus: Macaca

Species: M. silenus

The hair of the lion-tailed macaque is black. It's characteristic is the silver-white name which surrounds the head from the cheeks down to its chin, which gives this monkey it's German name Bartaffe means "beard ape". The face is black in colour. Its length is 42 to 61 cm and weight is 2 to 10 kg. Tail is medium in length at about 25 cm, and has a black tuft at the end that is similar to a lion's tail. The life expectancy in the wild is approximately 20 years, while in captivity is up to 30 years.

The lion-tailed macaque is a rainforest dweller, it is diurnal, and is active exclusively during daylight hours. It is a good climber and spends a majority of its life in the upper canopy of tropical evergreen forest. A group usually consists of 10to 20 members.

Lion-tailed macaque feeds on a large variety of fruits, leaves, buds, insects, small vertebraes and birds eggs.

 

The lion-tailed macaque ranks among the rastest and most threatened primates. In the late 20th century, it was on the list of 'The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates'. After conservation programs in Silent Valley National Park, Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary, Periyar Tiger Reserve and in other protected areas, the population of the species has risen.

At current time, they have a population of 3000- 3500 individuals.

Andaman Wood Pigeon

Andaman Wood Pigeon

(Columba palumboides)

The Andaman Wood Pigeon is a species of bird which is endemic to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Conservation status: Near Threatened

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Aves

Order: Columbiformes

Family: Columbidae

Genus: Columba

Species: C. palumboides

It is a large pigeon. Its head is white with a red yellow-tipped beak. The rest of its body is dark gray.

Indian Vagabond Butterfly fish

Indian Vagabond Butterfly Fish

(Chaetodon decussatus)

The Indian Vagabond Butterfly fish, is a species of butterfly fish. It is found in the Western Indo-Pacific, from Maldives via India, Sri Lanka and the Andaman Sea to the western most portion of the Indonesian archipelagos.

Conservation status: Least Concern

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Actinoptergii

Order: Perciformes

Family: Chaetodontidae

Genus: Chaetodon

Species: C. decussatus

They grow up to a maximum of 20 cm (8 in) long. They are found in rich coral reefs and also on rubble and rocky areas.

Lady's Slipper Orchids

Lady's Slipper Orchids

Cypripedioideae is a subfamily of orchids known as lady's slipper orchids.

         Pink lady's slipper (Cypripedium regime)

 

          Yellow lady's slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum)

                            Cypripedium candidum

                          Paphoopedilum henryanum

The 5 Big Cats of Felidae Family in India

The 5 Big Cats of Felidae Family in India 

The wild forests of India is the home of five species of felidae. Five cats of felidae family are Asiatic Lion, Bengal Tiger, Indian Leopard, Snow Leopard and Clouded Leopard. A new species of big cat know as Pogeyan grey cat also exists which is found in the Western Ghats, but no images or information is available so far.

■ Asiatic Lions 

   (Panthera leo leo)

 They are the big cats found in the Gir forest National Park of Gujarat. They are endangered because of its small population size and area of occupancy. There are about 650 individuals found in India.

                               _____________________

■ Bengal Tiger 

    (Panthera tigeris tigeris)

 It is the national animal of India. It is widely distributed in the Indian Subcontinent and has classified as endangered with an estimate of about 3,100+ individuals. The Bengal tiger is the largest cat from the family of felidae cats of India.

                                   ________________

   

■ Indian Leopard

   (Panthera pardus fusca)

It is a leopard subspecies which is widely distributed in the Indian Subcontinent. It is listed as Vulnerable on tge IUCN Red List. There are approx 12,000- 14,000 individuals found in the nation.

                                       ______________

■ Snow Leopard 

   (Panthera uncia)

It is the leopard species which lives in the high altitudes snow mountain range of the Himalayas. It is listed as Vulnerable with a population of 2,500 individuals found in India.

                                  ____________________

■ Clouded Leopard 

   (Neofelis nebulosa)

The Clouded leopard is a medium-sized wild cat which lives in the Himalayan foothills. They are the smallest of all the five big cats found in India. They are listed as Vulnerable with a  population of 1000 adults in India.

                                      _______________

Leopard & Tigers  both of them co-exist in the same habitat.

Barn Owl

 Barn Owl

(Tyto alba)

The barn owl is rhe most commonly found species of owl. Like all other owls, these are nocturnal birds. They are medium-sized birds. The golden and whitish colour of these birds give them a ghostly image at night.

Binomial name: Tyto alba

Conservation status:  Least Concern 

 

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata 

Class: Aves

Order: Strigiformes

Family: Tytonidae

Genus: Tyto

Species: alba

These owls can hunt efficiently even in complete darkness. Their primary tool is their keen hearimg ability through asymmetrically placed ears. Instead of hooting, these owls make a strange, high-pitched cry.

They prefer roaming in urban areas and cultivated lands, and build their nest on buildings or tree holes. Small mammals like mice,rats and squirrels are prey of barn owl.