Based on morphology and ND2 gene sequences, four new species of Cyrtodactylus, two each from the Indian states of Meghalaya and Mizoram are described herein. The new species are a part of the Cyrtodactylus khasiensis group. The species from Meghalaya represent the lowland clade whereas the species from Mizoram represent the highland clade within the south of Brahmaputra clade of Indo-Burmese Cyrtodactylus. The two distinct populations from Meghalaya are sister to one another, differing from each by an uncorrected p-distance 0.065 and collectively are sister to Cyrtodactylus septentrionalis. The species from Mizoram differ from each other by an uncorrected p-distance of 0.085–0.121 and collectively are sister to Cyrtodactylus montanus.

Amphibians are an integral part of the ecosystem and act as an ecological indicator.  As several species are added to the list of threatened species every year due to loss of habitat, it is important to understand the role of unmanaged landscape for sustenance of amphibian diversity.  In this study, 28 amphibian species were recorded from different modified habitat including 19 new records for Dampa Tiger Reserve (DTR) and its surrounding areas.  Further, six species, Amolops indoburmanensis, Limnonectes khasianus, Microhyla mukhlesuri, M. mymensinghensis, Raorchestes rezakhani, and Sylvirana lacrima are new distribution records for the state of Mizoram and out of these, two species, Raorchestes rezakhani and Sylvirana lacrima, are new country records for India.  Amongst the recorded species, four species are Data Deficient, two Vulnerable, 14 Least Concern, and eight species are not assessed as per the IUCN Red List.  Within the core and buffer areas of DTR, we found that natural perennial stream, puddles, canals, natural ponds, fish ponds, roadside, primary forest, secondary forest, paddy fields, and human settlement areas are excellent microhabitats for amphibian population and need to be conserved for their rich ecological niches.

Shifting cultivation is a largely practiced agricultural technique in the north-eastern part of India. This has led the fragmentation of natural habitat for wildlife species. Impact of jhum cultivation on distribution of mammalian species was studied through transect survey for scat, camera trapping, and burrow counting. Barking deer (27%) and wild boar (24%) were most frequent visitors. Among the carnivores highest abundance (3-5 scat samples per jhum field) was recorded for leopard cat and Indian Palm civet. 2-5 years old abandoned jhum fields were recorded to be suitable habitat for movement of large herbivores. The frequency of scat   decreased with age of the jhum >5 yrs. Road sides, trails and primary forest near the active jhum forest were actively visited by clouded leopard. The encounter rate for active and old burrows of rodents were highest in 1-2 years old/ recently abandoned jhum fields with a rate of 3.56 km2 and 2.68 km2 respectively. Camera trapping also resulted in 36 images of different animal species. Increased spatial heterogeneity promotes mammalian distribution.

The Pegu Rice Frog, Microhyla berdmorei is distributed across ten Asian countries. However, the DNA barcoding information (COI gene) is restricted to only Southeast Asian countries. Here, we sampled a specimen of M. berdmorei in Mizoram state, northeast India to allow the genetic diversity of the species across its range. We generated both COI and 16S ribosomal RNA sequences of the studied species to check the population genetic diversity. The Bayesian analyses clearly discriminate M. berdmorei from its sister species Microhyla pulchra. The present datasets of M. berdmorei also revealed 11 and 19 haplotypes with high uncorrected pairwise genetic distances in COI (3.8-11.8%) and 16S rRNA (0-4.6%) gene, respectively. Owing to the high intra-species genetic distances and different haplotypes with sufficient mutational steps in both mitochondrial genes, this study affirms the existence of M. berdmorei species complex or cryptic diversity within its range distribution in South and Southeast Asia.

We report a substantial range extension of Ichthyophis multicolor Wilkinson, Presswell, Sherratt, Papadopoulou & Gower, 2014, with new material from Mizoram State, Northeast India. The species was previously known only from its type locality more than 800 km away in Ayeyarwady Region, Myanmar. The species was identified by both its morphology and 16s rRNA gene sequence data. One of the studied individuals represents the largest known specimen for the species (total length = 501 mm; mid-body width = 18.8 mm). Brief comparisons of I. multicolor with the sympatric as well as parapatric congeners in the region, and first barcode data for I. moustakius Kamei, Wilkinson, Gower & Biju, 2009 are also presented.