The Department of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology is committed to promoting research in the ecological monitoring of wild species and understanding their biology to assist in the formulation of long-term conservation strategies

Vision & Objectives

  • To undertake research for long-term monitoring of rare and endangered species
  • To undertake research in the ecological monitoring of wild species
  • To prepare long-term conservation strategies for rare and endangered species
  • To undertake research using advanced and molecular techniques for understanding meta-population dynamics
  • To undertake research in the field of evolutionary biology
  • To support central and state government agencies in the conservation of species

Activities

  • Undertaking research for long-term monitoring of rare and endangered species
  • Undertaking research in the ecological monitoring of wild species
  • Preparing and implementing long-term conservation strategies for rare and endangered species
  • Undertaking research using advanced and molecular techniques for understanding meta-population dynamics
  • Undertaking research in the field of evolutionary biology
  • Supporting central and state government agencies in the conservation of species

Publications

  1. Sahoo S, Kumar A, Rai J, Gupta SK (2024) Unlocking the genetic enigma: A paradigm shift towards evidence-based conservation of Indian star tortoise (Geochelone elegans). Biological Conservation, 290: 110421
  2. Kumar A, Panda A, Usmani AA, Yadav P, Panwar A, Badola R, Hussain SA, Gupta SK (2024) Population genetics of the critically endangered Three-Striped turtle, Batagur dhongoka, from the Ganga river system using mitochondrial DNA and microsatellite analysis. Scientific Reports (accepted), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-54816-0.
  3. Kumar A, Negi N, Yadav N, Badola R, Hussain SA, Gupta SK (2024) Genetic Diversity, Spatial Connectivity, and Population Structure of Asian Silurid catfish Wallago attu (Bloch and Schneider, 1801) in the Ganga River System: Insights from Mitochondrial DNA Analysis. Molecular Biology Reports (accepted)
  4. Sahu K, Gopi GV and Gupta SK (2024) Unveiling the Genetic Structure of Pig Population in a Himalayan State Uttarakhand through Microsatellite and Mitochondrial DNA Analyses. Tropical Animal Health and Production (accepted).
  5. Sahoo S, Kumar A, Rai J, Gupta SK (2023) Turtle and tortoise mitogenomes under contrasting positive selection pressure. Organisms Diversity & Evolution, 23, 953–965
  6. Saini D, Yadav P, Vishnupriya K, Sathyakumar S, Gupta SK (2023) The complete mitogenome of blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur) from the Indian Himalayan Region and its comparative phylogenetic relationship with other related species. Animal Gene, 29: 200155
  7. Gautam KB, Kumar A, Das A, Gupta SK (2023) Himalayan upliftment and Shiwalik succession act as a cradle for divergence in Bengal monitor lizard Varanus bengalensis (Reptilia: Varanidae) in India. Cladistics, 39: 382-397. https://doi.org/10.1111/cla.12542
  8. Das GN, Ali M, Bálint Z, Singh N, Chandra K, Gupta SK (2023) Visiting Ladakh Himalaya for a better knowledge of butterflies: new faunistic data with annotations (Lepidoptera, Papilionoidea), Zootaxa, 5271: 401–445.
  9. Gupta SK, Sharma CP, Singh B, Kumar A (2022) Detection of fraudulent in contraband Shahtoosh trade: unfair deals in illicit wildlife market. Forensic Science International: Genetics, 59: 102713
  10. Gupta SK, Kumar A, van Berkel T, Emsens W-J, Singh B, Puls S, Rin N, Jocque M (2022) Genetic analysis reveals a distinct lineage of hog deer (Axis porcinus) in Kratie province, Cambodia. Journal of Heredity, 113: 444–452
  11. Kumar A, Singh B, Sahoo S, Gautam KB, Gupta SK (2022) Genetic evidence indicates new distribution record of endangered Kashmir musk deer (Moschus cupreus) with range expansion in Uttarakhand, India. Oryx, 56: 367–372
  12. Sharma CP, Singh P, Srinivas Y, Madhanraj A, Rawat GS, Gupta SK (2022) Unraveling the mystery of confiscated ‘jackal horns’ in India using wildlife forensic tools. International Journal of Legal Medicine 136: 1767–1771.
