Herpetofauna of the Floresta Nacional de Silvânia, a Cerrado remnant in Central Brazil

Abstract

The Brazilian savanna is the second largest biome in Brazil and one of the most altered due to anthropic action. Nowadays, it is considered one of the 25 hotspots of biodiversity, whereas little information about its fauna is available in literature. This gap is even bigger when treating about amphibians and reptiles. These animals are less studied and are found in the Cerrado biome about 150 amphibians and 260 reptile species. With the objectives of contributing to the knowledge of the Brazilian savanna herpetofauna and to support conservation strategies for these groups, this paper characterizes the amphibian and reptile assemblies at National Forest (FLONA) of Silvânia. Some studies about herpetofauna local have been done, such as natural history and description of vocalizations of amphibians and diet and geographic distribution of some reptile species. The present study was done from July/2008 to June/2009, totalizing 21 field visits in 84 days of effective sampling. The sampling was performed by active search and pitfall traps with drift fences and, furthermore, information of literature was compiled. We found 65 species, of which 33 were amphibians (only anurans) and 32 were reptiles (Testudines and Squamata) species. Among the anurans species, four (Elachistocleis cf. cesarii, Odontophrynus salvatori, Physalaemus sp. (aff. albonotatus) and Scinax (aff. similis) were found for the first time at the FLONA of Silvânia. About the reptiles, this is the first characterization of the group in the area and we recorded one chelonian, 14 lizards and 17 snakes. This study increases the knowledge of the Brazilian savanna herpetofauna, being useful to the elaboration of conservation actions for this biome. © 2012 by Unisinos.