The State of Assam is an integral unit of the Eastern Himalayan biodiversity region, occupying 2.39% of India’s landmass; Assam is the most vibrant of eight states comprising the Northeast. Favourable climate, topographic and edaphic factors support a huge variety of flora and fauna here. However, there is a scattered representation of vertebrate fauna available from this state. Most studies are mainly conducted in several parts of the states but in the case of a compiled vertebrate faunal database, this gateway of the northeast remains neglected. For being the largest state of the northeastern stretch of the country, a complete and compiled database on different vertebrate fauna was necessary. The vertebrate research history from this state is still not compiled and updated because most of the research is dispersed and cannot be represented as a whole. For the first time, a consolidated study has been done on the current taxonomic status of different vertebrate faunal groups from the state of Assam. The survey has been done along different protected areas including different National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries. The present work includes vertebrate faunal resource studies across different districts throughout the entire state. The book deals with 1257 species covering Pisces to Mammalia in six chapters. The detailed checklist has been illustrated in the document. This book will serve as baseline data to understand the vertebrate faunal diversity of the state and will be a comprehensive documentation for revised conservation strategies and sustainable use of bio-resources.
Foreword
1. Pisces / Khynriam D and Sen N
2. Amphibia / Saikia B, Deuti K and Chandra S K
3. Reptilia / Gayen N C, Sur S, Sengupta S and Sethy P G S
4. Aves / Alam I, Maheswaran G, Ghosh S, Basu Roy S and Sakhthivel R
5. Mammalia / De J K, Kamalakannan M and Venkatraman V
6. Mammalia: Chiroptera / Saikia U