Research Papers

  1. Srinivasan, U., K. Shanker and T. Price (2024) Ant impacts on global patterns of bird elevational diversity. Ecology Letters.
  2. Cyriac, V.P., A.V. Mohan, K.P. Dinesh, V. Torsekar, A. Jayarajan, P. Swamy, S.P. Vijayakumar and K. Shanker (2024) Diversifying in the mountains: spatio-temporal diversification of frogs in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot. Evolution.
  3. Das, K., M.O. Rodel, E. Stanley, A.N. Srikanthan, K. Shanker and S.P. Vijayakumar (2023) Reed Bamboos drive skull shape evolution in bush frogs of the Western Ghats, Peninsular India. Ecology and Evolution 2023;13:e10493.
  4. Bernstein, J.B., H.F. de Souza, J.C. Murphy, H.K. Voris,  R.M. Brown, E.A. Myers, S. Harrington, K. Shanker and S. Ruane (2023) Phylogenomics of fresh and formalin specimens resolves the systematics of old world mud snakes (Serpentes: Homalopsidae) and Expands Biogeographic Inference. Bulletin of the Society of Systematic Biologists.
  5. Kottillil, S., C. Rao, B. Bowen and K. Shanker (2023) Life history traits and geography mediate population genetic structure: a global review of the phylogeography of sharks and rays. PeerJ.
  6. Theo, A. and K. Shanker (2023) Mixed-species groups of herbivorous reef fish show variable responses to a mass-bleaching event in the Lakshadweep Islands, India. Phil Trans R Soc. https://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2022.0095.
  7. Harikrishnan, S., M. Firoz Ahmed, A. Das, S.K. Dutta, V. Giri, P. Mohapatra, S. Mukherjee, M. Thaker, S.P. Vijayakumar and K. Shanker (2022) A long-term monitoring programme to understand the impact of climate change on Indian herpetofauna. Hamadryad 39: 1-14.
  8. Hari Haran, P., P. Bangal, H. Sridhar and K. Shanker (2022) Habitat use by mixed-species bird flocks in a moist deciduous forest in the Western Ghats. Journal of Tropical Ecology 38: 393-400.
  9. Bharti, D.K., K. Guizen, A. Das, P.N. Vinayachandran and K. Shanker (2022) Connectivity networks and delineation of distinct coastal provinces along the Indian coastline using large-scale Lagrangian transport simulations. Limnology and Oceanography 67: 1416-1428.
  10. Theo, A. and K. Shanker (2022) Composition and behaviour of mixed-species foraging groups of reef fish in the Lakshadweep Islands, India. Bulletin of Marine Science 98: 53-72.
  11. Bangal, P., H. Sridhar, D. Shizuka, L.N. Vander Meiden and K. Shanker (2022) Influence of flock size on node importance and sub-structures in mixed-species flock networks. Oecologia 198: 431-440.
  12. Marathe, A., D.R. Priyadarsanan, J. Krishnaswamy and K. Shanker (2021) Gamma diversity and under-sampling together generate patterns in beta-diversity. Scientific reports 11:21420.
  13. Marathe, A., K. Shanker, J. Krishnaswamy and D.R. Priyadarsanan (2021) Species and functional group composition of ant communities across elevational gradient in the Eastern Himalayas. Journal of Asia Pacific Entomology 24:1244-1250.
  14. Gowri Shankar, P., P. Swamy, R. Williams, S.R. Ganesh, M. Moss, J. Hoglund, I. Das, G. Sahoo, S.P. Vijayakumar, K. Shanker, W. Wuster and S.K. Dutta (2021) King or royal family? Testing for species boundaries in the king cobra, Ophiophagus (Cantor, 1836), using morphology and multilocus DNA analysis. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 165: 107300
  15. Oommen, M.A. and K. Shanker (2021) Skin in the game: widening the spectrum on male pursuits of dangerous animals. Journal of Anthropological Research 77: 362-396.