  13. Vipin, Singh A, Sharma V, Tripathi NK, Dixit R, Singh B, Sharma CP, Gandhi SG, Mohan D, Gupta SK (2022). Avian haemosporidian (Plasmodium and Haemoproteus) status in two bird groups (Old-World flycatchers and Thrushes) of India and their phylogenetic relationships with other lineages of the world. Acta Parasitologica, 67: 1756–1766.
  14. Tudu S, Gupta SK, Dash BP (2022) COI gene-based mitochondrial DNA variation of horseshoe crab (Tachypleus gigas) reveals high genetic variation and occurrence of distinct populations in the Bay of Bengal, India and its comparison with other populations. Marine Ecology 43:e12701. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/maec.12701
  15. Vipin, Sharma V, Sharma CP, Goyal SP, Stevens H, Gupta SK (2022) A pioneering method to identify bovine horn trophy: A combined morphometric and DNA-based approach in wildlife forensics. Forensic Science International: Animals and Environments 2:100056
  16. Vipin, Sharma CP, Sharma V, Goyal SP, Stevens H, Gupta SK (2022) Age estimation of Tiger Panthera tigris (Linnaeus, 1758) and Lion Panthera leo (Linnaeus, 1758) (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae): applicability of cementum annuli analysis method. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 14: 21805–21810
  17. Mallick K, Dey R, Bandyopadhyay U, Mohd A, Das GN, Raha A, Sanyal AK, Gupta SK, Uniyal VP, Chandra K, Kumar V, Mazumder A, Gayen S (2022) Taxonomy and ecology of genus Psyra, Walker, 1860 (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Ennominae) from Indian Himalaya. Plos One 17: e0266100
  18. Dufresnes C, Mahony S, Kumar Prasad VK, Kamei RG, Masroor R, Khan MA, Al-Johany AM, Gautam KB, Gupta SK, Borkin LJ, Melnikov DA, Rosanov JM, Skorinov DV, Borzée A, Jablonski D, Litvinchuk SN (2022) Shedding light on taxonomic chaos: Diversity and distribution of South Asian skipper frogs (Anura, Dicroglossidae, Euphlyctis). Systematics and Biodiversity 20: 2102686
  19. Bandyopadhyay M, Burton AC, Gupta SK, Krishnamurthy R (2022) Understanding the distribution and fine-scale habitat selection of mesocarnivores along a habitat quality gradient in western Himalaya. PeerJ, 10:e13993. DOI : https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13993
  20. Yadav P, Gupta SK (2021) An enhanced method for successful extraction of DNA from confiscated body fat of Himalayan black bear (Ursus thibetanus). Forensic Science International: Genetics, 55:102589
  21. Gupta SK, Singh P, Srinivas Y (2021) Molecular investigation of three leopards death: a case of suspicious revenge killing. Forensic Science International: Genetics, 51:102425.
