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Abstract
Abstract The objective of the present study was to learn which species of Squamata reptiles occur in Protected Area São José, in Tiradentes, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Between November 2009 and December 2010 reptiles were captured. In total 157 specimens were recorded of 29 species, 16 snakes, 12 lizards and one amphisbaena. Among the snakes, Dipsadidae showed the greatest richness, with a total of nine species. The group of snakes had the highest number of species present in the community, but 79% of sampled specimens were lizards, Enyalius bilineatus being the most abundant species, with 21% of occurrence. The area with the highest richness was the Cerradão. The lower abundance was found in the Gallery Forest area (n=14), but it was the vegetation type with the highest equitability. Areas of Cerradão and Cerrado sensu strictu showed the most similarity. In these areas five species were recorded in common, Bothrops neuwiedi (n=3) being the only species of snake, and the two species of lizards most abundant in both environments were Enyalius bilineatus (n=32) and Ameivula ocellifera (n=19). Ophiodes striatus and Xenodon merremii were common to Cerradão and Dirty Field areas. There was no species recorded that were common to the environments of Cerrado and Dirty Field but two species not sympatric were found of the same genus, Tropidurus torquatus, which was found only in the Cerrado sensu strictu and Tropidurus itambere exclusively in Dirty Field. Since none of the rarefaction curves reached full asymptote, this highlights the need for further study due to the high probability of new species being recorded for the studied area.
Highlights
Reptiles form a prominent group in almost all terrestrial assemblages, with more than 10,391 known species worldwide (Uetz 2016)
We recorded a total of 157 specimens belonging to 13 families and 29 species of Squamata reptiles: one species of amphisbaena (n = 3), 12 species of lizards (n = 123) and 16 snakes (n = 31) (Figures 1 to 3)
The most abundant families were Teiidae (n = 35), Leiosauridae (n = 32) and Tropiduridae (n = 28), which accounted for 61% of all the Squamata reptiles studied (Table 1)
Summary
Reptiles form a prominent group in almost all terrestrial assemblages, with more than 10,391 known species worldwide (Uetz 2016). Approximately one in five species of reptiles is endangered and, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, the same proportion is still classified as data-deficient (Bérnils et al 2009) These results reinforce the need for attention and research in tropical areas that exhibit the most dramatic rates of habitat loss (Böhm et al 2013). The greatest threats to Brazilian herpetofauna are concentrated in these phytogeographical domains and mainly result from habitat loss and degradation. These are critical situations for lizards and snakes in the remaining savanna and rocky fields of the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais (Paglia et al 2010). In some areas of Minas Gerais, these domains still require systematic sampling of herpetofauna with wide geographical coverage (Bérnils et al 2009)
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