DOCSLIB.ORG

Identifying Global Priorities for the Conservation of Vipers

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Identifying Global Priorities for the Conservation of Vipers Biological Conservation 204 (2016) 94–102 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Biological Conservation journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/bioc Identifying global priorities for the conservation of vipers Bryan Maritz a,⁎, Johannes Penner b,MarcioMartinsc, Jelka Crnobrnja-Isailović d,e, Stephen Spear f, Laura R.V. Alencar c, Jesús Sigala-Rodriguez g, Kevin Messenger h,i, Rulon W. Clark j,PritpalSooraek, Luca Luiselli l, Chris Jenkins f, Harry W. Greene m a Department of Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X17, Bellville 7535, South Africa b Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstrasse 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany c Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, 05508-090 São Paulo, SP, Brazil d Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics, University of Niš, 18000 Niš, Serbia e Department of Evolutionary Biology, Institute for Biological Research “S. Stanković”, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia f Orianne Society, 100 Phoenix Road, Athens, GA 30605, USA g Colección Zoológica, Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes, Ags. 20131, México h Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Alabama A & M University, 4900 Meridian St N, Huntsville, AL 35811, USA i Department of Zoology, Nanjing Forestry University, 159 Longpan Rd, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China j Department of Biology, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Dr, San Diego, CA 92116, USA k Terrestrial Assessment & Monitoring, Environment Agency, PO Box 45553, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates l Centre of Environmental Studies Demetra, Rome, Italy m Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Corson Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca 14850, USA article info abstract Article history: Vipers are among the most misunderstood and persecuted animals. They occupy most terrestrial ecosystems Received 30 November 2015 around the world, often at high population densities. However, certain aspects of their biology (e.g., low fecundity Received in revised form 3 April 2016 and slow growth) have resulted in vipers being disproportionately threatened by extinction. Despite increased Accepted 9 May 2016 extinction risk, relatively little is known about viper biology, severely limiting the development and implemen- Available online 24 May 2016 tation of conservation initiatives. Here, we review the conservation status of vipers globally, map species richness, and develop three indices (one reactive; one proactive; one combined index emphasising irreplaceable species Keywords: Viperidae facing severe threats) to identify species for which conservation action should be prioritised. Moreover, we Conservation prioritisation map species richness weighted by each index to identify regions for conservation prioritisation. We ranked Threat Index prioritisation scores for all species for which data were available. In doing so we identify species for which valu- Ecological and Evolutionary Distinctiveness able data are missing and that should be prioritised for research. We additionally show that 17 species, currently IUCN Red List listed as Not Assessed or Data Deficient by the IUCN, score sufficiently high on our Threat Index to be considered Viper Action Plan as Threatened in the future. We identify multiple regions for which viper conservation action should be prioritised. These areas broadly correlate with species richness patterns, suggesting that species richness may be an effective proxy for conservation planning. Finally, we discuss the major gaps in knowledge, as well as the major threats facing vipers. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction terrestrial ecosystems, from deserts to moist tropical forests (e.g., Mallow et al., 2003; Campbell and Lamar, 2004; Gumprecht et al., Snakes are among the most misunderstood and persecuted groups 2004). Vipers are characterized by advanced venom delivery mecha- of all animals (Dodd, 1987; Greene and Campbell, 1992; Beaupre and nisms (Young et al., 2001; Cundall, 2002) and highly complex, potent Duvall, 1998). The widely-held negative perceptions of snakes, coupled natural toxins (Norris, 2004), such that they are an important contribu- with relatively poor understanding of even their basic biology, pose fun- tor to the global public health problem of venomous snakebite (e.g., damental challenges to snake conservation (Burghardt et al., 2009). Chippaux, 1998; Gutiérrez et al., 2010). These challenges are particularly apparent in the case of vipers (Family Vipers are characterized by phylogenetically widespread viviparity Viperidae, ~330 species), a clade of advanced snakes that inhabit all and parental care (Fenwick et al., 2011; Greene et al., 2002), ambush continents except Australia and Antarctica, and are found in nearly all foraging (Cundall and Greene, 2000) for prey as diverse as centipedes, insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals (Greene, 1997; ⁎ Corresponding author. Martins et al., 2002), and relatively low metabolic rates