World Frog Day with the Purple Frog

Join the endemic Purple Frogs for some underground JOMO this World Frog Day!

Comic for my RoundGlass Sustain column.

Marine Soundscapes and Ocean Health

Soundscapes recorded on acoustic recorders give us an idea of changes, both natural and human-made, to wild habitats.

What song would you play if you were a reef fish facing an acoustic recorder?

Cartoon for DW Environment.

Indrella ampulla colour morphs

A new study shows that the Palghat Gap in southern India is the barrier separating the various colour morphs of the endemic gastropod Indrella ampulla. The article by Arathi Menon on Mongabay makes for excellent coverage of this study, which yet again proves the biogeographical mettle of the Palghat Gap!

Read another Green Humour comic on genetic isolation resulting from gaps in the Western Ghats here.

Cartoon for Roundglass Sustain.

(For readers from outside of India: the word ‘Mallu’ is a colloquial term referring to Malayali people from the southern state of Kerala).

Wolf Lineages Meet in Pakistan

We all know that Pakistan's mountains have been a melting pot of various cultures across history, but not just for humans, even for wolves! New research by Lauren M Hennelly et al, published in Oxford Academic's Journal of Heredity pin-points the point of convergence of three wolf lineages in Pakistan's north-west mountains. What food / drink are you bringing to this party?

Cartoon for DW Environment. 

The Crocodile Bark Tree

The crocodile bark tree (Terminalia elliptica) has a little secret- crocodile tears! Comic for Roundglass Sustain.

The Secret Superpower of the Softshell Turtle

Softshell turtles are softies for a reason! Cartoon for Roundglass Sustain.

New Species of 2023

Newly discovered species from 2023 congratulate India's biologists for all the discoveries and rediscoveries made this year! Let's hope that our biologists will BRB with new ground-breaking science in 2024! Comic for Roundglass Sustain.

Birdwatching in Gaza

What is it like to be a birdwatcher in Gaza? My cousin, Dr. Sukrita Lahiri, a scholar on Palestinian gender studies, sent me this poignant piece by Marta Vidal and Ameera Harouda about birdwatching in Gaza, which prompted this comic, dedicated to the twin birdwatching duo, the Sirdah sisters, who co-authored the Gaza bird checklist.

From my column with The Hindu Sunday Magazine. 

Armageddon Reedtail

Meet the newest Indian damselfly discovered from Kerala's Western Ghats, named the 'Armageddon Reedtail' after the Ecological Armageddon. Comic from my column with The Hindu Sunday Magazine. A huge congratulations to Pankaj Koparde and team for the discovery!

Bats and Music Festivals

New research from the Universities of Bath and the West of England concludes that loud music festivals reduce bat activity by half, unsurprisingly so. 

Reading the research findings took me back to circa 2012, when as an animation designer for a film studio that won a contract for live coverage of a Metallica concert in Bangalore, I got free tickets to attend the show. Not knowing anything about western music, I decided to look the immensely popular band's music up on Youtube. The crippling headache that ensued for the next few days certainly make me wonder if I am a bat without wings! Goes without saying I gave that concert a miss, and probably turned to Jagjit Singh to cure my migraine.

Comic for Roundglass Sustain. 

Deep Sea Worms

Deep sea worms are among nature's most enigmatic and mysterious creatures, so what if some of them are a bit awkwardly shaped? Comic for DW Environment.

Did you know that many such deep sea creatures could be lost to geothermal mining even before they're described by science?

Mizoram Parachute Gecko

Uses of the Mizoram Parachute Gecko's patagia (gliding membranes). Yes, a caped lizard actually exists in the forests of North-East India! Read more about herpetologist Zeeshan Mirza's work on this species here. 

Comic from my column with The Hindu.

Snake Clitoris

Researcher Megan Folwell seems to have changed herpetology forever by unearthing the presence of two clitorises in a Death Adder, leading to the similar discoveries of varying sizes in other kinds of snakes! What's more: the presence of erectile tissue in the clitoris may be even suggestive of tactile sensitivity!

Ah, well, some cartoons just write themselves!

Congratulations to the researchers for a monumental discovery (we did not see that 'coming'!). Read more about the study here. 

Cartoons on Dolphin Depredation

The issue of depredation, i.e. dolphins damaging fishing nets to take fish, has been a growing concern both for cetaceans and fishers in the Mediterranean and the Black Seas. I collaborated with ACCOBAMS (Agreement on Conservation of Cetaceans of Black and Mediterranean Seas) to bring out a set of 9 cartoons that break down the issue of dolphin depredation, and explain how better monitoring and implementation of scientific solutions can help control the problem. The cartoons have been translated to French, Italian, Spanish, Maltese and Arabic, and are being used in publications and multimedia, targeted at ACCOBAMS' partners and funding organizations. Another publication I am working on for ACCOBAMS, a comic + colouring book on the relationship between fishers and dolphins of the Mediterranean and Black Seas, will be out next month.

A big thanks to Julie Belmont from ACCOBAMS for the opportunity!

Dim Your Lights for Birds

A comic I created for the East Asian Australasian Flyway Programme's World Migratory Bird Day campaign 'Dim your lights for birds'. 

Thanks, Vivian Fu, for throwing opportunities for both meaningful and exciting collaborations at me! Here's hoping a safe journey for migration champions on this flyway this year!

Taxonomy of Indian Conservationists

Taxonomy of Indian Conservationists: a two-part comic series that appears in my column with The Hindu Sunday Magazine. Any resemblance to actual people is purely coincidental.

How many of these have you met?

(Thanks to Janaki Lenin for the prompt that resulted in this comic!)

Taxonomists need Therapy

Taxonomists need therapy! Comic from my column with The Hindu Sunday Magazine. 

Meghalaya Thick-thumbed Bat

It's 2022 and new mammals are still being discovered in India! You read that right. Meet the Meghalaya thick-thumbed Bat Glischropus meghalayanus, discovered and described by Uttam Saikia, Gabor Csorba and Manuel Ruedi. Comic from my Roundglass Sustain column. 

Cartoons on the SHEAR Programme

Two cartoons created live for the SHEAR (Science for Humanitarian Emergencies and Resilience) Programme during a recent Cartoonathon with Cartoonstock, SHEAR and the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre. It was a pleasure of have had fellow cartoonists from around the world: Rebeka Ryvola (who also did the graphic scribing for the event), Pat Byrnes, Mangena, Felipe Galindo, and Betje as co-conspirators, with our Cartoonstock concierge Samantha Vuignier as our taskmaster! The Cartoonathon gave me a chance to understand some very regional and specific challenges humanitarian scientists and aid workers face in mitigating climate disasters and risks. 

Taliban and Conservation

As researchers flee the Taliban rule, Afghanistan's national animal, the Snow Leopard ponders the future of science and conservation in this beautiful country. Comic from my column with The Hindu.