Amphibian and reptile diversity along a ridge-to-reef elevational gradient on a small isolated oceanic island of the central Philippines

By

Meneses, Camila G.
Siler, Cameron D
Alviola, Phillip A.
Gonzalez, Juan Carlos T
Balatibat, Juancho B.
Natividad, Cheryl A.
Brown, Rafe M.

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2022-9-12

Original Publication

Check list : journal of species lists and distribution

Volume

18

Series / Issue

Issue: 5

Pages

941--948

Subjects

Biodiversity , Conservation , Ecology , endemism , faunal region

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

[São Paulo, Brazil] Luís Felipe Toledo 2005-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15560/18.5.941

 

Abstract

Despite multiple recent field studies, herpetological species diversity of the Romblon Island Group in the central Philippines—particularly Sibuyan Island—has remained underestimated. Recently, we investigated the diversity of the herpetofauna of Mount Guiting-Guiting Natural Park, based on an elevational transect (10–1557 m a.s.l.). Our surveys resulted in a total of 47 species of amphibians and reptiles, including 14 new island records and one atypical occurrence of a snake species recorded for the first time from a high elevation (939 m a.s.l). These new records constitute a notable increase (21%) in Sibuyan’s herpetological species diversity as compared to surveys from a decade ago. We also provide updates of the taxonomy and identification of species endemic to this island (e.g., members of the genera Platymantis Günther, 1858, Brachymeles Duméril & Gibron, 1839, and Pseudogekko Taylor, 1922), and discuss the importance of continued surveys and field-derived data to inform conservation status assessments of Sibuyan’s unique assemblage of amphibians and reptiles.