Millipede microendemism in the Western Ghats, India

Description

The Western Ghats in southwestern India are one of the World's biodiversity hotspots. Especially interesting are nowadays isolated Shola cloud forests in the hills at up to 2200 m elevation. In this project the millipede fauna of the different forests and Sholas will be studied and compared. The millipede fauna of India is very little known, despite the fact that the soil macroinvertebrates without the ability to fly are great indicators of the biogeographic history of the region. Some millipede genera living in South India even have their closest relatives on Madagascar, nowadays 5.000 km away, but until 80 Million years ago still connected to India. This study will be conducted in the course of the Master thesis by Ms. Pooja Anilkumar in the international Master OEP programme of the University of Bonn.

Location