Species in News for UPSC Prelims 2026: Complete List with Key Facts

Species in News for UPSC Prelims 2026 covers important animals, birds, and plants in current affairs including jumping spiders, cheetahs, turtles, vultures and sharks with conservation status and key facts.

Table of Contents

Species in News is one of the most important sections for UPSC Prelims Environment & Ecology. Questions are frequently asked about new species discoveries, endangered animals, conservation status, and ecological significance.

This article compiles the most important species in the news for UPSC Prelims 2026, covering key facts, habitats, and IUCN status.

List of Species in News 2026

Species in News is an important component of UPSC Prelims Environment and Ecology, where questions frequently test knowledge of discoveries, conservation status, habitats, and unique biological features. The following list covers the most important species currently in news and provides concise, exam-oriented information for effective revision.

No	Species	Type	Region	Key Feature	IUCN Status
1	Pilia Jumping Spider	Spider	Western Ghats	Endemic genus	Not Evaluated
2	Southern Elephant Seal	Mammal	Antarctic	Largest seal	LC
3	African Grey Parrot	Bird	Africa	Intelligent mimic bird	Endangered
4	Cuban Gar	Fish	Cuba	Air breathing fish	Critically Endangered
5	Cheetah	Mammal	Africa/India	Fastest land animal	Vulnerable
6	Rhesus Macaque	Mammal	Asia	Widely distributed primate	LC
7	Zebra Finch	Bird	Australia	Song learning model	LC
8	Fireflies	Insect	Global	Bioluminescence	Varies
9	Honey Bees	Insect	Global	Pollinators	Not Evalued
10	Green Sea Turtle	Reptile	Oceans	Herbivorous turtle	LC
11	Puerto Rican Anoles	Reptile	Puerto Rico	Rapid evolution	NE
12	Dodo Bird	Bird	Mauritius	Extinct species	Extinct
13	Ngamugawi wirngarri	Fish	Australia	Indigenous naming	NE
14	Rhinoceros	Mammal	Africa/Asia	Keystone species	Varies
15	Kumki Elephants	Mammal	India	Trained elephants	Endangered (Asian elephant)
16	Sea Robins	Fish	Oceans	Walking fish	NE
17	Swallowtail Butterfly	Insect	NE India	Osmeterium defense	Varies
18	Halari Donkey	Mammal	Gujarat	Endemic breed	Endangered
19	Oyster	Mollusc	Oceans	Filter feeder	NE
20	Coyote	Mammal	America	Urban adaptation	LC
21	Giant Kangaroo (Extinct)	Mammal	Australia	Evolution study	Extinct
22	Leopard Shark	Fish	Indo-Pacific	Zebra shark	Endangered
23	Darwin Bark Spider	Spider	Madagascar	Strongest silk	NE
24	Indiaphonte bijoyi	Crustacean	Lakshadweep	Bioindicator	NE
25	Epaulette Shark	Fish	Australia	Walking shark	LC
26	Olive Ridley Turtle	Reptile	India	Arribada nesting	Vulnerable
27	Nubian Ibex	Mammal	Middle East	Desert goat	Vulnerable
28	Golden Apple Snail	Mollusc	Asia	Eye regeneration	Invasive
