Skeleton of Neolithic child uncovered in Tamil Nadu, India.

Archaeologists from the Department of Ancient History and Archaeology at the University of Madras, have uncovered the skeleton of a child thought to be 9-11 years old, based upon the presence of a deciduous first molar in the mandible, at a Neolithic site in the village of Chettimedu near Chengalpattu in Tamil Nadu. The body was orientated north-south with the head to the north, and facing to the west, a practice which began in the Neolithic and persisted into the Early Historic Period.  It is thought to date to between 3000 BC and 2500 BC and was buried alongside a broken pot in the Burnished Grey Ware style, which is typical of the Late Neolithic in southern India. 

The pot beside the skeleton is typical of neolithic period. Many shreds of burnished red ware and burnished grey ware belonging to the same period were also found at the burial site. New Indian Express.

While typical of the southern Indian Neolithic, Burnished Grey Ware is actually rare in Tamil Nadu State, having been found only at the Chettimedu site and at Valasai in Vellore District, 370 km to the southwest. As well as the Burnished Grey Ware, examples of Burnished Red Ware, Black and Red Ware, All-black Ware, Red Slipped Ware, Red Ware and Coarse Red Ware have been found in different layers at the site, with pottert from the uppermost layers having some writing upon it, implying a sequence of occupation lasting through the Neolithic and Iron Age into the Early Historic Period. Some bricks also thought to date to the early historic period were also found. 

The site at Chettimedu was first identified in 2019, by construction workers digging foundations for a new project. The initial material uncovered included incised potsherds, earrings made of baked clay, and iron arrowheads, associated with the Iron Age-to-Early Historic Period Sangam Culture, which lasted from about 600 BC to about 300 AD. Subsequent excavations have uncovered material from a succession of earlier periods, including some pottery which may be associated with the Chalcolithic Malwa Culture of central India.

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Cigaritis meghamalaiensis: A new species of Lycaenid Butterfly from the southern Western Ghats of India.

Lycaenid Butterflies or 'Blues' are a widespread and highly successful group of Lepidopteran Insects, noted for their blue or metallic colouring. With about 6000 known species, Lycaenids are found on all continents and comprise about 30% of all described Butterfly species. The group is particularly notable for its relationship with Ants, with the females of many species laying their eggs in or near to Ant nests, and the young of many species being able to induce the Ants to feed them while they mature within the nest. This relationship appears to have mutualistic roots, with some members of the group having larvae which are guarded by the Ants while they feed, and which produce a sugar-rich honeydew which the Ants consume. Silverlines, Cigaritis spp., are a genus of Lycaenid Butterflies found across Africa, South and Southeast Asia.

In a paper published in the journal Entomon on 31 December 2023,  Ramasamy Kamaya Naicker of  Saptur Palace and the Vanam Trust, Sujitha Prabhakaran Chandrika of the Department of Zoology at the University of Kerala, Baiju Kochunarayanan of Sreerangam, Jebine Jose of Kaduvathookil House, Manoj Kripakaran of Shyladhri, Rajkumar Chidambaram Palaniappan, also of the Vanam Trust, Vinayan Padmanabhan Nair of Nethaji Housing Colony, Kalesh Sadasivan of Greeshmam and the Travancore Nature History Society describe a new species of Cigaritis from the southern Western Ghats of India.

The new species is named Cigaritis meghamalaiensis, where 'meghamalaiensis' means 'from Meghamalai' , in reference to the region where it was discovered; the name 'Meghamalai' means 'cloud mountain', so the name also refers to the subtropical montane cloud forests where the species is found. The species was first observed at high elevations within the Periyar Tiger Reserve in Kerala State, and subsequently also found in the adjoining Meghamalai Mountain Range of Tamil Nadu.

Cigaritis meghamalaiensis Field images of males, females and seasonal forms. (A) Male, typical colouration; (B( female, typical colouration; (C) male upperside; (D) female upperside; (E) dry season male underside; (F) dry season female underside; (G) mating; (H) oviposition. Ramasamy Naicker in Naicker et al. (2023).

