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We document the first record of Oedipina villamizariorum Reyes-Puig et al., 2020 in Colombia, from Gorgona National Natural Park located in Guapi Municipality, Cauca department. With this record, the number of Oedipina species reported in the country rises to three, and the known distribution of O. villamizariorum is extended approximately 220 km north of its only previously known locality in Ecuador. Our research highlights the importance of combining DNA barcoding and traditional morphology to identify cryptic species.

Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) savanna characterized by open-canopy, diverse herbaceous vegetation, and high amounts of bare soil once covered much of the southeastern United States Coastal Plain. The unique structural and vegetative conditions of this ecosystem support endemic reptiles and amphibians that have declined as longleaf pine forests have been lost or degraded. Private working pine (Pinus spp.) forests managed for timber production now occur throughout the southeastern United States and have replaced much of the historical longleaf pine savanna. The examination of herpetofaunal (reptile, amphibian) communities in private working loblolly pine (P. taeda) landscapes, particularly in the western Gulf Coastal Plain is lacking. Using repeated field surveys and hierarchical community occupancy models, we examined occupancy and species richness of herpetofauna across 81 sites spanning gradients of management practices, vegetative conditions, and soil composition in northwestern Louisiana, USA, 2017–2019. Young pine stands (<6 yr) exhibited structural characteristics most similar to mature longleaf pine reference sites (>30 yr), while mid-aged stands (13–26 yr) often featured closed canopy and dense midstory. Vegetation conditions varied widely depending on landscape characteristics and site-specific disturbance regimes. We documented 43 species of herpetofauna, including 9 open-pine-associated species. Occupancy of open-pine-associated herpetofauna was positively associated with open-canopy and understory conditions, and sandy soil area. Sites providing open-canopy conditions were often occupied by open-pine-associated species regardless of overstory type and disturbance method. Overall richness of herpetofauna was greatest at sites with moderate canopy cover outside of sandy soil regions. Working pine landscapes in the western Gulf Coastal Plain can support diverse herpetofaunal assemblages, including open-pine-associated species, when management practices maintain open-canopy conditions on sandy, upland soils. More broadly, our results provide insight into how forest management practices affect herpetofauna and may guide practices that can contribute to conservation value of working pine forests.

Protected Areas (PAs) are the cornerstone of biodiversity conservation. Here, we collated distributional data for >14,000 (~70% of) species of amphibians and reptiles (herpetofauna) to perform a global assessment of the conservation effectiveness of PAs using species distribution models. Our analyses reveal that >91% of herpetofauna species are currently distributed in PAs, and that this proportion will remain unaltered under future climate change. Indeed, loss of species’ distributional ranges will be lower inside PAs than outside them. Therefore, the proportion of effectively protected species is predicted to increase. However, over 7.8% of species currently occur outside PAs, and large spatial conservation gaps remain, mainly across tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, and across non-high-income countries. We also predict that more than 300 amphibian and 500 reptile species may go extinct under climate change over the course of the ongoing century. Our study highlights the importance of PAs in providing herpetofauna with refuge from climate change, and suggests ways to optimize PAs to better conserve biodiversity worldwide. The effectiveness of protected areas under climate change is debated. Here, the authors analyse the potential effectiveness of protected areas for conserving over 70% of extant amphibian and reptile species under present and future climate scenarios.

