The Signature of Marine Lines Gate

By Sahil Shaikh, FYBSc, St. Xavier's College. Signature Spider spotted near the Marine Lines Gate.

The XZA Chronicle February 2024 News Bulletin.

feb-calendarDownload February 2024 News Bulletin Events and workshops  Certificate Course on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) by The Nature’s Eye from 12th to 14th February 2024. More information here. Last day to register for the 2nd Bird Survey in Satkosia Tiger Reserve is 15th February 2024. More details in the images below.   Detailed course in R-Programming...

Resting Beneath a Winter Sun

by Maisha Kotyan, SYJC, St. Xavier's College. A spirit of our campus slumbers In the shadows, just a paw in the sun  A place of comfort, snug and cozy Place of our dreams, a home to her.  Credits: Gayatri Dalvie, TYBSc (Blog Head) Janice Fernandes, TYBSc (Blog Sub-head) Elijah Almeida, SYBSc (Volunteer) Bhavya Sarkar, FYBSc...

The Magnificent Migrant

by Janice Fernandes, TYBSc, St. Xavier's College. In my opinion, one of the most incredible phenomena exhibited by birds is migration. Just like human beings who migrate from place to place within a country or between countries, birds too exhibit different kinds of migration. The reasons for their migration to various regions of the world...

Let Meow Nap in Peace

Critters on Campus By Sahil Shaikh, FYBSc, St. Xavier's College. Credits: Gayatri Dalvie, TYBSc (Blog Head) Janice Fernandes, TYBSc (Blog Sub-head) Elijah Almeida, SYBSc (Volunteer) Bhavya Sarkar, FYBSc (Volunteer) Vedika Thakur, FYBSc (Volunteer)

The XZA Chronicle January 2024 News Bulletin

The XZA Chronicle wishes everyone a Happy New Year! januaryDownload XZA Events A Biodiversity Trail with Kiran Sharma is being organised at Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) on 26th January 2024. More details will be announced soon. Events and Workshops The 28th ICSB International Conference 2024 on Recent Advances in Biological, Chemical, Biotechnological and Pharmaceutical...

You Snooze, You Mews

The XZA Chronicle is elated to present our brand new segment: Critters on Campus. Photographs taken by Aneesha Sreekanth, TYBSc, St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. Ah, to live such a life. These critters never have to worry about 8am lectures! Credits: Gayatri Dalvie, TYBSc (Blog Head) Janice Fernandes, TYBSc (Blog Sub-head) Elijah Almeida, SYBSc (Volunteer) Bhavya...

The XZA Chronicle December 2023 News Bulletin

december-2023 news bulletin calendar-2023Download XZA Events and Competitions The Microbiology Association of Xavier's, Mumbai in collaboration with the Xavier's Association of Botany and Xavier's Zoology Association are thrilled to unveil an exciting opportunity for all aspiring scientists, budding artists, and curious minds - the Microscopy Marvels Competition! Delve into the extraordinary world that lies beyond...

The XZA Chronicle November 2023 News Bulletin

The XZA Chronicle is proud to present the November edition of our News Bulletin. Find a calendar of the events taking place in November 2023 below. november-2023-calendar-1Download Events and Workshops   Bird Week 2023 presented by the NaturalisT Foundation, Maharashtra Nature Park, Naturalist Explorers, and the Mumbai Zoo. eBird explorers (5th November 2023, Sunday, 07:30 AM...

The Perfect Predator

By Tanya Vyas, TYBSc, St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. Skin dark as night, Embraced by the shadows she calls home, Embedded in her body the last light That you see before you return to seafoam.  The Pacific Blackdragon, alias Idiacanthus antrostomus, is a member of the barbeled dragonfishes, living up to 1000m down in the Pacific...

Great Hornbill With A Kill

A Fascinating Story of Parenting and Love by Yuvam Morvekar, FYBSc, St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. Photograph taken by Yuvam Morvekar, FYBSc, St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. February 2023. This 3-foot-tall bird will hunt down anything that it can consume. The Great Hornbill is not just a frugivore but it also feeds on birds, reptiles and even...

They’re In Your Skin

Photograph by Arjun Harish, FYBSc, St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai. Petromalidie sp. wasps parasitising a pupating Papilio polytes (Common Mormon).

