Nandini Rajamani, a faculty leading the Sciurid Lab at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Tirupati, speaks about her group’s research studying palm squirrels, which reveals that cities are evolutionary arenas shaping the traits of animals living within them.
Babblers create a ruckus wherever they go, pecking, poking and turning things over on the ground and constantly chattering amongst themselves. Seen here are a group of yellow-billed babblers (Argya affinis) on the IMSc campus.
The common bronzeback is a long, slender non-venomous snake that lives on trees. It shows adaptations in form and behaviour, allowing it to climb trees and leap across branches.
The Indian grey mongoose (Urva edwardsii) is one of the most widespread Indian mongoose species amongst all of them. It is found across the continent and in some parts of the Middle East.
The purple-rumped sunbird is a small nectar-feeding bird endemic to the Indian subcontinent. While the females are dull-coloured, males are flamboyant, with blue, green, crimson, purple and yellow hues.
The golden shower tree blooms when spring warms up to summer, producing bunches of bright yellow flowers that are pollinated by buzzing insects. Seen here are common emigrants (Catopsilia pomona), which are among the many butterflies that come for its nectar and also lay eggs on the tree.
The Common Palmfly has evolved to be a con artist, where males (bottom) and females (top) in some regions resemble two distinct species of toxic butterflies to evade predation.
Barn owls are skilled hunters of the night who use their keen sense of hearing to capture small prey. These friends of farmers have managed to persist in the concrete jungle but face many threats to their survival.
The versatile pungam tree survives in a wide range of environments and has immense socioeconomic value. It is a host plant to many butterflies, like the pea blues (Lampides boeticus seen here, and its flowers run a covert operation.
