India adds 641 new animal species, 339 new plant taxa in 2023

Sub: Environment

Sec: Species in news

New Species Discoveries in India (2023)

In 2023, India added 641 new species to its fauna, including 442 entirely new species and 199 newly recorded species.
India also added 339 taxa to its plant database, including 326 species and 13 infraspecific taxa. Of these, 171 are new to science, and 168 are new distributional records from India.
Fauna of India Checklist Portal: Launched by the Environment Minister, provides exhaustive checklists of 1,04,561 animal species across 36 phyla, including endemic, threatened, and scheduled species.

Significant Discoveries:

Plants:
- Curcuma kakchingense: A new species of turmeric discovered in Kakching, Manipur.
- Asystasia venui: A flowering plant discovered in the Acharya Jagdish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden, Howrah, West Bengal.
Animals:
- Capra himalayensis: Confirms that the Himalayan Ibex is a distinct species from the Siberian Ibex, found in Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, and Himachal Pradesh.
- Miniopterus srinii: A new species of bent-winged bat discovered in Kodagu district, Karnataka.

State-wise discoveries:

Kerala: Reported the highest number of new animal discoveries (101), including 74 completely new species and 27 new records.
West Bengal: Recorded 72 new animal species.
Tamil Nadu: Reported 64 new animal species.
Faunal Discoveries:
- Invertebrates: Dominated the new discoveries with 564 new species.
- Vertebrates: 77 new species, mostly fish (47 species), followed by reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and birds.

Botanical Discoveries:

West Bengal: Highest number of new plant discoveries with 52 new taxa.
Kerala and Uttarakhand: Also significant contributors to new plant discoveries.
- The hotspot regions such as Western Ghats, and North Eastern Regions have contributed 14% of total discoveries.
Types of Plants: Include wild relatives of horticultural, agricultural, medicinal, and ornamental plants such as begonias, impatiens, legumes, zingibers, and orchids.

Annual Publications:

Animal Discoveries 2023: Published by the Zoological Survey of India, highlighting the dominance of insects among invertebrates and fishes among vertebrates.
Plant Discoveries 2023: Published by the Botanical Survey of India, recording discoveries in angiosperms, pteridophytes, bryophytes, lichens, fungi, algae, and microbes.

Source: TH