Brief Profile
Dr Kotharambath is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Zoology, Central University of Kerala, and a Scientific Associate in the Vertebrates Division of Natural History Museum, London, UK. He currently teaches Animal Behaviour, Evolution, Herpetology, Taxonomy and Systematics, Field Biology, and Academic Scientific Writing. The research interests of his lab include the anatomy, behaviour, ecology, taxonomy and systematics of caecilians, the tropical limbless amphibians. Dr Kotharambath and his collaborators have discovered and described four new species of extremely rare amphibians: Gegeneophis primus and Gegeneophis tejaswini from the Western Ghats of peninsular India, and Oedipina villamizariorum and Oedipina ecuatoriana from the Ecuadorian Andes in South America.
Recent and Major Publications
- Kotharambath, R., Vengot, R. & Gower, D.J. (2026). "A new species of Gegeneophis Peters, 1879 (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Grandisoniidae) from the Western Ghats of northern Kerala, India". Zootaxa, Vol.-5782, No.3, Page range-571–580
- Narayana K, Ashish K, Barik S, Kotharambath R, Kalle R, Ramesh T. (2026). "Habitat suitability of Indian muntjac (Muntiacus malabaricus) in the Western and Eastern Ghats parts of Tamil Nadu in peninsular India". Journal of Environmental Management, Volume 398
- Prakash, A., Kummanat, A., Paul, M. A., Gower, D.J., Vengot, R., Kotharambath R. (2026). "Scent-driven self-recognition in caecilian amphibians (Gymnophiona): An experimental study in Gegeneophis". Journal of Vertebrate Biology, Vol. 75, No. 25097
- Torres-Sánchez, M., Goutte, S., Christoph Liedtke, H., Allain, S., Ahammed, M. S., Calatayud, N., Comeault, A., Elmer, K., Eterovick, P., Gilbert, E., Guayasamin, J., Hernández-Poveda, M., Kotharambath, R., Lechuga Paredes, P., Mahapatra, C., Mulder, K., Nadaline, J., Najafi-Majd, E., Pollet, N., Rubio, A., Sachslehner, A., Sanz-Sobrino, L., Siu-Ting, K., Snead, A., Strowbridge, N., Espregueira Themudo, G., Barreto, D., Wogan, G., Wollenberg Valero, K., & T. A. G. C. (2025). "Comparative biology needs de novo transcriptome assemblies: drawing attention towards amphibians". Amphibia-Reptilia, Vol 46, No 3
- Kosch, T.A., Torres‐Sánchez, M., Liedtke, H.C., Summers, K., Yun, M.H., Crawford, A.J., Maddock, S.T., Ahammed, M.S., Araújo, V.L.N., Bertola, L.V., Bucciarelli, G.M., Carné, A., Carneiro, C.M., Chan, K.O., Chen, Y., Crottini, A., da Silva, J.M., Denton, R.D., Dittrich, C., Espregueira Themudo, G., Farquharson, K.A., Forsdick, N.J., Gilbert, E., Che, J., Katzenback, B.A., Kotharambath, R., Levis, N.A., Márquez, R., Mazepa, G., Mulder, K.P., Müller, H., O’Connell, M.J., Orozco‐terWengel, P., Palomar, G., Petzold, A., Pfennig, D.W., Pfennig, K.S., Reichert, M.S., Robert, J., Scherz, M.D., Siu‐Ting, K., Snead, A.A., Stöck, M., Stuckert, A.M.M., Stynoski, J.L., Tarvin, R.D., Wollenberg Valero, K.C. (2024). "The Amphibian Genomics Consortium: advancing genomic and genetic resources for amphibian research and conservation". BMC Genomics, Vol 25, No 1
- Prakash, A., Gower, D.J., Vengot, R., Kotharambath R. (2024). "Circadian rhythm and surface activity in soil-dwelling caecilians (Amphibia: Gymnophiona)". Nature Scientific Reports, Vol 14
- Kotharambath, R., Wilkinson, M., Gower, DJ. (2024). "Striped Ichthyophis Fitzinger, 1826 (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Ichthyophiidae) from the Western Ghats of peninsular India in the collection of London's Natural History Museum and their implications for taxonomy and distribution". Journal of Vertebrate Biology, Vol 73
- Sampaio, F.L., Day, J.J., Wickramasinghe, L.J.M., Cyriac, V.P., Papadopoulou, A., Brace, S., Rajendran, A., Simon-Nutbrown, C., Flouris, T., Kapli, P., Vidanapathirana, D.R., Kotharambath, R., Kodandaramaiah, U. & Gower, D.J. (2023). "A near-complete species-level phylogeny of uropeltid snakes harnessing historical museum collections as a DNA source". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Vol 178
