Living planet report 2022
<p>Wildlife populations monitored across the globe have declined by a massive 69 per cent between 1970 and 2018, according to this WWF's Living Planet Report (LPR) 2022</p>
Reptiles
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Snakes use inner ear to locate prey
Snakes can't hear as they don't have an ear, it is often believed. But, a new study has found that the reptiles do possess an "inner' ear with a functional cochlea which they use to detect vibrations caused by prey. A team of international researchers has carried out the study and found that the ears of the snakes are sensitive enough to not only hear the prey approaching, but also to allow the brain to localise the direction it is coming from. According to the researchers, any disturbance at a sandy surface leads to vibration waves that radiate away from the source along the surface. These waves behave like ripples on the surface of a pond after a stone is dropped into water. However, these sand waves propagate much quicker (the speed is about 50 metres per second) than at water surface. But on the other hand, much more slowly than, for instance in stone and the amplitude of the waves may be as small as a couple of thousands of a millimetre. "Yet, a snake can detect these small ripples. If it rests its head on the ground, the two sides of the lower jaw are brought into vibration by the incoming wave. These vibrations are then transmitted directly into the inner ear by means of a chain of bones attached to the lower jaw. "This process is comparable to the transmission of auditory signals by the ossicles in the human middle ear. The snake thus literally hears surface vibrations,' the study's lead author J Leo Van Hemmen of the Technical University, Munich was quoted by the ScienceDaily as saying. In their study, combining approaches from biomechanics and naval engineering with the modelling of neuronal circuits, the team has shown that the snake can use its ears to perform the same trick for sound arriving through sand.
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Wildlife trade in Nilgiri Bio Reserve
Though there have been very many reports on illegal trade, this is the probably the first on Trade in Nilgiri Bio Reserve Area. This report is the result of an extensive study conducted at odd hours for six months. No word of this report can be challenged as Vatavaran has photographic proof of the ongoing illegal trade in NBR.
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Bytes
lab tool: A professor at University of Delhi has developed a new instrument that can measure the surface tension and viscosity of liquids together. The
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19 cm long limbless lizard found in Orissa
Scientists have discovered a new species of limbless lizard from Orissa's Khandadhar hills. "This 19-cm-long lizard looks like a scaly, small snake,' says Sushil Kumar Dutta, a zoologist from the
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Discovery of Anoles, a class of lizards, questions evolution theory
A study on Anoles, a class of lizards found in the Caribbean islands, has raised doubts over an existing theory of evolution. Evolutionary biologist Kirsten E Nicholson from the Central Michigan
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Flawed conservation policies lead to decline in gharial population
In the well-known Panchatantra story, a monkey wanting to cross the mighty Ganga befriends a crocodile. But a while into their friendship, the reptile’s intentions turn sinisterĂ€
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Venom code
Taking the wrong anti venom could be dangerous too
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In Short
unearthed: Thought to be extinct, the lizard Barkudia insularis has been sighted in Orissa's Chilika lagoon after more than 85 years. Ajit Kumar Patnaik, chief executive officer of the Chilika
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Huge haven
It covers 3.8 million hectares (ha) of virgin rainforest, is chock-a-block with primates, birds and reptiles, and is expected to yield hitherto unknown species. These are the vital statistics of the