Males of Cigaritis meghamalaiensis have forewings that are black on the upper side with extensive metallic blue markings, and hindwings that are grey with blue markings. In females the forewings are grey with metallic blue markings and the hindwings are a lighter grey with blue markings. In both sexes the undersides of the wings in both sexes are a pale pinkish brown with pinkish orange markings.

Cigaritis meghamalaiensis. Early stages, larval pens, and attending Ants. (A) Freshly laid egg; (B) larvae being attended by Crematogaster Ants inside the larval pen; (C) intermediate instar larvae and its attending Ant; (D) larval pen under the bark of a shola tree opened to reveal the walls (white arrows), and two larvae inside it marked 1 and 2  (blue arrows). Kalesh Sadasivan & Jebin Jose in Naicker et al. (2023).

Butterflies were observed flying between December and June, although they were surprisingly reluctant to the wing, making them easy prey to Spiney Lizards and other predators. They were found only on the fringes of subtropical evergreen forests. Females were observed to fly around trees with populations of predatory Acrobat Ants, Crematogaster spp.. Mating was observed in April, and eggs were laid between April and December, on the bark of trees and shrubs such as Neolitsea spp. and  Clerodendrum infortunatum, always in the presence of Crematogaster wroughtonii Ants, either in dark crevices on the stems or directly in the Ants' nests.

Cigaritis meghamalaiensis, habitat and host plants. (A) Sub-tropical Evergreen forests of Meghamalais (1400m above sealevel); (B) Neolitsea cassia, a host tree; (C) typical climate inside the misty cloud forests; (D) female ovipositing inside Crematogaster nest on Clerodendrum infortunatum. Ramasamy Naicker, Kalesh Sadasivan, & Jebin Jose in Naicker et al. (2023).

Larvae were observed in 'pens' under the bark of the trees, where they were tended by Crematogaster wroughtonii Ants. These pens each contained 3-4 larvae, and appeared to be constructed specifically by the Ants, away from their own nests. This suggests that the relationship is mutual rather than parasitic, with the Ants gaining some benefit from the relationship, possibly consuming some product produced by the caterpillars. 

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Nine people dead after Cyclone Michuang makes landfall in Andhra Pradesh.

Nine people have been confirmed dead after Cyclone Michuang made landfall to the south of the city of Bapatla in southern Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday 5 December 2023. The storm made landfall at about 12.30 pm local time, bringing with it winds of up to 110 km per hour, and causing flooding along large parts of the coasts of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Odisha. Around 9000 people were evacuated from coastal areas in Andhra Pradesh and 61 600 in Tamil Nadu. One person was killed in Andhra Pradesh, described as a four-year-old child crushed by a falling wall. In Tamil Nadu a further eight people died during the storm, including two people killed when a poultry unit collapsed in Eluru District and a police officer struck by a falling tree in the Siddavatam Forest.

Flooding in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, on Tuesday 5 December 2023.  Jothi Ramalingam/The Hindu.

Tropical storms, called Cyclones in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific, are caused by solar energy heating the air above the oceans, which causes the air to rise leading to an inrush of air. If this happens over a large enough area the inrushing air will start to circulate, as the rotation of the Earth causes the winds closer to the equator to move eastwards compared to those further away (the Coriolis Effect). This leads to tropical storms rotating clockwise in the southern hemisphere and anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere. These storms tend to grow in strength as they move across the ocean and lose it as they pass over land (this is not completely true: many tropical storms peter out without reaching land due to wider atmospheric patterns), since the land tends to absorb solar energy while the sea reflects it.

The formation of a tropical cyclone. Natural Disaster Management.

Despite the obvious danger of winds of this speed, which can physically blow people, and other large objects, away as well as damaging buildings and uprooting trees, the real danger from these storms comes from the flooding they bring. Each drop millibar drop in air-pressure leads to an approximate 1 cm rise in sea level, with big tropical storms capable of causing a storm surge of several meters. This is always accompanied by heavy rainfall, since warm air over the ocean leads to evaporation of sea water, which is then carried with the storm. These combined often lead to catastrophic flooding in areas hit by tropical storms. 

