The first specimen of Deinotherium indicum (Mammalia, Proboscidea, Deinotheriidae) from the late Miocene of Kutch, India

2020 ◽  
Vol 94 (4) ◽  
pp. 788-795 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ningthoujam Premjit Singh ◽  
Advait M. Jukar ◽  
Rajeev Patnaik ◽  
K. Milankumar Sharma ◽  
Nongmaithem Amardas Singh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Late Miocene ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Morphological Diversity ◽  
Western India ◽  
Large Species ◽  
Small Species ◽  
Old World ◽  
First Occurrence

AbstractDeinotheriidae Bonaparte, 1845 is a family of browsing proboscideans that were widespread in the Old World during the Neogene. From Miocene deposits in the Indian subcontinent, deinotheres are known largely from dental remains. Both large and small species have been described from the region. Previously, only small deinothere species have been identified from Kutch in western India. In the fossiliferous Tapar beds in Kutch, dental remains have been referred to the small species Deinotherium sindiense Lydekker, 1880, but the specimens are too fragmentary to be systematically diagnostic. Here, we describe a large p4 of a deinothere from the Tapar beds and demonstrate that it is morphologically most similar to Deinotherium indicum Falconer, 1845, a large species of deinothere, thereby confirming the identity of deinotheres at Tapar. Deinotherium indicum from Tapar is larger than other deinotheres identified from Kutch and is the first occurrence of the species in the region. This new specimen helps constrain the age of the Tapar beds to the Tortonian and increases the biogeographic range of this species—hitherto only known from two localities on the subcontinent. This specimen also highlights the morphological diversity of South Asian deinothere p4s and allows us to reassess dental apomorphies used to delimit Indian deinothere species. Lastly, we argue that by the late Miocene, small deinotheres in Kutch were replaced by the large Deinotherium indicum.

scholarly journals A Wolf in Another Wolf’s Clothing: Post-Genomic Regulation Dictates Venom Profiles of Medically-Important Cryptic Kraits in India

Toxins ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kartik Sunagar ◽  
Suyog Khochare ◽  
R. R. Senji Laxme ◽  
Saurabh Attarde ◽  
Paulomi Dam ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Negative Impact ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Clinical Effectiveness ◽  
Venom Gland ◽  
Western India ◽  
The Common ◽  
Genomic Regulation

The Common Krait (Bungarus caeruleus) shares a distribution range with many other ‘phenotypically-similar’ kraits across the Indian subcontinent. Despite several reports of fatal envenomings by other Bungarus species, commercial Indian antivenoms are only manufactured against B. caeruleus. It is, therefore, imperative to understand the distribution of genetically distinct lineages of kraits, the compositional differences in their venoms, and the consequent impact of venom variation on the (pre)clinical effectiveness of antivenom therapy. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted phylogenetic and comparative venomics investigations of kraits in Southern and Western India. Phylogenetic reconstructions using mitochondrial markers revealed a new species of krait, Romulus’ krait (Bungarus romulusi sp. nov.), in Southern India. Additionally, we found that kraits with 17 mid-body dorsal scale rows in Western India do not represent a subspecies of the Sind Krait (B. sindanus walli) as previously believed, but are genetically very similar to B. sindanus in Pakistan. Furthermore, venom proteomics and comparative transcriptomics revealed completely contrasting venom profiles. While the venom gland transcriptomes of all three species were highly similar, venom proteomes and toxicity profiles differed significantly, suggesting the prominent role of post-genomic regulatory mechanisms in shaping the venoms of these cryptic kraits. In vitro venom recognition and in vivo neutralisation experiments revealed a strong negative impact of venom variability on the preclinical performance of commercial antivenoms. While the venom of B. caeruleus was neutralised as per the manufacturer’s claim, performance against the venoms of B. sindanus and B. romulusi was poor, highlighting the need for regionally-effective antivenoms in India.

scholarly journals Synoptic Preconditions for Extreme Flooding during the Summer Asian Monsoon in the Mumbai Area

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 229-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Lomazzi ◽  
Dara Entekhabi ◽  
Joaquim G. Pinto ◽  
Giorgio Roth ◽  
Roberto Rudari
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Asian Monsoon ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Monsoon Season ◽  
Value Added ◽  
South Asian Monsoon ◽  
Flood Events ◽  
The South ◽  
Synoptic Conditions

Abstract The summer monsoon season is an important hydrometeorological feature of the Indian subcontinent and it has significant socioeconomic impacts. This study is aimed at understanding the processes associated with the occurrence of catastrophic flood events. The study has two novel features that add to the existing body of knowledge about the South Asian monsoon: 1) it combines traditional hydrometeorological observations (rain gauge measurements) with unconventional data (media and state historical records of reported flooding) to produce value-added century-long time series of potential flood events and 2) it identifies the larger regional synoptic conditions leading to days with flood potential in the time series. The promise of mining unconventional data to extend hydrometeorological records is demonstrated in this study. The synoptic evolution of flooding events in the western-central coast of India and the densely populated Mumbai area are shown to correspond to active monsoon periods with embedded low pressure centers and have far-upstream influences from the western edge of the Indian Ocean basin. The coastal processes along the Arabian Peninsula where the currents interact with the continental shelf are found to be key features of extremes during the South Asian monsoon.