and energy re- E-mail address: [email protected] (B. Maritz). quirements (Nowak et al., 2008). These traits have contributed to vipers http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.05.004 0006-3207/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. B. Maritz et al. / Biological Conservation 204 (2016) 94–102 95 reaching the highest latitudes (over 65° North in Vipera berus and 47° measures of TI and EED for each species to identify ecologically and evo- South in Bothrops ammodytoides) and elevations (up to 4800 m above lutionarily distinct species that are highly threatened. We mapped our sea level in Gloydius himalayanus in Nepal or up to 4570 m a.s.l. in conservation priority indices by summing the index scores of all species Crotalus triseriatus in Mexico) of any snake species. However, several present in a particular grid cell, resulting in prioritisation-index-weight- of these traits associated with “slow” life-histories (e.g., ambush forag- ed species richness maps (Fig. 1B/D/F/G). Finally, we identify hotspots ing resulting in infrequent feeding on large prey; Greene, 1983) may by mapping the highest scoring 10% of cells globally for each index. also make vipers particularly vulnerable to extinction (Greene and Campbell, 1992; Reed and Shine, 2002). Accordingly, Böhm et al. 2.1. Threat Index (TI) (2013) found that vipers were significantly more threatened than ex- pected in an analysis of 1500 randomly selected reptile species. Indeed, We calculated the size of the geographic distribution (GD, area of the although vipers represent only 9% of all snakes (Uetz and Hošek, 2015), geographic distribution polygon) of each species, the degree of human they currently comprise 20% of the 226 snakes listed as threatened on impact (HI; from the HII of the Global Human Influence Index (WCS the IUCN Red List (IUCN, 2015a). Globally, 20 species of vipers are listed and CIESIN, 2005)) within that distribution, and the percentage of as Vulnerable, 23 as Endangered, and eleven as Critically Endangered each distribution formally protected (PA; IUCN protected area category (IUCN, 2015a; M. Martins et al. unpublished data). I–IV from the World Database of Protected Areas (IUCN and UNEP- Conservation prioritisation offers a useful tool to direct limited re- WCMC, 2015), plus Biosphere Reserve protected areas in Mexico and sources toward actions that return the greatest conservation impacts National Parks in South Africa for which IUCN categories are not relative to a priori objectives (Myers, 1988; Myers et al., 2000). These reported in the WDPA). We additionally used expert opinion, facilitated conservation objectives produce prioritisation plans that are proactive through IUCN Viper Specialist Group (URL: http://www.oriannesociety. (emphasising irreplaceability of biodiversity) or reactive (emphasising org/iucn-viper-specialist-group) regional coordinators, to estimate the vulnerability of biodiversity; Brooks et al., 2006).Whilereactiveindices ability of each species to persist in altered habitats (AAH: after Filippi tend to map similar threat processes (human population, habitat trans- and Luiselli, 2000, in categories ranging from 1 (high persistence) to 4 formation and fragmentation etc.), proactive indices vary widely in (low persistence)). metrics used, from endemic species richness (Myers et al., 2000)toevo- We rationalised that species with small, highly transformed and lutionary distinctiveness (May, 1990; Isaac et al., 2007) and functional poorly protected geographic distributions, that were perceived to have diversity (Petchey and Gaston, 2006). Moreover, proactive indices are a limited capacity to persist in altered habitats were likely to be most often produced based on the geographic patterns of relatively well- threatened and used this hypothesis to dictate the rank ordering of spe- known indicator taxa (Böhm et al., 2013), despite variable congruence cies. We normalized each variable to range between 0 and 1, including of such patterns among different taxa (Grenyer et al., 2006). Thus, only species for which data were available. Autocorrelation among var- taxon-specific conservation priorities may be overlooked by some glob- iables was low (max: r = 0.44) so no variables were excluded from the al prioritisation procedures (e.g. compare to Meiri and Chapple, in this calculation of the index. We excluded species for which fewer than issue), stifling access to conservation resources, especially when
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Phylogenetic Diversity, Habitat Loss and Conservation in South
