Revising Century old Abor Expedition: Arunachal Pradesh, India - Final report

Abstract

Thus, the Abor expedition is one of the most comprehensive biological, geographical and anthropological documentation ever conducted in India. This fine contribution was possible through a partnership between the scientific and defense departments of British India that yielded invaluable information from a remote part in Eastern Himalaya that is now recognized as a biodiversity hotspot. One of the important biogeographic interpretation made out of the observations is that the faunal and floral elements of Abor lands are rather similar to fauna of Assam, south of the Brahmaputra or even to that of Burma Myanmar, rather than to the fauna of Eastern Himalaya (Sikkim, Bhutan and Aka Hills). We revisited the route of the expedition to the extent possible and undertook a comprehensive and intensive survey of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, butterflies, odonates and cicadas of the Abor landscape, paying special emphasis on threatened taxa. We also undertook an intensive collection of select lower taxa for voucher specimens, especially those of species potentially new to science. The entire expedition was exhaustively photo documented.