SNAKE DIVERSITY IN GOLDEN TRIANGLE OF THAR DESERT OF RAJASTHAN, INDIA
RAKESH KUMAWAT *
Department of Zoology, Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur (Rajasthan), 342001, India.
ASHOK PUROHIT
Department of Zoology, Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur (Rajasthan), 342001, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The pattern of ecological assemblage in the arid and semi-arid region of the Thar Desert in Rajasthan altering at a high pace after the Indira Gandhi Nahar Pariyojna canal expansion for three decades. About this, this study revises the most favoured, secretive, and environment-sensitive underprivileged taxa (serpents) in the framework of diversity and occurrence in the golden triangle of the Thar Desert of Rajasthan state (Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, and Bikaner). Overall, 22 species and one subspecies were identified in four years of extensive field study based on the active search, night drives, scale counting, and topographical database. This study's finding pointed out the apparent abolition of previously most common snake such as Russell's viper and Indian rock python, Contrast to this, potential colonies of lesser-known Sindh Awl-headed snake, Afro-Asian sand snake, and Red-spotted royal snake has exposed.
Keywords: Occurrence, Snake diversity, Thar desert.