Herpetology Notes, volume 14: 135-146 (2021) (published online on 22 January 2021)

Herpetofauna from a area at Farias Brito municipality, Ceará State, Northeastern

Cicero Ricardo de Oliveira1,*, Kassio Castro de Araujo1, Herivelto Faustino de Oliveira2, and Robson Waldemar Ávila1

Abstract. We present a checklist of and that occur in an area of Caatinga at Farias Brito municipality, Ceará State, Northeastern Brazil. The present study was undertaken during two seasons (dry season: August and September 2014; rainy season: February 2014 and January 2015) using visual and auditory searches. We recorded 23 anuran and 40 reptilian species, highlighting our study area as a home of high herpetofaunal richness in the Brazilian semiarid region. Our study area revealed species diversity higher than some protected areas, and almost 25% of the amphibian and 20% of the reptile species are known for the Caatinga biome.

Keywords. Inventory, conservation, ,

Introduction rainforests and savannahs (Tabarelli and Silva, 2003). Due to its climate particularity, they operate as a natural Herpetofaunal checklists are useful tools for efficient laboratory for studies of plants, invertebrates, and environmental diagnosis and development of projects vertebrates adapted to great variations in environmental that aim species conservation (Heyer et al., 1994; Silvano conditions (Leal et al., 2005). and Segalla, 2005), being amphibians and reptiles The Caatinga herpetofauna is composed of important bioindicators of environmental disturbances approximately 242 species, with 61 amphibians and (Pough et al., 2008). Knowledge of the local faunal is 181 reptilians (Albuquerque et al., 2012; Costa and crucial to measure environmental healthiness and to set Bérnils, 2018; Segalla et al., 2019), with approximately up future conservation plans, as well as highlighting the 12% endemic species (see. Rodrigues, 2003; Freire et species with urgency for conservations actions (Peres et al., 2011). al., 2009; Guedes, 2012). Furthermore, some amphibian The starting point for a robust checklist is the choice and reptile species have been recently described for this of specific and efficient sampling techniques (Silveira et biome (e.g. Andrade et al., 2016; Carvalho et al., 2016; al., 2010), in which the species richness of each Brazilian Franco et al., 2017), which reinforces that there is still a biome is estimated according to those inventories lack of checklists for some areas from the Caatinga. (Rodrigues, 2005). Besides providing a baseline for In northeastern Brazil, the Ceará State is predominantly species preservation, these studies allow public policies covered by Caatinga and it is characterised by the aimed at biodiversity conservation (Navega-Gonçalves presence of semiarid environments (see Ab’Sáber, and Porto, 2016). 1974; Moro et al., 2015). During the last decade, several Among the Brazilian biomes, the Caatinga is composed herpetofaunal surveys were conducted in the central and of dry forests and shrubby vegetation, with enclaves of northern regions of Ceará State (e.g. Borges-Nojosa, 2007; Loebmann and Haddad, 2010; Borges-Leite et al., 2014; Santana et al., 2015; Roberto and Loebmann, 2016). Recently, an increase in herpetofaunal studies in the southern region of the state has been observed

1 Department of Biology, Pici Campus, Federal University of (e.g. Ribeiro et al., 2012; Ferreira-Silva et al., 2016; Ceará, Fortaleza - CE Zip Code 60440-900, Brazil. Mângia et al., 2018; Silva-Neta et al., 2018). The 2 Department of Biology, Regional University of Cariri, Crato herpetofaunal checklists from the southern region were - CE Zip Code 63105-000, Brazil. conducted mainly in the Bioregion of Araripe (Ribeiro * Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] et al., 2012; Ribeiro et al., 2015). Herein, we present © 2020 by Herpetology Notes. Open Access by CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. a herpetofaunal checklist from a Caatinga environment 136 Cicero Ricardo de Oliveira ������et al. at Farias Brito municipality, southern region of Ceará State, northeastern Brazil.

