Of the 600+ species of reptiles in India, about 50% of them endemic. Indian reptiles are relatively poorly studied, with few dedicated and comprehensive resources on their taxonomy, biology and conservation. This website is an effort to provide comprehensive, internet-based, peer-reviewed, and open resource devoted to Indian reptiles.
The website is designed to disseminate information on various aspects of the biology of Indian reptiles, encourage their observation to study their natural history and ecology, gather population and distributional data in a centralized database, and spread awareness about their conservation.
Image credits:
Smeet Shah
Citizen science and biodiversity informatics for research, outreach, and conservation of Indian reptiles
Year of Initiation:
2017
Project Coordinator:
Arjun Kamdar
E-mail Address:
Role in the project:
Editor
Institutional Affiliation:
WWF-India, Seegreen Foundation
Taxa:
Reptiles
Status:
Active
No. of participants:
Above 1000
Geographical spread of project:
ALL INDIA
Run through an umbrella platform:
Biodiversity Atlas - India
Purpose of the project:
(a) To provide a species-based bioinformatics platform that is designed for aggregating, displaying, and analyzing peer-reviewed data on Indian reptiles, and (b) To build a strong community around research and conservation of Indian reptiles through citizen science and outreach.
Coordinating institution/organisation:
Indian Foundation for Butterflies
Location of the coordinating institution/organisation(s):
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Data availability:
Available upon request, without a fee
Participation in language other than English:
No
Appropriate age groups of participants:
All age groups
Citizen participation through:
Website
Why should people participate:
This portal not only records spatial occurrences of reptiles but also includes natural history observations, habitat and conservation notes along with regularly updating the taxonomy of species based on published papers. With your help in gathering data on this understudied taxa, Reptiles of India can collate and analyze the data to yield deeper insights into the 600+ species of reptiles of the country.
Prior knowledge or expertise required:
No prior knowledge is required, the portal invites contributions from all interested citizens!