Environment › Species in news
Plants, insects and newly described species
Plants, fungi, insects and the other species with no theme of their own, species newly described or rediscovered in India, and the ideas that tie species to ecosystems, such as keystone species and pollination. Prelims has asked what follows from a fall in butterfly populations and which organism performs the waggle dance.
UPSC has asked
- Prelims 2017: consequences of a fall in butterfly populations
Showing 1 of 3 subjects, those that changed from 1 to 15 July 2026.Show all
Animal Discoveries and Plant Discoveries 2025
Copy link to Animal Discoveries and Plant Discoveries 2025Prelims
The Zoological Survey of India and the Botanical Survey of India publish an annual account of species newly described from India and species recorded in the country for the first time; this subject holds the 2025 account.
What changed
1 Jul 2026New subject
- India added 709 animal species to its records for 2025, of which 483 are new to science and 226 are new records for India, taking recorded faunal diversity to 1,05,953 species.
- Kerala contributed the most new animal species (98), followed by West Bengal (76), Karnataka (67) and Arunachal Pradesh (65).
- On the plant side 353 taxa were added, 221 new to science and 132 new distributional records, led by Arunachal Pradesh (49), Uttarakhand (39) and Kerala (37).
- Named finds include Myotis himalaicus (a Himalayan bat), Lycodon irwini (Irwin's wolf snake) and two green fan throated lizards of the genus Ptyctolaemus from Arunachal Pradesh.
The Hindu, 1 Jul 2026: India adds 709 new species to its fauna database (opens in a new tab)