Material and Methods Study area. Fieldwork was carried out in two Caatinga areas of Farias Brito municipality (Fig. 1), located in the south region of Ceará State (Coordinates P1 = 6.7825° S; 39.5530° W, WGS84 datum, 342 m elev., and P2 = 6.8652° S; 39. 5355° W, WGS84 datum, 302 m elev.). The region is classified as tropical with a dry season, also known as savannah climate (Lima et al., 2017). The mean rainfall is 896.5 mm/year and the predominant environment is shrubby Caatinga with Figure 1. Geographical location of Farias Brito municipality, floristic influences of Cerrado and Semideciduous Ceará State, Brazil (red star), and other sampled Caatinga Tropical Forest (Ipece, 2016). environments “stricto sincto” (black circles) in Caatinga biome (green): 1- Itapipoca, 2- Serra das almas, 3- Médio Jaguaribe, Sampling. We collected the amphibian and reptile 4- Aiuaba, 5- Bacia do Rio Salgado (Ceará State), 6- Picos, species in four campaigns by visual and auditory 7- Serra da Capivara (Piauí State), 8- Raso da Catarina, 9- searches (Crump and Scott Jr, 1994): two in the dry Nordestina ( State), 10- Grota do Angico ( State), season (August and September 2014) and two during 11- Catimbau, 12- Taquaritinga, 13- Floresta, 14- Taquaritinga the rainy season (February 2014 and January 2015). ( State), 15- São J. do Cariri, 16- Cabaceiras, 17- Voucher specimens were deposited in the herpetological Catolé do Rocha (Paraíba State), 18- Seridó, 19- João Câmara ( State). collection of the University Regional of Cariri – URCA. Sampling was undertaken during five consecutive days by five searches in three periods: morning (07:00 to (i.e. Roberto et al., 2013; Andrade et al., 2017; Araújo et 10:00 a.m.), afternoon (03:00 to 06:00 p.m.) and night al., 2018; Frost, 2020), and reptile records (i.e. Bertoluci (06:00 to 09:00 p.m.). The sampling effort was about 900 hours/5 searches. Herpetofaunal nomenclature et al., 2009; Condez et al., 2009; Scartozzoni et al., 2009; follows Frost (2020) and Uetz et al. (2020). Loebmann and Haddad, 2010; Recoder et al., 2011; Dal The herpetofaunal conservation status was obtained Vechio et al., 2013; 2015; Guedes et al., 2014; Freitas from IUCN (2020), and the species distribution along et al., 2016; 2017; Costa and Bérnils, 2018; Uetz et al., Brazilian biomes from literature of amphibian records 2020).

Figure 2. (A) Amphibian species accumulation curve recorded in Caatinga environment in the municipality of Farias Brito, Ceará State, Brazil. (B) Reptile species accumulation curve registered in Caatinga environment in Farias Brito municipality, Ceará State, Brazil. Herpetofauna from a Caatinga area at Farias Brito municipality, Brazil 137

Statistical analyses. We used the Jackknife 1 estimator were performed using the packages adespatial (Dray et to estimate the expected richness of amphibians and al., 2019), Biodiversity R (Kindt and Coe, 2005), and reptiles (Magurran and McGill, 2011), and the Berger- Vegan (Oksanen et al., 2016) for R 5.6.1 software (R Parker index (d) to measure the species dominance in Core Team, 2020). the sampled area. Thereafter, we produced a sample- based accumulation curve to measure the sampling Results effort (Fig. 2A, B). We used the Jaccard Similarity Index (J’; Magurran We recorded 588 amphibian specimens from 23 and McGill, 2011) based on presence and absence in two species distributed in 12 genera, belonging to six pairs of plots to compare the herpetofaunal composition families: Bufonidae (n = 2 spp.), Hylidae (n = 5 spp.), registered in the present study with inventories performed Leptodactylidae (n = 12 spp.), Microhylidae (n = 2 in other areas of Caatinga “stricto sensu” (Table 1), spp.), Odontophrynidae (n = 1 sp.) and Phyllomedusidae excluding species without specific identification (“gr.”, (n = 1 sp.) (Table 2; Fig. 3). The accumulation curve “aff.” and “sp.”), and considering only species with tended slightly to stabilisation (Fig. 2A), although the identification to be confirmed (“cf.”). All analyses Jackknife 1 estimator suggested the addition of five

Table 1. Literature used to compare the herpetofaunal composition of Farias Brito municipality and other areas of Caatinga (stricto 1 sincto), with their respective geographical coordinates, species richness, and bibliographic references. Table 1.