  16. Bangal, P., H. Sridhar and K. Shanker (2021) Phenotypic clumping varies with trait and flock size in the assembly of mixed-species bird flocks. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.
  17. Bharti, D.K. and K. Shanker (2021) Environmental correlates of distribution in the intertidal gastropods Littoraria and Echinolittorina spp. across spatial scales in the Indian Ocean. Journal of Molluscan Studies 87: eyaa029.
  18. Ramesh, V, Vijayakumar, S.P., T. Gopalakrishna, A. Jayarajan and K. Shanker (2020) Determining levels of cryptic diversity within the endemic frog genera, Indirana and Walkerana of the Western Ghats, India. PLOS One 15(9): e0237431. ​
  19. Page, N. and K. Shanker (2020) Climatic stability begets diversity: Latitudinal trends in ranges, richness and replacement of woody plants in the Western Ghats. PLoS ONE 15(7): e0235733. 
  20. Mohan, A.V., P.O. Ter Wengel, K. Shanker and M. Vences (2020) The Andaman day gecko paradox: an ancient endemic without pronounced phylogeographic structure. Scientific Reports 10: 11745. [PDF]
  21. Atkore, V., N. Kelkar, K. Shanker, S. Badiger & J. Krishnaswamy (2020) Scale-dependent effects of water chemistry on fish guild species richness in regulated and non-regulated rivers of India’s Western Ghats: implications for restoration. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. [PDF]
  22. Goodale, E., H. Sridhar, K.E. Sieving, P. Bangal, G.J. Colorado, D.R. Farine, E.W. Heymann, H.H. Jones, I. Krams, A.E. Martínez, F. Montaño-Centellas, J. Muñoz, U. Srinivasan, A. Theo and K. Shanker (2020) Mixed company: A framework for understanding the composition and organization of mixed-species animal groups. Biological Reviews. [PDF]
  23. Marathe, A., D.R. Priyadarsanan, J. Krishnaswamy and K. Shanker (2020) Spatial and climatic variables independently drive elevational gradients in species richness. PLoS ONE 15(1): e0227628. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0227628. [PDF]
  24. Mohan, A.V. and K. Shanker (2018) Population structure of the Andaman keelback, Xenochrophis tytleri: oceanic barriers to dispersal influence genetic divergence in the Andaman archipelago. PeerJ. [PDF]
  25. Page, N. and K. Shanker (2018) Environment and dispersal influence changes in species composition at different scales in woody plants of the Western Ghats, India. Journal of Vegetation Science 29: 74-83.
  26. Shanker, K., K.N. Ganeshaiah and S.P. Vijayakumar (2017) Unpacking the species conundrum: philosophy, practice and ways forward. Journal of Genetics 96: 413-430. [PDF]
  27. Vijayakumar, S.P., R.C. Menezes, A. Jayarajan and K. Shanker (2016) Glaciations, Gradients and Geography: multiple drivers of diversification of bush frogs in the Western Ghats Escarpment. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 283: 20161011. [Cover image in Proc B; featured in Nature Asia].
  28. Sridhar, H. and K. Shanker (2014) Importance of intraspecifically gregarious species in heterospecific foraging associations in a tropical bird community. Oecologia 176: 763-770.
  29. ​Bowen, B.W., K. Shanker et al. (2014) Phylogeography Unplugged: Comparative geographic surveys in the genomic era. Bulletin of Marine Sciences 90:13-46.
  30. Sridhar, H. and K. Shanker (2014) Using intra-flock association patterns to understand why birds participate in mixed species foraging flocks in terrestrial habitats. Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology 68:185-196.
  31. Puri, M., N. Namboothri and K. Shanker (2014) Multi-scale patterns in co-occurrence of rocky inter-tidal gastropods along the west coast of India. Oikos 123: 345-355.
  32. Sridhar, H., F. Jordan and K. Shanker (2013) Species importance and resilience of a heterospecific foraging association network. Oikos 122: 1325-1334.
