PRELIMINARY STUDY OF HERPETOFAUNAL DIVERSITY IN RADHANAGARI WILDLIFE SANCTUARY (WLS), KOLHAPUR, MAHARASHTRA, INDIA

ABSTRACT The present study was undertaken to the survey of Herpetofauna carried out in the selected area of Radahanagari Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS), Kolhapur district, Maharashtra during June 2013 to May 2014. The Radahanagari Wild Life Sanctuary is located between 16°10” to 16°30” north latitude and 73°52” to 74°14” east longitude. During survey, we reported 56 species of herpetofauna which represents about 6.5% of all known Herpetofauna from India. All reported species belong to 42 genera distributed among the 20 families in which 34 species of Reptiles belonging to 12 families are distributed over 26 genera and 22 species of amphibians belonging to 8 families are scattered over 16 genera. The present study indicates that species count at Radhanagari Wildlife Sanctuary is likely to increase with additional surveys and systematic work. Keywords: Diversity, Herpetofauna, Radhanagari WLS. REFERENCES Aengals, R., V.M. Sathish Kumar & M. J. Palot: Updated Checklist of Indian Reptiles, (2012). Bossuyt, F.: A new species of Philautus (Anura: Ranidae) from the Western Ghats of India. J. of Herp., 36(4), 656–661 (2002). Boulenger, G.A.: The fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma: Reptilia and Batrachia, London (1890). Daniels, J.C.: The book of Indian Reptiles and Amphibians. Bombay Natural History Society and Oxford University Press, Mumbai (2002) Daniels, R.J.R.: Impact of tea cultivation on anurans in the Western Ghats. Curr Sci. 85, 1415-1422 (2003). Daniels, R.J.R.: Amphibians of peninsular India. Indian Academy of Sciences, Universities Press, Hyderabad (2005). Dinesh, K.P., C. Radhakrishnan, K.V. Gururaja, K. Deuti & G. Bhatta: A Checklist of Amphibia of India with IUCN Red list Status, Updated till April 2013, (2013). Dutta, S.K.: Amphibians of India and Sri Lanka (checklist and bibliography). Odyssey Publishing House, Bhubaneswar (1997). Giri V. B. & A. M. Bauer: A new ground-dwelling Hemidactylus (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Maharashtra, with a key to the Hemidactylus of India. Zootaxa, 1700, 21–34 (2008). Gunther C.L.C Albert: The Reptiles of British India. Published by Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. New Delhi (1864). Gururaja K. V.: Pictorial Guide to Frogs and Toads of the Western Ghats. Gubbi Labs Publication, (2012). Mittermeier, R.A., Carr, J.L., Swingland, I.R., Werner, T.B., Mast, R.B.: Conservation of amphibians and reptiles. In: Adler, K. (Ed.), Herpetology, Current Research on the Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Oxford, OH, pp. 59-80 1992. Radhakrishnan, C. & K. Rajmohana: Fauna of ecosystems of India-Western Ghats. Director, ZSI, Kolkata, India (2012). Smith, M.A.: The fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma: Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol.1.Loricata, Testudines. Taylor and Francis, London (1931). (Reprinted 1974, 1995 by Today and Tomorrow’s Printers and Publishers, New Delhi). Smith, M. A.: The fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma: Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol II. Sauria. Taylor and Francis, London (1935). (Reprinted 1974, 1995 by Today and Tomorrow’s Printers and Publishers, New Delhi). Smith, M. A.: The fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma: Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol III. Serpentes. Taylor and Francis, London (1943). (Reprinted 1974, 1995 by Today and Tomorrow’s Printers and Publishers, New Delhi). Whitaker, R. and A. Captain: Snakes of India. The Field Guide. Draco Books.Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu (2008). Yadav, S. R and Sardesai, M. M.: Flora of Kolhapur district. Shivaji University, Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India (2002)