A conservation checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Sonora, Mexico, with updated species lists

By

Lemos Espinal, Julio Alberto
Smith, Geoffrey
Rorabaugh, James

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2019

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

829

Pages

131-160

Subjects

Ecoregions , herpetofauna , IUCN Red List , shared species , United States-Mexico border states

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.829.32146

 

Abstract

Sonora has a rich natural diversity, including reptiles and amphibians. Sonora’s location on the United States-Mexico border creates some unique conservation challenges for its wildlife. We compiled a list of the amphibian and reptile species currently known for Sonora, summarized the conservation status of these species, and compared our list of species with known species lists for adjacent states. The herpetofauna of Sonora comprises 200 species of amphibians and reptiles (38 amphibians and 162 reptiles). Overall, Sonora shares the most species with Chihuahua, Sinaloa, and Arizona. Approximately 11% of the amphibian and reptile species are IUCN listed, but 35.5% are placed in a protected category by SEMARNAT, and 32.6% are categorized as high risk by the Environmental Vulnerability Score.