Rare animal found in tea estate

KURSEONG, July 28: A rare animal ‘caecilians’ has been discovered in Makaibari Tea Estate near Kurseong. The animal belongs to the amphibian family. It is being claimed that the animal was sighted after a gap of over 100 years.

The creature found for the first time in 1881 at Rangliot Valley in Sikkim was named as Icohthyophis Skkimmennis. Robin Suyesh, a student from Delhi University made the discovery in the tea estate recently.

Suyesh informed that the species was found in the area of Sikkim and Darjeeling and hence he had come here to investigate about the species about which not much was known.

Suyesh has collected two samples, which he would take to Delhi for further studies. “I will take these samples to Delhi and show it to my seniors and study its anatomy to gather more information about the species,” he said.

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=10&theme=&usrsess=1&id=215953

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