Golden Jackal

Photograph taken by Yuvam Morvekar, FYBSc, St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. Golden Jackal spotted at Thane Creek , April 2023

Ghosts of Oceans Past

By Akansha Tiwari, Conservation Filmmaker, Bangalore. Abandoned Lost Discarded Fishing Gear (ALDFG, in short) is one of the spookiest things haunting our oceans and rightfully so. It is also called ghost net or ghost gear. Photo credit - Akansha Tiwari  These fishing nets, sometimes lost or discarded, keep floating in the ocean aimlessly, consequently entangling...

Deerly Departed.

A Spooktober Special! A photograph of the skull of a Barking Deer taken by Robben Arjen, SYBSc, St. Xavier's College, Mumbai.

The XZA Chronicle October 2023 News Bulletin

Dear all,  The XZA Chronicle is back with our very first news bulletin! October is rung in by the celebration of National Wildlife Week from the 2nd of October to the 8th of October. Flocks of birds have been preparing for their yearly migration as the seasons changed to find warmer grounds to live in...

Coastal Biodiversity and Livelihoods

By Elijah Almeida, FYBSc, St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. The degradation of coastal ecosystems is quite an unprecedented subject to bring up to a stranger. Everybody is cognisant of ‘human-provoked’ calamities, be it the decline of the corals and the rainforests or the melting of glaciers. However, little is talked about the world within the ocean....

Bear-y Blog-mas!

A Christmas Special! Illustration credits: Fay Pereira (IMPRINT Design Volunteer) Lo and behold, the winning submission for the pun-writing contest we held on 22nd December, 2022 is here! What did Santa Claus say to Rudolph about climate change in December? "It's rain, dear!"- Jess Rumao, SYBSc, St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. The XZA Chronicle congratulates our...

The Grey Heron

An Illustration by Ayushi Tiwari, Masters in History, Indira Gandhi National Open University. Credits: Ayushi Tiwari Often found browsing for fish near lakes and ponds or in wetlands, this long-legged bird is a notable member of the heron family. The grey heron (Ardea cinerea), unmistakable owing to its long neck, white crown, black shoulder patch,...

The Death’s-Head Hawkmoth

A Spooktober Special! By Pearl D'Souza, Illustration Class of 2024, Nottingham Trent University, UK. Credits: Pearl D'Souza Spooky season would be incomplete without bringing up our favourite adorable creature of gloom, the death's-head hawkmoth! This rebel of the moth world is one of its most feared members, and is traditionally considered to be an omen...

The Anglerfish: An ‘Abyss’mal Terror

A Spooktober Special! By Neomi D'Costa, FYBSc, St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. In the collective of horror tropes, we have many that pay homage to the unknown, be it the Lovecraftian cosmic horror of Cthulhu in the sunken city of R’lyeh or consistent reports of alien and cryptid sightings. For as long as humanity has existed,...

Anglerfish ‘Boo’logy

A Spooktober Special! By Himani Bhave, FYBSc, St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. Credits: Himani Bhave FYBSc *** The XZA Chronicle is accepting submissions for the event at blogxza@gmail.com! Submit your spookiest wildlife articles or artwork and get a chance to be featured on the blog. We will be posting shortlisted content from October 31 to November 7....

Zombie Ant

A Spooktober Special! By Fay Pereira, SYBSc, St. Xavier's College Mumbai. Credits: Fay Pereira SYBSc Ants infected by the parasitic fungus Ophiocordyceps camponoti-floridani are influenced to promote the growth and spread of the fungus through their behaviour. As seen in this comic strip, 'Zombie Ants' is another name for the ants infected by this fungus. It...

A Brief History of Gene Editing

By Ishitv Vats, SYBSc, St. Xavier's College Mumbai. One of the greatest skills that has eluded biologists since the discovery of our genetic material is the ability to transform or alter it with surgical precision. This ability would become of utmost importance as it would effectively give us near limitless control over our genome and...

Dinosaurs: Warm-Blooded or Cold-Blooded?

