Rohan Pethiyagoda

Sri Lankan scientist and conservationist

Rohan Pethiyagoda

Born|

Tilak Rohan David Pethiyagoda

(1955-11-19) 19 November 1955 (age 68)

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Nationality| Sri Lankan
Education| BSc, M.Phil.
Alma mater| S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, King's College, London, University of Sussex
Occupation| Taxonomist
Years active| 1990–present
Employer| Australian Museum
Notable work| Freshwater fishes of Sri Lanka (1990)
Pearls, spices and green gold: an illustrated history of biodiversity exploration in Sri Lanka (2007)
Horton Plains: Sri Lanka's cloud-forest national park (2012)
The Ecology and Biogeography of Sri Lanka: A Context for Freshwater Fishes (2021)
Awards| Vadamarachchi Medal, 1987, Rolex Award for Enterprise, 2000, The Linnean Medal, 2022
Website| The Wildlife Heritage Trust of Sri Lanka[dead link]

Rohan David Pethiyagoda is a Sri Lankan biodiversity scientist, amphibian and freshwater-fish taxonomist, author, conservationist and public-policy advocate.

## Early life and career

[edit]

Born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 19 November 1955 Pethiyagoda had his secondary education at S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia. He was awarded a BSc (Eng.) Hons. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from King's College, University of London in 1977, and a M.Phil. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Sussex in 1980.[1]

## Service

[edit]

From 1981 to 1982 Pethiyagoda served as an engineer in the Division of Biomedical Engineering of the Sri Lankan Ministry of Health, and from 1982 to 1987 as director of that institution. That same year he was awarded the Vadamarachchi Medal by President J.R. Jayewardene for his services to the Sri Lanka Armed Forces during the Vadamarachchi Campaign.[2] In 1984 he was concurrently appointed chairman of Sri Lanka's Water Resources Board. He served as Advisor on Environment and Natural resources to the Government of Sri Lanka from 2002 to 2004 and was in 2005 elected Deputy Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission.[3] In 2008 Pethiyagoda was elected to the board of trustees of the International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, having previously served a four-year term as Deputy Chair of the Assurance Group of the British American Tobacco Biodiversity Partnership. In 2009 he was appointed a Research Associate of the Australian Museum, Sydney,[4] and from 2015 to 2018 he served as Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tea Board.[5] On 22 June 2022, Pethiyagoda was appointed Senior Policy Adviser to Sajith Premadasa, MP, Leader of the Opposition of Sri Lanka.[6]

## Naturalist life

[edit]

He resigned from government office in 1987 to commence work on a project to explore the island's freshwater fishes,[7] which led to his first book in 1990, Freshwater fishes of Sri Lanka,[1] an illustrated account of the country's freshwater-fish fauna.[8]

Pethiyagoda diverted the profits from this book to an endowment for the Wildlife Heritage Trust (WHT), a foundation he established in 1990 to further biodiversity exploration in Sri Lanka, with the business model of publishing natural history books and channelling the proceeds into further exploration and research.[7] Between 1991 and 2012 WHT published some 40 books in both English and Sinhala, including titles such as A field guide to the birds of Sri Lanka,[9] one of several titles translated into Sinhala and, aided by a grant from the Biodiversity Window of the World Bank / Netherlands Partnership Programme, provided free to 5,000 school libraries.[10][11][12][13] This program aimed, for the first time in Sri Lanka, to put scientific local-language biodiversity texts in the hands of young people.[14] Pethiyagoda has also been outspoken in his advocacy of policy reform in Sri Lanka, writing on subjects such as biopiracy,[15] abortion[16] and sexual ethics[17] in the media, in addition to lecture-videos on diverse topics including nutrition, agricultural policy, and economic and political reform.[18]

## Discoveries

[edit]