Potential distribution of the endemic Short-tailed ground agama Calotes minor (Hardwicke & Gray, 1827) in drylands of the Indian sub-continent

2021 ◽  
pp. 132-141
Author(s):  
Ashish Kumar Jangid
Keyword(s):  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Aridity Index ◽  
Species Distribution Modelling ◽  
Spatial Knowledge ◽  
Western India ◽  
Distribution Modelling ◽  
Modelling Framework ◽  
Specific Species ◽  
Precise Distribution

The Short-tailed ground agama or Hardwicke’s bloodsucker Calotes minor (Hardwicke & Gray, 1827) is known to occur in the Indian subcontinent and is largely confined to arid to semiarid environments, such as hard barren desert and abandoned fields. The precise distribution of this species is largely unknown to date, with few locality records spread biogeographically across Eastern Pakistan, Central and Western India. To improve on the existing spatial knowledge on this species and assess the ability to predict species distributions for taxa with few locality records, we studied the distribution of C. minor using a species distribution modelling framework. Our study allowed us to predict the distribution range of C. minor and help define a niche for this habitat-specific species. Highly probable habitats for C. minor were arid and semi-arid dryland habitats, characterised by plains or less rugged terrain with moderately narrow temperature range, lower aridity index, moderate to low vegetation index, and wide precipitation range. Furthermore, we report four additional occurrence records of C. minor from central Rajasthan.

scholarly journals Grassland fire ecology has roots in the late Miocene

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (48) ◽  
pp. 12130-12135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison T. Karp ◽  
Anna K. Behrensmeyer ◽  
Katherine H. Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Late Miocene ◽  
Fire Ecology ◽  
Vegetation Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Strong Association ◽  
Feedback System ◽  
Terrestrial Vegetation ◽  
Precipitation Seasonality ◽  
Seasonal Extremes

That fire facilitated the late Miocene C4grassland expansion is widely suspected but poorly documented. Fire potentially tied global climate to this profound biosphere transition by serving as a regional-to-local driver of vegetation change. In modern environments, seasonal extremes in moisture amplify the occurrence of fire, disturbing forest ecosystems to create niche space for flammable grasses, which in turn provide fuel for frequent fires. On the Indian subcontinent, C4expansion was accompanied by increased seasonal extremes in rainfall (evidenced by δ18Ocarbonate), which set the stage for fuel accumulation and fire-linked clearance during wet-to-dry seasonal transitions. Here, we test the role of fire directly by examining the abundance and distribution patterns of fire-derived polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and terrestrial vegetation signatures inn-alkane carbon isotopes from paleosol samples of the Siwalik Group (Pakistan). Two million years before the C4grassland transition, fire-derived PAH concentrations increased as conifer vegetation declined, as indicated by a decrease in retene. This early increase in molecular fire signatures suggests a transition to more fire-prone vegetation such as a C3grassland and/or dry deciduous woodland. Between 8.0 and 6.0 million years ago, fire, precipitation seasonality, and C4-grass dominance increased simultaneously (within resolution) as marked by sharp increases in fire-derived PAHs, δ18Ocarbonate, and13C enrichment inn-alkanes diagnostic of C4grasses. The strong association of evidence for fire occurrence, vegetation change, and landscape opening indicates that a dynamic fire–grassland feedback system was both a necessary precondition and a driver for grassland ecology during the first emergence of C4grasslands.

Plant fossils reveal major biomes occupied by the late Miocene Old-World Pikermian fauna

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (12) ◽  
pp. 1864-1870 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Denk ◽  
Constantin M. Zohner ◽  
Guido W. Grimm ◽  
Susanne S. Renner
Keyword(s):  
Late Miocene ◽  
Old World ◽  
Plant Fossils

Ali, Ahmed (1910–1994)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amardeep Singh
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Experimental Writing ◽  
Stream Of Consciousness ◽  
Publishing Houses ◽  
British Colonial ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
Colonial Government ◽  
Hogarth Press

Ahmed Ali is one of the pioneers of modernism in the Indian subcontinent. Publishing his works both in Urdu and in English, and with both South Asian and Anglo-American publishing houses, his influence has been transnational in scope, but his major works are deeply rooted in an Islamicate, largely Urdu-speaking cultural milieu. In 1932, Ali collaborated with Sajjad Zaheer on a collection of Urdu short stories called Angarey (Burning Coals), considered by scholars to be the event that instantiated experimental writing on the Indian subcontinent. Angarey was subsequently banned by the British colonial government for its potential to offend Muslims. Ali continued to publish short stories in Urdu throughout the 1930s and in 1936 helped found the All India Progressive Writers Association (AIPWA). However, Ali soon distanced himself from the AIPWA, and in subsequent years he published in both English and Urdu, often translating his own Urdu short stories into English for publication in British and American magazines. In 1940, Ali published what is now considered his most influential work, Twilight in Delhi, in English and with the England-based Hogarth Press. Twilight in Delhi applies stream-of-consciousness techniques to consider the decline of an elite, Urdu-speaking culture in Delhi.

