Amphibians and Reptiles of Luzon Island, Ii: Preliminary Report on the Herpetofauna of Aurora Memorial National Park, Philippines

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Amphibians and Reptiles of Luzon Island, Ii: Preliminary Report on the Herpetofauna of Aurora Memorial National Park, Philippines Hamadryad Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 175 – 195, 2000 Copyright 2000 Centre for Herpetology, Madras Crocodile Bank Trust AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF LUZON ISLAND, II: PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE HERPETOFAUNA OF AURORA MEMORIAL NATIONAL PARK, PHILIPPINES. Rafe M. Brown1, 2, Jimmy A. McGuire1, 5, John W. Ferner2, 3, Nicandro Icarangal, Jr.4 and Robert S. Kennedy2 1Section of Integrative Biology and Texas Memorial Museum, University of Texas, Austin TX, 78712, USA. 2Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Geier Collections and Research Center, Cincinnati Museum of Natural History, 1720 Gilbert Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-1702, USA. 3Department of Biology, Thomas More College, Crestview Hills, Kentucky 41017, USA. 4Zoology Division, National Museum of the Philippines, Executive House, P. Burgos Street, Manila, Philippines. 5 Present Address: Museum of Natural Science, 119 Foster Hall, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803–3216, USA. (with 33 text-figures) ABSTRACT.– We present species accounts for 19 amphibians (frogs) and 30 reptiles (19 lizards, 10 snakes, and one turtle) collected at localities within the central Sierra Madre Mountains in Aurora Province, Luzon, Philippines. Despite its close proximity to Manila, this heavily forested site produced several significant discoveries. Specimens collected during this expedition contributed to the type series of the newly-described Rana tipanan, Platymantis sierramadrensis and Sphenomorphus tagapayo. Notable collections of poorly known species include specimens referable to Brachymeles bicolor and Sphenomorphus leucospilos, two species previously known only from two specimens each. Unidentified and possibly undescribed species include two unusual specimens referable to the genus Platymantis and a single specimen of the genus Sphenomorphus. That so many discoveries could be produced in such a short survey effort (less than two weeks) further emphasizes the degree to which the amphibian and reptile populations in the mountains of Luzon are drastically understudied. We discuss patterns of montane endemism on Luzon and argue for an immediate and exhaustive herpetofaunal survey of the Sierra Madre Mountains. KEY WORDS.– Amphibians; Aurora Memorial National Park; herpetofauna; Luzon Island; Philippines; reptiles; Sierra Madre Mountains. INTRODUCTION Cordillera Central, the Sierra Madres, and high- It is now known but not widely appreciated that land volcanic portions of the Bicol Peninsula) the major Philippine Island of Luzon (Fig. 1) is a are likely to be inhabited by faunas characterized composite island, formed from several by substantial degrees of endemism - especially paleoislands that have only recently accreted among montane species that are unlikely to pass into a single land mass (Adams and Pratt, 1911; through the lowland habitats that now connect Feliciano and Pelaez, 1940; Rutland, 1968; these former islands. Recent herpetological sur- Hashimoto, 1981a, 1981b; Auffenberg, 1988; vey work (Ross and Gonzales, 1991; W. C. Hall, 1996; 1998). As a result of this unique his- Brown et al., 1997a; 1997b; 1997c; 1999; tory, we can make at least two predictions: (1) Alcala, et al., 1998; R. M. Brown et al. 1995a; intra-island biological diversity should be sub- 1995b; 1996; 1999a; 2000; Diesmos, 1998; stantial, and (2) the regions corresponding to the Diesmos, Brown, Crombie and Alcala, unpub- former paleoislands (the Zambales massif, the lished data) suggests that both of the above pre- 176 HAMADRYAD [Vol. 25, No. 2, dictions are likely to hold true. These studies much more interesting than was thought for most indicate that local montane endemism is much of the past century (Ross and Gonzales, 1992; W. more extensive (on a much finer scale) than pre- Brown et al., 1997a; 1997b; 1997c; 1999; viously considered by investigators utilizing pat- Diesmos, 1998; Alcala, et al., 1998; R. Brown et terns of mammalian (Heaney and Rickart 1990; al., 1995a; 1995b; 1996; 1999a; 2000). Heaney et al., 1991; 1998; Rickart et al., 1991; In a previous study on the herpetological di- Rickart and Heaney, 1991) and avian (Dickerson versity and endemism of Luzon Island (R. et al., 1990; Kennedy et al., 2000) taxonomy and Brown et al., 1996), we reported on geographical species distributions. Most of herpetofaunal communities of the Zambales Luzon Island remains poorly sampled for Mountains, (Zambales and Bataan Provinces; herpetofauna. Given the inadequacy of the cur- Fig. 1). In this paper, we report on a significant rent data, it is premature to assert strong conclu- collection of amphibians