Blogs on World Wildlife Day

Who doesn't like fried food?

Spelunk into the caves of Barapede caves in Belagavi, Karnataka, through this account of researchers using ultrasound capturing techniques to record sounds produced by the rare Wroughton's free-tailed bat. The largest population of these rare bats reside in the Barapede caves. The authors of this post were the first to describe the variations in echolocation calls produced by the insectivorous Wroughton's free-tailed bat for socialising, maintaining contact with each other, navigating in the dark, and capturing their main food. The study is also the first to report the calls of three other free-tailed bat species found in India, and therefore, will prove useful as a ready reckoner for the identification of these species only through their calls (i.e., without capturing them). Free-tailed bats are particularly difficult to capture because they are high-flying, and hence their identification in the field needs to be done through their sounds. Read Kadambari’s blog.

Honey, I covered the kids in mud! The curious case of a night-frog from the Western Ghats

Read a fascinating account about the discovery of a new frog species from the Western Ghats and its fascinating courting and mating rituals. “During the monsoons, at dusk, the male would start calling a single note, “tok”, along with the edges of streams. As a female approached the calling male, the calls would become double notes, “tok, tok”.” In an elaborate courtship and mating display, the male and female frogs would inspect twigs above the water surface to see if they can hold eggs. After the female releases the eggs, the male then covers them up with mud collected from the stream. This is the first record of a frog putting mud to protect its eggs! Read Priti’s blog

A rare bat speaks out

Spelunk into the caves of Barapede caves in Belagavi, Karnataka, through this account of researchers using ultrasound capturing techniques to record sounds produced by the rare Wroughton's free-tailed bat. The largest population of these rare bats reside in the Barapede caves. The authors of this post were the first to describe the variations in echolocation calls produced by the insectivorous Wroughton's free-tailed bat for socialising, maintaining contact with each other, navigating in the dark, and capturing their main food. The study is also the first to report the calls of three other free-tailed bat species found in India, and therefore, will prove useful as a ready reckoner for the identification of these species only through their calls (i.e., without capturing them). Free-tailed bats are particularly difficult to capture because they are high-flying, and hence their identification in the field needs to be done through their sounds. Read Kadambari’s blog