Earth and Space News: Ellora Caves mammal species

Showing posts with label Ellora Caves mammal species. Show all posts

Friday, April 3, 2020

Indian Three-Striped Palm Squirrels Augur the Hindu Ellora Caves

Summary: Indian three-striped palm squirrels, auspicious augurs in Hinduism, act with area bats against insect pests around the Ellora Caves of Maharashtra, India.

Indian three-striped palm squirrel (Funambulus palmarum) at Ellora Caves, Maharashtra state, western peninsular India; June 9, 2012: Apurv Kiri, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Indian three-striped palm squirrels, animals appreciated by ancient Hindu deity Rama (from Sanskrit राम, "to please"), perhaps artfully approach Hindu over Buddhist and Jain temples in the Ellora Caves of Maharashtra, India.

The Sciuridae (from Greek σκιά, "shadow"; οὐρά, "tail"; and -ειδής, "-like") family member bears three Rama-blessed stripes for bearing beach sand to Rama's Laccadive Sea bridge. Physically and sexually mature female Indian three-striped palm squirrels construct grass-woven, treetop nests for 34-day gestations of two to three-baby litters during annual fall mating seasons. Blind, dependent, hairless newborn Indian three-striped palm squirrels immediately display their parents' distinct, white eye surrounds and white middle head-tail and two front-leg to rear-leg stripes.

Information-gathering whiskered faces and legs, rear-leg ankle rotations of 180 degrees and vision ranges of almost 360 degrees evoke sustainable newborn and nestling litter-raising by mothers.

Indian three-striped palm squirrels, featured by Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707-Jan. 10, 1778), furnish 1/1, 2/1 and 3/3 upper/lower-jaw incisor, premolar and molar right/left jaw dentitions.

The four-clawed, four-toed feet of Indian three-striped palm squirrels, grouped as Funambulus palmarum (from Latin fūnambulus, "rope-dancer" and palmārum, "palm [tree]"), each get a rudimentary thumb. They have big, black eyes; small, triangular ears; brown-gray upper-sides; cream-bellied, brown-gray-white undersides; and black, brown, gray, white-haired bushy tails almost as long as head-body lengths. Physically and sexually mature nine-plus-month-olds invoke 5.91 to 7.87-inch (15 to 20-centimeter-) long, 3.53 to 4.23-ounce (100 to 120-gram) bodies in two to four-year life cycles.

Only their chip! chip! chip! alarm calls jeopardize Indian three-striped palm squirrels journeying quickly and quietly among, down, over and up the Ellora Caves.

Perhaps ancient religious associations kindle host and shelter preferences by Indian three-striped palm squirrels for Lord Krishna trees over axle wood, bidi leaf and black cutch.

Indian three-striped palm squirrels land on, lap around and leap down and up bottle gourd, fan palm, golden stone apple, Indian almond and Indian blackwood trees. They move masterfully among, down, over and up Indian frankincense, Indian gooseberry, Indian laburnum, Indian linden, Indian plum, Indian rosewood, Indian sandalwood and marking nut trees. The natural, overlapping Ellora Caves rain gardens, Ellora Caves sanctuary gardens and Ellora Caves teak forest nurture edible, squirrel-friendly bird eggs, insect larvae, nuts and shoots.

Landscaped grounds and pedestrian pathways around the Ellora Caves offer such photo opportunities as Indian three-striped palm squirrels obtaining edible berries, buds, fruits, mushrooms and seeds.

Eagles, hawks, people and snakes prey upon twenty-first-century Indian three-striped palm squirrels, whose Ellora Caves presence perhaps historically provoked golden jackals, panthers, tigers and wild boar.

The chipmunk, flying squirrel, ground squirrel, marmot, prairie dog, tree squirrel and woodchuck family member queues up throughout humid, thick forests, grasslands, jungles, shrublands and woodlands. They require closed-canopy or open-canopy tropical forests and woodlands through 6,561.68-foot (2,000-meter) altitudes above sea level from central India through southern India and onto Sri Lanka. Secure shelters, stable populations, sure climbing and swift movements suggest an International Union for Conservation of Nature status of least concern for Indian three-striped palm squirrels.

Area bats and Indian three-striped palm squirrels, whose southern ancestor Rama touched and turned from stripeless to striped, try turning Buddhist, Hindu, Jain Ellora Caves insect-free.

