Amphibians of agro-climatic zones of Karnataka with an updated checklist for the state

Abstract

The British carried out the amphibian study in pre-independence India, and it was only in the 1920s that Indian researchers, such as Rao, initiated the studies, which were largely conducted in the Western Ghats. The first amphibian species described from the state of Karnataka was in 1853. Since then, amphibian discoveries in Karnataka have seen a dramatic rise, with the number of new species discovered has now reached 61 species. The amphibian checklist for the state Karnataka was first made in 2013 with 88 species, later in 2015 it accounted for 92 species and now it is 102 species. In the present checklist for the Karnataka state, species diversity has been categorised into the state’s agro-climatic zones. Our studies suggested that the highest species diversity was encountered in the Hilly Agro-climatic zones of Karnataka (HZ) with 89 species, followed by the Southern Transition Zone (STZ) with 24 species; the least species diversity was encountered in the North Eastern Transition Zone (NETZ) and North Eastern Dry Zone (NEDZ) with six species diversity. Among the ‘Threatened species category’ four species were categorised as Critically Endangered, 14 as Endangered and five species as Vulnerable.