June 2009 Design S.P.Vijayakumar
VIJAYAKUMAR S P
vj(at)ces.iisc.ernet.in
vijay_rhaco(at)yahoo.com
Current research:
For my PhD research I am working on the diversification in the
Western Ghats bush frogs (genus: Philautus).
I am also interested in understanding the modes of speciation and
species boundaries in this species complex.
Currently (2009) doing my field work in the Western Ghats.
Research projects:
I. Patterns of species distribution and biogeography of Nicobar Island herpetofauna
I initiated a study in the Nicobar Islands focussing on the species distribution patterns and biogeography. During the first phase
of this work carried out an extensive survey of frogs, lizards, and snakes across 15 islands in the Nicobar archipelago. The work
has contributed significantly towards plugging in the gaps in our knowledge on the distribution of species (paper on snakes
published; manuscripts on lizards and frogs under preparation) and also resulted in many novelties (one gekkonid described).
The data gathered would help in delimiting biogeographic divisions, understanding species richness patterns, and investigating
nestedness and would also help in prioritizing species for conservation. The 2004 tsunami played a havoc in this insular system
and resulted in the discontinuation of my work. I did a short study to look at the possible effects of tsunami. Considering the
“crisis” in the Islands, decided to get back after the “inhabitants” of these islands return to their early peacefull life.
Funding: Andaman and Nicobar Islands environmental team (ANET), The Rufford Foundation (RSG), &
Wildlife Institute of India (WII) (post tsunami work)
II. Amphibians and reptiles of the cold desert (2000)
Went on an expedition to document the amphibian and reptilian diversity in the Ladakh trans-himalayas. This region
was found to house an unique assembalge of herpetofauna, predominantly that of lizards, with palearctic affinities.
Sampled in the following landscapes: Zanskar, Changthang, Suru, Nubra and Leh.
Funding: Wildlife Institute of India (WII)
III. Tropical dry forest herpetofaunal assemablges (1999)
This was my first large scale quantitative work to understand the structure and composition of amphibian and reptilian
assembalges in a tropical dry forest mosaic in the southern Western Ghats.
Funding: Wildlife Institute of India (WII)
IV. Anurans of montane wet temperate forests of Palni Hills, Southern Western Ghats (1999)
This was part of my master dessertation. The manuscript is pending due to taxonomic uncertainities. Scenarios are changing.
Sampled in the shola forests to understand the faunal compsition, species richness patterns and habitat utilization of anurans.
Study resulted in many potential new species. The collection included higly varaible individuals of Philautus, a species of
Polypedates aff. pleurostictus, a Micrixalus, a Nyctibatrachus and a Fejervarya. To resolve the issue, i latter accompanied a
“taxonomist” to relocate and collect these species. Three species have been described. The variable individuals of Philautus
have become Philautus duboisi, the Polypedates sp. (another new one to science) has been allocated to a new genera:
Ghatixalus asterops. The status of Micrixalus remain uncertain.
FUNDING: Palni Hills Conservation Council (PHCC) and Funds from parents
V. Effect of vehicular movements on rainforest herpetofauna (1998)
One of the first attempts in the Western Ghats to highlight the road related mortality due to vechicular movement in
the wet-evergreen forests of Western Ghats.
Publications: (Peer-reviewed)
1. Das, I & Vijayakumar, S.P. (2009). New species of Ptychozoon (Sauria: Gekkonidae) from the Nicobar Archipelago,
Indian Ocean. Zoo Taxa. (Contribution: Primary field Data, Morphological Data, Natural history section)
2. Vijayakumar, S.P. & David, P. (2006).Taxonomy, Natural History, and Distribution of the Snakes of the Nicobar
Islands (India), Based on New Materials and with an Emphasis on Endemic Species. Russian J. herpetology.
(Contribution: Collected the primary data, did the morphological mesurements and analysis and wrote the manuscript)
3. David, P., Vogel, G., Vijayakumar, S.P.& N. Vidal (2006): A revision of the Trimeresurus puniceus-Complex (Serpentes:
Viperidae:Crotalinae) based on morphological and molecular data. – Zootaxa, Auckland 1293: 1-78 (Contribution: Data analysis)
4. Vijayakumar, S.P., Ashok Ragavendran and B.C.Choudhury (2006). Herpetofaunal Assemblage in a Tropical Dry
Forest Mosaic of Western Ghats, India: Preliminary Analysis Of Species Composition and Abundance During Dry
Season. Hamadryad (Contributions: Collected primary data with Ashok, data analysis, and wrote the manuscript)
5. Vijayakumar, S.P., Vasudevan, K and Ishwar, N.M. (2001). Herpetofaunal mortality on roads in the Anamalai hills,
southern Western Ghats. Hamadryad.26 (2): 265-272 (Contributions: Collected primary data, did the analysis and wrote the
manuscript).
Teaching - current: (focus on biogeography and herpetology)
1.. National centre for Biological Sciences (course in Herpetology for the Master students in Wildlife science)
2. Centre for Ecological Sciences (Teaching assistant for the Biogeography module)
Colloboration:
Dr. Sushil K. Dutta (Frog taxonomy: Nicobar Islands)
Dr. Patrick David (Snake taxonomy: Nicobar Islands)
Dr. Indraneil Das (Lizard taxonomy: Nicobar Islands)
Mr. B.C. Choudhury (Nicobar amphibians and reptiles)
Affiliations:
Member - Amphibian Specialist group (ASG)
Member - International Biogeographic Society (IBS)
Academic background:
B.E. Mechanical Engineering - Tamil Nadu College of Engineering (TCE) , Bharathiar University, Coimbatore - 1996
M.S. Ecology - Salim Ali School of Ecology (SASOE), Pondiherry (central) University, Pondicherry - 1999
