A pre­liminary report on the impact of road kills on the herpetofauna species in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, India

Main Article Content

P. Santhoshkumar
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8739-406X
P. Kannan
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1325-4854
A. Veeramani
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4294-319X
A. Samson
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0804-7941
S. Karthick
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0645-3647
J. Leonaprincy
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8884-9006

Abstract

To know the situation of road hits of amphibians and reptile species, a survey was conducted during the period 02 June 2013 to 25 May 2014.  A total of 172 incidents of road kill of different species were noticed, representing 12 species of herpetofauna, including five amphibian species of the families Bufonidae, Dicroglossidae, Microhylidae and Rhacophoridae, and seven species of reptiles of the families Scincidae, Agamidae, Uropeltidae, Colubridae, Natricidae and Xenodermatidae.  Reptiles were the most affected group (60%), of which more than 79.61% of the road kills were snakes.  The most affected snake species were endemic Xylophis perroteti (64.63%). 

Article Details

Section
Short Communications
Author Biographies

P. Santhoshkumar, Government Arts College, Bharathiar University

Department of Zoology and Wildlife Biology

P. Kannan, Government Arts College,Bharathiar University

Department of Zoology and Wildlife Biology

A. Veeramani, Government Arts College (Autonomous) Kumbakonam, Bharathidasan

Department of Zoology 

A. Samson, Government Arts College,Bharathiar University

Department of Zoology and Wildlife Biology

S. Karthick, Government Arts College, Bharathiar University

Department of Zoology and Wildlife Biology

J. Leonaprincy, Government Arts College, Bharathiar University

Department of Zoology and Wildlife Biology

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