A. A. Thasun Amarasinghe, PhD.
I'm an Indonesian herpetologist interested in systematics, evolution, biogeography, ecology and conservation of Reptiles and Amphibians in South and Southeast Asia.
Rabdion grovesi is an endemic and unique snake discovered from the central highlands of Sulawesi Island.
Cnemaspis rajabasa is an endemic and large day-gecko discovered from a volcanic mountain on the southern tip of Sumatra Island.
Calotes pethiyagodai is an endemic agamid lizard discovered from the Knuckles montane forest in Sri Lanka.
A. A. Thasun Amarasinghe, born in Colombo, Sri Lanka on November 22, 1984, is a renowned Indonesian herpetologist with a deep passion for reptiles. From an early age, his fascination with biology, particularly in herpetofauna, shaped his academic and research journey. Thasun pursued his undergraduate studies in Natural Sciences across several institutions in Sri Lanka (The Open University and University of Colombo) and the USA (Harvard University), before earning his MSc by Research and PhD in Biology from Universitas Indonesia.
Currently, Thasun is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Research Center for Biosystematics and Evolution (Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense) at the National Research & Innovation Agency (BRIN; Government of Indonesia). In addition to this, he serves as Research Manager for the Indonesian Science Fund (DIPI) at the Indonesian Academy of Sciences (AIPI) and a Research Scientist at the Research Center for Climate Change, Universitas Indonesia. Thasun also holds various influential roles, including Coordinator for Asia at the Skink Specialist Group / Species Survival Commission (SSC) of the IUCN, Chairman of the Asian Herpetological Association (AHA), Editor-in-Chief of TAPROBANICA Journal (Scopus), and editorial board member for several scientific journals. Additionally, he is a Senior Researcher at Universitas Gadjah Mada’s Faculty of Forestry, actively contributing to tropical forest landscape restoration (FLR), forest rehabilitation, and habitat rnrichment projects.
Thasun’s primary research interests lie in the speciation, dispersal, biogeography, and evolution of widely distributed species, focusing particularly on systematics, morphological variation, and island dispersal across South and Southeast Asia. He has led extensive fieldwork in remote islands, dense forests, and high mountain ranges, conducting fresh collections and studying museum specimens, and complemented by molecular analyses in laboratories. His research has led to the discovery of over 30 new species from India, Sri Lanka, the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
Thasun’s prolific contributions to systematics, island biogeography, ecology, evolution, and conservation are reflected in a high volume of peer-reviewed publications, many in prestigious journals. Alongside his research, he is a dedicated journal editor and peer reviewer, regularly assessing manuscripts, technical reports, and government project evaluations.
Selected Publications
Ardiantiono, ..... & AAT Amarasinghe (2023). Integrating social and ecological information to identify high-risk areas of human-crocodile conflict in the Indonesian Archipelago. Biological Conservation 280: 109965.
Biakzuala L, ....., AAT Amarasinghe & A Malhotra (2023). Molecular phylogeny reveals distinct evolutionary lineages of the banded krait, Bungarus fasciatus (Squamata, Elapidae) in Asia. Nature Scientific Reports 13: 2061.
Amarasinghe AAT, ..... & D Jablonski (2023). Integrative approach resolves the systematics of barred wolf snakes in the Lycodon striatus complex (Reptilia, Colubridae). Zoologica Scripta 52: 184–207.
Amarasinghe AAT, ..... & J Supriatna (2021). Herpetofaunal diversity of West Bali National Park, Indonesia with identification of indicator species for long-term monitoring. Global Ecology & Conservation 28: e01638.
Amarasinghe AAT, ..... & I Ineich (2018). Systematic composition of the Eutropis multifasciata (Kuhl, 1820) species complex (Squamata: Scincidae) and designation of a neotype. Herpetologica 74 (4): 342–354.
Karunarathna S, AAT Amarasinghe, ..... (2017). Distribution, habitat associations and conservation implications of Sri Lankan freshwater terrapins outside the protected area network. Aquatic Conservation: Marine & Freshwater Ecosystems 27 (6): 1301-1312.
Currently, Thasun is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Research Center for Biosystematics and Evolution (Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense) at the National Research & Innovation Agency (BRIN; Government of Indonesia). In addition to this, he serves as Research Manager for the Indonesian Science Fund (DIPI) at the Indonesian Academy of Sciences (AIPI) and a Research Scientist at the Research Center for Climate Change, Universitas Indonesia. Thasun also holds various influential roles, including Coordinator for Asia at the Skink Specialist Group / Species Survival Commission (SSC) of the IUCN, Chairman of the Asian Herpetological Association (AHA), Editor-in-Chief of TAPROBANICA Journal (Scopus), and editorial board member for several scientific journals. Additionally, he is a Senior Researcher at Universitas Gadjah Mada’s Faculty of Forestry, actively contributing to tropical forest landscape restoration (FLR), forest rehabilitation, and habitat rnrichment projects.
Thasun’s primary research interests lie in the speciation, dispersal, biogeography, and evolution of widely distributed species, focusing particularly on systematics, morphological variation, and island dispersal across South and Southeast Asia. He has led extensive fieldwork in remote islands, dense forests, and high mountain ranges, conducting fresh collections and studying museum specimens, and complemented by molecular analyses in laboratories. His research has led to the discovery of over 30 new species from India, Sri Lanka, the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
Thasun’s prolific contributions to systematics, island biogeography, ecology, evolution, and conservation are reflected in a high volume of peer-reviewed publications, many in prestigious journals. Alongside his research, he is a dedicated journal editor and peer reviewer, regularly assessing manuscripts, technical reports, and government project evaluations.
Selected Publications
Ardiantiono, ..... & AAT Amarasinghe (2023). Integrating social and ecological information to identify high-risk areas of human-crocodile conflict in the Indonesian Archipelago. Biological Conservation 280: 109965.
Biakzuala L, ....., AAT Amarasinghe & A Malhotra (2023). Molecular phylogeny reveals distinct evolutionary lineages of the banded krait, Bungarus fasciatus (Squamata, Elapidae) in Asia. Nature Scientific Reports 13: 2061.
Amarasinghe AAT, ..... & D Jablonski (2023). Integrative approach resolves the systematics of barred wolf snakes in the Lycodon striatus complex (Reptilia, Colubridae). Zoologica Scripta 52: 184–207.
Amarasinghe AAT, ..... & J Supriatna (2021). Herpetofaunal diversity of West Bali National Park, Indonesia with identification of indicator species for long-term monitoring. Global Ecology & Conservation 28: e01638.
Amarasinghe AAT, ..... & I Ineich (2018). Systematic composition of the Eutropis multifasciata (Kuhl, 1820) species complex (Squamata: Scincidae) and designation of a neotype. Herpetologica 74 (4): 342–354.
Karunarathna S, AAT Amarasinghe, ..... (2017). Distribution, habitat associations and conservation implications of Sri Lankan freshwater terrapins outside the protected area network. Aquatic Conservation: Marine & Freshwater Ecosystems 27 (6): 1301-1312.
