Tiffany M. Doan

Which Methods Are Most Effective for Surveying Rain Forest Herpetofauna

Abstract Although several investigators have discussed different herpetofaunal sampling methodologies and their effectiveness, few have quantitatively examined which methods are superior for inventorying reptiles and amphibians in rain forest habitats. I examined two years of data from Tambopata, southeastern Peru, to compare and contrast visual encounter survey (VES) and quadrat methodologies and to determine which method yields the highest number of individuals and species per sampling effort. Four separate questions were posed concerning the number of captures for short-term surveys, long-term surveys, arboreal versus terrestrial amphibian surveys, and particular taxonomic group surveys. Over most of the analyses, more individuals and species of amphibians and reptiles were captured using VES than quadrats. In addition, more unique species were recorded with VES. However, particular microhabitats and taxonomic groups were better sampled with quadrats. In long-term surveys, the methods were equivalent with respect to number of individuals and species captured. This study provides quantitative data on the efficacy of the two methods and describes, for the first time, the particular instances in which the different methods are best suited for sampling rain forest herpetofauna.

The global distribution of tetrapods reveals a need for targeted reptile conservation

The distributions of amphibians, birds and mammals have underpinned global and local conservation priorities, and have been fundamental to our understanding of the determinants of global biodiversity. In contrast, the global distributions of reptiles, representing a third of terrestrial vertebrate diversity, have been unavailable. This prevented the incorporation of reptiles into conservation planning and biased our understanding of the underlying processes governing global vertebrate biodiversity. Here, we present and analyse the global distribution of 10,064 reptile species (99% of extant terrestrial species). We show that richness patterns of the other three tetrapod classes are good spatial surrogates for species richness of all reptiles combined and of snakes, but characterize diversity patterns of lizards and turtles poorly. Hotspots of total and endemic lizard richness overlap very little with those of other taxa. Moreover, existing protected areas, sites of biodiversity significance and global conservation schemes represent birds and mammals better than reptiles. We show that additional conservation actions are needed to effectively protect reptiles, particularly lizards and turtles. Adding reptile knowledge to a global complementarity conservation priority scheme identifies many locations that consequently become important. Notably, investing resources in some of the world’s arid, grassland and savannah habitats might be necessary to represent all terrestrial vertebrates efficiently.The global distribution of nearly all extant reptile species reveals richness patterns that differ spatially from that of other taxa. Conservation prioritization should specifically consider reptile distributions, particularly lizards and turtles.

Dietary Variation within the Andean Lizard Clade Proctoporus (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae)

Abstract Proctoporus consists of six high-elevation lizard species distributed in the cloud forest and puna habitats of Peru and Bolivia. Proctoporus ecology is poorly understood despite a recent increase in phylogenetic research on the clade. To examine differences in diets among species, stomach contents of Proctoporus from 24 sites in central and southern Peru were analyzed, including individuals of all six species. Feeding niches were compared among the species, and differences caused by species, sex, age class, and body size were examined. Proctoporus ate prey items that were large in relation to lizard body size. Collectively, Proctoporus species had broad diets with 10 different arthropod orders represented. Beetles, ants, and spiders made up the largest proportions of diets. Diet overlap was high among species but did not appear to be directly connected to species relatedness. Sex and age class were not important determinants of diet. Despite the small body size and reclusive nature of Proctoporus lizards, they possess the ability to subdue and consume heterogeneous prey species.

Patterns of Community Structure and Microhabitat Usage in Peruvian Pristimantis (Anura: Strabomantidae)

