According to the new publications of Botanical Survey of India (BSI) and the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), scientists and taxonomists have documented 596 new species of flora and fauna from India in the year 2018.
Total Species
- Out of the 596 species, 372 come under fauna and 224 under flora.
- With these new discoveries the number of animal species in India has risen to 1,01,681 which is about 6.49% of all the species in the world.
- Similarly, the number of plant species in India has been updated to 49,441 which is 11.5% of all flora in the world.
- Kerala recorded the highest number of discoveries with 59 species. West Bengal recorded 38 and Tamil Nadu recorded 26 new species.
Fauna
- Out of 372 new fauna species, 311 come under invertebrates and 61 under vertebrates.
- The newly identified 224 plant species include seed plants, pteridophytes, bryophytes, fungi and lichen.
- The Western Ghats remained a biological hotspot from where about 50% of the new species were discovered.
- Of the 61 species of vertebrates discovered, reptiles dominate (30 species). 21 species of fishes, nine species of amphibians, and one mammalian sub-species were also found.
Flora
- According to the scientists, the plants discovered in 2018 includes close wild relatives of many potential horticulture, agriculture, medicinal and ornamental plants.
- The discoveries include plants belonging to groups Amomum (wild cardamom), Cycads, Rubus (raspberry), Syzygium (wild jamun), Terminalia, Balsams, Zingibers and also seven trees and 10 orchids.
- About 31% of the plant species were discovered in the Himayalas.
