Watch out for the car! Almost a thousand amphibians and reptiles ran over by cars at a single location during one reproductive season in Bahia state, Brazil

Abstract

ABSTRACT Roads represent a severe threat to wildlife populations, especially during the rainy season when animals move between habitats to feed and reproduce. We monitored roadkilled amphibians and reptiles in a 2.5-km stretch of a secondary road in the state of Bahia, Brazil, for 47 days from November 2021 to February 2022. Our surveys registered 838 dead individuals of 18 identified species; most were amphibians of the family Leptodactylidae (87.5%), primarily juveniles. We often found individuals close to two extensive swamps at the road’s edge. Reptiles (snakes and turtles) represented only 1.3% of all observed roadkill. Our results show that a single spot on a secondary road can significantly impact the local herpetofauna, and we emphasize the need for mitigation measures to avoid further population declines.