Herpetofauna of Núcleo Experimental de Iguaba Grande, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil

• Main Authors: AR Martins, SF. Bruno, AQ. Navegantes
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto Internacional de Ecologia
• Series: Brazilian Journal of Biology
• Subjects: Atlantic Rain-forest; amphibians; reptiles; inventory; restinga
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-69842012000300018&lng=en&tlng=en

The Atlantic Rain forest, which is considered the second largest pluvial forest in the American continent, has had an estimated 93% of its original area destroyed. Although studies concerning the herpetofaunal diversity in this biome have been intensified in the past years, its diversity is still underestimated. The Nucleo Experimental de Iguaba Grande (NEIG) is included in an Environmental Protection Area (APA de Sapeatiba) in the Iguaba Grande municipality, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil (22º 51' S and 42º 10' W). The goal of this study was to conduct an inventory of the reptile and amphibian species that occur in this area between July 2008 and December 2009. We recorded 19 species of amphibians (18 anurans and one caecilian) and 15 species of reptiles (three lizards, 11 snakes and one amphisbaenian). Leptodactylus latrans and L. mystacinus had the highest capture rates among amphibians captured, and among reptiles, Ameiva ameiva, Hemidactylus mabouia and Mabuya agilis had the highest capture rates. Rarefaction curves for both amphibians and reptiles did not reach the asymptote, indicating that the species richness in the NEIG is still underestimated.