- Palakkool S.R., Gower D.J., Kotharambath R. (2022). "Osteology of the caecilian Gegeneophis carnosus (Beddome, 1870) (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Grandisoniidae) from the Western Ghats of peninsular India". Vertebrate Zoology, Vol 72
- Reyes-Puig C., Wake D.B., Kotharambath R., Streicher JW, Koch C., Cisneros-Heredia D.F., Yánez-Muñoz M.H., Ron S. (2020). "Two extremely rare new species of fossorial salamanders of the genus Oedipina (Plethodontidae) from northwestern Ecuador". PeerJ, Vol. 8
- Carolina Reyes-Puig, Bittencourt-Silva G.B., Torres-Sánchez M., Wilkinson M., Streicher J.W., Maddock S.T., Kotharambath R., Müller H., Angiolani Larrea F.N., Almeida-Reinoso D., Ro S.R., Cisneros-Heredia D.F. (2019). "Rediscovery of the Endangered Carchi Andean Toad, Rhaebo colomai (Hoogmoed, 1985), in Ecuador, with comments on its conservation status and extinction risk". Check List, Vol 15
- Damodaran, A., Kotharambath, R., Akbarsha M A, Oommen O. V. & L Divya. (2018). "Light and electron microscopic observations on the organization of skin and associated glands of two caecilian amphibians from Western Ghats of India.". Micron, Vol 106
- Damodaran, A., Kotharambath, R., Akbarsha M.A., Oommen O. V. & L. Divya (2016). "Divya Ultrastructural study of the skin of three caecilians (Ichthyophis tricolor, Uraeotyphlus oxyurus and Gegeneophis ramaswamii) from Western Ghats, India.". Anatomical Records, Vol 299
- Kotharambath, R., Wilkinson, M., Oommen, O.V., & Gower, D.J. (2015). "A new species of Indian caecilian highlights challenges for species delimitation within Gegeneophis Peters, 1879 (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Indotyphlidae)". Zootaxa, Vol. 3948
- Kotharambath R., M. Wilkinson, O.V. Oommen, S. George, R.A. Nussbaum & D.J. Gower. (2012). "On the systematics, distribution and conservation status of Ichthyophis longicephalus Pillai, 1986 (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Ichthyophiidae)". Journal of Natural History, Vol 46
- Kotharambath, R., Gower, D.J., Oommen, O.V., & Wilkinson, M (2012). "A third species of Gegeneophis Peters (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Indotyphlidae) lacking secondary annular grooves". Zootaxa, 3272
- Gower, D.J., Mauro, S.D., Giri, V., Bhatta, G., Govindappa, V., Kotharambath, R., Oommen, O.V., Fatih, F.A., MackenzieDodds, J.A., Nussbaum, R.A., Biju, S.D., Shouche, Y.S., Wilkinson, M (2011). "Molecular systematics of caeciliid caecilians (Amphibia: Gymnophiona) of the Western Ghats, India.". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Vol 59
- Beyo RS, L Divya, Kotharambath, R., Oommen OV & Akbarsha M. A. (2010). "Organization of the corpus luteum in a caecilian Gegeneophis ramaswamii". Journal of Endocrinology and Reproduction, Vol 14
Books / Chapters
Chapter(s) - Co-Author, (2017). In Amphibians of India, Wildlife Institute of India, 978-81-929285-5-5Chapter(s) - Co-Author, (2016). Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Scientific Publishers, 978-81-7233-974-6Chapter(s) - Co-Author, (2015). Biodiversity Conservation: Challenges for the future, Bentham eBooks, 978-1-68108-022-2Chapter(s) - Co-Author, (2013). Rare Animals of India, Bentham Science Publishers, 978-1-60805-629-3Chapter(s) - Co-Author, (2013). Biodiversity Conservation: Challenges and Prospects, Government college, Kasaragod, 978-93-5104-266-2Chapter(s) - Co-Author, (2009). Animal Reproduction: New Research Developments, Nova Science Publishers, 978-1-60692-595-9Book - Co-Author, (2017). Caecilian (Amphibia: Gymnophiona) Diversity of Kerala, Kerala Biodiversity Board, 987-81-932596-8-9
Miscellaneous
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