The formation and impact of a storm surge. eSchoolToday.

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First recording of a Light-mantled Albatross from Asia.

Albatrosses, Diomedeidae, are large-bodied Seabirds with an almost entirely Southern Hemisphere distribution. The Light-mantled Albatross, Phoebetria palpebrata, is generally restricted to Southern Ocean. This species is currently considered Near Threatened under the terms of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species, largely due to their being caught as bycatch by longline fisheries. The global population of Light-mantled Albatrosses was last estimated at 21 600 breeding pairs in 1998.

In a paper published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa on 26 July 2022, Hameed Byju of the Centre of Advanced Study in Marine Biology at Annamalai University, and Natarajan Raveendram of the Iragukal Amritha Nature Trust record of a Light-mantled Albatross from Rameswaram Island, off the southeast coast of Tamil Nadu State, India, which is, to the best of their knowledge, the first recording of this Bird from anywhere in Asia.

The Albatross was first spotted on 8 September 2020, in on Anthoniyapuram Beach by local fishermen, who informed the Tamil Nadu Forest Department as the Bird appeared weak and unable to fly. The Albatross was collected and allowed to rest, before flying away. It would not take food.

A Light-mantled Albatross, Phoebetria palpebrata, on Anthoniyapuram Beach on Rameswaram Island, Tamil Nadu, on 8 September 2022. Francis Aravind in Byju & Raveendram (2022).

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Two dead in Kerala as Cyclone Tauktae moves up the west coast of India.

Two people have died in Kerala State, India, as Cyclone Tauktae moved up the western Indian coast over the past two days, bringing with it high winds, heavy rainfall, and storm surges. The storm has caused widespread disruption, flooding low lying areas, uprooting trees and downing power lines, but has so far caused relatively few casualties to the evacuation of thousands of people from areas expected to be the worst hit (before the introduction of this practice, tropical storms making landfall in India regularly killed thousands of people). So far the storm has passed along the shores of Tamil Nadu and Kerala states, and is expected to pass Goa and move on to Maharashtra today, eventually making landfall in Gujarat on Tuesday 18 May 2021.

 

A storm surge near Mangaluru, in Karnataka State, India, on Saturday 15 May 2021. Press Trust of India.

Tropical storms, called Cyclones in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific, are caused by solar energy heating the air above the oceans, which causes the air to rise leading to an inrush of air. If this happens over a large enough area the inrushing air will start to circulate, as the rotation of the Earth causes the winds closer to the equator to move eastwards compared to those further away (the Coriolis Effect). This leads to tropical storms rotating clockwise in the southern hemisphere and anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere. These storms tend to grow in strength as they move across the ocean and lose it as they pass over land (this is not completely true: many tropical storms peter out without reaching land due to wider atmospheric patterns), since the land tends to absorb solar energy while the sea reflects it.

 

A rescue team carries a woman from a flooded building in Kochi, Kerala, on Saturday 15 May 2021. NDTV.

Despite the obvious danger of winds of this speed, which can physically blow people, and other large objects, away as well as damaging buildings and uprooting trees, the real danger from these storms comes from the flooding they bring. Each drop millibar drop in air-pressure leads to an approximate 1 cm rise in sea level, with big tropical storms capable of causing a storm surge of several meters. This is always accompanied by heavy rainfall, since warm air over the ocean leads to evaporation of sea water, which is then carried with the storm. These combined often lead to catastrophic flooding in areas hit by tropical storms.

 

The path and strength of Cyclone Tauktae. Thick line indicates the past path of the storm (till 6.00 am GMT on Sunday 16 May 2021), while the thin line indicates the predicted future path of the storm, and the dotted circles the margin of error 12, 24, 36, 48 and 72 hours ahead. Colour indicated the severity of the storm. Tropical Storm Risk.

 

The formation and impact of a storm surge. eSchoolToday.

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Funambulus palmarum: The danger of roadkill deaths to Three-striped Palm Squirrels on the Sigur Plateau, Tamil Nadu.

