Loading…
Pteris madhusoodananii is a newly described fern species published on July 30, 2026 in the Nordic Journal of Botany.
It is endemic to the Kolli Hills in the Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu.
It has been preliminarily assessed as Critically Endangered under IUCN Red List guidelines.
The known population is confined to two small sites across about 8 square kilometres, in an unprotected area.
The genus Pteris belongs to the fern family Pteridaceae.
An endemic species is restricted to a particular geographic region and occurs nowhere else. When that range is also tiny — here two sites totalling about 8 square kilometres — a single localised disturbance such as fire, quarrying or land conversion could eliminate the entire global population. The IUCN Red List explicitly uses area of occupancy and number of locations as criteria, which is why very small ranges push a species into Critically Endangered, the highest threat category before Extinct in the Wild.
Simple Analogy: Keeping the world's only copies of a book on two shelves in one room — any accident there is total loss.
The Eastern Ghats are a discontinuous mountain range running along India's eastern coast, unlike the continuous Western Ghats. The Kolli Hills form part of this system in Tamil Nadu. The discontinuity of the range creates isolated hill blocks, which is one reason it harbours localised endemic species.
GS Paper III > Environment > Biodiversity and Conservation
General Awareness > Environment and Biodiversity
In which of the following regions of India are you most likely to come across the 'Great Indian Hornbill' in its natural habitat?
Answer: Western Ghats
The Western Ghats are a recognized biodiversity hotspot. Which of the following is currently considered the most significant threat to its endemic species, beyond general habitat loss?
Answer: Infrastructure development projects (e.g., roads, dams, mining).
Restricted to a particular geographic region and found nowhere else naturally.
A belt-like structure on the surface of a spore, used as a taxonomic character in ferns.
The fern family to which the genus Pteris belongs.
An IUCN Red List criterion measuring the area within a species' range that it actually occupies.