    Diversity and Distributions, (Diversity Distrib.) (2014) 20, 1108–1119 BIODIVERSITY Phylogenetic diversity, habitat loss and RESEARCH conservation in South American pitvipers (Crotalinae: Bothrops and Bothrocophias) Jessica Fenker1, Leonardo G. Tedeschi1, Robert Alexander Pyron2 and Cristiano de C. Nogueira1*,† 1Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade de ABSTRACT Brasılia, 70910-9004 Brasılia, Distrito Aim To analyze impacts of habitat loss on evolutionary diversity and to test Federal, Brazil, 2Department of Biological widely used biodiversity metrics as surrogates for phylogenetic diversity, we Sciences, The George Washington University, 2023 G. St. NW, Washington, DC 20052, study spatial and taxonomic patterns of phylogenetic diversity in a wide-rang- USA ing endemic Neotropical snake lineage. Location South America and the Antilles. Methods We updated distribution maps for 41 taxa, using species distribution A Journal of Conservation Biogeography models and a revised presence-records database. We estimated evolutionary dis- tinctiveness (ED) for each taxon using recent molecular and morphological phylogenies and weighted these values with two measures of extinction risk: percentages of habitat loss and IUCN threat status. We mapped phylogenetic diversity and richness levels and compared phylogenetic distances in pitviper subsets selected via endemism, richness, threat, habitat loss, biome type and the presence in biodiversity hotspots to values obtained in randomized assemblages. Results Evolutionary distinctiveness differed according to the phylogeny used, and conservation assessment ranks varied according to the chosen proxy of extinction risk. Two of the three main areas of high phylogenetic diversity were coincident with areas of high species richness. A third area was identified only by one phylogeny and was not a richness hotspot. Faunal assemblages identified by level of endemism, habitat loss, biome type or the presence in biodiversity hotspots captured phylogenetic diversity levels no better than random assem- blages.
    [Show full text]
  • Xenosaurus Tzacualtipantecus. the Zacualtipán Knob-Scaled Lizard Is Endemic to the Sierra Madre Oriental of Eastern Mexico
    Xenosaurus tzacualtipantecus. The Zacualtipán knob-scaled lizard is endemic to the Sierra Madre Oriental of eastern Mexico. This medium-large lizard (female holotype measures 188 mm in total length) is known only from the vicinity of the type locality in eastern Hidalgo, at an elevation of 1,900 m in pine-oak forest, and a nearby locality at 2,000 m in northern Veracruz (Woolrich- Piña and Smith 2012). Xenosaurus tzacualtipantecus is thought to belong to the northern clade of the genus, which also contains X. newmanorum and X. platyceps (Bhullar 2011). As with its congeners, X. tzacualtipantecus is an inhabitant of crevices in limestone rocks. This species consumes beetles and lepidopteran larvae and gives birth to living young. The habitat of this lizard in the vicinity of the type locality is being deforested, and people in nearby towns have created an open garbage dump in this area. We determined its EVS as 17, in the middle of the high vulnerability category (see text for explanation), and its status by the IUCN and SEMAR- NAT presently are undetermined. This newly described endemic species is one of nine known species in the monogeneric family Xenosauridae, which is endemic to northern Mesoamerica (Mexico from Tamaulipas to Chiapas and into the montane portions of Alta Verapaz, Guatemala). All but one of these nine species is endemic to Mexico. Photo by Christian Berriozabal-Islas. amphibian-reptile-conservation.org 01 June 2013 | Volume 7 | Number 1 | e61 Copyright: © 2013 Wilson et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Com- mons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License, which permits unrestricted use for non-com- Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 7(1): 1–47.
    [Show full text]
  • Bitis Peringueyi Boulenger Peringueys Adder.Pdf
    African Herp News Newsletter of the Herpetological Association of Africa Number 52 DECEMBER 2010 HERPETOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION OF AFRICA http://www. wits.ac.za/haa FOUNDED 1965 The HAA is dedicated to the study and conservation of African reptiles and amphibians. Membership is open to anyone with an interest in the African herpetofauna. Members receive the Association‘s journal, African Journal of Herpetology (which publishes review papers, research articles, and short communications – subject to peer review) and African Herp News, the Newsletter (which includes short communications, natural history notes, geographical distribution notes, herpetological survey reports, venom and snakebite notes, book reviews, bibliographies, husbandry hints, announcements and news items). NEWSLETTER EDITOR’S NOTE Articles shall be considered for publication provided that they are original and have not been published elsewhere. Articles will be submitted for peer review at the Editor‘s discretion. Authors are requested to submit manuscripts by e-mail in MS Word ‗.doc‘ or ‗.docx‘ format. COPYRIGHT: Articles published in the Newsletter are copyright of the Herpetological Association of Africa and may not be reproduced without permission of the Editor. The views and opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the Editor. COMMITTEE OF THE HERPETOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION OF AFRICA CHAIRMAN Aaron Bauer, Department of Biology, Villanova University, 800 Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, Pennsylvania 19085, USA. [email protected] SECRETARY Jeanne Tarrant, African Amphibian Conservation Research Group, NWU. 40A Hilltop Road, Hillcrest 3610, South Africa. [email protected] TREASURER Abeda Dawood, National Zoological Gardens, Corner of Boom and Paul Kruger Streets, Pretoria 0002, South Africa. [email protected] JOURNAL EDITOR John Measey, Applied Biodiversity Research, Kirstenbosch Research Centre, South African Biodiversity Institute, P/Bag X7, Claremont 7735, South Africa.