  33. Sridhar, H., Srinivasan, U., Askins, R. A., Canales-Delgadillo, J. C., Chen, C. C., Ewert, D. N., … & Shanker, K. (2012). Positive Relationships between Association Strength and Phenotypic Similarity Characterize the Assembly of Mixed-Species Bird Flocks Worldwide. The American Naturalist 180(6), 777-790. [Featured in Nature Research Highlights, Dec 20, 2012].
  34. Oommen, M.A. & K. Shanker (2010) Shrewd alliances: context dependant foraging associations between treeshrews, drongos and sparrowhawks. Biology Letters 6:304-307.
  35. Sridhar, H., G. Beauchamp and K. Shanker (2009) Why do birds participate in mixed-species foraging flocks? A large-scale synthesis. Animal Behaviour 78: 337 – 347. 
  36. Oommen, M.A. and K. Shanker (2008) Ecology and behaviour of an endemic tree shrew Tupaia nicobarica Zelebor 1869 on Great Nicobar Island, India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 105(1): 55-63. [PDF] 
  37. Oommen, M.A. & K. Shanker (2005) Regional species richness patterns emerge from multiple local scale mechanisms in Himalayan plants. Ecology 86: 3039-3047. [PDF]
  38. V. Meena, K. Shanker and R. Sukumar (2005) Small mammal communities in different habitats in Mudumalai, southern India. Mammalia 63(3-4): 349-358. [PDF]
  39. Dutta, S.K., K. Vasudevan, M.S. Chaitra, K. Shanker & R.K. Aggarwal (2004) Jurassic frogs and the evolution of amphibian endemism in the Western Ghats. Current Science 86: 211-216. [PDF]
  40. Shanker, K. (2003) Small mammal communities in montane ecosystems in the Nilgiris, southern India: their ecology and natural history. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 100: 46 – 57. [PDF]
  41. Shanker, K. (2001) The role of competition and habitat in structuring small mammal communities in a tropical montane ecosystem in southern India. Journal of Zoology 253: 15 – 24. [PDF]
  42. Shanker, K. (2000) Small mammal trapping in tropical montane forests of the Upper Nilgiris, southern India: an evaluation of Capture-Recapture models in estimating population size. Journal of Biosciences 25: 99-111. [PDF]
  43. Shanker, K.  & R. Sukumar (1999) Synchrony in small mammal populations of montane forest patches in southern India. Journal of Animal Ecology 68: 50-59. [PDF]
  44. Shanker, K.  & R. Sukumar (1998) Community structure and demography of small mammal populations in insular montane forests in southern India. Oecologia 116: 243-251. [PDF] 

Book Chapters

  • ​Shanker, K. (2005) Metapopulation dynamics and landscape effects in small mammal populations in a montane ecosystem in southern India. Wildlife Conservation, Research and Management (eds. Y.V. Jhala, R. Chellam and Q. Qureshi) pp. 8-12. A Technical Report of the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. RR-05/001.

Taxonomy

  1. Cyriac, V.P., S.R. Ganesh, Z. Madani, A. Ghosh, V. Kulkarni and  K. Shanker (2024) Phylogenetic systematics of the shieldtail snake genus Teretrurus Beddome, 1886 (Squamata, Uropeltidae) reveals extensive cryptic diversity and novel geographic spread in the Western Ghats of India. Bulletin of the Society of Systematic Biologists.
  2. Das, I., P. Gowri Shanker, P. Swamy, R.C. Williams, H.T. Lalremsanga, P. Prashanth, G. Sahoo, S.P. Vijayakumar, J. Hoglund, K. Shanker, S.K. Dutta, S.R. Ganesh and W. Wuster and (2024) Taxonomic revision of the Ophiophagus hannah (Cantor, 1836) species complex (Serpentes: Elapidae), with the description of two new species. European Journal of Taxonomy.