Amphibians and reptiles are ectothermic animals and therefore depend on environmental temperatures to maintain their physiological functions. Despite being poorly documented, data on thermal behavioral thresholds to avoid overheating in their habitats are essential to improve the understanding of their thermal ecology and physiology. Here we provide a data set of 312 individual voluntary thermal maximum (VTMax) values, the maximum temperature tolerated by individuals before actively moving to a colder place, for 53 species of amphibians and reptiles of the Atlantic Forest and Cerrado savannas of southeastern South America. Voluntary thermal maximum values were recorded as the body temperature at which the individuals exited a heating box experimental setup. This data set comprises 25 species of 15 genera and eight families of amphibians and 28 species of 24 genera and 12 families of reptiles. Of the total number of individual records, 67.9% derived from the Cerrado and 32.0% derived from the Atlantic Forest ecoregions. Overall, lizards had higher VTMax than amphibians and snakes, and individuals in the Atlantic Forest had overall higher VTMax values than the ones in Cerrado. This data set is the first to compile VTMax values for South American herpetofauna, along with detailed experimental information such as heating rates and time to reach VTMax. This data set provides a baseline for understanding thermal tolerances and requirements of Neotropical ectothermic vertebrate species, which might be useful for future research on the impact of climate change and to test novel ecological hypotheses. There are no copyright or proprietary restrictions except that this data paper should be cited when data are used for publications. In addition, the authors would appreciated being informed of research projects or teaching purposes when these data are used.

Identifying urban and peri-urban areas inhabited by species of reptiles and amphibians represents the first step in understanding how herpetofauna can adapt to anthropogenic factors. This is particularly true for regions where sampling biases have left significant gaps in our knowledge of fauna distribution, such as Romania. The aim of the study is to show my preliminary observations on the herpetofauna and its use of habitats in the urban and peri-urban environments from the city of Pitești, Argeș County, located in southern Romania. I identified nine species of amphibians (Salamandra salamandra, Lissotriton vulgaris, Triturus cristatus, Bombina variegata, Bufo bufo, Bufotes viridis, Hyla orientalis, Pelophylax ridibundus and Rana dalmatina) and nine species of reptiles (Emys orbicularis, Trachemys scripta, Lacerta agilis, Lacerta viridis, Podarcis muralis, Anguis colchica, Coronella austriaca, Natrix natrix and Natrix tessellata). The most abundent species in urban environments were Podarcis muralis and Bufotes viridis, with other species naturally present in the same habitats being Lacerta viridis, Hyla orientalis and Bufo bufo. In an artificial urban pond there were present Emys orbicularis and the invasive species Trachemys scripta (together with other exotic turtles belonging to other genera) as a result of translocation and releases. When taking into account the peri-urban areas as well, the most abundant species in the study area were Bombina variegata, Rana dalmatina and Bufotes viridis, the first two being limited to the woodland area. The most widespread species were Hyla orientalis, Bufotes viridis, Lacerta viridis, Podarcis muralis and Natrix natrix. These widespread species were present throughout all the study area. I have also recorded some species of reptiles with very few observations in the Argeș County: Natrix tessellata and Trachemys scripta. Finally, I identified anthropogenic factors that negatively impact the herpetofauna, such as habitat loss, direct persecution, road mortality, invasive species and poaching.

The Eastern Arc Mountains (EAM) and Coastal forests of Tanzania are renowned for harboring large number of threatened and endemic vertebrate species, yet most of these areas have been partially studied. The Kimboza Nature Forest Reserve (KNFR) is a small forest which is in transition between the EAM and Coastal forests, and among the poorly surveyed areas for amphibians and reptiles. We conducted systematic surveys across the KNFR in 2012 and between 2020 and 2023 using a range of approaches with the aim of establishing a comprehensive and updated list of reptile and amphibian species and assess the contribution of EAM and Coastal forests to the KNFR's herpetofauna. We identified 77 species, 29 amphibians and 48 reptiles, substantially updating previous species lists. Three of these species (Kinyongia magomberae, Trachylepis boulengeri and Philothamnus macrops) represent range extensions from previously known ranges. Fourteen species are endemic to East Africa, 11 of them being restricted to Tanzania. These results make the KNFR the richest forest reserve for herpetofauna per square km in Tanzania, and most similar in its composition to the Coastal, rather than Eastern Arc forests. With the caveats concerning taxonomic uncertainties and the inequalities of sampling intensity across the region, this study shows that the KNFR is an important area that deserves conservation attention. The KNFR, like other Coastal forests, is under significant pressure from anthropogenic activities which call for an urgent action to protect this small but rich forest. We provide a curated checklist of amphibians and reptiles in Kimboza Nature Forest Reserve (KNFR) in Tanzania based on the new intensive fieldwork and old survey information. The KNFR boasts the richest diversity per km2 in Tanzania and potentially the continent. We demonstrated much of the fauna is of coastal origin but this unique fauna is highly threatened by habitat degradation.

