Animal Discoveries 2020

Subject – Environment

Context – India added 557 new species to faunal wealth in 2020, says ZSI.

Concept –

India has added 557 new species to its fauna, which includes 407 new species and 150 new records, reveals Animal Discoveries 2020, a document published recently by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI).
The number of faunal species in India has climbed to 1,02,718 species with the discovery of the new species.
Among the new species, some interesting species discovered in 2020 are
- Trimeresurus salazar, a green pit viper discovered in Arunachal Pradesh;
- Lycodon deccanensis, the Deccan wolf snake discovered in Karnataka; and
- Sphaerotheca Bengaluru, a burrowing frog named after the city of Bengaluru.
- The list also includes Xyrias anjaalai, a deep water species of snake eel from Kerala;
- Glyptothorax giudikyensis, a species of catfish from Manipur; and
- Clyster galateansis, a species of scarab beetle from the Great Nicobar Biosphere.