INDO-MALAYAN
Freshwater
(Rivers, Lakes & Wetlands)
The freshwater rivers lakes and wetlands of tropical India and south-east Asia...
Class Insecta
Order Odonata: Dragonflies & Damselflies
(Prek Toal, Cambodia)Dragonflies and damselflies are usually the most obvious group of insects around tropical wetlands.
Order Coleoptera: Beetles
(Prek Toal, Cambodia)Order Diptera: Flies
(Prek Toal, Cambodia)Class Reptilia
(Monitor Lizard, Sri Lanka)Order Crocodilia
(Bundala, Sri Lanka)Crocodylus palustris, 'Mugger Crocodile', 'Marsh/Broad-snouted Crocodile'. It is found most commonly in India and Sri Lanka, but is also recorded in Pakistan, Nepal and Iran, but is probably extinct in Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Order Squamata: Lizards & Snakes
(Talangama Wetlands, Sri Lanka)Varanus salvator, 'Asian Water Monitor'.
For the page on the birds of tropical Asian freshwater habitats
(Openbill, Sri Lanka)Class Mammalia
Order Cetartiodactyla: Even-toed Ungulates and Cetacea
Family Bovidae
(Udawelawa, Sri Lanka)Bubalus bubalis, '(Domestic) Water Buffalo'. This is the buffalo seen in rice fields all over Asia. There are many wild populations of feral water buffalo through tropical Asia, as well as introductions in Africa and Australasia. (It is presumed to be derived from the wild species Bubalus arnee, which has been reduced to small populations in Asia, mostly in India).
Order Artiodactyla
Family Suidae
Pig (Yala National Park, Sri Lanka)Sus scrofa, 'Wild Boar/Pig'. Widespread throughout Eurasia, tropical Asia, and northern Africa, introduced into the Americas, Australasia and Pacific islands.
Places to experience tropical Asian freshwater habitats
Although many areas of south-east and southern Asia continue to be drained for development, there are still magnificent freshwater wetlands to be enjoyed, icluding: Bundala National Park and Talangama Wetlands in Sri Lanka, Paro & Thimpu, in Bhutan and Prek Toal in Cambodia