MANGALOREAN.COM (Connecticut) 20 January 07 Udupi professor discovers legless amphibian in Goa

Udupi: A new species of legless amphibian has been discovered in an orchard of S R Parodkar and R P Kerkar of Goa.

The discovery was made G K Bhat, a zoology professor in Udupi MGM college. The species is commonly known as 'immandehavu' and has been named as Gegeneophis goaensis.

Prof Bhat's research paper on this investigation has been accepted for publication in the reputed journal Zootaxa, New Zealand.

Prof Bhat said a team led by him and K P Dinesh from the Zoological Survey of India, Kozhikode, P Prashanth from Agumbe Rainforest Research Station and Nirmal Kulkarni from Goa had encountered two specimens of this animal in 2004 and the team was in search of more of these to confirm that they are, indeed, a new species.

Their repeated visit to the sites from 2004 to 2006 in rainy season ultimately enabled them to find many more individual specimens last year.

Bhat said that, earlier, the team had discovered two new species — one form Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary, Goa, and another from the surroundings of Kollur Mookambika Wildlife Sanctuary, Karnataka.

They were named Gegneophis nadkarnil and Gegeneophis madhavaorum, respectively.

These amphibians, also known as Caecilians, are the least known of the three kinds of amphibians (the other two are frogs and salamanders) as they are legless, secretive, nocturnal, burrowing, earthworm/snakelike amphibians. These creature are characterised by minute eyes and rings around the body. They are non-poisonous and do not bite humans.

These legless amphibians are one of the bio-indicators of healthy environments. Since amphibians live both in water and on land, they are the first to respond to changes in the environment.
Udupi professor discovers legless amphibian in Goa

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