Indian pangolin occurs throughout peninsular India.
They are solitary, fossorial, nocturnal, and insectivorous. They are toothless mammals with 11–13 rows of large overlapping horny scales, long protrusible tongue, and prehensile tail with a terminal scale on its ventral side. Indian pangolin ( Manis crassicaudata family Manidae order Pholidota) is one of the eight living species of pangolins of the world. Besides, these preliminary observations could be useful in management and breeding of the species in captivity. The results offer a consistent frame of reference for further studies on behavioural patterns of Indian pangolins. A total of 27 behaviours of seven distinct behavioural categories (stationary body positions, locomotory patterns, maintenance behaviours, explorative behaviours, defensive behaviours, reproductive/social behaviours, and others) were described and illustrated. During the present study, an ethogram was developed based on the behavioural observations of seven Indian pangolins ( Manis crassicaudata) at Pangolin Conservation Breeding Centre, Nandankanan Zoological Park, Odisha, India, between February 2012 and January 2013. At present time, knowledge of behaviour and biology of Indian pangolins is inadequate and inconsistent. Mammals are a clade of endothermic amniotes distinguished from reptiles and birds by the possession of a neocortex (a region of the brain), hair, three middle ear bones and mammary glands.Conservation breeding programmes as an essential tool for conservation of endangered species require a sound knowledge on behaviour of the species. Main Article: List of Amphibians and Reptiles Birds īirds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves, characterized by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton. The study of these traditional reptile orders, historically combined with that of modern amphibians, is called herpetology. Reptiles are tetrapod animals in the class Reptilia, comprising today's turtles, crocodilians, snakes, amphisbaenians, lizards, tuatara, and their extinct relatives. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arboreal or freshwater aquatic ecosystems. Main Article: List of Fishes Amphibians and Reptiles Īmphibians are ectothermic, tetrapod vertebrates of the class Amphibia. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. They form a sister group to the tunicates, together forming the olfactores. As used here, the term Insecta is synonymous with Ectognatha.įish are gill-bearing aquatic craniate animals that lack limbs with digits. Definitions and circumscriptions vary usually, insects comprise a class within the Arthropoda. Insects or Insecta are hexapod invertebrates and the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Main Page: List of Invertebrates Crustacea Ĭrustaceans form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimps, prawns, krill, woodlice, and barnacles. Familiar examples of invertebrates include arthropods, mollusks, annelid, and cnidarians. This includes all animals apart from the subphylum Vertebrata. Invertebrates are animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column, derived from the notochord.