Sampled areas Coordinates (UTM) Richness Referencese Amphibians Farias Brito-CE -6.7825, -39.55305556 23 Present Study Aiuaba-CE -6.666667, -40.200000 20 Garda et al. (2017); Ávila et al. (2017) Médio Jaguaribe-CE -5.717805556, -38.64163889 19 Santana et al. (2015) Picos-PI -7.087722222, -41.40085556 24 Benício et al. (2015a) Bacia do Rio Salgado-CE -7.379466667, -38.64663056 23 Silva-Neta et al. (2018) Negreiros-PE -7.930833333, -39.28555556 23 Pereira et al. (2015) Seridó-RN -6.583333, -37.250000 19 Caldas et al. (2016) Itapipoca-CE -3.514733333, -39.58497222 19 Castro et al. (2018) Catolé do Rocha-PB -6.343888889, -37.74666667 17 Oliveira et al. (2018) Cabaceiras-PB -7.369444444, -36.25277778 18 Protázio et al. (2015); Cascon and Langguth (2016) São J. do Cariri-PB -7.419444444, -36.50277778 24 Vieira et al. (2009); Leite-Filho et al. (2015) Catimbau-PE -8.600000, -37.233333 21 Pedrosa et al. (2015) Raso da Catarina-BA -9.383333, -38.200000 20 Garda et al. (2013) Nordestina-BA -10.90221111, -39.42238889 13 Leite et al. (2019) Grota do Angico-SE -9.680275, -37.68391667 20 Silva (2013) Reptiles Farias Brito-CE -6.7825, -39.55305556 39 Present Study Aiuaba-CE -6.666667, -40.200000 35 Garda et al. (2017); Ávila et al. (2017) Picos-PI -7.087722222, -41.40085556 27 Benício et al. (2015b) Bacia do Rio Salgado-CE -7.379466667, -38.64663056 34 Silva-Neta et al. (2018) Negreiros-PE -7.930833333, -39.28555556 30 Pereira et al. (2015) Taquaritinga-PE -7.819722222, -36.215 25 Barbosa et al. (2018) Catimbau-PE -8.600000, -37.233333 37 Pedrosa et al. (2015) Serra da Capivara-PI -8.699 -42.59069444 28 Cavalcanti et al. (2014) Serra das almas-CE -5.1465, -40.90264167 27 Borges-Nojosa and Cascon (2005) Raso da Catarina-BA -9.383333, -38.200000 30 Garda et al. (2013) Floresta-PE -8.592638889, -38.57661111 22 Borges-Nojosa and Santos (2005) Seridó-RN -6.583333, -37.250000 22 Caldas et al. (2016) Nordestina-BA -10.90221111, -39.42238889 34 Leite et al. (2019) João Câmara-RN -5.536722222, -35.81325 22 Calixto and Morato (2017)

138 Cicero Ricardo de Oliveira ������et al.

Table 2. Amphibian species recorded in Caatinga environments at Farias Brito municipality, Ceará State, Brazil, with their respective authors, voucher, IUCN status and biomes of occurrence (Biome): Caatinga (Ca), Cerrado (Ce), Atlantic rain forest (At), Amazon rain forest (Am), and wide distribution (W). The conservation status of the species was classified2 according to

IUCN (2020): LC (Least Concern). Table 2.

Taxa (Autor) Voucher IUCN status Biome Bufonidae

Rhinella granulosa (Spix, 1824) URCA-7154 LC W Rhinella jimi (Stevaux, 2002) URCA-7136 LC Ca/At Hylidae

Boana raniceps Cope, 1862 URCA-7176 LC W Corythomantis greeningi Boulenger, 1896 URCA-4927 LC Ca/Ce/At Dendropsophus nanus (Boulenger, 1889) URCA-7245 LC W Dendropsophus soaresi (Caramaschi & Jim, 1983) Not collected LC Ca/Ce/At Scinax cf. x-signatus (Spix, 1824) URCA-7201 LC W Leptodactylidae

