STATUS OF INDIAN PANGOLIN (Manis crassicaudata) IN THE ARID PART OF THAR DESERT OF RAJASTHAN

摘要

The Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata Gray), commonly called the Scaly anteater, is an endemic mammal of the Old World and inhabits the plains and lower slopes of the hills of India, south of the Himalayas and Sri Lanka (Prater, 1971). However, sightings of this animal in the arid tract of the Thar Desert beyond Aravallis confirm an extended range. In the Thar Desert of Rajasthan it has been reported four times from different localities during the last fifty years.