Our knowledge of the conservation status of reptiles, the most diverse class of terrestrial vertebrates, has improved dramatically over the past decade, but still lags behind that of the other tetrapod groups. Here, we conduct the first comprehensive evaluation (~92% of the world's ~1714 described species) of the conservation 1 Joint senior authors. D.G. Chapple et al.

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We conducted a taxonomic revision of the arboreal snakes of the Boiga ceylonensis-group, all inhabiting the Indian subcontinent. Based on 15 characters, recorded from more than 100 specimens, representing eight recognized taxa, we conducted a multivariate morphometric analysis to redefine the taxonomic boundaries. We provide redescriptions of the nominate taxa in this group based on re-examination of the name-bearing types. The types of B. ceylonensis, B. beddomei, B. barnesii, B. dightoni, B. nuchalis and B. andamanensis are redescribed, where appropriate lectotypes are selected, illustrated and their nomenclature, synonymy and distribution are discussed. Status of the nominate taxon Boiga ceylonensis dakhunensis Deraniyagala, 1955 is fixed as an objective junior synonym of Dipsas nuchalis Günther, 1875. An updated key to the species of this group is presented.

Sodium aerosols are continuously being generated in the cover gas region of Sodium cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) from the hot sodium pool and they play major role in heat and mass transfer to the roof top plug and side walls. In order to characterize the sodium aerosols, a study has been initiated by conducting experiments in one of the sodium loop facility SILVERINA of IGCAR. This paper describes design and installation of aerosol sampling system in SILVERINA loop, results and analysis of sodium aerosol characteristics, measurement of temperature profile of cover gas region, theoretical simulation of sodium aerosols mass concentration for the given pool (loop) condition and validation of the model with experimental results.The sodium aerosol size distribution in cover gas region is found to be mono-model. The Mass Median Diameter (MMD) of sodium aerosol is found to be varying from 1.5-11.5 µm as a function of sodium pool temperature and found to increase linearly with increase of sodium pool temperature. The sodium aerosol mass concentration is found to be varying from 0.026-35.6 g m -3 as a function of sodium pool temperature and it is found to follow 3 rd order polynomial regression with increase of sodium pool temperature. The sodium aerosol mass concentration and MMD are found to be higher near the sodium pool compared to middle of the cover gas region and near the roof top. A theoretical simulation has been carried out to predict the sodium aerosol mass concentration with respect to pool temperature for a given geometry of the vessel and the theoretical and experimental mass concentration of sodium aerosols found to have good agreement.

We present a catalogue of herpetological specimens collected from select community reserves of Meghalaya, northeastern India. The collection comprises a total of 75 species of the herpetofauna, including 29 species of amphibians from 20 genera in seven families and 46 species of reptiles from 30 genera, in 10 families. We provide the details on number of examples, sex, museum numbers, and collection details including location and collector along with the relevant remarks where applicable. A total of five species of amphibians and four species of reptiles remain to be resolved systematically since no precise name could be attributed to them.