    [Show full text]
  • Third-Generation Antivenomics Analysis of the Preclinical Efficacy Of
    Toxicon: X 1 (2019) 100004 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Toxicon: X journal homepage: www.journals.elsevier.com/toxicon-x Third-generation antivenomics analysis of the preclinical efficacy of ® T Bothrofav antivenom towards Bothrops lanceolatus venom ∗ Davinia Plaa, Yania Rodrígueza, Dabor Resiereb, Hossein Mehdaouib, José María Gutiérrezc, , ∗∗ Juan J. Calvetea, a Laboratorio de Venómica Evolutiva y Traslacional, Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia, CSIC, Jaime Roig 11, 46010 Valencia, Spain b Service des Urgences et de Reanimation Polyvalente, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Fort-de-France, Martinique, France c Instituto Clodomiro Picado, Facultad de Microbiología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT ® Keywords: Bothrops lanceolatus inflicts severe envenomings in the Lesser Caribbean island of Martinique. Bothrofav , a Bothrops lanceolatus monospecific antivenom against B. lanceolatus venom, has proven highly effective at the preclinical and clinical ® Antivenom levels. Here, we report a detailed third-generation antivenomics quantitative analysis of Bothrofav . With the Snake venom ® ® exception of poorly-immunogenic peptides, Bothrofav immunocaptured all the major protein components. Bothrofav These results, along with previous preclinical and clinical observations, underscore the high neutralizing efficacy Third-generation antivenomics of the antivenom against B. lanceolatus venom. Martinique Bothrops lanceolatus is an endemic viperid snake in the French and therapeutic antibody molecules present in an antivenom. Thus, overseas Department of Martinique, in the Lesser Caribbean, where it neutralization assays and antivenomics complement each other in the represents the only venomous snake (Campbell and Lamar, 2004). En- characterization of the preclinical efficacy of antivenoms (Gutiérrez venomings by this species are similar to those inflicted by other Bo- et al., 2017).
    [Show full text]
  • Molecular Characterization of Three Novel Phospholipase A2 Proteins from the Venom of Atheris Chlorechis, Atheris Nitschei and Atheris Squamigera
    toxins Article Molecular Characterization of Three Novel Phospholipase A2 Proteins from the Venom of Atheris chlorechis, Atheris nitschei and Atheris squamigera He Wang 1,*, Xiaole Chen 2,*, Mei Zhou 3, Lei Wang 3, Tianbao Chen 3 and Chris Shaw 3 1 School of Integrative Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No.1 Qiu Yang Road, Shangjie Town, Fuzhou 350122, Fujian, China 2 School of Pharmacy, Fujian Medical University, No.1 Xueyuan Road, Shangjie Town, Fuzhou 350004, Fujian, China 3 Natural Drug Discovery Group, School of Pharmacy, Queen’s University Belfast, University Road, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK; [email protected] (M.Z.); [email protected] (L.W.); [email protected] (T.C.); [email protected] (C.S.) * Correspondence: [email protected] or [email protected] (H.W.); [email protected] (X.C.); Tel.: +86-591-2286-1151 (H.W.); +86-591-2286-2692 (X.C.) Academic Editor: Bryan Grieg Fry Received: 24 February 2016; Accepted: 20 May 2016; Published: 1 June 2016 Abstract: Secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2) is known as a major component of snake venoms and displays higher-order catalytic hydrolysis functions as well as a wide range of pathological effects. Atheris is not a notoriously dangerous genus of snakes although there are some reports of fatal cases after envenomation due to the effects of coagulation disturbances and hemorrhaging. Molecular characterization of Atheris venom enzymes is incomplete and there are only a few reports in the literature. Here, we report, for the first time, the cloning and characterization of three novel cDNAs encoding phospholipase A2 precursors (one each) from the venoms of the Western bush viper (Atheris chlorechis), the Great Lakes bush viper (Atheris nitschei) and the Variable bush viper (Atheris squamigera), using a “shotgun cloning” strategy.
