{"id":107242,"date":"2021-05-17T16:09:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-17T10:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=107242"},"modified":"2021-05-17T16:09:00","modified_gmt":"2021-05-17T10:39:00","slug":"new-species-of-asian-gracile-skink-found-from-western-ghats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/new-species-of-asian-gracile-skink-found-from-western-ghats\/","title":{"rendered":"New species of &#8220;Asian gracile skink&#8221; found from Western Ghats"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5><\/h5>\n<h5><strong>What is the News?<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p>A new species of an Asian gracile skink has been discovered recently at Anaikatti hills, Coimbatore.<\/p>\n<p><strong>About the new species of Asian gracile skink:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-107286\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Asian-gracile-skink.jpg?resize=598%2C276&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Asian gracile skink\" width=\"598\" height=\"276\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Asian-gracile-skink.jpg?w=585&amp;ssl=1 585w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Asian-gracile-skink.jpg?resize=300%2C138&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 598px) 100vw, 598px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Source: The Hindu<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The New Species of Asian Gracile Skink has been named <strong>Subdoluseps nilgiriensis <\/strong>after Nilgiris. The species is closely related to Subdoluseps pruthi found in parts of the Eastern Ghats.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Features: <\/strong>The species has a slender body of just about 7 cm. It is sandy brown in colour. The unnoticeable limbs of skinks make them resemble snakes.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Protection Status: <\/strong>Subdoluseps nilgiriensis is currently considered a <a href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/overharvesting-turns-himalayan-viagra-into-a-vulnerable-species\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">vulnerable species<\/span><\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Significance<\/strong>: This species is only the third skink species discovered from mainland India in the last millennium.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Threats:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Seasonal forest fires<\/li>\n<li>Housing constructions and brick kiln industries in the area.<\/li>\n<li>Rapid urbanisation has also increased the road networks in the area.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><strong>Significance of this discovery:<\/strong><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The new species of Skink <\/strong>was found in a dry deciduous area. This shows that even the dry zones of our country are home to unrealised skink diversity. So these regions needs to be further explored.\n<ul>\n<li>Hence, there is an urgent need to change the notion that high biodiversity can be found only in wet and evergreen forests.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Further, <\/strong>most of the studies in Tamil Nadu are carried out only in the protected areas and focus only on megafaunas such as tigers, elephants and other such charismatic species.\n<ul>\n<li>However, we also need to <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">study the little-known animal groups<\/span> inside our forests. They are fundamental and indispensable components of our biodiversity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><strong>About Skinks:<\/strong><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Skinks <\/strong>are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae, a family in the infraorder Scincomorpha.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Features<\/strong>: Skinks are characterized by their smaller legs in comparison to typical lizards. They are mostly found in a variety of habitats except for arctic and subarctic regions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Behaviour: <\/strong>Many species of skink does <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">digging and burrowing<\/span>. They also spend the majority of their time underground. As they can stay safe from predators and the underground tunnels also help them with easy navigation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Diet<\/strong>: Skinks are generally carnivorous and in particular insectivorous. They are known to feed on insects such as termites, crickets and small spiders.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Most skinks are diurnal <\/strong>and are usually secretive in their habits. So not much is known about their natural and evolutionary history.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The skinks are also non-venomous. <\/strong>They resemble snakes because of the inconspicuous limbs and the way they move on land.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Protection Status<\/strong>: Most of the species are placed under the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">data-deficient category<\/span>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/energy-and-environment\/new-species-of-skink-found-from-western-ghats\/article34567454.ece\"><strong>The Hindu<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"o3EvQxxHjU\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/forest-survey-of-india\/\">Forest Survey of India<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;Forest Survey of India&#8221; &#8212; Free UPSC IAS Preparation For Aspirants\" src=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/forest-survey-of-india\/embed\/#?secret=8xhApImSRv#?secret=o3EvQxxHjU\" data-secret=\"o3EvQxxHjU\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is the News? A new species of an Asian gracile skink has been discovered recently at Anaikatti hills, Coimbatore. About the new species of Asian gracile skink: Source: The Hindu The New Species of Asian Gracile Skink has been named Subdoluseps nilgiriensis after Nilgiris. The species is closely related to Subdoluseps pruthi found in&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/new-species-of-asian-gracile-skink-found-from-western-ghats\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">New species of &#8220;Asian gracile skink&#8221; found from Western Ghats<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,4182,9],"tags":[1316],"class_list":["post-107242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-environment","category-public","tag-env_2","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1703231216},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107242\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}