Which of the following animal is not declared as a critically endangered species of reptile and amphibian of India ?

Question

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Correct — option (2), Bengal Florican, is the one that does not belong in a list of critically endangered reptiles and amphibians, for the simplest possible reason: it is not a reptile or an amphibian at all. The Bengal Florican (Houbaropsis bengalensis) is a bustard — a large, ground-dwelling grassland bird — and it is a genuinely Critically Endangered species on the IUCN Red List, with fewer than a thousand individuals estimated to survive, roughly 85% of them in India. But being Critically Endangered is not what the question is testing here; it is testing taxonomic category. The question asks which animal is 'not declared' a critically endangered species specifically 'of reptile and amphibian,' and however endangered the Bengal Florican genuinely is, it fails that description on the category alone, because a bird cannot be a reptile or an amphibian. The other three options are all reptiles and are all independently recognised as Critically Endangered: the Gharial (a crocodilian) and the Leatherback turtle and Four-toed River Terrapin (both marine/riverine turtles) each carry the taxonomic classification the question is built around, which is exactly what makes the Bengal Florican the intended answer.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) The Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) is a fish-eating crocodilian native to the Indian subcontinent, and it is both a reptile and Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List — its population has collapsed by roughly 98% since the 1940s due to river damming, sand mining and fishing pressure, with only a few hundred adults thought to survive in the wild. It satisfies both parts of the question's description, so it cannot be the answer.  (c) The Four-toed River Terrapin (more formally the Northern River Terrapin, Batagur baska) is a large freshwater turtle — a reptile — found in India mainly in the Sundarbans, and it is IUCN-listed as Critically Endangered, with its wild population reduced to only around a hundred mature individuals through decades of exploitation for its flesh and eggs and the destruction of its nesting habitat. Like the Gharial, it fits the reptile-and-critically-endangered description precisely, so it does not answer the question.  (d) Leatherback turtles are sea turtles — reptiles — found nesting on India's coasts, chiefly in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Several of their regional populations, including Pacific nesting populations, have been separately assessed by the IUCN as Critically Endangered, even though the species as a whole carries a global 'Vulnerable' assessment; in Indian conservation practice they are treated among the country's most threatened marine reptiles. Being a reptile facing critical threat, this option also fits the category the question describes and is not the exception being asked for.

Concept: This question is a taxonomy trap dressed up as a conservation-status question: three of the four options — Gharial, Four-toed River Terrapin, Leatherback turtle — are reptiles that are all genuinely Critically Endangered, while the fourth, the Bengal Florican, is a Critically Endangered bird. The correct answer turns entirely on recognising that a bird cannot belong to a list restricted to 'reptile and amphibian,' regardless of how threatened it is. This is a common examiner technique: bury one correctly-endangered but wrongly-classified species inside a list of otherwise-matching examples, so that a candidate who reasons only from 'is this species endangered?' rather than 'does this species belong to the stated category?' picks the wrong option.

State PCS 2025 Q32 — Environment & Ecology PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2025 Q32 — Environment & Ecology PYQ with Answer