By Rudram Bhagwat, TYBSc, St. Xavier's College Mumbai. In 15th century Europe, the city of Florence in North Italy gave rise to the Renaissance, a period in European history which is characterised by the stark change in culture and society it brought about. The Renaissance is the period which produced arguably the 4 most famous...

The Endemic Bloom

By Ruthvik S P Evolutionary Spectacles of Orchids A view of the dense forests of Western Ghats. Picture credits: Ruthvik S P The dense tropical forests of the western ghats are home to over twenty thousand species of flowering plants. Among them, the mystic members flowering high up in the canopies belong to the family...

The Venomous Four

By Deepankar Mahabale, TYBSc, St. Xavier's College Mumbai. India is home to a diverse variety of snakes which can be found in various shapes and sizes. One might have seen some of the most terrifying snake bite videos on National Geographic or Discovery channel, such as a Black Mamba striking like a flash and killing...

Evolution of Turtles

By Olivia Manjaly, SYBSc, St. Xaviers College Mumbai. The origin of all turtles may be traced back to South Africa — but in a very different environment. Eunotosaurus africanus lived around 260 million years ago on the beaches of the ancient Karoo sea, among the dunes and bushes of a semi-arid Gondwana. Gondwana, commonly known...

The Oddities of Bitter Taste

By Diya K Prasad, SYBSc, St. Xaviers College Mumbai. Image 1: The poison dart frog, Dendrobates tinctorius.Credits: Cuvier ,Source: Wikimedia Commons.(Brightness of the picture is modified) A SCENE FROM THE AMAZON Humid air weaves through the thick Amazonian flora, painted viridian by the storm. Amidst the monotonous foliage, a vibrancy of colour presents himself: a...

Axolotl: The Mexican Walking Fish

By Vrushali Godbole         In Aztec mythology, the narrative of ‘the five suns’ is our world's founding myth. The dawning of the fifth sun led to the beginning of the age in which humanity was formed, and it is also the beginning of the era in which we now dwell. According to folklore, the gods created...

Extinct Monstrous Relatives of Modern animals

By Kshitij Kulkarni  In prehistoric times, the Earth was home to a wide variety of creatures that we would consider to be the stuff of nightmares. From elephants and rhinos that could easily look into the first floor of a house and monitor lizards the size of SUVs to cow-sized rodents, the Cenozoic Era, the...

A day in the life of a parasite

By Maidhili Narayanan “Right over there...Yes, that’s the cell I want. Everyone else finds their own cells. We need to prepare for invasion as soon as possible!” All the rush and chaos created a sense of peace in me as I knew the result would be fruitful. I am Plasmodium falciparum, my friends call me...

D for Depression

By Froilan Sequeira Picture credits: Stormseeker, Source: Unsplash Depression like all other mental illnesses is considered to be a social stigma. Stigma can lead to discrimination which may be obvious such as, someone making a negative and rather humiliating remark about your mental illness or treatment, it may be unintentional or subtle, such as someone...

A Current Affair- Animal Welfare

By Zian Deolaliwalla  "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." -Mahatma Gandhi. Animals are an integral part of our ecosystem. To explain how important animals are, World Animal Day is celebrated on the 4th of October universally. The objective is to educate people...

Wild boars: Large, Aggressive and Hungry

By Deepankar Mahabale What comes to your mind when you hear the word pig? A pink-coloured cute little animal from Winnie the Pooh or someone like Mr. Porky Pig from Looney Tunes? The aforementioned characters are domesticated versions of pigs with a calm and cool attitude. However, there are some pigs which are super ferocious,...

Snow leopards : The Phantom Of the Mountains

By Dylan Dsa Picture Credits : David Ogden, Source: Pexels   We have seen Tai Lung, the evil kung fu master in the Kung Fu Panda films and thought about how unrealistic his exploits were. Just imagine a snow leopard dodging falling stalactites with ease by jumping on each one of them! However, did you know...

The Last Frontier

Travel to Antarctica with the writer through her words as she traverses through masses of ice amongst the rarest wildlife.

Blue-Ringed Octopus : A Deadly Denizen of the Sea

From being a cult symbol in a Bond movie to being on someone's plate, the blue-ringed octopus has many stories to tell.

Wild Tales through Origami

Take a look at artistically photographed origami models of animals and some facts about them.