  22. Singh B, Kumar A, Uniyal VP, Gupta SK (2021) Phylogeography and population genetic structure of red muntjacs: Evidence of enigmatic Himalayan red muntjac from India. BMC Ecology and Evolution, 21:49
  23. Sharma SP, Katdare S, Zaidi Z, Ghazi MGU, Gupta SK, Hussain SA (2021) Microsatellite analysis reveals low genetic diversity in managed populations of the critically endangered gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) in India. Scientific Reports, 11:5627
  24. Ghazi MGU, Hussain SA, Gupta SK (2021) Detection of 40 bp tandem repeat motif and associated insertions and deletions (INDEL) in the mitochondrial DNA control region of Sambar deer (Rusa unicolor). Molecular Biology Reports 48:4129-4135
  25. Kumar A, Yadav P, Usmani A, Hussain SA, Gupta SK (2021) Complete mitogenome of Ganges river dolphin, Platanista gangetica gangetica and its phylogenetic relationship with other cetaceans. Molecular Biology Reports, 48:315-322
  26. Singh VK, Kumar S, Awasthi S, Gupta SK (2021) Phylogeography and population expansion of Western Himalayan highly-erratically migratory painted lady butterfly (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Vanessa cardui). Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology, 24:1116-1121
  27. Singh VK, Joshi PC, Gupta SK (2021) Evaluating the DNA barcodes for identification of butterflies from western Himalayas, Uttarakhand, India. Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology, 24:118-124
  28. Nawani S, Deepak V, Gautam KB, Gupta SK, Boruah B, Das A (2021) Systematic status of the rare Himalayan wolf snake Lycodon mackinnoni Wall, 1906 (Serpentes: Colubridae). Zootaxa 4966: 305–320
  29. Yadav P, Kumar A, Sahoo S, Yadav N, Hussain SA, Gupta SK (2021) Identification of Gangetic turtles based on species-specific variations on mitochondrial cyt b and nuclear Cmos genes. Forensic Science International: Animals and Environment 1: 100035
  30. Kumar A, Singh B, Gautam KB, Sahoo S, Bhatt D, Gupta SK (2021) Molecular phylogenetics and diversification of Swamp deer (Rucervus duvaucelii) based on complete mitogenome. IUCN-Deer Specialist Group, DSG Newsletter Nº32, ISSN 2312-4644, 24-36
  31. Vasudeva V, Behera G, Behera SP, Panda SK, Ramasamy P, Karat PR, Gupta SK, Ramesh K (2021) Coat colour variation in Common Palm Civet in Satkosia, eastern India calls for the need to revisit taxonomic and distribution status. Mammal Tales #32, Zoo’s Print 36:15–17
  32. Vipin, Gupta SK, Sharma CP, Sharma (2021) First record of an albino Five-striped Palm Squirrel from Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India. Small Mammal Mail #431, In: Zoo’s Print 36(1): 03–04
  33. Mallick K, Bandyopadhyay U, Mazumder A, Dey R, Raha A, Sanyal AK, Gupta SK, Uniyal VP, Chandra K (2021) First Record of Xenortholitha falcata Yazaki, 1993 (Geometridae: Larentiinae) from India. Records of the Zoological Survey of India, 121: 483–486
  34. Yadav P, Kumar A, Hussain SA, Gupta SK (2020) Evaluation of the effect of longitudinal connectivity in population genetic structure of endangered golden mahseer, Tor putitora (Cyprinidae), in Himalayan rivers: Implications for its conservation. PLOS One 15(6): e0234377
  35. Singh G, Srinivas Y, Kumar GC, Singh A, Sharma CP, Gupta SK (2020) Identification of selected small cats using hair morphology and forensically informative nucleotide sequencing (FINS): wildlife forensics prospective. Legal Medicine. 44: 101692