The Brazilian Cerrado and Atlantic Forest shelter an especially rich herpetofauna and experience strong anthropogenic disturbances, which is also true for the western portion of Minas Gerais State. Herein, we present a list of the herpetofauna from the Tringulo Mineiro region in Minas Gerais State, southeastern Brazil. From 2012 to 2016, we sampled 28 localities along 23 municipalities in the region, using three sampling methods: active search, pitfall traps, and opportunistic records. We recorded 79 species, 44 amphibians and 35 reptiles. Three species (Bokermannohyla sazimai, Ololygon canastrensis, and Pithecopus azureus) are classified as “data deficient” (DD) according to the IUCN. One species (Proceratophrys moratoi) is classified as “critically endangered” (CR) according to the IUCN Red List, and “endangered” (EN) according to the national red list. However, we suggest listing P. moratoi in the “least concern” category. We also present the first record of Dendropsophus elianeae in Minas Gerais State, and distribution map of the species. Furthermore, we elucidate the composition of the herpetofauna in the Tringulo Mineiro region and contribute to future conservation plans for the region and the species.

The contributions of this author are as follows: conceived and designed the experiments; and contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools. Rosauer DF, Catullo RA, VanDerWal J, Moussalli A, Hoskin CJ, Moritz C (2015) Lineage Range Estimation Method Reveals Fine-Scale Endemism Linked to Pleistocene Stability in Australian Rainforest Herpetofauna. Rosauer DF, Catullo RA, VanDerWal J, Moussalli A, Moritz C (2015) Lineage Range Estimation Method Reveals Fine-Scale Endemism Linked to Pleistocene Stability in Australian Rainforest Herpetofauna.

Understanding the locations of potential invasion hotspots and the extent to which they overlap with biodiversity hotspots is crucial for prioritizing efforts to reduce the impacts of alien species on global biodiversity. Using ensembles of species distribution models based on climate, anthropogenic predictors, vegetation, and water resources, we predict global potential invasion hotspots for alien herpetofauna (reptiles and amphibians). On average, when subjected to current and future climate scenarios, potential richness of alien herpetofauna per grid cell (the minimum unit of our spatial variables for modeling and projecting) in biodiversity hotspots is nearly 1.4 times higher than in other regions. Furthermore, potential invasion hotspots are projected to occupy a large proportion of the total area within biodiversity hotspots. These results suggest that biodiversity hotspots are at greater risk from alien herpetofaunal invasions than are other regions. Our results provide key information for globally targeting early detection and rapid-response programs to help prevent or mitigate future impacts of alien herpetofauna on biodiversity.

Habitat change and fragmentation are the primary causes of biodiversity loss worldwide. Recent decades have seen a surge of funding, published papers and citations in the field as these threats to biodiversity continue to rise. However, how research directions and agenda are evolving in this field remains poorly understood. In this study, we examined the current state of research on habitat fragmentation (due to agriculture, logging, fragmentation, urbanisation and roads) pertaining to two of the most threatened vertebrate groups, reptiles and amphibians. We did so by conducting a global scale review of geographical and taxonomical trends on the habitat fragmentation types, associated sampling methods and response variables. Our analyses revealed a number of biases with existing research efforts being focused on three continents (e.g., North America, Europe and Australia) and a surplus of studies measuring species richness and abundance. However, we saw a shift in research agenda towards studies utilising technological advancements including genetic and spatial data analyses. Our findings suggest important associations between sampling methods and prevalent response variables but not with the types of habitat fragmentation. These research agendas are found homogeneously distributed across all continents. Increased research investment with appropriate sampling techniques is crucial in biodiversity hotpots such as the tropics where unprecedented threats to herpetofauna exist.