29	Western Tragopan	Bird	Himalaya	Endemic pheasant	Vulnerable
30	Sumatran Elephant	Mammal	Indonesia	Forest elephant	Critically Endangered
31	Slender-billed Vulture	Bird	India	Diclofenac threat	Critically Endangered
32	White-rumped Vulture	Bird	India	Major scavenger	Critically Endangered
33	Lycodon irwini	Snake	Nicobar	New species	Endangered
34	Nicobar Crake	Bird	Nicobar	Probable species	NE
35	Tenkana Spider	Spider	Karnataka	New genus	NE
36	Cat Ba Langur	Mammal	Vietnam	Rare primate	Critically Endangered
37	Tardigrade	Microfauna	Global	Extreme survival	NE
38	Caterpillar Fungus	Fungus	Himalaya	Medicinal	NE
39	African Elephant	Mammal	Africa	Largest land mammal	Endangered
40	Asian Elephant	Mammal	Asia	Keystone species	Endangered
41	Minke Whale	Mammal	Oceans	Baleen whale	LC
42	Ginkgo Biloba	Plant	China	Living fossil	Endangered
43	Spade-toothed Whale	Mammal	New Zealand	Rarest whale	DD
44	Flamingos	Bird	Wetlands	Migratory bird	LC
45	Wisdom Albatross	Bird	Pacific	Oldest bird	LC
46	Indian Star Tortoise	Reptile	India	Pet trade	Vulnerable
47	Spot-billed Pelican	Bird	India	Large waterbird	Near Threatened
48	Lion-tailed Macaque	Mammal	Western Ghats	Endemic primate	Endangered
49	Squirrel Monkey	Mammal	America	Arboreal primate	LC
50	Corpse Flower	Plant	Indonesia	Largest flower	Endangered
51	Elephant Communication	Mammal	Africa	Seismic signals	NA
52	Sea Turtle Study	Reptile	India	Conservation	NA
53	Jacaranda Tree	Plant	South America	Ornamental tree	NE
54	Painted Lady Butterfly	Insect	Global	Migratory butterfly	LC
55	Nilgiri Tahr	Mammal	India	Western Ghats endemic	Endangered
56	Brahminy Blind Snake	Reptile	Global	Parthenogenesis	LC
57	Humboldt Penguin	Bird	Peru	Cold water penguin	Vulnerable
58	Reef Fish	Fish	Oceans	Coral ecosystem	NA
59	Asiatic Lion	Mammal	India	Gujarat population	Endangered
60	Saluki Dog	Mammal	Middle East	Ancient breed	NA
61	Anopheles stephensi	Insect	Asia	Malaria vector	NA
62	Dugong	Mammal	India	Sea cow	Vulnerable
63	Dhole	Mammal	Asia	Wild dog	Endangered
64	Lady Slipper Orchid	Plant	Forests	Rare orchid	NE
65	Griffon Vulture	Bird	Asia	Scavenger	LC
66	Great Hornbill	Bird	India	Forest indicator	Vulnerable
67	Grey Seal	Mammal	Atlantic	Marine mammal	LC
68	Fishing Cat	Mammal	Asia	Wetland cat	Vulnerable
69	Water Hyacinth	Plant	Global	Invasive plant	Invasive
70	Orangutan	Mammal	Indonesia	Arboreal ape	Critically Endangered
71	Orca	Mammal	Oceans	Apex predator	DD
72	River Dolphin	Mammal	India	Freshwater dolphin	Endangered
73	Naked Mole Rat	Mammal	Africa	Cancer resistance	LC
74	Snow Leopard	Mammal	Himalaya	Mountain predator	Vulnerable
75	Indian Wolf	Mammal	India	Grassland predator	Endangered
76	Baleen Whales	Mammal	Oceans	Filter feeders	Varies
77	Apatani Horned Toad	Amphibian	Arunachal	Endemic frog	NE

