Abstract
We provide the first report on the herpetological biodiversity (amphibians and reptiles) of the northern Sierra Madre Mountain Range (Cagayan and Isabela provinces), northeast Luzon Island, Philippines. New data from extensive previously unpublished surveys in the Municipalities of Gonzaga, Gattaran, Lasam, Santa Ana, and Baggao (Cagayan Province), as well as fieldwork in the Municipalities of Cabagan, San Mariano, and Palanan (Isabela Province), combined with all available historical museum records, suggest this region is quite diverse. Our new data indicate that at least 101 species are present (29 amphibians, 30 lizards, 35 snakes, two freshwater turtles, three marine turtles, and two crocodilians) and now represented with well-documented records and/or voucher specimens, confirmed in institutional biodiversity repositories. A high percentage of Philippine endemic species constitute the local fauna (approximately 70%). The results of this and other recent studies signify that the herpetological diversity of the northern Philippines is far more diverse than previously imagined. Thirty-eight percent of our recorded species are associated with unresolved taxonomic issues (suspected new species or species complexes in need of taxonomic partitioning). This suggests that despite past and present efforts to comprehensively characterize the fauna, the herpetological biodiversity of the northern Philippines is still substantially underestimated and warranting of further study.
Highlights
The highly distinctive terrestrial vertebrate fauna of the northeastern Philippines has been the subject of intense interest, speculation, and debate since the first historical explorations of the northern extremes of the archipelago (Wallace 1860, 1876; Everett 1889; Boulenger 1894; Stejneger 1907; Hoogstral 1951; Allen et al 2004, 2006)
We comment on the conservation status of individual species when data presented here suggest that existing conservation status assessments (IUCN 2010, 2011) are out of date (Siler et al 2011; McLeod et al 2011; Brown et al 2012) or will soon require revision
As reviewed by Auffenberg (1988; see Hall, 1998, 2001, 2002; Yumul et al 2003, 2009), the occurrence of multiple geological components of central and southern Luzon correspond in some cases to approximate paleoisland precursors that accreted in recent geological history to form today’s geographically complex, tectonically active southern portion of Luzon (Hall 2002; Yumul et al 2003)
Summary
The highly distinctive terrestrial vertebrate fauna of the northeastern Philippines has been the subject of intense interest, speculation, and debate since the first historical explorations of the northern extremes of the archipelago (Wallace 1860, 1876; Everett 1889; Boulenger 1894; Stejneger 1907; Hoogstral 1951; Allen et al 2004, 2006). Many past and recent explorations of this unique part of southeast Asia highlighted spectacular endemic species (Stejneger 1907; Ota and Ross 1994; Brown et al 2008, 2009; Oliveros et al 2011), the dominant view of the Philippines by the beginning of the 20th century was the biogeographer’s concept of a “fringing” archipelago (Dickerson 1928; Kloss 1929; Darlington 1957; Myers 1960 1962; Brown and Alcala 1970a; Siler et al 2012) According to this perception, archipelagos near a continental source for invasion by vertebrate colonists should show distribution patterns consistent with the classic “immigrant pattern” of faunal distributions (Myers 1962; Brown and Alcala 1970a; Lomolino et al 2010). Numerous classic works consider the biodiversity of such islands as “depauperate” in the sense that they contained a reduced
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