- In 2023, India discovered a total of 641 species — 442 entirely new to science and 199 newly recorded in the country — were added to Indian fauna.
- Invertebrates constituted the majority, with 564 new species, while only 77 new vertebrate species were discovered, mainly fish.
- Additionally, 339 taxa were added to India’s plant database, including 171 new to science and 168 new to distributional records.
- New Species
- Bat: Miniopterus srinii, a new species of bent-winged bat, was found in Kodagu, Karnataka.
- Himalayan Ibex: Capra himalayensis, proving that the Himalayan Ibex, found in the trans-Himalayan ranges of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, and Himachal Pradesh, is distinct from the Siberian Ibex.
- Turmeric: A new species of turmeric, Curcuma kakchingense, was discovered in Kakching, Manipur.
- Asystasia venui: A flowering plant discovered in the Acharya Jagdish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden, West Bengal.
- Notable new plants include wild relatives of horticultural, agricultural, medicinal, and ornamental plants like begonias, impatiens, legumes, zingibers, and orchids, as detailed in the Botanical Survey of India’s Plant Discoveries 2023 report.
- Regional Highlights
- Most new animal discoveries were in southern India, with Kerala leading (101 additions), followed by West Bengal (72) and Tamil Nadu (64).
- West Bengal topped new plant discoveries with 52 new taxa, followed by Kerala and Uttarakhand.
- The Western Ghats and North Eastern Regions contributed 14% of total discoveries.
- The Environment Minister also launched the ‘Fauna of India Checklist Portal,’ covering 121 checklists of all known taxa across 36 phyla, including 1,04,561 animal species, with endemic, threatened, and scheduled species highlighted.
Dig Deeper: Read about the Zoological Survey of India.