Together with colleagues at WHT Pethiyagoda has been responsible for the discovery and/or description of almost 100 new species of vertebrates from Sri Lanka, including fishes,[1][19] amphibians[13][20] and lizards,[21][22] in addition to 43 species of freshwater crabs.[23] This work also led to the finding that some 19 species of Sri Lankan amphibians have become extinct in the past 130 years,[20] the highest national extinction record in the world.[24]

## Recognition

[edit]

In 1998, concerned by the rapid loss of montane forest in Sri Lanka, Pethiyagoda began a (still ongoing) project to convert abandoned tea plantations into natural forest,[25] for which he was honoured by the Rolex Awards for Enterprise.[7][26]

In 2022, he received the Linnean Medal from the Linnean Society of London, becoming the first Sri Lankan and only the second Asian to receive this award since its inception in 1888.[27]

In recognition of his contribution to biodiversity conservation Pethiyagoda was elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences of Sri Lanka.[28] In addition to some 60 papers in the scientific literature,[29] his most recently published books are on the history of natural-history exploration in Sri Lanka,[30] Sri Lankan primates,[31] Horton Plains National Park[32] and the biogeography of Sri Lanka.[33] He is a Research Associate of the Australian Museum[34] and serves as editor for Asian Freshwater Fishes of the journal Zootaxa.[35]

## Legacy

[edit]

Several new species have been named in his honour, including the fishes Dawkinsia rohani[36] and Rasboroides rohani;[37] the microhylid frog Uperodon rohani[38][39]; the dragon lizard Calotes pethiyagodai;[40] the jumping spider Onomastus pethiyagodai[41] and the dragonfly Macromidia donaldi pethiyagodai.[42] In 2020, a team of scientists led by S. D. Biju named a new genus of South and Southeast Asian tree frogs Rohanixalus in Pethiyagoda's honour.[43][44]

In July 2012 Pethiyagoda and colleagues named a genus of South Asian freshwater fishes Dawkinsia in honour of the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins,[45] following which Pethiyagoda told AFP that "Richard Dawkins has through his writings helped us understand that the universe is far more beautiful and awe-inspiring than any religion has imagined".[46] Pethiyagoda also named the freshwater cyprinid genus Haludaria[47] after the Begali youth known only as Haludar, who illustrated the fishes depicted in Francis Hamilton's (1822) "Fishes of the Ganges", the founder work of Indian ichthyology.

## Taxa described by Pethiyagoda

[edit]

