A new discovery has added six butterfly species previously unrecorded in India, with one, the Litin Onyx, known only from Laos, representing a massive range extension into the Eastern Himalayas.

Frog and toad communities remain surprisingly stable across both urban and rural settings, suggesting increased resilience or a lag phase with effects yet to be observed. Loss of habitat and pollution, a worry.

The strictly carnivorous Pallid and Montagu's Harriers are confirmed to be crucial secondary seed dispersers in India, rescuing viable seeds from the digestive tracts of their prey and playing an important role in maintaining the biodiversity of threatened grassland ecosystems.

Researchers rediscovered the ancient velvet worm species Typhloperipatus williamsoni from Arunachal Pradesh and mapped its evolutionary tree.

Not more than two decades ago, I played with snails on rainy days and would see them crawling abundantly on plants. My friends and I would collect them in glass bottles, treating them as pets.

It appears that snails have almost vanished from our gardens. Lush green landscapes and trees have dwindled to become a few patches of green separated by tall buildings in between.

Researchers find a greater abundance but an altered epiphyte community in selectively logged forests

The detailed analysis of the stomach contents of two frogs provide evidence that frogs do play an important role in protecting crops against insects. 

Research Matters caught up with Dr M D Madhusudan, one of the researchers involved in developing a high-resolution map of Open Natural Ecosystems (ONEs) in India, to gain insights into their work. Here are excerpts from the interview.

Researchers from ATREE review their work over the past 25 years.

Study highlights why capture-neuter-vaccinate-release is not effective in reducing free-ranging dogs.