BHUBANESWAR: The sighting of a baby pangolin in the breeding centre of Nandankanan Zoological Park here has brought cheer to conservationists as this is for the first time that these toothless mammals have successfully bred in captivity in India.
Keoladeo National Park (KNP) is a 29 km2 area situated on the extreme western edge of the Gangetic basin that was once confluence of Rivers Gambhir and Banganga in Bharatpur district in the State of Rajasthan. KNP has a unique mosaic of habitats that include wetlands, woodlands, scrub forests, grasslands that supports an amazing diversity of both plant and animal species.
Tropical mammals are evolving faster than those found at high latitudes or elevations, according to researchers. This pattern had previously been found in plants and marine protists but until now was assumed to apply only to cold-blooded organisms, reports BBC News.
Current global warming affects the composition and dynamics of mammalian communities and can increase extinction risk; however, long-term effects of warming on mammals are less understood. Dietary reconstructions inferred from stable isotopes of fossil herbivorous mammalian tooth enamel document environmental and climatic changes in ancient ecosystems, including C3/C4 transitions and relative seasonality.
KUMARAN SATHASIVAM
THE COMMON BIRDS AND MAMMALS OF ANDHRA PRADESH: Sachin Jaltare (Illustration); Universities Press India Pvt. Ltd., 3-6-747/1/A & 3-6-754/1, Himayatnagar, Hyderabad-500029. Rs. 250.
As many as 49 species of Indian mammals are facing extreme levels of danger from problems ranging from poaching, habitat destruction, alteration and pollution, a study conducted by an international environment agency has said.