  3. Deepak, P., K.P. Dinesh, C. Nag, A. Ohler, K. Shanker, P.M. D’Souza & J.S. Ashadevi (2024) Discovery and description of a new species of burrowing frog Sphaerotheca Günther, 1859 (Anura: Dicroglossidae) from the suburban landscapes of Bengaluru, India. Zootaxa.
  4. Kuttalam, S., V. Santra, J.B. Owens, M. Selvan, O.K. Bharti, J. Shi, K. Shanker and A. Malhotra (2022) Phylogenetic and morphological analysis of Gloydius himalayanus (Serpentes, Viperidae, Crotalinae), with the description of a new species. European Journal of Taxonomy 852: 1-30.
  5. Srikanthan, A.N., O.D. Adhikari, A.K. Mallik, P.D. Campbell, B.B. Bhatt, K. Shanker and S.R. Ganesh (2022) Taxonomic revaluation of the Ahaetulla prasina (Boie, 1827) complex from Northeast India: resurrection and redescription of Ahaetulla flavescens (Wall, 1910) (Reptilia: Serpentes: Colubridae). European Journal of Taxonomy 839: 120-148.
  6. Pyron, R.A., V.P. Cyriac, S.R. Ganesh, A.K. Mallik, A. de Silva, A.N. Srikanthan and K. Shanker (2022) First report of hemipenial variation among some genera and species of shieldtail snakes (Serpentes: Uropeltidae). Icthyology and Herpetology.
  7. Gowande, G.G., S. Pal, D. Jablonski, R. Masroor, P.U. Phansalkar, P.M D’Souza, A. Jayarajan and K. Shanker (in press) Molecular phylogenetics and morphology of the “widespread” agamid species Calotes versicolor (Daudin, 1802) (Squamata, Agamidae) support taxonomic reassessment across South Asia. Vertebrate Zoology.
  8. Pal, S., Z. Mirza, P. Dsouza and K. Shanker (2021) Diversifying on the Ark: multiple new endemic lineages of dwarf geckos from the Southern Western Ghats provide new insights into the systematics and biogeography of South Asian Cnemaspis. Zoological Research 42: 675-691.
  9. Mallik, A.K., A.N. Srikanthan, S.R. Ganesh, P.D. Campbell, A. Malhotra and K. Shanker (2021) Resolving pitfalls in pit viper systematics – a multi-criterion approach to species delimitation in pit vipers (Reptilia, Viperidae, Craspedocephalus) of Peninsular India reveals cryptic diversity. Vertebrate Zoology 71: 577-619.
  10. Srikanthan, A.N., O.D. Adhikari, S.R. Ganesh, K. Deuti, K. Das, V.M. Kulkarni, G.G. Gowande and K. Shanker (2021) Molecular and morphological study of Otocryptis Wagler, 1830 (Squamata: Agamidae) reveals a new genus from the far south of the Western Ghats, Peninsular India. Zootaxa 5016: 205-228.
  11. Ganesh, S.R., A. Mallik, A.V. Srikanthan, K. Shanker and G. Vogel (2021) A new species of Boiga (Serpentes: Colubridae) from the Southern Western Ghats of India, with a molecular phylogeny and expanded characterisation of related species. Zootaxa 4950: 361-376.
  12. Deepak, P., K.P. Dinesh, A. Ohler, K. Shanker, B.H. Channakeshavamurthy & J.S. Ashadevi (2020) A new species of Sphaerotheca Günther, 1859 (Anura: Dicroglossidae) from the degraded urban ecosystem of Bengaluru, Deccan Plateau, India. Zootaxa 4885 (3): 423–436.
  13. Mallik, A.K., A.N. Srikanthan, S.P. Pal, P.M. D’Souza, K. Shanker and S.R. Ganesh (2020) Disentangling vines: a study of morphological crypsis and genetic divergence in vine snakes (Squamata: Colubridae: Ahaetulla) with description of four new species from Peninsular India. Zootaxa 4784: 1-62.