Leptodactylus macrosternum Miranda-Ribeiro, 1926 URCA-7146 LC W Leptodactylus fuscus (Schneider, 1799) URCA-7183 LC W Leptodactylus mystaceus (Spix, 1824) URCA-13536 LC W Leptodactylus syphax Bokermann, 1969 URCA-7144 LC W Leptodactylus troglodytes Lutz, 1926 URCA-7184 LC W Leptodactylus vastus A. Lutz, 1930 URCA-7139 LC W Physalaemus albifrons (Spix, 1824) URCA-7210 LC Ca/Ce Physalaemus cicada Bokermann, 1966 URCA-7254 LC Ca/Ce/At Physalaemus cuvieri Fitzinger, 1826 URCA-4894 LC W Pleurodema diplolister (Peters, 1870) URCA-5195 LC Ca/Ce/At Pseudopaludicola mystacalis (Cope, 1887) URCA-7263 LC W Pseudopaludicola pocoto Magalhães et al., 2014 URCA-7275 LC Ca/At Microhylidae

Dermatonotus muelleri (Boettger, 1885) URCA-6657 LC W Elachistocleis piauiensis Caramaschi & Jim, 1983 URCA-7242 LC Ca, Ce Odontophrynidae

Proceratophrys cristiceps (Müller, 1884) URCA-12424 LC Ca Phyllomedusidae

Pithecopus gonzagai (Andrade et al., 2020) URCA-7241 LC Ca/At

further species (Jackknife 1 = 27.75 ± 2.532), meaning Middle Jaguaribe River, Aiuaba and Seridó Ecological that the observed species richness represented about Stations were the most similar sampled localities (J =

82.8% of the richness estimated by Jackknife 1. 0.900), while the anuranfauna registered in the Raso

The most species-rich families were Leptodactylidae da Catarina Ecological Station was the most dissimilar and Hylidae, with 12 and 5 species, respectively. from our study (J = 0.3548). The cophenetic correlation

Physalaemus albifrons (d = 0.2164) and Physalaemus coefficient between the Caatinga areas analysed was cicada (d = 0.1990) were the most abundant species, high (Coph corr. = 0.8675, Fig. 4), in which six species whereas Corythomantis greeningi (d = 0.003), have been reported in all these studies performed in Proceratophrys cristiceps (d = 0.004) and Pleurodema Caatinga environments (Rhinella granulosa, Rhinella diplolister (d = 0.004) had the lowest values of jimi, Scinax cf. x-signatus, Leptodactylus troglodytes, dominance. Pleurodema diplolister, and Pithecopus gonzagai). Regarding the amphibian composition similarity We recorded 281 reptile specimens, belonging to 40 in Caatinga environments, the anurofauna registered species and 36 genera, included in 16 families and three in the present study was more similar to Aiuaba orders: “amphisbaenians” (Amphisbaenidae, Ecological Station (J = 0.869) and Rio Salgado basin n = 2 spp.); Squamata “” Diploglossinae (n = (J = 0.840). However, the anuran composition of the 1 sp.). Gekkonidae (n = 2 spp.), Gymnophthalmidae Herpetofauna from a Caatinga area at Farias Brito municipality, Brazil 139

Figure 3. Amphibian species registered in Caatinga environment at Farias Brito municipality, Ceará State, Brazil. A= Proceratophrys cristiceps; B= Boana raniceps; C= Corythomantis greeningi; D= Dendropsophus nanus; E= Dendropsophus soaresi; F= Scinax cf. x-signatus; G= Pithecopus gonzagai; H= Physalaemus albifrons; I= Physalaemus cicada; J= Physalaemus cuvieri; K= Pleurodema diplolister; L= Pseudopaludicola mystacalis; M= Pseudopaludicola pocoto; N= Leptodactylus syphax; O= Leptodactylus macrosternum; P= Leptodactylus mystaceus; Q= Dermatonotus muelleri; R= Elachistocleis piauiensis. 140 Cicero Ricardo de Oliveira ������et al.

fauna recorded in the Raso da Catarina Ecological Station was also the most dissimilar from our study (J = 0.2777). In addition, we also reported a high value of cophenetic correlation coefficient between the Caatinga areas analysed (Coph corr. = 0.9115, Fig. 6). However, only the species Tropidurus hispidus and Oxyrhopus trigeminus were shared by all the already studied Caatinga environments.

