Research
and Publications
This page highlights the Foundation's research and conservation work, as well as relevant scientific publications authored by members of our research team.
Our work contributes new observations and research toward the understanding and conservation of mugger crocodiles. This page brings together peer-reviewed research by members of our scientific team, alongside field observations and conservation articles produced through the Foundation's ongoing work. Together, these cover areas including crocodile biology, behavior, stress physiology, habitat monitoring, reproduction, and population conservation across India and neighboring regions.
We aim to document emerging conservation concerns, share useful scientific knowledge, and support the long-term conservation of mugger crocodiles and their habitats.
Publications
First record of galloping in a free-ranging adult mugger crocodile
Crocodylus palustris
The Herpetological Bulletin 176, 2026: 45-46
Dax Pandhi, Brinky Desai
DOI
Status of Crocodylus palustris in Kutch District, Gujarat, India
Crocodile Specialist Group Newsletter 41(2): 4-8
Dax Pandhi, Parvez Ansari, Himani Shah
Conservation status of the mugger
(Crocodylus palustris): Establishing a working group for a poster species of climate change
Crocodile Specialist Group Newsletter 41(2): 4-8
Asghar Mobaraki, Lonnie McCaskill, Ulrich Schepp,Elham Abtin, Rafaqat Masroor, Dax Pandhi, Brinky Desai,Soham Muckerjee, Tahir Rasheed, Shoaib Abdul Razzaque, Anslem de Silva, Colin Stevenson, Anna Rauhaus, Minh
D. Le, Dennis Rödder and Thomas Ziegler
Nuchal scalation patterns in
Iranian Mugger crocodiles point to an overlooked conservation unit
Journal of Wildlife and Biology
Malihe Erfani, Elham Abtin, Asghar Mobaraki, Haji Gholi Kami, Dax Pandhi, Colin Stevenson, Thomas Ziegler, Dennis Rödder, Anslem De Silva, Nikhil Whitaker, Minh D. Le, Dinal Samarasinghe, Anirudh Vasava, Suranjan
Karunarathna
DOI
Publications by Individual Team Members
The following papers represent research published by members of our scientific team prior to joining the Foundation.
Identification of free-ranging mugger crocodiles by applying deep learning methods on UAV imagery
Brinky Desai, Arpitkumar Patel, Vaishwi Patel, Supan Shah, Mehul S. Raval, Ratna Ghosal
Conducted by Ahmedabad University
Investigating reproductive biology of female mugger crocodiles (Crocodylus palustris) by using behaviour and endocrine measures
Brinky Desai, Tathagata Bhowmik, Aditya Wadekar, Urjit Bhatt, Ratna Ghosal
Conducted by Ahmedabad University
Monitoring the stress physiology of free-ranging mugger crocodiles (Crocodylus palustris) across diverse habitats within Central Gujarat, India
Brinky Desai, Tathagatha Bhowmik, Rohith Srinivasan, Nikhil Whitaker, Ratna Ghosal
Conducted by Ahmedabad University
Anecdotal observations of 'double clutching' behaviour in captive Mugger crocodiles (Crocodylus palustris)
Brinky Desai, Soham Mukherjee, Nikhil Whitaker, Ratna Ghosal
Conducted by Ahmedabad University
Selected publications listed here include work authored by members of our scientific team before joining the Foundation. These publications are provided for reference and link to their original publishers or sources. Copyright and all other rights remain with the respective authors, publishers, and other rights holders, as applicable. Inclusion on this website does not imply that the research was conducted by, funded by, or affiliated with the Foundation.
Join the adventure
Researchers
We are looking for like-minded people in the fields of herpetology, zoology, and paleontology - who are interested in collaborating with the DesertCrocs project, and beyond. You will get to work with a team of specialists with decades of experience under their belt, and have access to cutting edge technologies.
Students
Are you an undergraduate or postgraduate student? You can gain valuable work experience in the field by joining our projects on a short-term basis. Get in touch with us for details.