The Three-striped Palm Squirrel, Funambulus palmarum, is a small Rodent of the Sciuridae family, with four subspecies native to India and Sri Lanka. Funambulus palmarum is endemic to southern India and Sri Lanka, where it is widely distributed from sea level to 2000 m. Squirrels can reach head-body length of 12–15 cm and tail length of 14–15 cm, and they have short fur that is yellowish-brown or brown on the back and creamy white on the belly. Three white stripes on the back stretch from the head to tail. Funambulus palmarum has dark round eyes, small triangular ears, long front teeth, and a bushy tail. It is an omnivore with a diet based largely on fruit and nuts that also includes eggs, small Birds, larvae, and Insects. Squirrels mate throughout the year and build nests in treetops using grass and branches. Pregnancy lasts 34 to 45 days and produces 1–5 offspring; young are fully weaned at 10 weeks and reach sexual maturity at nine months. Animals can survive up to four years in the wild and over 5 years in captivity. 

 

A Three-striped Palm Squirrel, Funambulus palmarum. Yathin Krishnappa/Wikimedia Commons.

In a paper published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa on 26 July 2020, Arockianathan Samson of the Vulture Programme of the Bombay Natural History Society, Balasundaram Ramakrishnan of Mammalogy and Forest Ecology, and Jabamalainathan Leonaprincy at the Herpetology and Tribal Medicine Lab of the departments of Zoology and Wildlife Biology at the Government Arts College, Udhgamandalam, present the results of a study which was undertaken to assess the threat to Three-striped Palm Squirrels from roadkills in the tropical forest of Sigur Plateau, Tamil Nadu in southern India.

Sigur Plateau is located in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve. It is a connective junction of Western and Eastern Ghats and harbors a diverse range of wildlife that includes Asian Elephant, Elephas maximus, Tiger, Panthera tigris, Leopard, Panthera pardus, Gaur, Bos gaurus, Chital, Axis axis, Sambar, Rusa unicolor, and other Mammals, as well as Birds such as Endangered and Critically Endangered Vultures including the Long-billed Vulture, Gyps indicus, Whiterumped Vulture, Gyps bengalensis, Red-headed Vulture, Sacrogyps calvus, and Egyptian Vulture, Neophran percnopterus. The corridor between the Western and Eastern Ghats is used by Elephants, Tiger, Gaur, and other herbivores for seasonal migrations influenced by the southwest and northeast monsoons. The major streams of Sigur Plateau are the Moyar River, the Sigur River, the Avarahalla River, the Kedarhalla River, and the Gundattihalla River, which crisscross the Moyar Valley and drain into the Bhavanisagar Reservoir. Villages located within the Sigur Plateau are home to local communities and more recently to several tourist facilities that subsist mainly on the attractions of the diverse wildlife in the area surrounding Mudumalai Tiger Reserve.

Roadkills were recorded along the Udhagamandalam–Masinagudi state highway passing through Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (40km). The local habitats are classified as dry thorn forest and dry deciduous forest. Four visits per month were carried out between January 2014 and December 2016, mostly on weekends (Saturday or Sunday) by an observer and driver on a motorbike traveling at 10–15 km per hour; observation times alternated between morning (6.00–8.00 am) and evening (4.00–6.00 pm). Intermittent roadkills were also observed by forest officials and drivers, which when verified were included in the totals. For each kill the information recorded included the location, surrounding area (forest, Human habitation, plantation), habitat type, and state & sex of dead animals, which when possible were removed from the road to avoid recounting.

 

The location of the road networks in the Sigur plateau in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve. Samson et al. (2020).