    [Show full text]
  • Cop13 Analyses Cover 29 Jul 04.Qxd
    IUCN/TRAFFIC Analyses of the Proposals to Amend the CITES Appendices at the 13th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties Bangkok, Thailand 2-14 October 2004 Prepared by IUCN Species Survival Commission and TRAFFIC Production of the 2004 IUCN/TRAFFIC Analyses of the Proposals to Amend the CITES Appendices was made possible through the support of: The Commission of the European Union Canadian Wildlife Service Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, Department for Nature, the Netherlands Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, Germany Federal Veterinary Office, Switzerland Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Dirección General para la Biodiversidad (Spain) Ministère de l'écologie et du développement durable, Direction de la nature et des paysages (France) IUCN-The World Conservation Union IUCN-The World Conservation Union brings together states, government agencies and a diverse range of non-governmental organizations in a unique global partnership - over 1 000 members in some 140 countries. As a Union, IUCN seeks to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable. IUCN builds on the strengths of its members, networks and partners to enhance their capacity and to support global alliances to safeguard natural resources at local, regional and global levels. The Species Survival Commission (SSC) is the largest of IUCN’s six volunteer commissions. With 8 000 scientists, field researchers, government officials and conservation leaders, the SSC membership is an unmatched source of information about biodiversity conservation. SSC members provide technical and scientific advice to conservation activities throughout the world and to governments, international conventions and conservation organizations.
    [Show full text]
  • The Herpetofauna of the Cubango, Cuito, and Lower Cuando River Catchments of South-Eastern Angola
    Official journal website: Amphibian & Reptile Conservation amphibian-reptile-conservation.org 10(2) [Special Section]: 6–36 (e126). The herpetofauna of the Cubango, Cuito, and lower Cuando river catchments of south-eastern Angola 1,2,*Werner Conradie, 2Roger Bills, and 1,3William R. Branch 1Port Elizabeth Museum (Bayworld), P.O. Box 13147, Humewood 6013, SOUTH AFRICA 2South African Institute for Aquatic Bio- diversity, P/Bag 1015, Grahamstown 6140, SOUTH AFRICA 3Research Associate, Department of Zoology, P O Box 77000, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth 6031, SOUTH AFRICA Abstract.—Angola’s herpetofauna has been neglected for many years, but recent surveys have revealed unknown diversity and a consequent increase in the number of species recorded for the country. Most historical Angola surveys focused on the north-eastern and south-western parts of the country, with the south-east, now comprising the Kuando-Kubango Province, neglected. To address this gap a series of rapid biodiversity surveys of the upper Cubango-Okavango basin were conducted from 2012‒2015. This report presents the results of these surveys, together with a herpetological checklist of current and historical records for the Angolan drainage of the Cubango, Cuito, and Cuando Rivers. In summary 111 species are known from the region, comprising 38 snakes, 32 lizards, five chelonians, a single crocodile and 34 amphibians. The Cubango is the most western catchment and has the greatest herpetofaunal diversity (54 species). This is a reflection of both its easier access, and thus greatest number of historical records, and also the greater habitat and topographical diversity associated with the rocky headwaters.
