Mesoamerican Salamanders (Amphibia: Caudata) as a Conservation Focal Group

Authors

  • Elí García-Padilla Oaxaca de Juarez
  • Dominic L. DeSantis Georgia College & State University
  • Arturo Rocha El Paso Community College
  • Vicente Mata-Silva The University of Texas at El Paso
  • Jerry D. Johnson The University of Texas at El Paso
  • Lydia Allison Fucsko Swinburne University of Technology
  • David Lazcano-Villarreal Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León
  • Larry David Wilson Escuela Agrícola Panamericana Zamorano

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29105/bys4.7-20

Keywords:

Biodiversity decline, Caudata, conservation priority levels, Mexico, Central America

Abstract

Salamanders constitute the second largest order of amphibians in the world. The 762 species occurring globally are organized into nine families, of which eight are found in the Western Hemisphere. The 308 species of Mesoamerican salamanders are arranged in four families, only two of which have representatives occurring significantly south of the US-Mexican border. Those two families are the Ambystomatidae, with 18 Mesoamerican species, and the Plethodontidae, with 287 species. Most of the Mesoamerican salamanders are endemic to either Mexico or Central America or to Mesoamerica in general. The largest number of endemic species belong to the genera Ambystoma, Bolitoglossa, Chiropterotriton, Nototriton, Oedipina, Pseudoeurycea, and Thorius. The greatest amount of salamander diversity is found in Mexico, followed in order by that in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Belize. The amount of endemicity in Central America ranges in order from highest to lowest in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, El Salvador, and Belize. Most species of Mesoamerican salamanders occupy conservation priority level one, amounting to 244 species and 88.4% of the 276 Mexican and Central American endemic species. These 244 species constitute a key conservation focal group for Mesoamerica based on several criteria. Most of the priority level one species are in the Mesa Central, Sierra Madre Occidental, Sierra Madre Oriental, Sierra Madre del Sur, Sierra de Los Tuxtlas, Western and Eastern Nuclear Central American Highlands, Isthmian Central American Highlands, and the Highlands of Eastern Panama. The significance of the biodiversity resource represented by Mesoamerican salamanders is not emphasized outside of a small cadre of conservation herpetologists and systematists working in the region. Nonetheless, these salamanders are threatened currently by the destructive activities of humans and potentially endangered by the possibility of the invasion of their habitats by the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans. Our conclusion is that Mesoamerican salamanders should be recognized as a conservation focal group for several reasons outlined herein. In addition, we suggest that these salamanders become the subject of a scientific congress tasked with promptly preparing a plan for protecting the diversity and endemicity of these amphibians for perpetuity.

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Author Biographies

Elí García-Padilla, Oaxaca de Juarez

is a herpetologist primarily focused on the study of the Mexican herpetofauna. To date, he has authored or co-authored over 100 formal contributions to the scientific knowledge of the Mexican herpetofauna. Currently, he is employed as a formal Curator of Amphibians and Reptiles from Mexico in the electronic platform “Naturalista” of the Comisión Nacional para el Uso y Conocimiento de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO; www.naturalista.mx). One of his main passions is environmental education, and for several years he has been working on a variety of projects that include the use of photography and audiovisual media as powerful tools to reach large audiences and to promote the importance of the knowledge, protection, and conservation of the Mexican biological and cultural patrimony. Presently, he is undertaking an evaluation of the jaguar (Panthera onca) as an umbrella species for the conservation of the herpetofauna of Mesoamerica.

Dominic L. DeSantis, Georgia College & State University

is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Georgia College and State University, Milledgeville,  Georgia,  USA,  in  the  Department  of  Biological  and  Environmental  Sciences. Dominic’s  research  interests  broadly  include  the  behavioral  ecology,  conservation  biology,  and natural  history  of  herpetofauna. Dominic accompanied Vicente Mata-Silva, Elí García-Padilla, and Larry David Wilson on survey and collecting expeditions to Oaxaca in 2015, 2016, and 2017, and is a co-author on numerous natural history conservation-oriented publications produced from those visits, including an invited book chapter on the conservation outlook for herpetofauna in the Sierra Madre del Sur of Oaxaca. Overall, Dominic has authored or co-authored over 50 peer-reviewed scientific publications.

Arturo Rocha, El Paso Community College

is a herpetologist from El Paso, Texas. His interests include the study of biogeography and ecology of amphibians and reptiles in the southwestern United States and Mexico. A graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso, his thesis centered on the spatial ecology of the Trans-Pecos Rat Snake (Bogertophis subocularis) in the northern Chihuahuan Desert. To date, he has authored or co-authored over 10 peer-reviewed scientific publications

Vicente Mata-Silva, The University of Texas at El Paso

is a herpetologist originally from Río Grande, Oaxaca, Mexico. His interests include ecology, conservation, natural history, and biogeography of the herpetofaunas of Mexico, Central America, and the southwestern United States. He received his B.S. degree from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). Vicente is an Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences at UTEP in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Program, and Assistant Director of UTEP’s 40,000 acre Indio Mountains Research Station, located in the Chihuahuan Desert of Trans-Pecos, Texas. To date, Vicente has authored or coauthored over 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications.

