ZooKeys 624: The Amphibians and Reptiles of Mindanao Island, Southern Philippines, II The Herpetofauna of Northeast Mindanao and Adjacent Islands

About this book

Long celebrated for its remarkable terrestrial vertebrate biodiversity, the Philippines is home to a wide array of amphibian and reptile species diversity, many spectacular endemic taxa, and clades of species which evolved entirely within the archipelago. This herpetofauna has evolutionarily radiated and assembled via ecological processes, and resulting diversity maintained and partitioned by dynamic geological processes and fluctuating sea levels. In a few well-studied regions, biogeographers have identified the signature of strikingly high terrestrial biodiversity that may have resulted from a combination of processes. One such area is the Caraga Region of northeast Mindanao Island, of the southern Philippines. In this area, geographic distributions of at least 126 species of amphibians and reptiles overlap, rendering it the country’s most diverse herpetofauna characterized to date. This newly discovered epicenter of terrestrial biodiversity corresponds to an economically impoverished, heavily disturbed geographical pocket, where human population densities are high and a long history of destructive, unsustainable natural resource extraction has resulted in high levels of disturbance to natural forested habitats. The combination of high concentrations of endemic biodiversity and severe conservation urgency renders the Caraga Region a “hotspot within a hotspot” and a major priority for protected area establishment in years to come.

Contents

Introduction   2
Materials and methods   6
Results   6
Species accounts   15
Amphibia   15
Family Bufonidae   15
Family Ceratobatrachidae   18
Family Dicroglossidae   25
Family Megophryidae   31
Family Microhylidae   33
Family Ranidae   41
Family Rhacophoridae   45
Family Ichthyophiidae   54
Reptilia: Lizards   55
Family Agamidae   55
Family Dibamidae   62
Family Gekkonidae   63
Family Scincidae   70
Family Varanidae   88
Reptilia: Snakes   89
Family Colubridae   89
Family Natricidae   97
Family Elapidae   100
Family Hydrophiidae   103
Family Lamprophiidae   104
Family Pareidae   105
Family Pythonidae   106
Family Typhlopidae   106
Family Viperidae   107
Reptilia: Turtles   111
Family Bataguridae   111
Reptilia: Crocodiles   112
Family Crocodylidae   112
Discussion   113
Acknowledgements   117
References   118

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