Uttarakhand home to 12 freshwater turtle species: ZSI study

Kolkata, May 28 (PTI) A Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) study has reported that Uttarakhand is home to 12 freshwater turtle species, with more than half the species globally threatened.

ZSI scientist Dr Archana Bahuguna reported the diversity of the turtles and tortoises in Uttarakhand based on extensive surveys done by her and also reported new records for the area including Morenia petersi (Anderson) IUCN status endangered species.

"They are the world’s most endangered vertebrates with more than half the species globally threatened in the IUCN Red List.

They face severe threats due to pollution, habitat fragmentation, indiscriminate hunting for food and use in traditional Chinese medicine, Director, Zoological Survey of India, Dr Dhriti Banerjee told PTI on Saturday.

Most of the turtles and tortoises found in Uttarakhand have been identified as endangered by IUCN Red List and are protected under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, Banerjee said.

They are also traded to different parts of world because of the medicinal value and ornamental value of their shell.

Bahuguna, scientist of Northern Regional centre, Zoological Survey of India, along with scientists of Maaty Biodiversity Conservation and Societal Research organization, Dehradun Dr Ankita Rajpoot and Dr Ved Kumar generated the DNA barcode for species of turtles and tortoises of Uttarakhand, Banerjee said.

These species are present in other parts of India too.

Geographic genetic signature was also developed to differentiate them from the species present in other parts of the country especially from Northeast India, the place noted to be richest in the diversity of turtles and tortoises.

This work is useful in the identification of the species of seized material of turtles and tortoises and also in finding the origin of seized turtle meat, she said.

The work had been published in Forensic Science International: Reports and is useful for conducting further molecular study on freshwater turtles and tortoises, even from preserved old samples and this baseline data will be used to generate more DNA barcodes for various species of freshwater turtles and tortoises, the ZSI director said.

She said it will help in curbing the illegal trade of the species of turtles and tortoises.

Banerjee also referred to the Environmental DNA (eDNA) assessment of threatened turtles in temple ponds in northeast India and how it provides clues to their presence.

"In our study, we detected the highly-threatened species by environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling in a temple pond in Assam without handling the specimens. Temple ponds across the northeast of India, which are protected water bodies, have now emerged as safe havens for many freshwater turtles, including the Nilssonia nigricans or Black Softshell turtle, declared extinct in the wild by the IUCN Red List," she said.

However, given their ritualistic nature, scientists do not have complete access to these ponds and hence have used the technique of extracting environmental DNA (eDNA) to confirm the presence of specific varieties.

Tests at the Nagshankar temple pond in Assam have confirmed the presence of two more species — Nilssonia gangetica or Indian softshell turtle, classified as Vulnerable, and the Chitra indica or South Asian narrow-headed softshell turtle, listed as endangered by the IUCN.

The research findings of the study on temple ponds were published in the journal Herpetology Notes by scientists associated with the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Kolkata.

"Sighting of our target animals is very rare in nature' — however, eDNA-based specimens identification through DNA barcoding successfully detected the targeted ones from environmental water samples. There are around 15 such old temple ponds in Assam alone, and a few more in other northeastern states. Similar studies could in the future help in collating a database of the turtle species which these ponds hold," she said.

The eDNA testing is fast emerging as a tool for monitoring past and present biodiversity of an area by scientists and taxonomists without physically collecting specimens.

ZSI is expanding the database of DNA barcodes of various animals across India, which are specific genetic signatures and aiming to have a DNA database of more than one lakh species found in India, she said.

This technology will help ascertain how climate change and other environmental factors are affecting the distribution of species in years to come. Once the eDNA process is effectively standardised, similar environmental samples could be collected from larger water bodies to illuminate the extant species diversity, their interaction, and dynamics in India.

India is one of the most bio-diverse countries of the world, and North and Northeast India are considered collectively to be one of the 16 turtle biodiversity hotspots of the world with 28 freshwater turtle and tortoise species.

Worldwide 356 species of turtles and tortoises have been identified.