Geographical distribution and ecological considerations of the Testudines fauna from Northeast Brazil

Abstract

The knowledge of natural history of the Brazilian species of turtles is still insipient because most information about these animals are restricted to a few records of occurrence, which in general are sparse in the literature or even in museums. The paucity of knowledge prevents broader approaches on various ecological and evolutionary aspects, which are primordial for conservation planning and management of the group. The large geographical extent, the environmental complexity, and the degradation of biomes in Northeast Brazil make the systematization of environmental and biological data on turtles from this region, which are compiled and discussed in this paper, highly important to contribute to the characterization of the conservation status of these species and therefore to subsidize the diagnosis of the environments associated to them.