Preliminary report on the herpetofaunal diversity of Batu Hampar Recreational Forest, Kedah, Malaysia

By

Zijia, Hong
Anuar, Shahrul
Grismer, L Lee
Quah, Evan Seng Huat

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2021-5-25

Original Publication

Check list : journal of species lists and distribution

Volume

17

Series / Issue

Issue: 3

Pages

791--814

Subjects

Amphibians , Checklist , Herpetology , lowland rainforest , Reptiles

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

[São Paulo, Brazil] Luís Felipe Toledo 2005-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15560/17.3.791

 

Abstract

Batu Hampar Recreational Forest (BHRF) is a lowland dipterocarp forest located in the northwestern region of Peninsular Malaysia and has not been surveyed for its herpetofauna until now. A preliminary survey of the herpetofaunal diversity of BHRF was conducted from September 2018 to February 2019 resulting in 103 individuals (37 species) of amphibians and reptiles found. This includes 14 species of frogs from six families and 10 genera; 14 species of lizards from four families and 11 genera; eight species of snakes from five families and eight genera; and one species of freshwater turtle. From these results, Batu Hampar Recreational Forest has a high herpetofaunal diversity with a Simpson’s Index of Diversity of 0.869 and a Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index of 2.930. In the future, additional surveys over longer periods of time should be conducted at BHRF to produce a more complete checklist.