Landscaped grounds and surrounding forests and woodlands at Ellora Caves provide ideal environments for Indian three-striped palm squirrels (Funambulus palmarum); Ellora Caves, Maharashtra state, western peninsular India; Saturday, Sep. 5, 2009, 12:16:12: Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay (sankarshan), CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Indian three-striped palm squirrel (Funambulus palmarum) at Ellora Caves, Maharashtra state, western peninsular India; Saturday, June 9, 2012: Apurv Kiri, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/apurvkiri/7176784727/

"About Ellora Caves." Yatra > Monuments of India > Monuments in Aurangabad. Copyrighted 2019.
Available @ https://www.yatra.com/indian-monuments/aurangabad/ellora-caves

Anh-Huong, Nguyen; and Thich Nhat Hanh. 2019. Walking Meditation. Boulder CO: Sounds True.

Barrett, Douglas. "Wall Painting (Second to Sixteenth Century)." Pages 17-48. In: Douglas Barrett and Basil Gray. Paintings of India. Treasures of Asia. Distributed in the United States by The World Publishing Company, Cleveland OH. Geneva, Switzerland: Editions d'Art Albert Skira, 1963.

Berkson, Carmel. Ellora Concept and Style. First Edition, 1992. Second Edition, 2004. New Delhi, India: Abhinav Publications.
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Burgess, Jas. (James). Report on the Elura Cave Temples and the Brahmanical and Jain Caves of Western India. The Results of the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Seasons' Operations of the Archaeological Survey 1877-78, 1878-79, 1879-80. Supplementary to the Volume on "The Cave Temples of India." London [UK]: Trübner & Co., 1883.
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Cartwright, Mark. 8 March 2016. "Ellora Caves." Ancient History Encyclopedia > Article.
Available @ https://www.ancient.eu/article/874/ellora-caves/

"Cave 19." The Ellora Caves.
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Cook, Sharell. Updated June 3, 2019. "Ajanta and Ellora Caves Essential Travel Guide." TripSavvy > Destinations > India > Maharashtra.
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Durdin-Robertson, Lawrence. 1976. The Goddesses of India, Tibet, China and Japan. With illustrations by Anna Durdin-Robertson. Huntington Castle, Clonegal, Enniscorthy, Eire: Cesara Publications.
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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. 7 March 2019. "Ellora Caves." Encyclopædia Britannica > Geography & Travel > Historical Places. Chicago IL: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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"Elapura, aka: Elpāra; 6 Definition(s)." Wisdom Library.
Available @ https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/elapura

"Ellora." Exotic Journeys International > India City Details.
Available @ http://www.ejiusa.com/india_city_details/Ellora.html

"Ellora Caves." Atlas Obscura > Places > Verul, India. Copyrighted 2020.
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"Ellora Caves." UNESCO > Culture > World Heritage Centre > The List > World Heritage List.
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Fergusson, James; and James Burgess. 1880. The Cave Temples of India. London [United Kingdom]: W.H. Allen @ Co., Trübner & Co. E. Stanford and W. Briggs.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/cavetemplesofind00ferguoft

Huntington, John C.; and Dina Bangdel. "Glossary M-Y." The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art.
Available @ https://huntingtonarchive.org/resources/downloads/COBGlossaryM-Y.pdf

"Indian Palm Squirrel." A-Z Animals > Animals. First published 10 November 2008. Last updated 5 January 2020.
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"Interview with Shrikant Ganvir, Pune, January 2016." Sahapedia > Ellora Caves > Buddhist Caves of Ellora. Published 9 November 2016.
Available @ https://www.sahapedia.org/buddhist-caves-of-ellora

Ions, Veronica. 1967. Indian Mythology. London UK: Paul Hamlyn Limited.

Kannal, Deepak. 25 September 2017. "A Riddle Called Ellora." Sahapedia > Overview.
Available @ https://www.sahapedia.org/riddle-called-ellora

Lee, Eva. 17 February 2014. "Ellora Caves: Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain Coexistence." Eva Lee Studio.
Available @ http://www.evaleestudio.com/2014/02/12/ellora-caves-buddhist-hindu-and-jain-coexistence/

Lurz, Peter W. W. "Squirrels and Relatives III Tree Squirrels." In: Michael Hutchins, Devra G. Kleiman, Valerius Geist and Melissa McDade, editors. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Second edition. Volume 16, Mammals V: 163-175. Farmington Hills MI: Gale Group, 2003.

