#indian animals

[nasikabatrachussahyadrensis]

The Indian purple frog (Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis), also known as the purple frog or the pig nose frog, is an endangered frog endemic to the Western Ghats of India.

Formally recognized in 2003, their only known relatives are the Seychelles Island Frogs.

Each specimen is around 1–3 in./6-9cm from snout to rear; males being a third of the size of the females. While its flattened body shape and squat limbs look unusual, it helps the frog stick to rocks and hold on through the strong currents of its native streams and rivers; the wedge-like head assists in burrowing.

Unlike most subterranean frogs, the Indian purple frog spends nearly all its time underground, which includes feeding. Their main food source is termites.

They only emerge during two weeks of monsoon season for breeding. Males emerge and call on the banks— the sound reminiscent of a chicken clucking. Males mount the females, who carry them to the rocky crevices where they lay their eggs. Over 3000 eggs are laid at the same time, and the tadpoles grow over 100 days.

Their main threats are the pet trade, consumption by locals (as they are believed to help with numerous lung ailments), and habitat loss.

[mirou04]

Lol !!! Everyone would like a cleaning monkey like that

[subbalakshmisastry]

WHITE TIGER VS BENGAL TIGER

[wachinyeya]

https://ktla.com/news/california/goats-unleashed-by-san-manuel-tribe-as-part-of-fire-prevention-strategy/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaaJJAE-Kl55wk4vm1cYc0zjGRUEv8w6ps0HX0z-rxwwa7YXnTDCsgIU2vs_aem_0djT-2NoD-E87Ic6UeeqGw

Firefighting goats have been deployed by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians to protect tribal land and neighboring property from potentially devastating brush fires.

The goats are unleashed by the San Manuel Fire Department to eat up dry brush and grass that would normally be ideal fuel for fires — a recent fire was actually partially stopped once it reached an area cleared by the caprine crew earlier this year.

The herd, officials said, is about 400-strong and is made up of generations of goat families.

On Tuesday, the goats were treated to a feast of fruit before being sent on their brush-eating mission.

The goats will spend the next several months trimming and thinning out vegetation on the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Reservation and nearby properties in San Bernardino.

Tribal officials said the brush that covers the hillsides in and around San Manuel property is thriving and diverse, boosted by the recent history-making rainy season. The plant life is an ideal food source because goats prefer food that’s at their eye level.

The Tribe has used goats as a natural, environmentally friendly fire preventative tool since 2019; the plants get trimmed in a sustainable fashion, which allows them to survive and recover naturally overtime unlike most chemical sprays.

Tribal officials called the practice an extension of the Tribe’s “culture of lands stewardship.”

“Caring for the land is a sacred duty of the Tribe,” said Lynn Valbuena, chairwoman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. “Stewardship is a responsibility given to our people by the Creator. No matter who owns the land.”

San Bernardino County residents shouldn’t be surprised to see the goats in the mountains fulfilling this divine task from now through the end of fire season.

[onenicebugperday]

Indian sun spider (aka camel spider aka wind scorpion), Rhagodima nigrocincta, Solifugae

Despite the many common names, these arachnids are neither true spiders or scorpions, but rather belong to their own order, Solifugae, aka the solifuges.

Photographed in India by harshithjv

[boschintegral-photo]

Indian Fritillary (Argynnis Hyperbius) (F) Kyoto, Japan

[hmtaxidermy]

First mount of 2025! 🎉

(This bird died of natural causes)

[herpsandbirds]

Coconut Crab (Birgus latro), family Coenobitidae, found on islands and some coastal areas in the tropical Indian and Pacific Oceans

This "crab" is in the terrestrial hermit crab family.

This is the largest terrestrial arthropod in the world, growing to a weight of up to 4.1 kg (9 lb) and a leg spread of up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in).

photograph by luca63 | iNaturalist

[reasonsforhope]

"The Seychelles has become a major tourist destination for beachgoing and scuba diving, but it’s not only humans that are beginning to flock to this island.

In what marine biologists have described as a “phenomenal finding,” a survey of whales around the territorial waters of this archipelagic nation revealed the presence of blue whales—over a dozen.

It’s the first time they’ve been seen in these warm seas since 1966, and it’s a wonderful milestone in a long and increasingly successful recovery for the world’s largest animal.

The Seychelles are located in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa, and they were historically a stopover point for Soviet whalers en route to Antarctica. The years 1963 to 1966 were particularly difficult for whales here, and many were taken before the International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling put an end to the practice of hunting baleen whales in 1973.