  36. Singh VK, Joshi PC, Gupta SK (2020) Molecular and morphometric divergence of four species of butterflies (families nymphalidae and pieridae) from the western Himalayan region of Uttarakhand, India. Molecular Biology Reports. 47:8687-8699
  37. Sharma SP, Katdare S, Zaidi Z, Ghazi MGU, Gupta SK, Hussain SA (2020) Mitochondrial DNA analysis reveals extremely low genetic diversity in a managed population of the Critically Endangered Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus, Gmelin 1789). The Herpetological Journal 30: 202-206
  38. . Singh A, Gupta SK, Alström P, Mohan D, Hooper DM, Kumar RS, Bhatt D, Singh P, Price TD (2020) Taxonomy of cryptic species in the Cyornis rubeculoides complex in the Indian subcontinent. IBIS 162: 924-935
  39. Prasad VK, Gautam KB, Gupta SK, Murthy RS, Ramesh K, Shinde AD, DAS A (2020) Determining cryptic amphibian diversity from Panna Tiger Reserve, CentraI India, using integrated approach. Zootaxa, 4851 (3): 450–476
  40. Kumar A, Gautam KB, Singh B, Yadav P, Gopi GV and Gupta SK (2019) Sequencing and characterization of the complete mitochondrial genome of Mishmi takin (Budorcas taxicolor taxicolor) and comparison with the other Caprinae species. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 137: 87-94
  41. Sharma CP, Kumar A, Vipin, Sharma V, Singh B, Kumar GC, Gupta SK (2019) Online selling of wildlife part with spurious name: a serious challenge for wildlife crime enforcement. International Journal of Legal Medicine, 133: 65–69
  42. Singh B, Kumar A, Uniyal VP, Gupta SK (2019) Complete mitochondrial genome of northern Indian red muntjac (Muntiacus vaginalis) and its phylogenetic analysis. Molecular Biology Reports, 46:1327–1333
  43. Gupta SK (2019) Forensic Science in Wildlife Law Enforcement: Role of Wildlife Institute of India- Hornbill published by BNHS, Mumbai
  44. Gupta SK, Kumar A, Angom S, Singh B, Ghazi MGU, Tuboi C, Hussain SA (2018) Genetic analysis of endangered hog deer (Axis porcinus) reveals two distinct lineages from the Indian subcontinent. Scientific Reports, 8:16308
  45. Vipin, Sharma V, Gupta SK (2018) Molecular identification of victim species and its sex from the ash: a case of burning alive leopard (Panthera pardus). International Journal of Legal Medicine, 132:1075–1078
  46. Vipin, Sharma V, Gupta SK, Sharma CP, Sankar K, Goyal SP (2018) Development of a fast and low-cost age determination method in spotted deer, Axis axis. Folia Zool, 67: 3–4
  47. Kumar A, Gazi MGU, Hussain SA, Bhatt D, Gupta SK (2017) Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA based genetic assessment indicated distinct variation and low genetic exchange among the three subspecies of swamp deer (Rucervus duvaucelli). Evolutionary Biology, 44: 31-42
  48. Singh A, Kumar A, Kumar RS, Bhatt D, Gupta SK (2017) Amplification of mtDNA control region in opportunistically collected bird samples belonging to nine families of the order Passeriformes. Mitochondrial DNA Part B 2: 99-100
  49. Kumar A, Hussain SA, Bhatt D, Gupta SK (2017) Conserve primers for sequencing complete ungulate mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene from problematic and decomposed biological samples. Mitochondrial DNA Part B: 2: 64-66
  50. Angom S, Kumar A, Gupta SK and Hussain SA (2017) Analysis of mtDNA control region of an isolated population of Eld’s deer (Rucervus eldii) reveals its vulnerability to inbreeding. Mitochondrial DNA Part B. 2: 277-280.
