KOZHIKODE: "The species is named in honour of Dhaneesh Bhaskar, our colleague and friend from
Kerala, who is a specialist in pygmy grasshoppers of the Western Ghat," said five foreign conservation biologists in their discovery of 'Cladonotus bhaskari'--the first new twighopper species in 116 years--published in Zootaxa journal.
A grasshopper in the name of a conservation biologist at this young age is something unique and Wayanad-based Dhaneesh is elated over it. "The said grasshopper was identified in the Sinharaja rainforest in Sri Lanka by researchers from Germany and Croatia. A female, it is the only known specimen of this
new and rare species," Dhaneesh told TNIE.
Dhaneesh is one among the new generation of conservation biologists in the country who resumed contributing to global Orthoptera since 2016 after British researchers.
"Till 2016, the information over Indian grasshopper species available internationally was only those described by British men who wrote in Spanish and French. There was no access to the type specimen kept in European museums as well," said Dhaneesh Bhaskar.
Now, the young crop of conservation biologists are acquiring knowledge at the field level and have access to type specimen as well.
Dhaneesh was noted for his recent study on the negative impact of forest department prescribed large-scale burning at Eravikulam National Park, on grasshoppers. The burning was done to manage the habit of Nilgiri Tahr.
Another study which won international recognition was the rediscovery of a rare endemic grasshopper, Mopla Gutta from Parambikulam after 76 years. It was described by Henry in 1940 and there has been no mention ever since.
A native of Padinjarathara in Wayanad, Dhaneesh Bhaskar has just completed his PhD under Dr P S Easa at Kerala Forest Research Institute.