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Diversity of Amphibians and Reptiles in the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin

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Animal Diversity and Biogeography of the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin

Part of the book series: Cuatro Ciénegas Basin: An Endangered Hyperdiverse Oasis ((CUCIBA))

Abstract

We gathered and analyzed the current knowledge of the amphibians and reptiles of the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin (CCB), including their biogeographical affinities and the historical and ecological importance of the basin to the diversity of these groups in the Chihuahuan Desert (CD). The CCB has a characteristic topography with alternating highlands and basins. The degree of endemicity of the fauna within the CCB is one of the highest in North America. Morphological and genetic differentiation of these taxa suggests a quick speciation due to the isolation of the basin. Further, the restricted distribution within the CCB of some taxa indicates a high ecological dependence on aquatic microhabitats. The herpetofauna present in the CCB is composed of seven amphibian and 46 reptile species, from which 2 amphibians and 9 reptiles are endemic to the basin. Bufonidae and Colubridae are the most diverse families, while Lithobates berlandieri and Aspidoscelis inornata cienegae are the most abundant species of Amphibia and Reptilia, respectively. Twelve of the previously reported species had not been recorded recently, but we recorded five species for the first time in the CCB. Most of the species are distinctive of the CD; however, the endemic species are more closely related with taxa of the Tamaulipan province, Edwards Plateau, and the Sierra Madre Oriental province.

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Acknowledgments

Support for field work was provided by grants from CONABIO (JF065) to A. Nieto, from resources of the WWF-Alianza Carlos Slim (L039), and the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Fund (American Museum of Natural History) provided to M. Trujano-Ortega and U. García-Vázquez. We thank Pronatura A. C., Desuvalle A. C., and CONANP for their assistance in the field work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Sistemática Molecular, Unidad de Investigación Multidisciplinaria de Investigación Experimental Zaragoza, Facultad de Estudios Superiores Zaragoza, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, Mexico

    Uri Omar García-Vázquez

  2. Museo de Zoología, Departamento de Biología Evolutiva, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, Mexico

    Marysol Trujano-Ortega & Omar Ávalos-Hernández

  3. Acuario y Herpetario W. L. Minckley, Cuatro Ciénegas de Carranza, Coahuila, Mexico

    Arturo Contreras-Arquieta

  4. Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, Ciudad de México, Mexico

    Omar Osvaldo Escobedo-Correa

  5. Laboratorio de Ecología Animal, Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, Ciudad de México, Mexico

    Pablo Corcuera

Authors
  1. Uri Omar García-Vázquez
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  2. Marysol Trujano-Ortega
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  3. Arturo Contreras-Arquieta
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  4. Omar Ávalos-Hernández
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  5. Omar Osvaldo Escobedo-Correa
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  6. Pablo Corcuera
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Colección Nacional de Crustáceos, Instituto de Biologia Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico

    Fernando Álvarez

  2. Colección Nacional de Crustáceos, Instituto de Biología Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico

    Margarita Ojeda

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García-Vázquez, U.O., Trujano-Ortega, M., Contreras-Arquieta, A., Ávalos-Hernández, O., Escobedo-Correa, O.O., Corcuera, P. (2019). Diversity of Amphibians and Reptiles in the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin. In: Álvarez, F., Ojeda, M. (eds) Animal Diversity and Biogeography of the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin. Cuatro Ciénegas Basin: An Endangered Hyperdiverse Oasis. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11262-2_13

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