Zoological Survey of India scientists described a new Diplura species, Lepidocampa sikkimensis, from the eastern Himalayas. Diplura are primitive, soil-dwelling hexapods. It is the first Diplura species formally described by an Indian team; all 17 earlier Indian records were identified by foreign scientists. The team also rediscovered the rare subspecies Lepidocampa juradii bengalensis, unrecorded for nearly 50 years. Separately, the Vulnerable smooth-coated otter was officially recorded for the first time in Uttarakhand's Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary.