In January 2026, a team of scientists led by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Western Regional Centre, Pune, announced the discovery of a new species of subterranean amphibian, named Gegeneophis valmiki, from the northern Western Ghats of Maharashtra, marks the first discovery within the genus Gegeneophis in over a decade.
- The findings were published in the international journal Phyllomedusa.
- What? Discovery of Gegeneophis valmiki
- By Whom? Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Pune
- Where? Northern Western Ghats of Maharashtra
- Publication: Phyllomedusa journal
- First Discovered in: 2017
- Significance: First species of genus Gegeneophis discovered in over 10 years
About the discovery of Gegeneophis valmiki:
First Discovery: The species was first collected in 2017 by K P Dinesh, senior scientist at ZSI, during surveys on the Valmiki Plateau in Maharashtra’s Satara district.
Taxonomy: Gegeneophis valmiki is a blind caecilian belonging to the family Grandisoniidae under the order Gymnophiona.
Morphology: It is a limbless, worm-like amphibian about 160 millimeter (mm) long with dark bluish-grey skin, ring-like annuli, and eyes concealed beneath bone as a fossorial adaptation.
Habitat: The species inhabits underground soil and humus at the base of lateritic plateaus in the Satara region of the Western Ghats.
Ecology: Named after the Maharshi Valmiki Mandir near Paneri, Palashi (Maharashtra), the species aerates soil by burrowing, controls soil invertebrates, and serves as prey for birds, reptiles, and small mammals.
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