News Excerpt: 

The central government released the first comprehensive fauna checklist covering 1,04,561 lakh species of animals.

More detail about news:

• The list was released by the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate during the 109th foundation day of Zoological Survey of India in Kolkata.
• The Union Environment Minister also launched a Fauna Checklist portal for the comprehensive checklist during the occasion.
• India is home to over 28,000 endemic species.

Release of Faunal Checklist Portal:

• The faunal checklist will be an invaluable reference for taxonomists, researchers, academicians, conservation managers, and policymakers. 
• It comprises 121 checklists of all known taxa covering 36 phyla.Endemic, threatened, and scheduled species have also been included in the list.
• For instance, the checklist for avian species has enumerated 1,358 species of birds under 26 order and 114 families.
• There are 79 that are endemic, meaning they are found nowhere else in the world.
• Globally, there are 11,888 species of birds that are grouped into 36 orders and 247 families.

Endemic Species and New Discoveries:

• High endemism is reported from the Western Ghats hill streams of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
• Three genera such as Anathana, Latidens and Nilgiritragus are monotypic and found only in India.
• Salim Ali's fruit bat (Latidens salimalii) is a rare megabat species in the monotypic genus Latidens. The Madras Treeshrew is from the Anathana genus.
• The Western Ghats Bio-geographic zone has the highest number of these species at 28, with the Andaman and Nicobar Islands being the next most important area for endemism.
• The Union Environment Minister also released a Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) publication, 'Animal Discoveries– 2023' comprising 641 new animal species.
• Significant animal discoveries include Capra himalayensis, which proves that the Himalayan Ibex, distributed in the trans-Himalayan ranges of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh, is a distinct species from the Siberian Ibex.
• Miniopterus srinii, a new species of bent-winged bat, was also found in the Kodagu district of Karnataka.
• Kerala topped the list, with 101 additions (74 completely new species, 27 new records).
• followed by West Bengal with 72 new species, and 
• Tamil Nadu with 64.
• The vast majority of these new discoveries among fauna have been recorded in the invertebrate category, which saw 564 new species in 2023; only 77 vertebrate species, of which the majority were fish species, were discovered in 2023. 
• Insects dominate among invertebrates with 369 species.

Plant Discoveries and ZSI Anniversary:

• According to Plant Discoveries 2023, an annual publication by the Botanical Survey of India, a premier institution which has been working on plant taxonomy for about 120 years. It comprises 339 new plant species and new records published by scientists and researchers.
• Among the new plant discoveries in 2023 were Curcuma kakchingense, a new species of turmeric found in Manipur's Kakching.
• West Bengal recorded the highest number of new plant discoveries, with 52 new taxa, followed by Kerala and Uttarakhand.
• Asystasia venui, a flowering plant discovered in the Acharya Jagdish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden at Howrah in West Bengal.
• In addition to this, the Union Minister also congratulated ZSI for completing 109 glorious years dedicated to the service of our faunal biodiversity.