  14. Dinesh, K.P., S.P. Vijayakumar, V. Ramesh, A. Jayarajan, S.R. Chandra Mouli & K. Shanker (2020) A new lineage of Walkerana (Anura: Ranixalidae) from the Western Ghats of Peninsular India. Zootaxa 4729 (2): 266–276. [PDF]
  15. Mallik, A.K., A.N. Srikanthan, S.R. Ganesh, S.P. Pal, S.P. Vijayakumar and K. Shanker (2019) A deeply divergent new lineage of vine snake from the southern Western Ghats of Peninsular India. PLOS One. [PDF]
  16. Vijayakumar, S.P., R. A. Pyron, K.P. Dinesh, V.R. Torsekar, A.V. Srikanthan, P. Swamy, E.L. Stanley, D.C. Blackburn and K. Shanker (2019) A new, ancient, microendemic lineage of frog (Astrobatrachidae fam. nov., Astrobatrachus kurichiyana gen et. sp. nov.) from the Western Ghats of Peninsular India. PeerJ.  [PDF]
  17. Pal, S., S.P. Vijayakumar, K. Shanker, A. Jayarajan and V. Deepak  (2018) A systematic revision of Calotes Cuvier, 1817 (Squamata: Agamidae from the Western Ghats adds two genera and reveals two new species. Zootaxa 4482(3): 401-450. [PDF]
  18. Dinesh, K.P., S.P. Vijayakumar, B.H. Channakeshavamurthy, V.R. Torsekar, N.U. Kulkarni & K. Shanker (2015) Systematic status of Fejervarya (Amphibia, Anura, Dicroglossidae) from South and SE Asia with the description of a new species from the Western Ghats of Peninsular India. Zootaxa. [PDF]
  19. Vijayakumar, S.P., K.P. Dinesh, M.V. Prabhu & K. Shanker (2014)  Lineage delimitation and description of nine new species of bush frogs (Anura: Raorchestes, Rhacophoridae) from the Western Ghats Escarpment. Zootaxa 3893 (4): 451–488. [PDF]
  20. Chaitra, M.S., K. Vasudevan & K. Shanker (2004) The biodiversity bandwagon, the splitters have it. Current Science 86: 897-898. [PDF]
  21. ​Pradhan, M.S., R.M. Sharma & K. Shanker (1997) First record of Kelaart’s long-clawed shrew, Feroculus feroculus (Kelaart) from peninsular India. Mammalia 61: 448-450.​
  22. Shanker, K. (1996) Classifying the Kiwi. Current Science 71: 6-8.

Papers by researchers supported by or associated with the lab

  • Ganesh, S.R and A.N. Srikanthan (2020) A new species of shieldtail snake (Reptilia: Squamata: Uropeltidae) from Kolli Hill complex, southern Eastern Ghats, peninsular India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 12: 15436-15442.
  • Ganesh, S.R, A.N. Srikanthan, S.R. Chandramouli and G. Vogel (2020) Taxonomic revision of the Boiga ceylonensis group (Serpentes: Colubridae): reexamination of type specimens, redefinition of nominate taxa and an updated key. Zootaxa 4779 (3): 301–332.
  • Srikanthan, A.N., G.C. Kumar, A.J. Urs & S.R. Ganesh (2018) Appearances are deceptive: molecular phylogeny recovers the Scaly Gecko Hemidactylus scabriceps (Reptilia: Squamata: Gekkonidae) as a member of a scansorial and rupicolous clade. Journal of Threatened Taxa 10: 12147-12162.
  • Srikanthan, A.N., P. Swamy, A.V. Mohan and S. Pal (2018) A distinct new species of riparian rock-dwelling gecko (genus: Hemidactylus) from the southern Western Ghats. Zootaxa 4434 (1): 141–157.
  • Page, N.V. & S. Surveswaran (2014) Friesodielsia sahyadrica (Annonaceae), a peculiar new species from the Western Ghats, India. Phytotaxa 158 (3): 275-282.
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