The Western Ghats or the Sahyadri Mountain range is a mountain range that covers an area of 160,000 km2 (62,000 sq mi) in a stretch of 1,600 km (990 mi) parallel to the western coast of the Indian peninsula, traversing the states of Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the eight biodiversity hotspots in the world. It is sometimes called the Great Escarpment of India. It contains a very large proportion of the country's flora and fauna, many of which are endemic to these region. According to UNESCO, the Western Ghats are older than the Himalayas. They influence Indian monsoon weather patterns by intercepting the rain-laden monsoon winds that sweep in from the south-west during late summer. The range runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain called Konkan along the Arabian Sea. A total of 39 areas in the Western Ghats, including national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and reserve forests, were designated as world heritage sites in 2012 – twenty in Kerala, ten in Karnataka, six in Tamil Nadu and four in Maharashtra.
William Thomas Blanford was an English geologist and naturalist. He is best remembered as the editor of a major series on The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma.
The brown palm civet also called the Jerdon's palm civet is a palm civet endemic to the Western Ghats of India.
Zakerana syhadrensis, is a frog species of the family Dicroglossidae and native to India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. Zakerana syhadrensis from the Western Ghats in southern India and from Sri Lanka probably belong to one or two unnamed species. It is the type species of genus Zakerana. In view of its wide distribution and stable population trend, IUCN assessors listed it as Least Concern in 2009 and 2016.
Camptoceras is a genus of air-breathing freshwater snails with sinistral shells, aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Planorbidae.
Neritilia is a genus of freshwater snails which live near the sea coast in submarine caves. They have an operculum, and are aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Neritiliidae.
Helicarionidae is a family of air-breathing land snails or semi-slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Helicarionoidea.
The Littorinidae are a taxonomic family of over 200 species of sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Littorinimorpha, commonly known as periwinkles and found worldwide.
Liotiidae is a family of small sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Vetigastropoda.
Iravadiidae is a family of minute sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Truncatelloidea and the clade Littorinimorpha.
Alycaeidae is a taxonomic family of small to large tropical land snails with an operculum, terrestrial gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Cyclophoroidea.
Diala is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Dialidae.
Pyramidelloides mirandus is a species of minute sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk or micromollusk in the family Eulimidae.
Cremnoconchus is a genus of small freshwater snails, gastropod mollusks in the family Littorinidae, the winkles or periwinkles.
Cremnoconchus carinatus is a species of freshwater snail, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Littorinidae, the winkles or periwinkles.
Optediceros breviculum, common name the red mangrove snail, is a species of minute operculate snail, a freshwater or marine gastropod mollusk or micromollusk in the family Assimineidae.
Cyclotopsis is a genus of small sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Tornidae.
Dioryx is a genus of air-breathing land snails in the family Alycaeidae. It was formerly considered a subgenus of Alycaeus.
Philopotamis is a genus of tropical freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in thesubfamily Paludominae of the family Paludomidae.