Discussion We recorded a considerable anuran richness, in which about 55% of the 42 species registered in the above- cited studies performed in Caatinga environments “stricto sensu” were collected in the present study. This species richness was higher than in other sampled areas, including conservation units as Aiuaba Ecological Station (Garda et al., 2017a; Ávila et al., 2017), Negreiros National Forest (Pereira et al., 2015), and Figure 4. Similarity (Jaccard index and clustering method Catimbau National Park (Pedrosa et al., 2015). We “UPGMA”; cophenetic correlation coefficient = 0.8675) recorded almost 25% of the amphibian species known among the amphibian species composition in Caatinga for the Caatinga biome (Albuquerque et al., 2012; environments. Garda et al., 2017b; Segalla et al., 2019), and 42% of the species already recorded for Ceará State (Roberto and Loebmann, 2016). Regarding amphibian distribution, (n = 2 spp.), Iguanidae (n = 1 sp.), Mabuyidae (n = 2 only the species Proceratophrys cristiceps is endemic spp.), Phyllodactylidae (n = 2 spp.), Polychrotidae (n = to the Caatinga biome, being the majority of species 1 sp.), Teiidae (n = 3 spp.), Tropiduridae (n = 2 spp.); Squamata “” Boidae (n = 2 spp.), (n = 15 spp.), Elapidae (n = 1 sp.), (n = 1 sp.), (n = 1 sp.) and Testudines Chelidae (n = 1 spp.), Kinosternidae (n = 1 spp.) (Table 3; Fig. 5). The accumulation curve also tended slightly to stabilisation (Fig. 2B), although the Jackknife 1 estimator suggested the addition of approximately 10 species (Jackknife 1 = 50.4 ± 4.508), meaning that the observed species richness represented about 79.3% of the richness estimated by Jackknife 1. The species Tropidurus hispidus (d = 0.109), Gymnodactylus geckoides (d = 0.106) and Ameivula pyrrhogularis (d = 0.095) showed the highest dominance values, while the species Brasiliscincus heathi, Corallus hortulanus, Epictia borapeliotes, Erythrolamprus viridis, Leptophis ahaetulla, Mesoclemmys tuberculata, Phrynops geoffroanus, and Polychrus acutirostris showed the lowest dominance values (d = 0.003). Considering the reptile composition similarity in Caatinga environments, we observed that the reptile Figure 6. Similarity (Jaccard index and clustering method composition registered in the present study was also “UPGMA”; cophenetic correlation coefficient = 0.9115) more similar to Aiuaba Ecological Station (J = 0.667) among the reptilian species composition in Caatinga and Rio Salgado basin (J = 0.630). Likewise, the reptile environments. Herpetofauna from a Caatinga area at Farias Brito municipality, Brazil 141

Figure 5. Reptile species registered in Caatinga environments at Farias Brito municipality, Ceará State, Brazil. A= Phrynops geoffroanus; B= Kinosternon scorpioides; C= Hemidactylus agrius; D= Micrablepharus maximiliani; E= Vanzosaura multiscutata; F= Iguana iguana; G= Polychrus acutirostris; H= Ameivula pyrrhogularis; I= Salvator merianae; J= Tropidurus semitaeniatus; K= Amphisbaena vermicularis; L= Apostolepis cearensis; M= Erythrolamprus poecilogyrus; N= Erythrolamprus viridis; O= Thamnodynastes phoenix; P= Micrurus ibiboboca; Q= Epictia borapeliotes; R= erythromelas 142 Cicero Ricardo de Oliveira ������et al.

Table 3. Reptile species recorded in Caatinga environments at Farias Brito municipality, Ceará State, Brazil, with their respective authors, voucher, IUCN status and biomes of occurrence (Biome): Caatinga (Ca), Cerrado (Ce), Atlantic rain forest (At), Amazon rain forest (Am), and wide distribution (W). The conservation status of the species was classified according to IUCN (2020): LC 3 (Least Concern), NE (Not Evaluated). Table 3.

Taxa (Autor) Voucher IUCN status Biome Amphisbaenidae

Amphisbaena alba Linnaeus, 1758 URCA-9403 LC W Amphisbaena vermicularis Wagler, 1824 URCA-12109 LC W Chelidae

Phrynops geoffroanus (Schweigger, 1812) URCA-9410 NE W Kinosternidae

Kinosternon scorpioides (Linnaeus,1766) URCA-9409 NE W Diploglossinae

Diploglossus lessonae Peracca, 1890 Not collected LC Ca Gekkonidae

Hemidactylus agrius Vanzolini, 1978 URCA-9410 LC Ca Ligodactylus klugei (Smith, Martin & Swain, 1977) URCA-9409 LC Ca/Ce Gymnophthalmidae