Diabetes in the South Asian diaspora

2011 ◽  
pp. 1803-1805
Author(s):  
Srikanth Bellary ◽  
Kamlesh Khunti ◽  
Anthony H. Barnett
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Sociocultural Factors ◽  
South Asian Diaspora ◽  
Asian Diaspora ◽  
The Usa ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Political Turmoil ◽  
Second World

Increased labour demands in Europe following the Second World War led to a migration of workers from the Indian subcontinent to many parts of Europe. A further wave of migration occurred in the 1960s and 1970s because of political turmoil in East Africa. More recently, technological progress and the need for skilled labour has resulted in migration to different parts of the world, including the USA and Canada. The term ‘South Asian’ broadly refers to people of Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi origin, but those from Sri Lanka and Nepal are commonly also included. Although there is considerable heterogeneity between these subgroups, they share many sociocultural factors.

Diabetes in South Asians

2011 ◽  
pp. 1799-1803
Author(s):  
A. Ramachandran ◽  
C. Snehalatha
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
South Asians ◽  
Stress Factors ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Asian Populations ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Diabetic Population

Developing countries, mainly in the Indian subcontinent and China, contribute nearly 80% to the rising global diabetic population. Conservative estimates, based on population growth, ageing of population, and rate of urbanization in Asia, show that India and China will remain the top two countries with the highest number of people with diabetes by 2025: 71 and 38 million, respectively. Two other South Asian countries, Pakistan and Bangladesh, also are in the top ten list. The South Asian populations of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka are racially heterogeneous, but all have high risk for diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Type 1 diabetes is relatively less common, and nearly 95% of all diabetic cases in these regions are type 2 diabetes. The steady rise in the prevalence of diabetes seen in last three decades coincides with rapid urbanization and industrialization, and associated sociological and political changes, occurring in these countries (1). Among the populations, physical activity has reduced significantly, intake of energy-dense food has increased, and mental and physical stress factors associated with urban living have also increased. A tilt in the energy balance towards conservation and fat deposition has contributed to the alarming increase in the rate of obesity, both in adults and children.

Late Miocene−early Pliocene rodents and lagomorphs (Mammalia) from the southern part of Çankırı Basin, Turkey

2018 ◽  
Vol 93 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sevket Sen ◽  
Levent Karadenizli ◽  
Pierre-Olivier Antoine ◽  
Gerçek Saraç
Keyword(s):  
Late Miocene ◽  
Central Anatolia ◽  
Large Species ◽  
Southern Europe ◽  
Early Pliocene ◽  
Muroid Rodents

AbstractThree localities in the Çankırı Basin—Kale Tepe 1 (KT1), Kale Tepe 2 (KT2), and Mahmutlar—yielded reliably documented rodent and lagomorph assemblages. These are in the Akkaşdağı Formation, which covers large areas in the central and southern parts of this basin in Central Anatolia. The widening of the Kirikkale-Çorum highway produced fresh outcrops that allowed for the discovery of fossiliferous levels in a well-controlled stratigraphy. The assemblages from all three localities are dominated by muroid rodents (Apodemus gorafensisRuiz Bustos et al., 1984;A. gudrunaevan de Weerd, 1976;A. dominansKretzoi, 1959;Micromyssp. indet.;Allocricetussp. indet.;Pseudomerionessp. indet.; Cricetidae gen. indet. sp. indet.;Mimomyssp. indet.) in addition to a glirid (Dryomimuscf.D. eliomyoidesKretzoi, 1959), an eomyid (Keramidomysaff.K. ermannorumDaxner-Höck and Höck, 2009), two ochotonids (Prolagus sorbiniiMasini, 1989;Ochotonomasp. indet.) and one leporid. KT1 and KT2 yielded two large species ofApodemus(A. gorafensis;A. gudrunae) that are typical for the late Miocene/early Pliocene transition in southern Europe, and they are known in Greece and Turkey in localities dated to the latest Miocene, i.e., MN 13 mammalian zone. The occurrence ofA. dominansand a rooted arvicolid similar toMimomys davakosivan de Weerd, 1979 suggests correlation of Mahmutlar to the early Pliocene, or early MN 15 zone. An abundance of muroid rodents in these assemblages indicates woodlands and areas covered by grasses and shrubs, whereas early Pliocene deposits at Mahmutlar provided pollen of abundant herbaceous and shrub elements. Most rodents and lagomorphs from Kale Tepe and Mahmutlar are known in southern European bioprovinces, whereas some elements (PseudomerionesSchaub, 1934;OchotonomaSen, 1998) indicate Asiatic affinities.

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