A total of 497 individual Three-striped Palm Squirrels were recorded as roadkill victims in 144 visits covering 5760km, for an encounter rate  of 0.09 individuals/km/month. Most kills were recorded as fresh (307). Males (220) were more frequently observed than females (145), although many were unidentified (132). Three-hundred-andeighty-seven kills were observed over 33 km of road in thorn forest habitats (an encounter rate of 0.08 individuals/km/month), and 110 in dry deciduous forest (7 km; an encounter rate of  0.11 individuals/km/month). More roadkills were recorded in forest habitats (354; an encounter rate of 0.078 individuals/km/month) followed by Human habitation (89; an encounter rate of 0.08 individuals/km/month), and plantations (54;an encounter rate of 0.57 individuals/km/month). The roadkill results show significant variation year by year 2014 (148; 12.33 ± 1.25; an encounter rate of  0.08 individuals /km/ month), 2015 (165; 13.75 ± 1.55; an encounter rate of  0.08 individuals/ km/month), and 2016 (184; 15.33 ± 1.58; an encounter rate of  0.10 individuals/km/month). Month-wise analyses of the roadkills show that May (75; 25 ± 1.15) had more number of roadkills followed by December (61; 20.33 ± 1.76), April (48; 16 ± 1.15), November (47; 15.66 ± 1.45) March (42; 14 ± 1.15), and January (41; 13.66 ± 1.45); and significant variations were observed between month-wise data and the year-wise data. The season-wise data revealed that winter (December–March) (176; 14.66 ± 1.19; an encounter rate of 0.09 individuals/km/month) and summer (premonsoon) (April–June) (156; 17.33 ± 2.12; an encounter rate of  0.11 individuals/km/month) seasons recorded more kills compared to post-monsoon (October–November) (83; 9.11 ± 0.78; an encounter rate of 0.09 individuals/km/month) and monsoon seasons (July–September) (82; 13.83 ± 1.07; an encounter rate of 0.06 individuals/km/month),

 

Male and female roadkill of Three-Striped Palm Squirrel. Sampson et al. (2020).

This study targeted a single species affected by linear construction like road networks. In fragmented habitats, linking route ways enhance the movements of small Mammals. Medium and large-sized Mammals are particularly at risk, especially when the emergence of young coincides with high traffic volumes. Samson et al.'s study shows that males are frequently killed rather than females. Linear construction appears to affect the movement of males and females. Various species show seasonal peaks in accident rates often with a higher percentage of males being killed. This suggests that breeding or dispersal behavior may be partly responsible. Three-striped Palm Squirrel live in diverse habitats but mainly occur in tropical forests and around human habitation. The present study was carried out in two different vegetation structures in Sigur Plateau. Thorn forest had more roadkills compared to dry deciduous forest which indicated that Three-striped Palm Squirrels utilised thorn forest vegetation more. A considerable amount of roadkills was observed in human habitation as well as plantations. Three-striped Palm Squirrels are easily tamed by humans and easily adapt to human habitation, plantations, and gardens. 

Sunbathing is one of the key activities for Striped Squirrel at dawn and dusk. A previous study recorded that most fresh roadkills of Three-striped Palm Squirrel are observed at dawn and dusk in the present study also corroborate the previous study indicating that Three-striped Palm Squirrel use the road surface for sunbathing, it seemed to be the reason for the high death rate. Some incidences may have occurred related to eating the insect on the roads. The road and road allowances attract prey populations, in particular, small Mammals and carrion, but also Insects and Worms that are washed out of the soil onto roads. According to the literature, individuals from this genus prefer Insects as protein sources more than fruits and nuts when fruits and vegetation are in the same proportions.

Winter and summer seasons recorded Three-striped Palm Squirrel roadkills because of very high traffic on the state highway passing through the Nilgiri North Forest Division at one end connected to the Interstate highway NH 67 at Theppakadu and Ooty on other end. Generally, winter and summer are the best seasons to visit Udhagamandalam and that is a reason for high vehicular traffic intensity resulting in the high number of roadkills. Similarly, significant number of roadkills were also found in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve due to local vehicular movement as well as wildlife safaris.

According to the literature, habitat loss and degradation due to agro-industry farming, small-scale logging, Human encroachments, invasive alien species, and hunting for local consumption purposes are minor threats to the Three-striped Palm Squirrel population. The present study explored the current major threat in the present scenario. An urgent long-term study is needed to better understand the impact of roads on the ecology of the Three-striped Palm Squirrel.

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