The Western Ghats, also known as 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 Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the 36 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 this region. 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 the Western Coastal Plains 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 of them in Kerala, ten in Karnataka, six in Tamil Nadu and four in Maharashtra.
Channa is a genus of predatory fish in the family Channidae, commonly known as snakeheads, native to freshwater habitats in Asia. This genus contains about 50 scientifically described species. The genus has a wide natural distribution extending from Iraq in the west, to Indonesia and China in the east, and parts of Siberia in the Far East. A particularly high richness of species exists in Myanmar (Burma) and northeastern India, and many Channa species live nowhere else. In contrast, a few widespread species have been introduced to several regions outside their natural range, where they often become invasive. The large and medium-sized Channa species are among the most common staple food fish in several Asian countries, and they are extensively cultured. Apart from their importance as a food fish, snakeheads are consumed in some regions as a traditional medicine for wound healing and reducing postoperative pain and discomfort, and collected for the international aquarium pet trade.
Cyrtodactylus collegalensis, also known as the Kollegal ground gecko or forest spotted gecko, is a species of gecko found in and around Mysore hills, at the junction of the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, in South India. Recent taxonomic works and genetic studies revealed that the formerly-supposed genus is actually a subgenus of the widespread genus Cyrtodactylus. It is often confused with the forest spotted gecko.
The Gecarcinucidae are a family of true freshwater crabs. They are found throughout South Asia, Southeast Asia and New Guinea, with a single genus found in Australia.
The wildlife of Sri Lanka includes its flora and fauna and their natural habitats. Sri Lanka has one of the highest rates of biological endemism.
Raorchestes ochlandrae is a species of shrub frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats, India. This species of the oriental shrub frog was first described from Kakkayam Reserve Forest of Calicut district, Kerala state, in the southern Western Ghats in 2007 but has since been recorded at many other sites along the Western Ghats. The specific name ochlandrae refers to microhabitat of the species, bamboo Ochlandra setigera.
Rohan David Pethiyagoda is a Sri Lankan biodiversity scientist, amphibian and freshwater-fish taxonomist, author, conservationist and public-policy advocate.
Pethia is a genus of small freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae native to South Asia, East Asia and Mainland Southeast Asia. Some species are commonly seen in the aquarium trade. The name Pethia is derived from the Sinhalese "pethia", a generic word used to describe any of several small species of cyprinid fishes. Most members of this genus were included in Puntius, until it was revised in 2012.
Kani maranjandu is a species of tree crab first identified in 2017. K. maranjandu has, to date, only been observed in the forests of the Western Ghats in Kerala, India. As of 2021, it is the only species in the genus Kani.
Tyrannomyrmex alii is a species of tropical ant in the subfamily Myrmicinae. T. alii is native to the Western Ghats in India. The species was described from workers and a winged queen, the first Tyrannomyrmex species in which a queen has been described, while the males are not known. Three additional species are also known, with one also being native to the Western Ghats.
Monilesaurus is a genus of lizards in the draconine clade of the family Agamidae and is a new genus described in 2018. Currently it consists of 4 species, with 2 new species and 2 species split from the genus Calotes.
Parveen F. Absar is a wildlife biologist from India. In 2017, she was credited with the discovery of a species of freshwater crab called Teretamon absarum, of the genus Teretamon and species speleaum.
Ghatiana is a genus of freshwater crabs, found among the Western Ghats in India.
Gubernatoriana triangulus is a species of freshwater crab in the family Gecarcinucidae. The species is endemic to the Western Ghats in India.
Ghatiana pulchra is a species of freshwater crab from the northern Western Ghats in India that was first identified in 2018.
Ghatiana dvivarna is a species of freshwater crab from the Central Western Ghats in India that was first identified in 2022.
Tubuca dussumieri, is a species of fiddler crab that is found in the western and south pacific including New Caledonia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan, north eastern Australia
Ghatiana atropurpurea is a species of arboreal crab from India that was first identified in 2016. Unlike other species of its genus, Ghatiana, it is not endemic to the Western Ghats.
Gubernatoriana is a genus of freshwater crabs, found among the Western Ghats in India.
Barytelphusa cunicularis is a common species of freshwater crab found almost all over India, excluding Northeast India.