    [Show full text]
  • Nyika and Vwaza Reptiles & Amphibians Checklist
    LIST OF REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS OF NYIKA NATIONAL PARK AND VWAZA MARSH WILDLIFE RESERVE This checklist of all reptile and amphibian species recorded from the Nyika National Park and immediate surrounds (both in Malawi and Zambia) and from the Vwaza Marsh Wildlife Reserve was compiled by Dr Donald Broadley of the Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, in November 2013. It is arranged in zoological order by scientific name; common names are given in brackets. The notes indicate where are the records are from. Endemic species (that is species only known from this area) are indicated by an E before the scientific name. Further details of names and the sources of the records are available on request from the Nyika Vwaza Trust Secretariat. REPTILES TORTOISES & TERRAPINS Family Pelomedusidae Pelusios rhodesianus (Variable Hinged Terrapin) Vwaza LIZARDS Family Agamidae Acanthocercus branchi (Branch's Tree Agama) Nyika Agama kirkii kirkii (Kirk's Rock Agama) Vwaza Agama armata (Eastern Spiny Agama) Nyika Family Chamaeleonidae Rhampholeon nchisiensis (Nchisi Pygmy Chameleon) Nyika Chamaeleo dilepis (Common Flap-necked Chameleon) Nyika(Nchenachena), Vwaza Trioceros goetzei nyikae (Nyika Whistling Chameleon) Nyika(Nchenachena) Trioceros incornutus (Ukinga Hornless Chameleon) Nyika Family Gekkonidae Lygodactylus angularis (Angle-throated Dwarf Gecko) Nyika Lygodactylus capensis (Cape Dwarf Gecko) Nyika(Nchenachena), Vwaza Hemidactylus mabouia (Tropical House Gecko) Nyika Family Scincidae Trachylepis varia (Variable Skink) Nyika,
    [Show full text]
  • Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society and National Museum
    JOURNAL OF THE EAST AFRICA NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY AND NATIONAL MUSEUM 15 October, 1978 Vol. 31 No. 167 A CHECKLIST OF mE SNAKES OF KENYA Stephen Spawls 35 WQodland Rise, Muswell Hill, London NIO, England ABSTRACT Loveridge (1957) lists 161 species and subspecies of snake from East Mrica. Eighty-nine of these belonging to some 41 genera were recorded from Kenya. The new list contains some 106 forms of 46 genera. - Three full species have been deleted from Loveridge's original checklist. Typhlops b. blanfordii has been synonymised with Typhlops I. lineolatus, Typhlops kaimosae has been synonymised with Typhlops angolensis (Roux-Esteve 1974) and Co/uber citeroii has been synonymised with Meizodon semiornatus (Lanza 1963). Of the 20 forms added to the list, 12 are forms collected for the first time in Kenya but occurring outside its political boundaries and one, Atheris desaixi is a new species, the holotype and paratypes being collected within Kenya. There has also been a large number of changes amongst the 89 original species as a result of revisionary systematic studies. This accounts for the other additions to the list. INTRODUCTION The most recent checklist dealing with the snakes of Kenya is Loveridge (1957). Since that date there has been a significant number of developments in the Kenyan herpetological field. This paper intends to update the nomenclature in the part of the checklist that concerns the snakes of Kenya and to extend the list to include all the species now known to occur within the political boundaries of Kenya. It also provides the range of each species within Kenya with specific locality records .
    [Show full text]
  • Xenosaurus Tzacualtipantecus. the Zacualtipán Knob-Scaled Lizard Is Endemic to the Sierra Madre Oriental of Eastern Mexico
    Xenosaurus tzacualtipantecus. The Zacualtipán knob-scaled lizard is endemic to the Sierra Madre Oriental of eastern Mexico. This medium-large lizard (female holotype measures 188 mm in total length) is known only from the vicinity of the type locality in eastern Hidalgo, at an elevation of 1,900 m in pine-oak forest, and a nearby locality at 2,000 m in northern Veracruz (Woolrich- Piña and Smith 2012). Xenosaurus tzacualtipantecus is thought to belong to the northern clade of the genus, which also contains X. newmanorum and X. platyceps (Bhullar 2011). As with its congeners, X. tzacualtipantecus is an inhabitant of crevices in limestone rocks. This species consumes beetles and lepidopteran larvae and gives birth to living young. The habitat of this lizard in the vicinity of the type locality is being deforested, and people in nearby towns have created an open garbage dump in this area. We determined its EVS as 17, in the middle of the high vulnerability category (see text for explanation), and its status by the IUCN and SEMAR- NAT presently are undetermined. This newly described endemic species is one of nine known species in the monogeneric family Xenosauridae, which is endemic to northern Mesoamerica (Mexico from Tamaulipas to Chiapas and into the montane portions of Alta Verapaz, Guatemala). All but one of these nine species is endemic to Mexico. Photo by Christian Berriozabal-Islas. Amphib. Reptile Conserv. | http://redlist-ARC.org 01 June 2013 | Volume 7 | Number 1 | e61 Copyright: © 2013 Wilson et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Com- mons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License, which permits unrestricted use for non-com- Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 7(1): 1–47.