Micrablepharus maximiliani (Reinhardt & Luetken, 1862) URCA-4862 LC W Vanzosaura multiscutata (Amaral, 1933) URCA-6641 LC Ca Iguanidae

Iguana iguana (Linnaeus, 1758) URCA-4890 LC W Mabuyidae

Brasiliscincus heathi (Schmidt & Inger, 1951) URCA-4981 LC Ca/Ce/At Copeoglossum arajara (Rebouças-Spieker,1981) URCA-4986 LC Ca Phyllodactylidae

Gymnodactylus geckoides Spix, 1825 URCA-4877 LC Ca/Ce/At Phyllopezus pollicaris (Spix, 1825) URCA-4878 LC W Polychrotidae

Polychrus acutirostris Spix, 1825 URCA-7298 LC W Teiidae

Ameiva ameiva (Linnaeus, 1758) URCA-6613 LC W Ameivula pyrrhogularis (Silva & Ávila- Pires, 2013) URCA-4891 LC Ca Salvator merianae (Duméril & Bibron, 1839) URCA-6681 LC W Tropiduridae

Tropidurus hispidus (Spix, 1825) URCA-4346 LC W Tropidurus semitaeniatus (Spix, 1825) URCA-4863 LC Ca Boidae

Boa constrictor Linnaeus, 1758 URCA-10646 LC W Corallus hortulanus (Linnaeus, 1758) URCA-4917 LC W Colubridae

Apostolepis cearensis Gomes, 1915 URCA-10052 NE Ca/Ce Erythrolamprus poecilogyrus (Wied, 1825) URCA-9379 NE W Erythrolamprus viridis (Günther, 1862) URCA-6830 LC 4C a Leptodeira annulata (Linnaeus, 1758) URCA-9469 LC W Leptophis ahaetulla (Linnaeus, 1758) URCA-9431 LC W Lygophis dilepis (Cope, 1862) URCA-9946 LC W Oxybelis aeneus (Wagler in Spix, 1824) URCA-6734 LC W Oxyrhopus trigeminus Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854 URCA-9977 LC W nattereri Steindachner, 1870 URCA-8016 LC W Philodryas olfersii (Liechtenstein, 1823) URCA-13126 LC W Pseudoboa nigra (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854) URCA-7090 LC W Psomophis joberti (Sauvage, 1884) URCA-6683 LC Ca/Am/At Taxa (Autor) Voucher IUCN status Biome Spilotes pullatus (Linnaeus, 1758) URCA-12107 LC W Thamnodynastes phoenix Franco et al., 2017 URCA-9404 NE Ca/Ce Xenodon merremii (Wagler in Spix, 1824) URCA-8017 LC W Elapidae

Micrurus ibiboboca (Merrem, 1820) URCA-10971 NE Ca/At Leptotyphlopidae

Epictia borapeliotes (Vanzolini, 1996) URCA-6639 NE Ca Viperidae

Bothrops erythromelas Amaral, 1923 URCA-9413 LC Ca

4

Leptophis ahaetulla (Linnaeus, 1758) URCA-9431 LC W Lygophis dilepis (Cope, 1862) URCA-9946 LC W Oxybelis aeneus (Wagler in Spix, 1824) URCA-6734 LC W Herpetofauna fromOxyrhopus a Caatinga trigeminus area Duméril, at Farias Bibron &Brito Duméril, municipality, 1854 URCA-9977 Brazil LC W 143 Philodryas nattereri Steindachner, 1870 URCA-8016 LC W Philodryas olfersii (Liechtenstein, 1823) URCA-13126 LC W Table 3. Continued. Pseudoboa nigra (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854) URCA-7090 LC W Psomophis joberti (Sauvage, 1884) URCA-6683 LC Ca/Am/At Taxa (Autor) Voucher IUCN status Biome Spilotes pullatus (Linnaeus, 1758) URCA-12107 LC W Thamnodynastes phoenix Franco et al., 2017 URCA-9404 NE Ca/Ce Xenodon merremii (Wagler in Spix, 1824) URCA-8017 LC W Elapidae