  51. Jha DK, Gupta SK, Kshetry NT, Panday R, Pokharel BR (2017) A Pioneer Case Study on Identification of Infant Rhinoceros Horn. Journal of Forensic Research 8:2. doi: https://doi.org/10.4172/2157-7145.1000374
  52. Gupta SK, Kumar A, Gaur A and Hussain SA (2015) Detection of 40 bp insertion-deletion (INDEL) in mitochondrial control region among sambar (Rusa unicolor) populations in India. BMC Research Notes 8: 581
  53. Angom S, Gupta SK, Kumar A and Hussain SA (2015) Identification of globally threatened cervids from problematic samples using cytochrome b and control region genes. Conservation Genetics Resources 7:647650
  54. Price TD, Hooper DM, Buchanan CD, Johansson US, Tietze TD, Alström P, Olsson U, Ghosh-Harihar M, Ishtiaq F, Gupta SK, Martens JE, Harr B, Singh P and Mohan D (2014) Niche filling slows the diversification of Himalayan songbirds. Nature 509: 222–225
  55. Gupta SK, Kumar A and Hussain SA (2014) Novel primers for sequencing of the complete mitochondrial cytochrome b gene of ungulates using non-invasive and degraded biological samples. Conservation Genetics Resources 6: 499-501
  56. Kannan K, Johnson JA, Kumar A, Gupta SK (2014) Mitochondrial DNA variation in the endangered fish Dawkinsia tambraparniei (Actinopterygil: Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) from southern Western Ghats, India. Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria 44: 3-8
  57. Gupta SK and Kumar A (2014) Molecular identification of man-eating carnivores from scat samples. Conservation Genetics Resources 6:271–274
  58. Gupta SK, Sharma CP, Singh L (2014) DNA typing established as an unambiguous tool for species identification in a dispute case. Forensic Science Journal 13: 9-14
  59. Jegatheesh TR, Rajendran A, Kumar A, Gupta SK, Johnson JA (2014) Genetic diversity phylogenetic analysis of the genus Dawkinsia filamentosa group (actinopterygii: cypriniformes: cyprinidae) from southern Western Ghats, India, using mitochondrial gene sequences. International Journal of Recent Scientific Research 5: 1281-1285
  60. Gupta SK, Kumar A, Hussain SA, Vipin and Singh L (2013) Cytochrome b based genetic differentiation of Indian wild pig (Sus scrofa cristatus) and domestic pig (Sus scrofa domestica) and its use in wildlife forensics. Science and Justice 53: 220-222
  61. Gupta SK, Kumar A and Hussain SA (2013) Extraction of PCR-amplifiable DNA from a variety of biological samples with uniform success rate. Conservation Genetics Resources 5: 215-217
  62. Gupta SK and Singh L (2012) Molecular insight into suspected food crime cases: a study to determine the legitimacy of meat by DNA typing. Biological and Biomedical Reports 2: 171-174
  63. Gupta SK (2012) DNA Wildlife Forensics: Present and Future. Journal of Forensic Research 3: e103
  64. Gupta SK, Jyotsana B, Thangaraj K and Singh L (2011) Establishing the identity of the massacred tigress in a case of wildlife crime. Forensic Science International: Genetics 5: 73-74
  65. Gupta SK, Thangaraj K and Singh L (2011) Identification of the source of ivory idol by DNA analysis. Journal of Forensic Science 56: 1343-1345
  66. Vanniarajan A, Govindaraj P, Carlus SJ, Aruna M, Aruna P, Kumar A, Jayakar RI, Lionel AC, Gupta S, Rao L, Gupta NJ, Chakravarthy B, Deenadayal M, Selvaraj K, Andal S, Reddy BM, Singh L, Thangaraj K (2011) Mitochondrial DNA variations associated with recurrent pregnancy loss among Indian women. Mitochondrion, 11: 450-456
  67. Gupta SK, Kumar A and Nigam P (2011) Multilocus genotyping of Asian elephant ivory: a case study in suspected wildlife crime. Journal of Forensic Research S1-002. (DOI: https://doi.org/10.4172/2157-7145.S1-002)
  68. Hussain SA, Gupta SK and de Silva P K (2011) Biology and ecology of Asian small-clawed otter Aonyx cinereus (Illiger, 1815): A review. IUCN Otter Specialist Group Bulletin 28: 63-75
  69. Gupta SK, Thangaraj K and Singh L (2006) A simple and inexpensive molecular method for sexing and identification of the forensic samples of elephant origin. Journal of Forensic Science 51: 805-807
  70. Gupta SK, Verma SK and Singh L (2005) Molecular insight into a wildlife crime: the case of a peafowl slaughter. Forensic Science International, 154: 214-217
  71. Shivaji S, Kholkute SD, Verma SK, Gaur A, Umapathy G, Singh A, Sontakke S, Shailaja K, Reddy A, Monika S, Sivaram V, Jyotsana B, Bala S, Shakeel A, Bala A, Chandrashekar BVN, Gupta S, Prakash S and Singh L (2003) Conservation of wild animals by assisted reproduction and molecular marker technology. Indian Journal of Experimental Biology 41: 710-723