Context:

• From Assam, a new underground spider Gravelyia boro-the burrow spider, is discovered.
• It is discovered from the same forest where Dexippus kleini, the oriental jumping spider resurfaced after 129 years
• Two species of spiders have been discovered from the Jharbari range of western Assam’s Chirang Reserve Forest.
• The Gravelyia boro belongs to the Nemesiidae family comprising 184 species worldwide.
• The Dexippus kleini is a member of Salticidae, the largest family of all spiders on earth.
• The name of the burrow spider has been derived from the Bodo community, one of the largest ethnolinguistic groups in Assam and predominantly inhabiting the area where the new species of spider was recorded.
• The burrow spider lives underground, about 10-15 cm below the sandy-loamy surface. The burrows with an opening up to 1 cm wide were under the cover of some herbs and shrubs.

Stoliczkia vanhnuailianai snake

• A non-venomous snake has also been added to India’s herpetofauna.
• About 50 cm long, this dark brown and yellow found in a dried-up area of the Tuinghaleng riverbed near Mizoram capital Aizawl.
• It is the third species of the Stoliczkia genus from India.
• The team named the snake Stoliczkia vanhnuailianai, in honour of Vanhnuailiana, a Mizo warrior.
• Its common name is Lushai Hills dragon snake.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/from-assam-a-new-underground-spider/article35184642.ece?homepage=true

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