INVENTORY AND CONSERVATION ASSESSMENT OF THE HERPETOFAUNA OF THE SIERRA DE OMOA, HONDURAS, WITH A REVIEW OF THE Geophis (SQUAMATA: COLUBRIDAE) OF EASTERN NUCLEAR CENTRAL AMERICA By JOSIAH HAROLD TOWNSEND A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2006 Copyright 2006 by Josiah Harold Townsend As a biotic environment the Honduranean cloud forests offer the biologist a challenge and promise of reward that would be hard to duplicate. But more than this, they hold an infallible aesthetic appeal that is as deep as the mystery of the dim, green woods and as varied as its changing aspects. –Archie F. Carr, Jr. (1953: 20) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my supervisory committee chair, Max A Nickerson, and supervisory committee members, F. Wayne King and J. Richard Stepp, for providing guidance and support throughout the process of completing this thesis. My mentor and friend, Larry David Wilson, has been a trusted advisor and a marvelous field companion, and I have benefited enormously from his experience. My friend, Roberto Downing, was of invaluable assistance in arranging the logistics for my work in Cusuco in Spring 2005 and El Paraiso in the Summer of 2005, and helping me obtain collection and export permits. Conrado Gonzáles, Martha Moreno, Ibrahim Padilla, and Carla Cárcamo of the Departamento de Areas Protegidas y Vida Silvestre (DAPVS) of the Administración Forestal del Estado Corporación Hondureña de Desarrollo Forestal (AFE-COHDEFOR), Honduras, generously provided permission to collect and export scientific specimens. James R. McCranie was instrumental in securing the five-year collecting permit I worked under. I gratefully acknowledge funding from a research assistantship at the Florida Museum of Natural History during the 2004-2005 academic year; and from a Tropical Conservation and Development Graduate Fellowship during the 2005-2006 academic year. David Steadman, Scott Robinson, Leslie Campbell, Shuronna Wilson, Hannah Covert, Wanda Carter, and Victoria Gomez de la Torre were integral in providing and administering these assistantships. Fieldwork in Honduras was supported by Operation Wallacea, the Reptile and Amphibian Conservation Corps (RACC), and the Herpetology iv Division of the Florida Museum of Natural History. Varying degrees of field assistance in Honduras was provided by Larry David Wilson, T. Lynette Plenderleith, Brooke L. Talley, Sara M. Hughes, James C. Nifong, Douglas C. Fraser, Charlotte C. Woodhead, Phillip J. Lewis, Jackie B. Grant, Makrín Ramírez, René Alvarenga, Danílo Alvarenga, Dan Pupius, Ed Anderson, Emma Sherratt, David Carter, Adrian Symonds, Rachel Freer, Justin Hines, Andrew Stronach, Zia Lewindson, Rauri Allan, Gerry Carter, Louisa Sly, and dozens of volunteers from the Operation Wallacea Honduras Forest Project. Tim Coles provided the opportunity to work with Operation Wallacea, and enthusiastically directed the project. Don Enrique Morales Alegría allowed us to work on his property in El Paraiso, and Doña Telma graciously hosted our stay at El Paraiso. The residents of Buenos Aires and El Paraiso (Depto. Cortés) and La Fortuna (Depto. Santa Barbara) were gracious hosts and companions during my time in their communities; muchas gracias por todo. Doña Gladys Fasquelle, of the Pastor Fundacíon Hector Rodrigo Pastor Fasquelle, San Pedro Sula, Honduras, was kind enough to store specimens associated with this thesis over the course of late 2004 and early 2005. Loans of specimens under their care were facilitated by Steve Gotte, James Poindexter, and Roy McDiarmid of the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC; John Simmons, D. Berger, and C. Linkem of the University of Kansas Natural History Museum, Lawrence, Kansas; J. Vindum and A. Harper, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California; Gunther Köhler of the Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Ronald Nussbaum and Greg Schneider of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Jimmy McGuire and J. Castillo, University of v California Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley, California; and J. Seigel, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California. Steve Gotte facilitated my visit to the National Museum of Natural History, and José Rosado facilitated my visit to the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Massachussetts. Dan Janes hosted my stay in Cambridge, Massachussetts, and Steve and Terri Townsend provide room and board during my visit to Washington, DC. James R. McCranie kindly allowed use of material he collected in Rus Rus and Warunta, Honduras. Daniel Pupuis, Brooke Talley, and Phillip Lewis provided use of their photographs from Honduras. Stephanie LaRusso took the time and effort to prepare the head scale illustrations used in this thesis. Finally, and most importantly, I want to thank my wife Deborah for her steadfast support, understanding, and caring during the process of researching and writing this thesis. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iv LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................. ix LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... xi ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................... xiii INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1 METHODS AND MATERIALS.........................................................................................9 Compiling an Inventory of the Sierra de Omoa Herpetofauna.....................................9 Taxonomic Standards .................................................................................................12 Coefficient of Biogeographic Resemblance ...............................................................13 Environmental Vulnerability Scores...........................................................................13 Specimen Examination ...............................................................................................14 Format for Systematic Accounts ................................................................................18 THE SIERRA DE OMOA, HONDURAS: SOCIOECONOMIC AND ECOPHYSIOGRAPHIC SETTING...........................................................................20 Socioeconomic Influences on Conservation in The Sierra De Omoa ........................20 Ecophysiography of the Sierra de Omoa....................................................................22 Biodiversity in the Sierra de Omoa ............................................................................29 RESULTS OF FIELDWORK IN THE SIERRA DE OMOA DURING 2005 .................33 CONSERVATION ASSESSMENT OF THE HERPETOFAUNA OF THE SIERRA DE OMOA..................................................................................................................41 STATUS OF Geophis, species inquirenda, AND A REDESCRIPTION OF Geophis nephodrymus TOWNSEND AND WILSON .............................................................53 Differentiation of Geophis fulvoguttatus from G. species inquirenda .......................53 Identity of Geophis, species inquirenda .....................................................................58 Geophis nephodrymus Townsend and Wilson ...........................................................59 REVIEW OF THE Geophis OF EASTERN NUCLEAR CENTRAL AMERICA...........73 vii Geophis damiani Wilson, McCranie, and Williams...................................................77 Geophis dunni Schmidt...............................................................................................83 Geophis fulvoguttatus Mertens...................................................................................89 Geophis hoffmanni (Peters) ........................................................................................94 Geophis rhodogaster (Cope) ....................................................................................105 A KEY TO THE SPECIES OF Geophis FROM EASTERN NUCLEAR CENTRAL AMERICA................................................................................................................111 LITERATURE CITED ....................................................................................................113 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ...........................................................................................124 viii LIST OF TABLES Table page 1 Population growth of the four largest cities in the watershed of the Sierra de Omoa, Depto. Cortés, Honduras ..............................................................................22 2 Amphibian and reptile species recorded during fieldwork in the Sierra de Omoa, northwestern Honduras, during 2005.......................................................................34 3 Site-by-site breakdown of amphibian and reptiles species collected within Parque Nacional El Cusuco during 2005 .................................................................40 4 Inventory and conservation assessment of the amphibians and reptiles of the Sierra de Omoa, Honduras .......................................................................................42