Malandra, Geri H. 1993. Unfolding a Mandala: The Buddhist Cave Temples at Ellora. Albany NY: State University of New York Press.
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Mammen, A.P.; and A. Jagota. 10 February 2011. "Immunocytochemical Evidence for Different Patterns in Daily Rhythms of VIP and AVP Peptides in the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus of Diurnal Funambulus Palmarum." Brain Research 1373: 39-47. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2010.12.018. Epub 13 December 2010.
Available @ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21156164

Marriner, Derdriu. 27 March 2020. "Ellora Caves Accept Walking Meditations Advocated by Thich Nhat Hanh." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/03/ellora-caves-accept-walking-meditations.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 20 March 2020. "Ellora Caves Ally with Ajanta Caves and Thich Nhat Hanh in Indra's Net." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/03/ellora-caves-ally-with-ajanta-caves-and.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 March 2020. "Ellora Caves Are Painted, Sculpted Temples Like and Unlike Ajanta Caves." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/03/ellora-caves-are-painted-sculpted.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 6 March 2020. "Ailing Ellora Caves Are Among Ameliorable World Heritage Centre Sites." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/03/ailing-ellora-caves-are-among.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 28 February 2020. "Schneider's Leaf-Nosed Bats Are Artful Annihilators at Ellora Caves." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/02/schneiders-leaf-nosed-bats-are-artful.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 21 February 2020. "Greater Indian False Vampire Bats Are Artful Assassins at Ellora Caves." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/02/greater-indian-false-vampire-bats-are.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 February 2020. "Are Grey Junglefowl Avoiding Artful Areas Around Ellora Caves?" Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/02/are-grey-junglefowl-avoiding-artful.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 7 February 2020. "Blue Indian Peafowl No Longer Prettify the Artistic Ellora Caves." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/02/blue-indian-peafowl-no-longer-prettify.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 31 January 2020. "Ellora Caves Sanctuary Gardens Artfully Adjoin Ellora Caves Artistry." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/01/ellora-caves-sanctuary-gardens-artfully.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 24 January 2020. "Ellora Caves Teak Forest Trees Anchor Ellora Caves Rain Gardens." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/01/ellora-caves-teak-forest-trees-anchor.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 January 2020. "Ajanta Cave Wall Paintings and Gardens and Bhimbetka Sanctuary Gardens." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/01/ajanta-cave-wall-paintings-and-gardens.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 10 January 2020. "Ajanta Cave Wall Paintings, Ajanta Rain Gardens, Bhimbetka Rain Gardens." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/01/ajanta-cave-wall-paintings-ajanta-rain.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 31 May 2019. "Thich Nhat Hanh, Indra's Net at Bat Nha and Ajanta Cave Wall Paintings." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/05/thich-nhat-hanh-indras-net-at-bat-nha.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 5 April 2019. "Thich Nhat Hanh, Tu Hieu Temple Walks and Ajanta Cave Wall Paintings." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/04/thich-nhat-hanh-tu-hieu-temple-walks.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 29 March 2019. "Thich Nhat Hanh, Walking Meditations and Ajanta Cave Wall Paintings." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/03/thich-nhat-hanh-walking-meditations-and.html

Nameer, P.O.; & S. Molur. 2016. "Funambulus palmarum (errata version published in 2017). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T8701A115087934. https://.dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T8701A22259902.en.
Available @ https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/8701/115087934

Narayana, Hari. 25 November 2012. "The Ellora Caves - An Introduction." India That Was: A Legacy Unfolded.
Available @ http://indiathatwas.com/2012/11/the-ellora-caves-an-introduction/

Owen, Lisa N. 2012. Carving Devotion in the Jain Caves at Ellora. Leiden, The Netherlands; and Boston MA: Brill.
Available via Google Books @ https://books.google.com/books?id=vHK2WE8xAzYC

Pereira, José. 1977. Monolithic Jinas: The Iconography of the Jain Temples of Ellora. Delhi, Varanasi and Patna, India: Motilal Banarsidass.
Available via Google Books @ https://books.google.com/books/about/Monolithic_Jinas.html?id=LMTgiygj4-oC

Poduval, Jayaram. 21 November 2018. "The Architecture of Ellora Caves." Sahapedia > Article.
Available @ https://www.sahapedia.org/the-architecture-of-ellora-caves

Rawson, Philip. "Eastern Art." Pages 256-299. In: David Piper. The Illustrated History of Art. London, England: Chancellor Press (Bounty Books), 2000.