Since 1966, no dedicated investigation of whales in the Seychelles had been made until 2020, when a partnership of four universities conducted an acoustic survey over the period of two years.

They made five different sightings of groups of up to 10 animals.

“This was a phenomenal finding,” Jeremy Kiszka, a co-author of the paper from Florida International University, wrote in The Conversation. “We were prepared to not see any blue whales due to the high level of hunting that occurred fairly recently and absolutely no information was available since the last blue whale was killed in the region in 1964.” ...

The team behind the survey sent images taken of the whales’ dorsal sides to a database to see if any of them had been recorded before, and amid the reel, not a single one was a match with any other photographed whale.

This, the team suggests, means they have probably never been seen before, which for a species that big might seem strange, but along with there being only 5,000 to 15,000 on Earth, they migrate vast distances while diving deep, making recording their movements incredibly challenging.

The survey identified 23 whale species in total using hydroponic mics over 2 years with peak activity coming between December and April. This is a fascinating finding that suggests something about the seas around the Seychelles makes for excellent whale habitat."

-via Good News Network, April 30, 2024

[arthistoryanimalia]

#WatercolorWednesday:

Portrait of a Ladakhi Mountain Goat [Changthangi*]

India, Mughal dynasty, c.1601-25

Opaque watercolor, ink, gold on paper

37.9 × 25.6 cm (14 7/8 × 10 1/8 in.)

The Art Institute of Chicago 1919.944: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/76868/portrait-of-a-ladakhi-mountain-goat

🆔 “The Changthangi [aka Changpa, Ladakh Pashmina, Kashmiri] is a breed of cashmere goat native to the high plateaus of Ladakh in northern India. It is closely associated with the nomadic Changpa people of the Changthang plateau….The intense cold of the region causes the goats to grow a thick undercoat, which is harvested to produce the fine pashmina grade of cashmere.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changtha

#IndianArt #SouthAsianArt

[tiercel]

Giant blue worm (Megascolex coeruleus?)

Photographed by Abhishek Jamalabad

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Bow Down to the Crown Jellyfish

The crown jellyfish (Cephea cephea), also known as the cauliflower jellyfish, is a species of jellyfish found primarily in the open waters of the Indo-Pacific Ocean, from the surface up to a depth of 915 m (3,000 ft). They spend most of the day in deeper waters, and then rise to the surface at night to feed.

Like most jellyfish, C. cephea is a filter feeder. The bulk of their prey consists of algae, shrimp, plankton, invertebrate eggs and invertebrate larvae. Although they are venomous, they are not considered a threat to humans. Rather, it's venom is designed to deter its natural predator, sea turtles.

The crown jellyfish is named for its distinctive appearance. The 'bell', or umbrella is bright purple, up to 60 cm (23 in) across, and situated in the middle is a bulb of multiple protruding round spikes. Beneath is a cauliflower-shaped mass, often white or yellow, from which the 30-40 thin tentacles descent. In addition to its bright coloring, the cauliflower jellyfish is also notable for being bioluminescent at night and in the darker depths of its range; the purpose of this light show is unclear.

C. cephea is a broadcast spawner, meaning that females and males both release their reproductive material into the open water. The fertilized eggs hatch into microscopic larvae, which then floats through the ocean for months or even years until it encounters a rock, coral, or other sedentary object. There, it grows into a structure called a polyp that filter feeds on passing plankton for another several weeks. When it gets big enough, it undergoes strobilation, in which layers peel off to become tiny jellyfish. These baby crown jellyfish grow extremely quickly, starting at only 2-3 mm (0.07-0.11 in), but grow to to 1.7 cm (0.66 in) in only a few weeks. Once they reach their adult size, they only live for 3-6 months.

Conservation status: The crown jellyfish has not been listed by the IUCN. Due to its large population size and range, it is considered stable, and may even be expanding its range due to warming oceanic waters.

Photos

Derek Keats

Alexia Pihier

[lyxocx]

art trade w @beillus

[loveisinthebat]

staring

[onenicebugperday]

Indian green tortoise beetle, Chiridopsis bipunctata, Chrysomelidae

Found in India and Sri Lanka

Photo 1 by nil_kumar_verma, 2 by shashidharswamyhiremath, 3 by ashokmashru, 4 by ajamalabad, 5-6 by drpadhiyar, and 7 for scale by shagufi