| Fauna And Flora Of India |
Article Index for Fauna |
Website Links For Fauna |
Information AboutFauna And Flora Of India |
|
India forms a large part of the link is the Purple Frog . The Cretaceous fauna include reptiles, amphibians and fishes. The flora and fauna of India have been studied from very early times by both indigenous researchers as well as colonial scientists (See Natural History In India ). EXTINCT AND FOSSIL FORMS Many fossil tree species have been found in the intertrappean beds including ''Grewioxylon'' from the Eocene and ''Heritieroxylon keralensis'' from the middle Miocene in Kerala and ''Heritieroxylon arunachalensis'' from the Mio- Pliocene of Arunachal Pradesh and at many other places. The discovery of '' Glossopteris '' fern fossils from India and Antarctica led to the discovery of Gondwanaland and led to the greater understanding of Continental Drift . Fossil '' Cycads ''[http://www.plantapalm.com/vce/evolution/fossils.pdf are known from India while about three ''Cycad'' species continue to survive in India. '' Titanosaurus Indicus '' was perhaps the first dinosaurs discovered in India by Richard Lydekker in 1877 in the Narmada valley. This area has been one of the most important areas for paleontology in India. Another dinosaur known from India is '' Rajasaurus Narmadensis '' {Link without Title} , a heavy-bodied and stout carnivorous abelisaurid (theropod) dinosaur that inhabited the area near present-day Narmada river. It was 9 m in length and 3 m in height and somewhat horizontal in posture with a double-crested cron on the skull. Some fossil snakes from the Cenozoic era are also known. {Link without Title} Some scientists have suggested that the Deccan lava flows and the gases produced were responsible for the global extinction of dinosaurs however these have been disputed. {Link without Title} {Link without Title} '' Himalayacetus Subathuensis '' the oldest-known whale fossil of the family Protocetidae (Eocene), about 53.5 million years old was found in the Simla hills in the foothills of the Himalayas. This area was underwater (in the Tethys sea) during the Tertiary period (when India was an island off Asia). This whale may have been capable of living partly on land. {Link without Title} {Link without Title} Other fossil whales from India include ''Remingtonocetus'' approximately 43-46 million years old. Several small mammal fossils have been recorded in the intertrappean beds, however larger mammals are mostly unknown. The only major primate fossils have been from the nearby region of Myanmar. {Link without Title}
TAXONOMIC LISTS AND INDICES This section provides taxonomically classified links to the species found on the Indian Subcontinent. Plants See Flora Of India Animals Invertebrates
Vertebrates STATISTICS The following gives the numbers of species found in India by group along with their percentage contribution to the world totals within the groups. (Note: counts are in logarithmic scale) ] THREATENED SPECIES Many plants and animals are threatened and endangered due largely due to habitat loss and population pressure apart from hunting and extraction. Threatened plant species Threatened Animal species Number of species per group according to IUCN threat categories (1994) ] SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
REFERENCES R. E. Hawkins (Ed.) 1986. Encyclopedia of Indian Natural History. Oxford University Press. India. ISBN 0195616235 |
|
|