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Spink, Walter M. 1967. "Ellora's Earliest Phase." Off Print of the Bulletin of the American Academy of Benares 1: 11-22.

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Friday, February 28, 2020

Schneider's Leaf-Nosed Bats Are Artful Annihilators at Ellora Caves

Summary: Schneider's leaf-nosed bats maybe avert insect pests less artfully around the architecturally, artistically astounding Ellora Caves of Maharashtra, India.

Schneider's leaf-nosed bat (Hipposideros speoris); temple in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, southeastern India; Monday, July 16, 2012, 18:38: Seshadri.K.S, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Schneider's leaf-nosed bats anciently, artfully assisted greater Indian false vampire bats in assuring low levels of insect pests around the architecturally, artistically astounding, 100-plus-cavern, fifth to thirteenth-century Ellora Caves in Maharashtra, India.

Schneider's leaf-nosed bats, with low birth rates, historically never besiege Ellora Caves rain gardens, Ellora Caves sanctuary gardens and Ellora Caves teak forests with brimming colonies. Physically and sexually mature, 0.32 to 0.42-ounce (9 to 12-gram) parents care for their one-pup litters born 135 to 140 days after their yearly mating sessions. They display 1.18 to 1.34-inch (30 to 34-millimeter) wingspans and 1.77 to 2.44-inch (45 to 62-millimeter) body and 0.79 to 1.14-inch (20 to 29-millimeter) tail lengths.

Schneider's bats exhibit 0.49 to 0.75-inch (12.5 to 19-millimeter) ear, 1.79 to 2.13-inch (45.6 to 54-millimeter) forearm and 0.28 to 0.43-inch (7 to 11-millimeter) foot lengths.

Schneider's leaf-nosed bats feature large, triangle-shaped, wide ears concave just below rear-edge tips; nose-leaves with six side-running leaflets and with widely divided nostrils; and long tails.

Schneider's leaf-nosed bats, grouped commonly also as Schneider's round-leaf bats, get white-based brown-gray to orange fur lighter on upper-sides than on undersides and sometimes all-gray bodies. The Hipposideridae (from Greek ίππος, "horse," σίδηρος, "steel" and -ειδής, "-like") Old World leaf-nosed bat family member has the highest-pitched echolocation calls after horseshoe bats (Rhinolophidae). Schneider's leaf-nosed bats, identified scientifically by Johann Schneider (Jan. 18, 1750-Jan. 12, 1822), initiates insect-catching, low-flying, slow-moving, nightly hunts from communal roosts 10 minutes after sunset.

Maharashtra joins fellow states Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh and Sri Lanka as historic homelands for Schneider's leaf-nosed bats.

Alibag and Matheran, Raigad district; and Asgani, Ratnagir district, historically keep Schneider's leaf-nosed bats, known scientifically as Hipposideros speoris (from Greek ίππος, "horse" and σίδηρος, "steel").

Bhor, Chatushrungi cave, Mawal, Pune, Ranjangaon, Saswad, Shivneri Fort and Shirur, Pune district; and Borivali, Elephanta and Kanheri, Mumbai Suburban district historically lodge Schneider's leaf-nosed bats. Chanda, Chandrapur district; Ellora, Aurangabad district; Nanded, Nanded district; Saralgaon, Thane district; and Satara, Satara district just as historically mingle them with other native Maharashtra wildlife. Research surveys in 2004, 2008 and 2011 nestle them nowadays into habitat niches in Bhalavani, Sangli district; and Bhimanagar, Karmala, Kurduvadi, Pandharpur and Pothare, Solapur district.

Schneider's leaf-nosed bats likewise occurres in Indapur and Nira Narsingpur, Pune district during a seven-year study area in the Deccan (from Hindi दक्खिन, "south, southern") region.

The 23.63-inch (600-millimeter) annual precipitation and the 1,968.5-foot (600-meter), open, scrubby, semi-arid, thorn-forested altitude above sea level presently please Schneider's leaf-nosed bats in Osmanabad district caves.