    [Show full text]
  • Os Répteis De Angola: História, Diversidade, Endemismo E Hotspots
    CAPÍTULO 13 OS RÉPTEIS DE ANGOLA: HISTÓRIA, DIVERSIDADE, ENDEMISMO E HOTSPOTS William R. Branch1,2, Pedro Vaz Pinto3,4, Ninda Baptista1,4,5 e Werner Conradie1,6,7 Resumo O estado actual do conhecimento sobre a diversidade dos répteis de Angola é aqui tratada no contexto da história da investigação herpe‑ tológica no país. A diversidade de répteis é comparada com a diversidade conhecida em regiões adjacentes de modo a permitir esclarecer questões taxonómicas e padrões biogeográficos. No final do século xix, mais de 67% dos répteis angolanos encontravam‑se descritos. Os estudos estag‑ naram durante o século seguinte, mas aumentaram na última década. Actualmente, são conhecidos pelo menos 278 répteis, mas foram feitas numerosas novas descobertas durante levantamentos recentes e muitas espécies novas aguardam descrição. Embora a diversidade dos lagartos e das cobras seja praticamente idêntica, a maioria das novas descobertas verifica‑se nos lagartos, particularmente nas osgas e lacertídeos. Destacam‑ ‑se aqui os répteis angolanos mal conhecidos e outros de regiões adjacentes que possam ocorrer no país. A maioria dos répteis endémicos angolanos é constituída por lagartos e encontra ‑se associada à escarpa e à região árida do Sudoeste. Está em curso a identificação de hotspots de diversidade de 1 National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project, Wild Bird Trust, South Africa 2 Research Associate, Department of Zoology, P.O. Box 77000, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth 6031, South Africa 3 Fundação Kissama, Rua 60, Casa 560, Lar do Patriota, Luanda, Angola 4 CIBIO ‑InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, 4485 ‑661 Vairão, Portugal 5 ISCED, Instituto Superior de Ciências da Educação da Huíla, Rua Sarmento Rodrigues s/n, Lubango, Angola 6 School of Natural Resource Management, George Campus, Nelson Mandela University, George 6530, South Africa 7 Port Elizabeth Museum (Bayworld), P.O.
    [Show full text]
  • Snake Venom from the Venezuelan C
    BOLETÍN DE MALARIOLOGÍA Y SALUD AMBIENTAL Agosto-Diciembre 2014, Vol. LIV (2): 138-149 Biochemical and biological characterisation of lancehead (Bothrops venezuelensis Sandner 1952) snake venom from the Venezuelan Central Coastal range Caracterización bioquímica y biológica del veneno de la serpiente "tigra mariposa" (Bothrops venezuelensis Sandner 1952) de la región central de la Cordillera de la Costa Venezolana Elda E. Sánchez1, María E. Girón2, Nestor L. Uzcátegui2, Belsy Guerrero3, Max Saucedo1, Esteban Cuevas1 & Alexis Rodríguez-Acosta2* RESUMEN SUMMARY Se aislaron fracciones del veneno de Bothrops Venom fractions isolated from Bothrops venezuelensis que demuestran ser un espectro abundante de venezuelensis were shown to contain a broad spectrum proteínas con actividades variadas (coagulante, hemorrágica, of proteins with varied activities. This study describes fibrinolítica, proteolítica y de función plaquetaria), para el venom fractions with coagulant, haemorrhagic, fibrinolytic, análisis de sus propiedades físico-químicas y biológicas, proteolytic and antiplatelet activities, and analyses their el veneno fue fraccionado por cromatografía de exclusión physico-chemical properties and biological activities via molecular, corrido en una electroforesis en gel y realizada molecular exclusion chromatography, gel electrophoresis una batería de ensayos biológicos. La DL50 del veneno and a bioassay battery. The LD50, determined by injecting de B. venezuelensis fue 6,39 mg/kg de peso corporal, fue intraperitoneally serial dilutions of B. venezuelensis determinada inyectando intraperitonealmente en ratones, venom into mice, was 6.39 mg/kg body weight. Twelve diluciones seriadas de veneno de B. venezuelensis. Se fractions were collected from B. venezuelensis venom colectaron doce fracciones a partir del veneno de B. using molecular exclusion chromatography. Of these, venezuelensis mediante cromatografía de exclusión molecular.
    [Show full text]