* See Category:Taxa named by Rohan Pethiyagoda

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Pethiyagoda, Rohan (1990). Freshwater fishes of Sri Lanka. Colombo: WHT. p. 362\. ISBN 955-9114-00-X.
2. ^ "What matters is the work we do". Silumina.
3. ^ Black, Richard (19 September 2005). "Global plan to rescue amphibians". BBC News. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
4. ^ "Fish Section Research Associates". The Australian Museum. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
5. ^ "Rohan Pethiyagoda new Tea Board Chairman". Daily FT. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
6. ^ "Dr. Pethiyagoda appointed Senior Policy Advisor to Opposition Leader". Daily FT.
7. ^ a b c "Rohan Pethiyagoda – The Project". Rolex Awards for Enterprise. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
8. ^ Moyle, P.B. (1991). "Review of R. Pethiyagoda, Freshwater Fishes of Sri Lanka". Copeia. 1991 (4): 1166–1177. doi:10.2307/1446131. JSTOR 1446131.
9. ^ Kotagama S.; Wijayasinghe, A. (1995). A field guide to the birds of Sri Lanka. WHT. p. 224\. ISBN 955-9114-07-7.
10. ^ Kotagama, S.; Wijayasinghe, A. (1998). Siri Laka kurullo ['Birds of Sri Lanka']. Colombo: WHT. p. 516\. ISBN 955-9114-18-2.
11. ^ Ashton, M.S.; Gunatilleke, S.; de Zoysa, N.; Dassanayake, M.D.; Gunatilleke, N.; Siril Wijesundera, S. (2004). Siri Laka gaskolan athpotha ['A handbook to the trees and shrubs of Sri Lanka']. Translated by Wijayasinghe, A. Colombo: WHT. p. 513\. ISBN 978-955-9114-30-7.
12. ^ Somaweera, R. (2006). Sri Lankawe Sarpayin ['Snakes of Sri Lanka']. Colombo: WHT. p. 297\. ISBN 955-9114-35-2.
13. ^ a b Manamendra-Arachchi, K.; Pethiyagoda, R. (2007). Sri Lankawe Ubhayajeeveen ['The amphibian fauna of Sri Lanka']. Colombo: WHT. p. 440\. ISBN 978-955-9114-34-5.
14. ^ Fernando, Prithiviraj. "New perspective on amphibians". The Sunday Leader. Archived from the original on 27 November 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
15. ^ "Biopiracy threatens Sri Lanka's tourism sector". Daily FT. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
16. ^ "Abortion: The agony of a nation | Daily FT". www.ft.lk. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
17. ^ "No sex please, we're Sri Lankan". Daily FT. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
18. ^ Rohan Pethiyagoda's channel on YouTube
19. ^ Pethiyagoda, R.; Kottelat, M.; Silva, A.; Maduwage, M.; Meegaskumbura, M. (2008). "A review of the genus Laubuca in Sri Lanka, with description of three new species (Teleostei: Cyprinidae)". Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters. 19: 7–26.
20. ^ a b Manamendra-Arachchi, K.; Pethiyagoda, R. (2005). "The Sri Lankan shrub frogs of the genus Philautus Gistel". Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. Supplement 12: 163–303.
21. ^ Pethiyagoda, R.; Manamendra-Arachchi, K. (1998). "A revision of the endemic Sri Lankan agamid lizard genus Ceratophora Gray, 1835, with description of two new species". Journal of South Asian Natural History. 3: 1–52.
22. ^ Manamendra–Arachchi, K.; Batuwita, S.; Pethiyagoda, R. (2007). "A revision of the Sri Lankan day geckos (Reptilia: Gekkonidae: Cnemaspis), with description of new species from Sri Lanka and southern India". Zeylanica. 7: 9–122.
23. ^ Bahir, Mohomed M.; Ng, P.K.L.; Crandall, K.; Pethiyagoda, R. (2005). "A conservation assessment of the freshwater crabs of Sri Lanka". Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. Supplement 12: 121–126.
24. ^ Bambaradeniya, Channa, ed. (2006). The fauna of Sri Lanka: status of taxonomy, research and conservation (PDF). International Union for Conservation of Nature. pp. 125–131. ISBN 955-8177-51-2.
25. ^ Pethiyagoda, Rohan S. Jr.; Nanayakkara, S. (2011). "Invasion by Austroeupatorium inulifolium (Asteraceae) arrests succession following tea cultivation in the highlands of Sri Lanka". Ceylon Journal of Science (Biological Sciences). 40 (2): 175–181. doi:10.4038/cjsbs.v40i2.3934.
26. ^ "Rohan Pethiyagoda – The call of the cloud forest" - via www.youtube.com.
27. ^ Dissanayake, Rajith (24 May 2022). "Sri Lankan wins Linnean Medal, the 'Nobel Prize for naturalists' (commentary)". Mongabay Environmental News. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
28. ^ "The (US) Tropical Forest Conservation Act: Flogging Dead Horses". The Island. Archived from the original on 18 June 2019.