Schneider's leaf-nosed bats queue up in subtropical and tropical dry forests and plains; on wooded slopes; and throughout old buildings, caves, forts, palaces, temples and tunnels. Their ranges through 4,543.96-foot (1,385-meter) altitudes above sea level require annual average temperatures around 79.16 degrees Fahrenheit (26.2 degrees Celsius) and annual average 4.44-inch (112.7-millimeter) rainfall. Sufficient, sustainable populations that show survivalistic tolerances of habitat changes suggest an International Union for Conservation of Nature status of least concern for Schneider's leaf-nosed bats.

Twenty-first-century technologists tend toward chemical and mechanical terminations despite similar aftereffects that turn them off to such natural annihilators as Schneider's leaf-nosed bats: residue versus droppings.

Ellora Caves, Maharashtra state, western peninsular India; Saturday, Dec. 17, 2016, 18:29: sudhakarsingh bondili, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Schneider's leaf-nosed bat (Hipposideros speoris); temple in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, southeastern India; Monday, July 16, 2012, 18:38: Seshadri.K.S, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schneider's_Leaf-nosed_Bat_Hipposideros_speoris_DSC_9833_copy_filtered_copy.jpg

Ellora Caves, Maharashtra state, western peninsular India; Saturday, Dec. 17, 2016, 18:29: sudhakarsingh bondili, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FO2A7696-1.jpg

For further information:

"About Ellora Caves." Yatra > Monuments of India > Monuments in Aurangabad. Copyrighted 2019.
Available @ https://www.yatra.com/indian-monuments/aurangabad/ellora-caves

Anh-Huong, Nguyen; and Thich Nhat Hanh. 2019. Walking Meditation. Boulder CO: Sounds True.

Cartwright, Mark. 8 March 2016. "Ellora Caves." Ancient History Encyclopedia > Article.
Available @ https://www.ancient.eu/article/874/ellora-caves/

"Cave 19." The Ellora Caves.
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Dewey, Tanya. "Old World Leaf-Nosed Bats (Hipposideridae)." In: Michael Hutchins, Devra G. Kleiman, Valerius Geist and Melissa C. McDade, editors. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Second edition. Volume 13, Mammals II: 401-411. Farmington Hills MI: Gale Group, 2003.

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Available @ https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/243/

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Available @ https://huntingtonarchive.org/resources/downloads/COBGlossaryM-Y.pdf

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Available @ https://www.sahapedia.org/buddhist-caves-of-ellora

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Available @ http://www.evaleestudio.com/2014/02/12/ellora-caves-buddhist-hindu-and-jain-coexistence/

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 February 2020. "Are Grey Junglefowl Avoiding Artful Areas Around Ellora Caves? Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/02/are-grey-junglefowl-avoiding-artful.html

Narayana, Hari. 25 November 2012. "The Ellora Caves - An Introduction." India That Was: A Legacy Unfolded.
Available @ http://indiathatwas.com/2012/11/the-ellora-caves-an-introduction/

Owen, Lisa N. 2012. Carving Devotion in the Jain Caves at Ellora. Leiden, The Netherlands; and Boston MA: Brill.
Available via Google Books @ https://books.google.com/books?id=vHK2WE8xAzYC

Pavey, Chris R.; Jan-Eric Grunwald; & Gerhard Neuweiler. August 2001. "Foraging Habitat and Echolocation Behaviour of Schneider's Leafnosed Bat, Hipposideros speoris, in a Vegetation Mosaic in Sri Lanka." Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 50: 209-218. https://doi.org/10.1007/s002650100363
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Poduval, Jayaram. 21 November 2018. "The Architecture of Ellora Caves." Sahapedia > Article.
Available @ https://www.sahapedia.org/the-architecture-of-ellora-caves

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Available @ https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/10162/22099260

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Friday, January 31, 2020

Ellora Caves Sanctuary Gardens Artfully Adjoin Ellora Caves Artistry

Summary: Ellora Caves sanctuary gardens are artfully natural, unofficial annexes for area wildlife to the ancient architecture and artistry of the Ellora Caves.

"The Mountain of Ellora (third view)" 1803 colored aquatint by English landscape painter Thomas Daniell (1749-March 19, 1840), from drawing by Scottish artist James Wales (1747-1795); view shows Buddhist caves, which are located in the site's southern part; Plate I of three-plate series, Hindoo Excavations in the Mountain of Ellora Near Aurangabad: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Ellora Caves sanctuary gardens assure area wildlife of activity areas around 34 anciently, architecturally and artistically attractive caverns in the 800 to 1,600-year-old, 100-plus-cavern Ellora Caves of Maharashtra state, western peninsular India.

