Amphibians are vertebrates that can live both on land and in water. They go through a metamorphosis from an aquatic tadpole stage to a terrestrial adult stage. Amphibians are important for ecosystems and human welfare. They indicate environmental changes and provide benefits like controlling pests, serving as traditional medicine, and acting as biological indicators. India is home to 309 amphibian species across 14 families and 55 genera. Ongoing research in India includes studies on reproduction, taxonomy, ecology, and impacts of skin extracts. Conservation efforts aim to protect amphibian habitats and diversity in the Western Ghats.
5. Whom do you call amphibians?
Those vertebrates that live both in water as well as
land
That means ...we too?
Photo credit:
http://divebarbados.net/Current%20Photos/Pictures/Green%20Turtle%201.jpg
http://www.kidcyber.com.au/IMAGES/hippoaggro_s.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/wildlifeweb/reptile/gharial/gharial03tfk.jpg
6. In fact, amphibians are ...
Dual lifers ...
◦ Two stages in life – a tadpole stage and an adult
stage
◦ From Greek, Amphi – dual, bian – life forms
7. What’s unique in them?
Generally, aquatic and terrestrial inhabitants,
Some are arboreal, and some fussorial too
8. Metamorphosis
They metamorphose from
tadpole to adult
Life span: from 10 months
to 55 years
9. Ectotherms
Body temperature externally maintained
Hiding away from Sun
Basking in Sun
13. So also for US ...
Human Welfare
◦ Biocontroller of Pests
◦ Skin extract – pain killer: Bufotonin, Epibatidine, Anti
microbial peptides
◦ Freeze tolerance
Freezing North American Wood Frogs.flv
◦ Media for microbial culture
◦ Delicacy!!!
◦ Indicators of change in environment
◦ Culture, Rig Veda, verse 7, shloka103,
◦ Earthquake early warning system!!
◦ Biogeographic linkage ...
14. Amphibians indicate …
Factors Process(es )
Climate change Temperature and precipitation patterns are altered
so as to cause dis ruptions in micro or macro -
climatic co nditions
Habitat Deforestation and agric ulture; drained a nd filled
modification wetlands, land filling
Habitat Roads, introduced species, and low pH dissect
fragmentation habitats, crea ting barriers to dispersal.
Introduced Introduc ed predators, prey on/or compete with
species native amphibians.
UV-B radiation UV-B damages and/or kills cells , causing egg
morta lity, lesions, malformations and increased
susceptibility to dis ease and low pH.
Chemical Toxins cause direct mortality of eggs and a dults,
contamination mimic endocrine harmones, reduce the prey bas e,
pesticidal effect; fluoranthene.
Acid Toxins c reate barriers to dis persal and caus e high
precipitatio n and egg and larval mortality.
soil
Disease Disease often causes death in amphibians
(Chytridiomycosis)
15. Common Indian toad, Duttaphrynus melanostictus
up to 16cm, noctornal, terrestrial, human habitation, water bodies
47. Batrachology in India
As of today 309 species, belonging to 14 families,
55 genera (4.64% of 6638 species in the world),
249 Species described from India (80.5%)
1254 authors, single species description to as
many as 43 species
Since 2000, 82 new species (33%) with 47 papers
on Taxonomy and taxonomy related issues, 12 on
ecology, 6 on reproduction, 10 on others
So Taxonomy ‘rules’ at present Indian
Batrachology!!!
53. Skin extracts and pesticidal
impacts…
1. Giri et al., 2006. doi:10.1016/j.toxicon.2006.06.011
2. Sai et al., 2001. doi:10.1074/jbc.M006615200
3. Gurushankara et al., 2007. doi:10.1007/s00244-006-0015-5
54. Conservation and Management
Das, A., Krishnaswamy, J., Bawa, K. S., Kiran, M. C., Srinivas, V., Kumar, N. S., et al.
2006. Prioritization of conservation areas in the Western Ghats, India. Biological
Conservation, 133, 16−31.
Gururaja KV, Sameer Ali and Ramachandra TV. 2008. Influence of land-use
changes in river basins on diversity and distribution of amphibians. In:
Environment Education for Ecosystem Conservation