Micrurus ibiboboca (Merrem, 1820) URCA-10971 NE Ca/At Leptotyphlopidae

Epictia borapeliotes (Vanzolini, 1996) URCA-6639 NE Ca Viperidae

Bothrops erythromelas Amaral, 1923 URCA-9413 LC Ca

widely distributed in Brazilian biomes. As to the risk where future ecological and conservation studies can be of extinction, the species recorded are not considered conducted. threatened. Likewise, we registered about 47% of the 83 reptile Acknowledgments. We are grateful to the Coordenação de species recorded in the above-cited studies carried out Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES) in Caatinga environments “stricto sensu”. Although - Finance Code 001; the ICMBIO for the collection permits (#29613); the Commission for Experimentation and Use of our accumulation curve did not reach an asymptote, of Universidade Regional do Cariri (CEUA/URCA, the reptile richness was also higher than the values process. Nº: 00260/2016.1); and the National Council for Scientific obtained in other Caatinga “stricto sensu” sampled and Technological Development - CNPq for the research grant areas, including conservation units. In addition, we awarded to RWA (nº 305988 / 2018-2). recorded about 20% of the reptilian species known for the Caatinga biome (Albuquerque et al., 2012; Costa References and Bérnils, 2018), and almost 32% of Ceará (Roberto Ab’Sáber, A.N. (1974): O domínio morfoclimático semi-árido das and Loebmann, 2016). brasileiras. Universidade de São Paulo, Instituto de Regarding reptile distribution, most of them were Geografia. widespread in Brazilian biomes; however, we recorded Albuquerque, U.P., Lima Araújo, E., El-Deir, A.C.A., Lima, A.L.A., nine species endemic to the Caatinga biome (Costa and Souto, A., Bezerra B.M., et al. (2012): Caatinga Revisited: Bernils, 2018). Despite the high endemism number and Ecology and Conservation of an Important Seasonal Dry Forest. the fact that seven reptile species have not been assessed The Scientific World Journal 2012: 1–18. Andrade, E.B., Lima, T.G.P., Araújo, K.C., Leite, J.R.S., yet regarding their conservation status we might affirm Weber, L.N. (2016): Sympatric occurrence of two species of that none of them could be considered threatened due to Pseudopaludicola (Anura: Leptodactylidae) and first record being widely distributed species (IUCN, 2020). of Pseudopaludicola jaredi Andrade, Magalhães, Nunes-de- In the southern region of Ceará State, only the Araripe Almeida, Veiga-Menoncello, Santana, Garda, Loebmann, Bioregion is considered a priority area for biodiversity Recco-Pimentel, Giaretta & Toledo, 2016 in the state of conservation in the Caatinga biome (MMA, 2007). Maranhão, northeastern Brazil. Check List 12: 20–23. Other localities, like our study area, do not arise much Andrade, E.B., Weber, L.N., Leite, J.R.S.A. (2017): Anurans of the Parque Estadual do Mirador, a remnant of Cerrado in the interest for biodiversity conservation. However, it is state of Maranhão, Northeastern Brazil. Biota Neotropica 17: important to point out that we recorded about 70% of e20160260. amphibians and 50% of reptiles reported for the Araripe Araújo, K.C., Guzzi, A., Ávila, R.W. (2018): Influence of habitat Bioregion (Ribeiro et al., 2012; 2015; Ávila et al., 2016). heterogeneity on anuran diversity in Restinga landscapes of the Additionally, we registered the highest species richness Parnaíba River delta, northeastern Brazil. ZooKeys 757: 69–83. among the localities within the Caatinga “stricto sensu” Ávila, R.W., Silva-Neta, A.F., Ferreira, A.J.M.G., Matias, S.L., in the Brazilian northeastern. Oliveira, C.R., Ferreira-Silva, C., et al. (2016): Herpetologia do Sul do Ceará e Sertão Pernambucano. Fortaleza, edições The Caatinga area of Farias Brito municipality can be URCA. considered home to a high herpetofaunal diversity. We Ávila, R.W., Almeida, W.O., Ferreira, F.S., Gaiotti, M.G., Lima, highlight the importance of these areas as a potential S.M.Q., Morais, D.H., et al. (2017): Fauna da Estação Ecológica herpetofaunal research centre in the Caatinga biome, de Aiuaba: integração de informações para subsídio de planos de 144 Cicero Ricardo de Oliveira ������et al.

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Accepted by Mirco Solé