29. ^ "Google Scholar". scholar.google.com.
30. ^ Pethiyagoda, R. (2007). Pearls, spices and green gold: an illustrated history of biodiversity exploration in Sri Lanka. Colombo: WHT. p. 241\. ISBN 978-955-9114-38-3.
31. ^ Pethiyagoda, Rohan (2012). Sri Lankan primates: An enthusiasts' guide. Colombo: Wildlife Conservation Society, Galle. p. 126\. ISBN 9789550954001.
32. ^ Pethiyagoda, R. (2012). Horton Plains: Sri Lanka's cloud-forest national park. WHT. p. 320\. ISBN 978-955-9114-41-3.
33. ^ Pethiyagoda, R.; Sudasinghe, H. (2021). The ecology and biogeography of Sri Lanka: A context for freshwater fishes. Colombo: WHT Publications. p. 258\. ISBN 9786249837805.
34. ^ "Fish Section Research Associates". The Australian Museum. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
35. ^ "Pisces". Magnolia Press. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
36. ^ Devi, K. Rema; Indra, T.J.; Knight, J.D. Marcus (26 August 2010). "Puntius rohani (Teleostei: Cyprinidae), a new species of barb in the Puntius filamentosus group from southern Western Ghats of India". Journal of Threatened Taxa. 2 (9): 1121–1129. doi:10.11609/jott.o2505.1121-9.
37. ^ Batuwita, Sudesh; de Silva, M.; Edirisinghe, U. (November 2013). "A review of the danionine genera Rasboroides and Horadandia (Pisces: Cyprinidae), with description of a new species from Sri Lanka". Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters. 24 (2): 121–140.
38. ^ Garg, Sonali; Senevirathne, Gayani; Wijayathilaka, Nayana; Phuge, Samadhan; Deuti, Kaushik; Manamendra-Arachchi, Kelum; Meegaskumbura, Madhava; Biju, Sd (22 February 2018). "An integrative taxonomic review of the South Asian microhylid genus Uperodon". Zootaxa. 4384 (1): 1–88. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4384.1.1. ISSN 1175-5334. PMID 29689915.
39. ^ "'Yala Toilet Frog' named after departing Tea Board chairman". Daily FT. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
40. ^ Amarasinghe, A.A. Thasun; Karunarathna, D.M.S.S.; Hallermann, J.; Fujunuma, J.; Grillitsch, H.; Campbell, P.D. (2014). "A new species of the genus Calotes (Squamata: Agamidae) from high elevations of the Knuckles Massif of Sri Lanka". Zootaxa. 3785 (1): 59–78. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3785.1.5. PMID 24872171.
41. ^ Benjamin, Suresh P. (2010). "Revision and cladistic analysis of the jumping spider genus Onomastus (Araneae: Salticidae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 159 (3): 711–745. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00580.x.
42. ^ van der Poorten, Nancy (2012). "Macromidia donaldi pethiyagodai subsp. nov. from Sri Lanka (Odonata: Corduliidae)". International Journal of Odonatology. 15 (2): 99–106. doi:10.1080/13887890.2012.692112. S2CID 219595968.
43. ^ Biju, S. D.; Garg, Sonali; Gokulakrishnan, G.; Chandrakasan, Sivaperuman; Thammachoti, Panupong; Ren, Jinlong; Gopika, C.; Bisht, Karan; Hamidy, Amir; Shouche, Yogesh (12 November 2020). "New insights on the systematics and reproductive behaviour in tree frogs of the genus Feihyla , with description of a new related genus from Asia (Anura, Rhacophoridae)". Zootaxa. 4878 (1): zootaxa.4878.1.1. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4878.1.1. ISSN 1175-5334. PMID 33311165. S2CID 228859751.
44. ^ Singh, Shiv Sahay (12 November 2020). "New genus of tree frog discovered, found in Andamans and Northeast India". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
45. ^ Pethiyagoda, Rohan; Meegaskumbura, M.; Maduwage, K. (2012). "A synopsis of the genus Puntius in South Asia (Pisces: Cyprinidae)" (PDF). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters. 23: 69–95. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
46. ^ AFP (16 July 2012). "Sri Lankans name new type of fish after Richard Dawkins". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
47. ^ Pethiyagoda, Rohan (2 May 2013). "Haludaria, a replacement generic name for Dravidia (Teleostei: Cyprinidae)". Zootaxa. 3646 (2): 199. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.310.3371. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3646.2.9. ISSN 1175-5334. PMID 26213759.

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* Israel
* United States

Academics|

* ORCID

Other|

* IdRef