Amphibians and reptiles from the Mt. Hamiguitan Range of eastern Mindanao Island, Philippines: new distribution records

By

Supsup, Christian E.
Guinto, Faith M.
Redoblado, Bernard R.
Gomez, Rai S.

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2017-5-19

Original Publication

Check list : journal of species lists and distribution

Volume

13

Series / Issue

Issue: 3

Pages

2121--14

Subjects

Checklist , Conservation status , herpetofauna , repeated surveys

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

[São Paulo, Brazil] Luís Felipe Toledo 2005-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15560/13.3.2121

 

Abstract

Despite extensive surveys conducted in the past, many remote areas in the Philippines remain unexplored and many species are unknown to science. The Mount Hamiguitan Range (MHR) is among these areas, containing large remaining forests tracts. In this study, we report new records of amphibians and reptiles from MHR and propose removing two species from the previously listed species from this mountain range. We used standardized techniques to sample populations of amphibians and reptiles in fragmented forests of Mt. Hamiguitan. Our survey resulted in 16 new records of species (four frogs, three lizards and nine snakes). Combining our results with previous studies, the known species diversity from the MHR is now increased to a total of 61 taxa. Our results highlight the underestimated diversity of herpetofauna of Mt. Hamiguitan, and we discuss the importance of repeated surveys for determining species occurrences and assessing their conservation status.