Check List 8(6): 1220-1224, doi: 10.15560/8.6.1220
Squamata reptiles of a fragment of tropical dry forest in northwestern Venezuela (Lake Maracaibo region)
expand article infoJunior T. Larreal, Gilson A. Rivas§, Carlos Portillo-Quintero, Tito R. Barros§
‡ Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas (IVIC), Centro de Estudios Botánicos y Agroforestales (CEBA), Venezuela§ Universidad del Zulia, Venezuela
Open Access
Abstract
We present a commented taxonomic list of the reptiles found during herpetological surveys carried out in an isolated fragment of tropical dry forest located in the municipality of San Francisco, Zulia state, northwestern Venezuela between January-December 2011. We report a total of 24 species belonging to the order Squamata, distributed in 12 families and 21 genera. Colubridae is the most diverse family with six species, followed by Dipsadidae (four species), Boidae, Gymnophthalmidae, Phyllodactylidae and Teiidae with two species each, and finally Dactyloidae, Iguanidae, Elapidae, Gekkonidae, Sphaerodactylidae and Viperidae with a single species each. The species composition at this site matches what would be expected in a tropical dry forest in the region. Our study suggests that this isolated tropical dry forest fragment is the last refuge of the herpetofauna that once occupied much of the dry forests of the northern Maracaibo basin and should therefore be considered for conservation purposes.
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