Abstract We examined patterns of community structure and microhabitat requirements of Pristimantis frogs at sites of high geographic proximity in the Tambopata region of southeastern Peru. Herpetofaunal surveys were conducted at five sites encompassing approximately 131 square km of Tambopata Province, including EcoAmazonía (EA), Reserva Amazónica (RA), Explorers Inn (EI), Sachavacayoc Centre (SC), and Tambopata Research Center (TRC). In addition to sampling and identifying all species of Pristimantis captured, environmental variables, including substrate, perch height, leaf litter depth, tree cover, and time of day, were collected and analyzed. Total frog encounters, species richness, diversity, and community similarity differed significantly among sites. Generally, similarity, richness, and diversity were not closely related to geographic proximity, but total abundance was. More individuals were captured at SC and TRC, whereas more total species were captured at TRC and EI. Diversity was the highest at TRC, followed by RA, EI, EA, and SC. Encounters of P. toftae and P. peruvianus also differed significantly among sites, with one species rarely encountered where the other was prevalent. Generally, more individuals of Pristimantis were captured during the wet season at all five sites. Significantly more individuals were captured during the night than the day. Significantly more individuals as well as species were captured on leaves and the ground versus all other substrate types, with more on leaves at night and on the ground during the day. Significantly more adults were captured higher off the ground than juveniles, with males found higher than females. There was no significant relationship between frog encounters and leaf litter or tree cover. Pristimantis peruvianus was shown to exhibit differences in microhabitat usage from P. toftae. We conclude that many factors contribute to the observed differences in diversity among the sites, requiring future studies that will also examine other environmental variables such as forest type, soil characteristics, and prey availability.

Extreme Weather Events and the Vertical Microhabitat of Rain Forest Anurans

Abstract When rapid changes in environmental factors occur in tropical rain forests, anurans may behaviorally alter their vertical microhabitat in response. Friajes are extreme weather phenomena that bring cold southern winds into Amazonia. Five friaje events during 1997 and 1998 in southern Peru were studied to examine whether anuran populations differed between visual encounter surveys conducted on friaje nights versus non-friaje nights. Anuran diversity, species richness, and number of hylid individuals were significantly greater during friajes in Peru. Friajes alter anuran vertical distributions by causing arboreal frogs to descend to lower levels in order to avoid the cold temperatures and desiccating winds associated with friajes.

A cryptic palm-pitviper species (Squamata: Viperidae: Bothriechis ) from the Costa Rican highlands, with notes on the variation within B. nigroviridis

Middle America is one of the most biodiverse regions in the world, harboring an exceptional number of rare and endemic species. This is especially true of Middle American cloud forests, where montane specialists occupy restricted, high-elevation ranges making them attractive candidates for investigating historical biogeography and speciation. One such highland-restricted species, the black speckled palm-pitviper (Bothriechis nigroviridis), occupies the Central, Tilarán, and Talamanca Cordilleras in Costa Rica and Panama. In this study, we investigate the genetic and morphological variation among populations of B. nigroviridis by inferring a multilocus phylogeny (21 individuals) and analyzing meristic scale characters with a principal component analysis (64 individuals). We find B. nigroviridis sensu stricto to be composed of two deeply divergent lineages, one with a restricted range in the northern and central Cordillera Talamanca and the other ranging throughout the Central, Tilarán, and Talamanca Cordilleras. Furthermore, these two lineages are morphologically distinct, with previously unrecognized differences in several characters allowing us to name and diagnose a new species B. nubestris sp. nov. We also examine the genetic and morphological variation within B. nigroviridis and discuss biogeographic hypotheses that may have led to the diversification of Bothriechis lineages.

Farewell, Thanks, and Welcome…

With this first issue of 2014, the Journal of Herpetology welcomes new Co-Editors and begins the process of saying goodbye to the old ones. We are working to make the transition as smooth as possible. Drs. Doan and Bartelt have been handling all manuscripts that are submitted starting 1 January, and Drs. Muths and Perry will continue to handle older manuscripts and assist with other editorial aspects for the foreseeable future. Let us start with the long ‘‘good bye’’ from the outgoing CoEditors. We inherited a strong journal and hope that we’ve been able to improve it. The Journal now looks different, has some new sections and, thanks to technological changes at Allen Press, is much more colorful. We have a new web-site, which hopefully improves access. New papers are posted on it almost as soon as they are accepted, and so are accessible long before they appear in print. We’ve even had to become more selective because the number of manuscripts submitted has grown faster than the size of the journal over the years. Some challenges will take years more to resolve. For example, administrators sometimes explicitly tell junior colleagues not to spend their time on service activities, resulting in a shortage of reviewers and longer processing times for manuscripts. Similarly, issues of academic dishonesty are a growing problem for all scientific publications. We are now coordinating with the editors of the other herpetological journals and hope to publish a joint editorial on this topic before too long. It has been a good run for us, and it is not quite over yet. But it is time to pass the reins on to new Co-Editors so that new insights and views be brought into the mix. Like every healthy population, genetic diversity is essential for our long-term well-being.

