Online selling of wildlife part with spurious name: a serious challenge for wildlife crime enforcement.

We examined an online sold product "Hatha Jodi" synonym of "paired arm" for the confirmation of its biological source. It was declared as a plant root. The morphological features of these samples were matched with the "intromittent organs" or "hemi penis" of the monitor lizard. For further confirmation, we used sequencing of a partial fragment of mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b gene. Sequence comparison indicated that these claimed plant products were actually biological samples of a common monitor lizard, Varanus bengalensis. Hence, it exhibited the ongoing illegal trade of the intromittent organ of a prohibited species with a misleading name using low risk and widely adopted modern trading method that imposes a severe challenge for combating against the wildlife crime.

Redescription of Hemidactylus giganteus Stoliczka, 1871 with the description of three new allied species (Squamata: Gekkonidae: Hemidactylus Goldfuss, 1820) from peninsular India.

We revise the systematics of Hemidactylus giganteusan Indian endemic leaf-toed gecko based on recent collections from the type locality and other localities in peninsular India. We provide a comprehensive redescription of H. giganteus sensu stricto and describe three new allied species from the Karnataka and Telangana states in India. We analysed the phylogenetic relationships between the three new species, H. raya sp. nov., H. saxicolus sp. nov., and H. aemulus sp. nov., and found them to be nested within the H. giganteus sensu lato branch. The pairwise genetic divergence between these new cryptic taxa from H. giganteus sensu stricto ranged from 5.88% to 10.95% for the Cyt b gene. The new species also differ from H. giganteus sensu stricto based on number of femoral pores on each thigh and poreless scales separating them (1823 femoral pores and seven or eight poreless scales versus 17 femoral pores and seven poreless scales in H. raya sp. nov., 26 or 27 femoral pores and nine poreless scales in H. saxicolus sp. nov., and 2225 femoral pores and nine to ten poreless scales in H. aemulus sp. nov.), corroborated by linear discriminant analysis based on 29 morphometric and meristic characters. Our species delimitation analysis shows the presence of three additional putative new species awaiting formal description within the H. giganteus sensu lato branch.

Identification of selected wild felids using hair morphology and forensically informative nucleotide sequencing (FINS): Wildlife forensics prospective.

We describe the identification of the leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis), jungle cat (Felis chaus) fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinusis), wild cat (Felis silvestris) and caracal (Caracal caracal) using combined approach of morphological and molecular based analysis. Three mitochondrial genes [12S rRNA, 16S rRNA and cytochrome b (Cyt b)] and hair characteristics (cuticle and medulla patterns) were analysed and variation was observed among few selected wild felids. We did not find conclusive morphological difference among these examined felids. We observed maximum variation in Cyt b in comparison to12S rRNA and 16S rRNA genes. Therefore, despite poor hair morphological difference, forensically informative nucleotide sequencing (FINS) exhibited unambiguous variation among the examined felids. We suggest the use of FINS for differentiating biological samples of closely related wild felids to avoid any false identification of species in illicit trade. Furthermore, the data generated from the present work would help in strengthening the DNA database of Indian small cats.

A new cryptic rock-dwelling Hemidactylus Oken, 1817 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northern Karnataka, India.

A new species of rupicolous gecko of the genus Hemidactylus is described from the Bellary District of Karnataka, India. The large-sized (SVL to at least 104.7 mm) gecko is characterized by the following suite of characters: dorsum with 16 longitudinal rows of irregularly arranged, subtrihedral, moderately to feebly keeled, striated tubercles at midbody; tail with transverse series of two enlarged tubercles on either side of the median furrow on the first and second tail segments each; 17-18 femoral pores on each side separated by 5 poreless scales. In conjunction, the molecular data based on concatenated analysis of nuclear (RAG-1 and PDC) and mitochondrial (Cytb) genes support the distinctiveness of the species and its affinities with large-bodied tuberculate Hemidactylus spp. from India and Sri Lanka, placing the new species basal to the entire H. prashadi group.

A new species of Cnemaspis (Sauria: Gekkonidae) from Northern Karnataka, India.

A new species of rupicolous gecko of the genus Cnemaspis is described from Hampi, Karnataka, southern India. Cnemaspis adii sp. nov. is diagnosable from all the Indian congeners in possessing the following suite of characters: medium-sized Cnemaspis, SVL less than 35 mm (31.7-34.9). Dorsal scales on the trunk homogeneous, small, granular and feebly keeled. Spine-like tubercles absent on the flanks. Mental subtraingular, two pairs of postmentals, primary pair separated by a single chin shield. Ventral scales on the trunk smooth, imbricate; 22-26 scales across the belly. Supralabial I narrowly in contact with nasal. Dorsal aspect of forelimbs and hindlimbs are weakly unicarinate. Lamellae under the digit IV of pes 20-22. Males with two precloacal pores, two femoral pores on each side of the thigh. The existence of the species in a World Heritage Site with continuous anthropogenic interference ascertains the robustness of the species and need for additional herpetofaunal explorations to reveal the total diversity of species of the genus Cnemaspis in peninsular India.