The Herpetofauna of Nallamala Hills, Eastern Ghats, India: An Annotated Checklist, With Remarks on Nomenclature, Taxonomy, Habitat Use, Adaptive Types and Biogeography C. SRINIVASULU 1 AND INDRANEIL DAS 2,* 1 Wildlife Biology Section, Department of Zoology, Osmania University, Hyderabad 500 007, Andhra Pradesh, India, 2 Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94300 Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia. *Corresponding author E-mail: idas@ibec.unimas.my; hamadryad2004@hotmail.com Abstract.- We present an inventory of the herpetofauna of the Nallamala Hills, Eastern Ghats, south-eastern India. The fauna, as currently known, includes 20 species of amphibians belonging to 14 genera in six families and 64 species of reptiles belonging to 42 genera in 15 families. Divided in habitat types, the herpetofauna can be classified into species tolerant of disturbed habitats; exclusively scrub species (and for reptiles, from rocky biotopes); scrub and bor- dering agricultural fields; and exclusively mesic forest species. For one species, lack of ecological information pre- cludes its allocation to a specific habitat category. Significant diversity of squamates (including gekkonids, scincids, and colubrids) are known from these ranges, several of which endemic or largely restricted to scrub forests of Peninsular India. Mesic forests remain poorly explored, and support hitherto undescribed species among the herpeto- fauna. Adaptations seen amongst the herpetofauna of the Nallamala Hills include a diversity of dietary and habitat types, including, among amphibians, ant specialists; predators of small vertebrates; folivores; fossorial; terrestrial; aquatic or aquatic-margin; and arboreal forms. Amongst reptiles, adaptive types includes ant- and worm-eaters; pred- ator of crop pests; predator of small or medium-sized vertebrate prey; egg-predators; fish-eaters; frog- and toad- eaters; and one near-exclusive snake-eater. In terms of habitat usage, reptiles exceed amphibians in species richness, on account of their greater capacity of surviving in relatively arid regions. The Eastern Ghats contributes significantly to both species richness and endemicity of the Indian region, includ- ing representatives of endemic genera and species. Nonetheless, these hills continue to receive less attention for con- servation compared to the relatively better-known Western Ghats. Keywords.- Amphibians, reptiles, biodiversity, ecology, Nallamala Hills, Eastern Ghats, India. © 2008 by Asiatic Herpetological Research Introduction Nallamala Hills (14 º 26' – 16º 31' N and 78 º 30' – 80 º 10' E) are a group of low hill ranges with an average altitude of ca. 500 m in the central Eastern Ghats complex in the state of Andhra Pradesh, south-eastern India (Fig. 1). From the Palnad Basin in the north to the Tirupati Basin in the south, the Nallamala Hills runs for a distance of ca. 430 km with an average width of 30 km (Anon, 1965; Srinivasulu and Nagulu, 2002). An unbroken chain of rugged hills with precipitous cliffs covering an area of ca. 7,640 km 2 , it encompasses six districts (Nalgonda, Mahbubnagar, Kurnool, Cuddapah, Prakasam and Guntur) in Andhra Pradesh State. Running parallel to it in the south-eastern side is the Balapalli and Palakonda Ranges, while on the western side, towards the north, are the Erramala Range. The vegetation is typically of the southern tropical dry decid- uous and southern tropical moist deciduous forest types intermingled with scrub (Champion and Seth, 1968), although the Nallamalas show representatives of many vegetation types known from the Eastern Ghats, includ- ing dry deciduous, moist deciduous, dry evergreen, riverine and scrub forest (see R. K. Rao, 1998; R. S. Rao, 1998). Dry deciduous forests are dominant. Common species found here include Antidesma acidum, Canthium parviflorum, Cerisoides turgida, Cissus palli- da, Cochlospermum religiosum, Colebrookea oppositi- folia, Dalbergia lanceolaris, Dalbergia paniculatum, Diospyros melanoxylon, Ehretai laevis, Lagerstroemia parviflora, Pterocarpus marsupium, Syzygium alterni- folium, and Tamilnadia uliginosa. A forest type with Boswellia serrata and Chloroxylon swietenia as the dominant species occurs near Chalama, a Terminalia coriacea and Anogeisus latifolia type occur in eastern Nallamala, a Phoenix type with Phoenix loureivie as the dominant species forming a pure stand on rocky substra- ta occur between Ramannapenta and Gundla Brahmeshwaram Metta Wildlife Sanctuary (GBM). Moist deciduous forests are restricted to sheltered sites with high rainfall such as GBM, upper Ahobilam and Iskagundam; common species include: Careya arborea, pp.110–131 Asiatic Herpetological Research, Vol. 11 2008