and reptiles taken near sions regarding biodiversity estimates; Baler Bay in forested regions in and around Au- additional intensive biotic sampling is abso- rora Memorial National Park (Aurora Province). lutely essential if we are to gain a proper under- Although a comprehensive analysis of the standing of Luzon’s diversity. The data that we herpetofaunal communities of the entire Sierra present represent a preliminary view of the Madre range is not possible at this time due to in- herpetological diversity of one forested area in adequate surveying, we take this opportunity to the Sierra Madre Mountains and indicate that present a preliminary report on this important much work is needed before we can conclude site. We do so because our collection contained that the herpetofauna of this biogeographical many new and notable species and because of the subprovince is well known. importance of having adequate knowledge of the The Sierra Madre is an elongate chain of herpetofauna of Aurora Memorial National Park mountains that extend down the eastern coast of for the enactment of future conservation initia- north and central Luzon island (14°–19° N; Fig. tives in the Sierra Madres. 1). Perhaps because earlier evidence suggested that the separate mountain ranges of Luzon sup- MATERIALS AND METHODS port only low levels of herpetological diversity The National Museum of the Philip- (Inger, 1954; W. Brown and Alcala, 1978; 1980; pines/Cincinnati Museum of Natural History but see Taylor, 1920, 1922a; 1922b; 1922c; Philippine Biodiversity Inventory 1922d), virtually no herpetological field work (PNM/CMNH PBI) team conducted field stud- was conducted on Luzon between Edward Tay- ies at four sites in Aurora Province (Fig. 1) from lor’s Philippine field career (1915-1920) and the 14 May to 1 June, 1997. We established early 1990’s (see R. Brown et al., 1996). More- altitudinal transects (Ruedas et al., 1994, as mod- over, many intervening studies, conducted ified by R. Brown et al., 1995a, 1996) and uti- within the framework of a polytypic species con- lized standard collection and specimen cept (Inger, 1954; W. Brown and Alcala, 1978; preservation techniques (Simmons 1987; Heyer 1980; 1994; Leviton 1961; 1962; 1963; 1964a; et al., 1994). Specimens were photographed, 1964b; 1964c; 1964d; 1965a; 1965b; 1967; fixed in 10% buffered formalin, and transferred 1968; 1979, 1983) recognized Luzon endemics to 70% ethanol (1 mo later). as island “races” of widespread Philippine or SE Detailed examination of all material was con- Asian species and discounted the possibility that ducted by RMB, JWF and JAM and measure- these “subspecies” might actually represent in- ments are based on preserved material. We dependent evolutionary lineages belonging to follow the taxonomy of Taylor (1922b), W. larger species complexes. Recent work, how- Brown and Alcala (1978, 1980) and R. Brown et ever, has renewed interest in patterns of montane al. (1995; 1995b) for gekkonid and scincid liz- endemism on Luzon and has bolstered the notion ards. The taxonomy of Inger (1954), Frost that the zoogeography of this complex island is (1985), Duellman (1993), W. Brown and Alcala December, 2000] HERPETOFAUNA OF AURORA MEMORIAL NATIONAL PARK 177 FIGURE 1: Luzon Island, northern Philippines. The four major montane components that form Luzon (the Zambales, the Sierra Madres, the Cordilleras, and the volcanoes of the Bicol Peninsula) are dark stippled. The position of Aurora Memorial National Park within the Sierra Madres is indicated; star = Manila. 178 HAMADRYAD [Vol. 25, No. 2, FIGURE 2: Habitat on the Dipiningan branch of FIGURE 4: Characteristics of high elevation the Cobatangan River (Location 1a), Aurora forest above 1000 m at Location 1b. Memorial National Park. FIGURE 3: Small tributary of the Dipiningan FIGURE 5: Typical stream side habitat of Rana branch of the Cobatangan River; habitat of Rana luzonensis, R. woodworthi, R. similis and tipanan, Rana luzonensis, and Limnonectes Limnonectes macrocephalus at Location 3. macrocephalus. Note large boulders, where Rana tipanan were perched. December, 2000] HERPETOFAUNA OF AURORA MEMORIAL NATIONAL PARK 179 FIGURE 8: Kaloula picta from Location 2. FIGURE 6: Species accumulation curves for amphibian and reptilian taxa surveyed at Aurora Memorial National Park (exclusive of turtles). The extensive systematic sampling effort (of approximately 25 man hr per day) lasted nine days. The dashed line added to the end of each curve leads to the final totals for Aurora Memorial National Park. FIGURE 9: Platymantis corrugatus from Location 1a. The specimens (two additional species of frogs and one additional lizard) represents incidental collections during the last few days after the systematic collecting effort had been discontinued. FIGURE 10: Platymantis dorsalis from Location 1b. FIGURE 7: Kaloula kalingensis from Location 1b. FIGURE 11: Platymantis sp. from Location 1b. 180 HAMADRYAD [Vol. 25, No. 2, FIGURE 12:
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