Author Correction: The global distribution of tetrapods reveals a need for targeted reptile conservation

In the version of this Article originally published, grant no. 2015/20215-7 for C.N. was omitted from the Acknowledgements section. This has now been corrected in all versions of the Article.

Beginning the Second Half of the Journal's Century: Perspectives and other Special Papers

All of last year, the Journal of Herpetology (JH) celebrated its half-century of publication with a number of special features in each of the four issues. That 50 volume marked the beginning of a change in different color formatting, and the cover of each issue included unique and historically relevant images. In addition, the March issue featured a thorough history of the events and people who created and continued to shape JH (Adler, 2016). The September issue included a special essay on herpetological ethics (Perry, 2016), a topic that has become important in a number of journals (not just herpetology), and the December issue included a special, invited essay looking at possible future aspects of communicating and publishing in herpetological journals (Seigel, 2016). We begin the second half-century of JH with an exciting change in the way we publish papers. Starting in January 2017, this 51 volume of JH moves to a continuous publication model, where each paper will go directly into production after acceptance. Prior to this volume each paper had an online pre-print through Online First; then, several months would pass before page proofs and publication. With our new publishing model, Online First is eliminated because papers will go directly from acceptance to copy editing, page proofs, and publication. Now the online publication is the official publication of record and the print issues will follow with a collection of the most recent papers. We are pleased with this change, because we expect papers to be published much faster than was possible before. To kick off this new Volume 51, we begin the first issue with two special papers. While JH publishes data-rich papers that rigorously test hypotheses or present novel taxonomic descriptions, five years ago it began publishing invited perspectives pieces from prominent herpetologists that discuss perspectives on changes in herpetology. These colleagues share with us their perspectives on a variety of topics that come from a career of rich and diverse experiences (a complete listing of these perspectives, to date, appear below). The perspective paper in this issue is written by Dr. Eric Pianka who draws from his long career studying lizards, reflects on habitat and other ecological changes he has observed, and on challenges that future lizard ecologists can expect. The second article is a synthesis paper written by Dr. Ray Semlitsch and three of his colleagues. Herpetologists worldwide have expended much effort and resources for three or more decades to understand and reverse amphibian population declines. Ray and his colleagues present and discuss amphibian declines from the perspective of ‘‘extinction debt’’, that we publish to encourage discussion of those important issues. Our thanks to Dr. Semlitsch and co-authors for making this discussion piece available to JH. As all of us know, Dr. Semlitsch passed away in June 2015, far too soon for such a young, productive, and admired scientist and colleague. We are especially proud to present you this paper, because his colleagues tell us it is his last synthesis paper. We think it brings together much of his years of work and ideas, and is one more way to commemorate his life.

A novel species of Euspondylus (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae) from the Andes Mountains of central Peru

The South American gymnophthalmid genus Euspondylus is distributed from Venezuela through Peru, with its highest diversity occurring in Peru. Euspondylus paxcorpus sp. nov. is a new species from Junín, Peru possessing prefrontal scales and represented by 60 specimens. The new species differs from all other species by the combination of four supraoculars with supraocular/supraciliary fusion, 5-7 occipitals, a single palpebral scale, five supralabials and infralabials, quadrangular dorsal scales with low keels arranged in transverse series only, 40-45 in a longitudinal count and 22-28 in a transverse count, 12 rows of ventrals in a transverse count and 23-25 in a longitudinal count, and no sexual dimorphism in coloration. The discovery of E. paxcorpus increases the known number of Euspondylus species to 13. Because the coloration patterns of the specimens were greatly different after preservation in alcohol, caution should be used when identifying Euspondylus species from museum specimens.