Jerry D. Johnson, The University of Texas at El Paso

is Professor of Biological Sciences at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), Director of UTEP’s 40,000-acre “Indio Mountains Research Station,” and has extensive experience studying the herpetofauna of Mesoamerica, especially that of southern Mexico. He was born in Salina, Kansas, and received a BS in Zoology at Fort Hays State University, a MS in Biology at UTEP, and a PhD in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences from Texas A&M University. Johnson has authored or co-authored over 125 peer-reviewed papers, including two 2010 articles, “Geographic distribution and conservation of the herpetofauna of southeastern Mexico” and “Distributional patterns of the herpetofauna of Mesoamerica, a Biodiversity Hotspot.” Jerry was a co-editor on Conservation of Mesoamerican Amphibians and Reptiles and co-author of four of its chapters, co-author of Middle American Herpetology: A Bibliographic Checklist, and co-author of Mesoamerican Herpetology: Systematics, Zoogeography, and Conservation. He was also the senior author of the recent paper “A conservation reassessment of the Central American herpetofauna based on the EVS measure” and is Mesoamerica/Caribbean editor for Geographic Distribution section of Herpetological Review. One species, Tantilla johnsoni, was named in his honor. Presently, he is an Associate Editor and Co-chair of the Taxonomic Board for the journal Mesoamerican Herpetology.

Lydia Allison Fucsko, Swinburne University of Technology

Is an amphibian conservationist and environmental activist. She is also a gifted photographer who has taken countless pictures of amphibians, including photo galleries of mostly southeastern Australian frogs. Dr. Fucsko has postgraduate degrees in computer education and in vocational education and training from The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, Australia.  Additionally, Lydia holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling from Monash University, Clayton, Melbourne, Australia. She received her Ph.D. in environmental education, which promoted habitat conservation, species perpetuation, and global sustainable management from Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Melbourne, Australia. Dr. Fucsko, in addition, is an educational consultant. The species Tantilla lydia has been named recently in her honor.

David Lazcano-Villarreal, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León

Is a herpetologist who earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical science in 1980, and a bachelor’s degree in biology in 1982. In 1999 he earned a master’s degree in wildlife management, and later a doctoral degree in biological sciences with a specialty in wildlife management (2005), all gained from the Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas of the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León. Currently, he is a full-time professor at the same institution, where he teaches courses in animal behavior, biogeography, biology of chordates, and wildlife management. He is also the head of Laboratorio de Herpetología and Coordinación de Intercambio Académico de la Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas at UANL. Since 1979, he has been teaching and providing assistance in both undergraduate and graduate programs. His research interests include the study of the herpetofaunal diversity of northeastern Mexico, as well as the ecology, herpetology, biology of the chordates, biogeography, animal behavior, and population maintenance techniques of montane herpetofauna. In addition, the species Gerrhonotus lazcanoi has been named in his honor.

Larry David Wilson, Escuela Agrícola Panamericana Zamorano

Is a herpetologist with lengthy experience in Mesoamerica. He was born in Taylorville, Illinois, United States, and received his university education at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana (B.S. degree), and at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge (M.S. and Ph.D. degrees). He has authored or co-authored more than 430 peer-reviewed papers and books on herpetology. Larry is the senior editor of Conservation of Mesoamerican Amphibians and Reptiles and the co-author of eight of its chapters. His other books include The Snakes of Honduras, Middle American Herpetology, The Amphibians of Honduras, Amphibians & Reptiles of the Bay Islands and Cayos Cochinos, Honduras, The Amphibians and Reptiles of the Honduran Mosquitia, and Guide to the Amphibians & Reptiles of Cusuco National Park, Honduras. To date, he has authored or co-authored the descriptions of 74 currently recognized herpetofaunal species, and seven species have been named in his honor, including the anuran Craugastor lauraster, the lizard Norops wilsoni, and the snakes Oxybelis wilsoni, Myriopholis wilsoni, and Cerrophidion wilsoni. Currently, Larry is Co-chair of the Taxonomic Board for the journal Mesoamerican Herpetology

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Published

2021-01-31

How to Cite

García-Padilla, E., DeSantis, D. L., Rocha, A., Mata-Silva, V., Johnson, J. D., Fucsko, L. A., … Wilson, L. D. (2021). Mesoamerican Salamanders (Amphibia: Caudata) as a Conservation Focal Group. Biología Y Sociedad, 4(7), 43–87. https://doi.org/10.29105/bys4.7-20

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Vol. 4 No. 7 (2021): Enero-Junio 2021

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