Important Species in News for UPSC 2026

Important Species in News is a crucial topic for UPSC Prelims 2026, especially under Environment and Ecology. Questions often focus on newly discovered species, conservation status, unique adaptations, and habitats. The following table provides concise and exam-oriented details of the most important species currently in news, useful for quick revision and factual accuracy.

Species	Scientific Name	Type	Habitat/Distribution	Why in News	Key Features	Conservation Status
Olive Ridley Turtle	Lepidochelys olivacea	Reptile	Tropical oceans; Odisha coast	Mass nesting (Arribada) observed	Smallest sea turtle; synchronized nesting; long migrations	IUCN: Vulnerable; WPA Schedule I
Green Sea Turtle	Chelonia mydas	Reptile	Tropical oceans	IUCN status improved	Only herbivorous sea turtle; seagrass feeder	IUCN: Least Concern; WPA Schedule I
Cheetah	Acinonyx jubatus	Mammal	Africa; India (Kuno)	Project Cheetah update	Fastest land animal; diurnal hunter	IUCN: Vulnerable
Western Tragopan	Tragopan melanocephalus	Bird	Western Himalayas	Conservation threats	Bright plumage; forest bird	IUCN: Vulnerable; WPA Schedule I
Golden Apple Snail	Pomacea canaliculata	Mollusc	Asia; paddy fields	Eye regeneration research	Can regrow eyes; invasive pest	Invasive species
Fireflies	Lampyridae	Insect	Global	Decline due to light pollution	Bioluminescence using luciferin	Varies
Honey Bees	Apis spp.	Insect	Global	Virus spillover research	Pollinators; waggle dance	Not Evaluated
Epaulette Shark	Hemiscyllium ocellatum	Fish	Australia reefs	Climate resilience study	Walking shark; low oxygen tolerance	IUCN: Least Concern
Cuban Gar	Atractosteus tristoechus	Fish	Cuba wetlands	Rare species documented	Air-breathing fish: ancient lineage	Critically Endangered
Cat Ba Langur	Trachypithecus poliocephalus	Mammal	Vietnam	Population below 70	Limestone forest primate	Critically Endangered
Slender-billed Vulture	Gyps tenuirostris	Bird	India & SE Asia	Nesting site decline	Carrion feeder; diclofenac threat	Critically Endangered
Lycodon irwini	—	Snake	Great Nicobar	New species discovery	Non-venomous wolf snake	Endangered
Leopard Shark (Zebra Shark)	Stegostoma tigrinum	Fish	Indo-Pacific	Conservation release program	Juveniles striped; adults spotted	Endangered
Indiaphonte bijoyi	—	Crustacean	Lakshadweep lagoon	New discovery	Meiofauna bioindicator	Not Evaluated
Pilia Spider	Pilia genus	Spider	Western Ghats	New species discovery	Endemic genus; jumping spider	Not Evaluated
Tenkana Spider	Tenkana genus	Spider	Karnataka	New genus discovery	Ground-dwelling spider	Not Evaluated
Dugong	Dugong dugon	Mammal	Indian Ocean	Conservation concern	Marine herbivore; sea grass feeder	Vulnerable
Fishing Cat	Prionailurus viverrinus	Mammal	Wetlands of Asia	Conservation focus	Semi-aquatic wild cat	Vulnerable
Nilgiri Tahr	Nilgiritragus hylocrius	Mammal	Western Ghats	Census report	Mountain ungulate	Endangered
Lion-tailed Macaque	Macaca silenus	Mammal	Western Ghats	Conservation concern	Arboreal primate	Endangered
Indian Wolf	Canis lupus pallipes	Mammal	Indian grasslands	Conservation concern	Grassland predator	Endangered
African Grey Parrot	Psittacus erithacus	Bird	Central Africa	Illegal trade in India	Intelligent mimic bird	Endangered
Oyster	Various species	Mollusc	Estuaries	Reef restoration project	Filters water; ecosystem engineer	Not Evaluated
Puerto Rican Anoles	Anolis spp.	Reptile	Caribbean	Rapid evolution study	Climate adaptation	Not Evaluated
Sea Robins	Triglidae	Fish	Oceans	Evolutionary discovery	Legs used for tasting	Not Evaluated

Most Important UPSC Facts to Memorize

Extremely Important (Direct Questions Possible)

Olive Ridley → Arribada nesting
Green Turtle → Herbivorous
Golden Apple Snail → Eye regeneration + invasive
Epaulette Shark → Walking shark
Cuban Gar → Air-breathing fish
Cat Ba Langur → <70 population

Scientific Concept Species

Fireflies → Bioluminescence
Honey Bees → Pathogen spillover
Sea Robins → Evolutionary novelty
Puerto Rican Anoles → Rapid evolution

New Discoveries (Very High Probability)

Pilia Spider
Tenkana Spider
Lycodon irwini
Indiaphonte bijoyi

Read More Notes
Environment Notes	Art and Culture Notes
Science and Tech	History Notes
Geography Notes	Indian Polity Notes
General Knowledge	International Relation