COLOMBO — Amphibians evolved from a fish ancestor that had functional lungs and bony lobed fins, which helped them become the first vertebrates to conquer land. Keeping these earlier trails, today’s frogs and toads also have larvae with gills that need an aquatic environment until they transform into air-breathing adults. But this unique feature hasn’t […]
Tag: himalayas
How snow leopard saviour helped protect endangered species by tackling ‘retaliation killings’ in Himalayas
An Indian conservationist who helped save the highly endangered snow leopard by tackling “retaliation killings” in the Himalayas has won a prestigious award from a UK wildlife charity for his pioneering work. Snow leopards live high in the mountains of central Asia but have suffered huge declines in numbers as climate change melts their icy […]
Plucky duck: highest-flying fowl’s Himalayan exploits revealed
A high-flying species of duck reaches altitudes of up to 6,800 metres (22,000ft) to cross the Himalayas, research from a British university has revealed. Scientists from the University of Exeter used satellite tracking to find out how ruddy shelducks – which are a similar size to mallards – find their way through the mountain range. […]
Champions of high-altitude flight
From the roof of Chiu monastery, perched high on its rocky hill, the water of Lake Manasarovar was cobalt, the surrounding hills rich ochre, luminous in the sunlight of a late autumn afternoon. With a shoreline 55 miles (90km) long, and at an altitude of more than 4,500 metres (15,000ft), this is one of the […]
Himalayan Forest Thrush: Scientists Discover New Species of Bird
A group of scientists led by Dr. Per Alström of Uppsala University has described a new species of bird from the northeastern India and adjacent parts of China. Dr. Alström and his Chinese and European colleagues named the new species Zoothera salimalii. “The scientific name honors the great Indian ornithologist Sálim Ali, in recognition of […]