Ellora Caves sanctuary gardens bring together nine of the mammal species whose historical and present biogeographies traditionally brave environmental and human stresses in northern Maharashtra state. They contain animal species whose ecosystem contributions artfully consider animal and plant sustainability by casting consumed seeds elsewhere and consuming one another from need, not greed. Black-naped hare (sasa locally, Lepus ruficaudatus scientifically) diets demand different dry-season and wet-season edible species of Ellora Caves sanctuary gardens within the Ellora Caves teak forest.

Black-naped hares encounter buckthorn (Ziziphus), caperbush (Capparis) and rattlepod (Crotalaria burhia) bark, buds, germinating seeds and twigs October through May and grasses (Panicum) June through September.

Assyrian (Cordia myxa) and black (Syzygium cumini) plum, buckthorn (Ziziphus) and golden shower (Cassia fistula) trees furnish golden jackals (kolha, Canis aureus) with energizing fruit sugars.

Protein guidelines for balanced diets at all stages in life cycles get golden jackals going after birds, black-naped hares, eggs, fish, frogs, Indian gazelles and insects. Gray langur monkeys (wanar, Presbytis entellus) have bamboo (Dendrocalamus strictus), fern, grass, lichen, moss-heavy diets whose digested, excreted seed dispersals help Ellora Caves teak forest sustainability. They ingest birds, cones, fruits, grass blades, roots, seeds and young shoots; and invertebrates such as insect larvae, spiders and termites in Ellora Caves sanctuary gardens.

Indian gazelles (chinkara, Gazella bennetii) juggle bittersweet (Maytenus emarginata), buckthorn (Ziziphus), mesquite (Prosophis cineraria) and rattlepod (Crotalaria burhia) fruit and leaf-filled and grass (Panicum) filled diets.

Habitat niches from the Western Ghats, known locally as Sahyadri (from Sanskrit सह्याद्रि, "benevolent") Mountains, through Ellora, to the Deccan Plateau keep Indian gazelles nutritiously hydrated.

Indian palm squirrels (khadi khar, Funambulus palmarum) link with Ellora Caves teak forest sustainability and sustainable Ellora Caves sanctuary gardens through their digested, excreted seed dispersals. Their omnivorous (from Latin omnis, "all" and -vorus, "habitually eating") diets mix fruits, fungi and nuts; insect larvae; and small birds and mammals and their eggs. Carnivorous (from Latin carō, "flesh" and -vorus, "habitually eating") panthers (bibatya wagh, Panthera pardus) and tigers (wagh, P. tigris) nevertheless need moisture-rich plants every two days.

Ellora Caves sanctuary gardens within the Ellora Caves teak forest offer predatory panthers and tigers black-naped hares, golden jackals, gray langurs, spotted deer and wild boar.

Spotted deer (chital, Axis axis) pursue herbivorousness (from Latin herba, "grass" and -vorus, "habitually eating") dusk through dawn unless environment-induced, human-practiced perturbations put them on days.

Spotted deer quest figs (Ficus racemosa) January through May, Assyrian (Cordia myxa) and black (Syzygium cumini) plums May through July and grasses (Panicum) throughout the year. Wild boar (jangali suar, Sus scrofa cristatus) require crepuscular (from Latin crepusculum, "dusk, evening, twilight") hunts after sunset and, when predator populations run low, day-shift hunting. Their daily diets stress Ellora Caves teak forest fruits, fungi and nuts; small birds and mammals and their eggs; and small invertebrates such as insect larvae.

Tenuous twenty-first-century populations of nine wild mammal species in natural, unofficial Ellora Caves sanctuary gardens never threaten tourist traffic to Ellora Caves' animal, people, plant-themed artistry.

yakshi seated on her lion (left corner) under a fruit-laden mango tree; Ellora Caves, Maharashtra state, western peninsular India; May 2004: Y. Shishido, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

yakshi seated on her lion (left corner) under a fruit-laden mango tree; Ellora Caves, Maharashtra state, western peninsular India; May 2004: Y. Shishido, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ellora_cave34_001.jpg

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