Global Protected Areas as refuges for amphibians and reptiles under climate change.

Protected Areas (PAs) are the cornerstone of biodiversity conservation. Here, we collated distributional data for >14,000 (~70% of) species of amphibians and reptiles (herpetofauna) to perform a global assessment of the conservation effectiveness of PAs using species distribution models. Our analyses reveal that >91% of herpetofauna species are currently distributed in PAs, and that this proportion will remain unaltered under future climate change.

Feeding ecology of the Terciopelo pit viper snake () in Ecuador.

Thoroughly documenting prey items and diet composition is crucial for understanding a predator's role in the ecosystem. In gape restricted predators, such as snakes, documenting and analyzing the type and size of the prey is important to interpret their ecological role. We describe the diet patterns of a species of venomous snake, the Terciopelo pit viper (), from its Ecuadorian populations.

Unwrapping broken tails: Biological and environmental correlates of predation pressure in limbless reptiles.

Studying species interactions in nature often requires elaborated logistics and intense fieldwork. The difficulties in such task might hinder our ability to answer questions on how biotic interactions change with the environment. Fortunately, a workaround to this problem lies within scientific collections.

When the tail shakes the snake: phylogenetic affinities and morphology of Atractus badius (Serpentes: Dipsadidae), reveals some current pitfalls on the snake's genomic age.

Atractus badius has a long and controversial nomenclatural history due to both its antiquity and the brevity of its original description. This species was described based on two syntypes from Java. Later, a lectotype was designated and the distribution range restricted to the Guiana Shield.

A new and very spiny lizard (Gymnophthalmidae: ) from the Andes in northwestern Ecuador.

We describe a new species of Neotropical spiny-lizard of the genus from the Imbabura and Carchi Provinces on the western slopes of the Andes in northwestern Ecuador. The new species mostly resembles . However, it can be distinguished from all congeners by having keeled enlarged dorsal scales forming a paired vertebral row, two paravertebral series of short oblique rows of projecting scales, and a pair of spine-like scales on temporal and nuchal regions.

Molecular phylogeny of Neotropical Parrot Snakes (Serpentes: Colubrinae: Leptophis) supports underestimated species richness.

Tetrapod taxa with broad geographic distributions across the Neotropics are often composed of multiple evolutionary lineages. In this paper, we present the most complete phylogeny of Leptophis to date and assess morphology-based species limits within the broadly distributed green parrot snake Leptophis ahaetulla sensu lato, which occurs from Mexico to Argentina. Although L.

A new giant anole (Squamata: Iguanidae: Dactyloinae) from southwestern Ecuador.

We describe a new species of Anolis lizard from the Pacific slopes of the Andes of southwestern Ecuador at elevations between 3721,000 m. The new species belongs to the Dactyloa clade and may be distinguished from other Anolis by size, external anatomy, mitochondrial DNA divergence, and dewlap color. Based on phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data, we found that the new species is sister to A.

A new species of cat-eyed snake (Serpentes: Dipsadinae: Leptodeirini) from the Andes of southern Ecuador.

Leptodeira is one of the most widespread and taxonomically problematic snake taxa in the Americas. Here we describe a new species of Leptodeira from the Andes of southern Ecuador based on morphological and molecular data. The new species is geographically close and morphologically similar to L.

Systematics of lizards (Squamata, Gymnophthalmidae) from southern Ecuador, with descriptions of four new species.

Four new species of lizards are described from poorly explored areas in the Andes of southern Ecuador based on morphological and genetic evidence. Among other morphological characters, and differ from their congeners in having green dorsolateral stripes on head. Males of differ from those of in having reddish flanks and venter.

Hidden diversity in two widespread snake species (Serpentes: Xenodontini: Erythrolamprus) from South America.

The spatial distribution of genetic diversity of widely distributed Neotropical tetrapods has been an active research field during the last decade, although it has focused on lowland (mostly Amazonian) taxa. In this paper we use phylogenetic analyses to explore the diversity within two widely distributed snake species, Erythrolamprus epinephelus and E. reginae.

Thermal biology of two tropical lizards from the Ecuadorian Andes and their vulnerability to climate change.

This study aims to analyze the thermal biology and climatic vulnerability of two closely related lizard species (Stenocercus festae and S. guentheri) inhabiting the Ecuadorian Andes at high altitudes. Four physiological parameters-body temperature (Tb), preferred temperature (Tpref), critical thermal maximum (CTmax), and critical thermal minimum (CTmin)-were evaluated to analyze the variation of thermophysiological traits among these populations that inhabit different environmental and altitudinal conditions.

Alternative reproductive adaptations predict asymmetric responses to climate change in lizards.

Anthropogenic climate change ranks among the major global-scale threats to modern biodiversity. Extinction risks are known to increase via the interactions between rapid climatic alterations and environmentally-sensitive species traits that fail to adapt to those changes. Accumulating evidence reveals the influence of ecophysiological, ecological and phenological factors as drivers underlying demographic collapses that lead to population extinctions.

A new cryptic species of lizard from northwestern South America (Iguanidae, Dactyloinae).

A new species of lizard from the Andean slopes of southwestern Colombia and northwestern Ecuador, from between 1187 and 2353 m in elevation, is described. The new species can be distinguished from other in squamation, cranial osteology, hemipenial morphology, and nuclear and mitochondrial DNA. The new species is sister to , and it is suggested that previous records of in Colombia correspond to the new species described herein.

Phylogeny, diversity and biogeography of Neotropical sipo snakes (Serpentes: Colubrinae: Chironius).

Neotropical sipo snakes (Chironius) are large diurnal snakes with a long tail and big eyes that differ from other Neotropical snakes in having 10 or 12 dorsal scale rows at midbody. The 22 currently recognized species occur from Central America south to Uruguay and northeastern Argentina. Based on the largest geographical sampling to date including ∼90% of all species, we analyzed one nuclear and three mitochondrial genes using phylogenetic methods to (1) test the monophyly of Chironius and some of its widely distributed species; (2) identify lineages that could represent undescribed species; and (3) reconstruct ancestral distributions.

Systematics of South American snail-eating snakes (Serpentes, Dipsadini), with the description of five new species from Ecuador and Peru.

A molecular phylogeny of the Neotropical snail-eating snakes (tribe Dipsadini) is presented including 43 (24 for the first time) of the 77 species, sampled for both nuclear and mitochondrial genes. Morphological and phylogenetic support was found for four new species of and one of , which are described here based on their unique combination of molecular, meristic, and color pattern characteristics. is designated as a junior subjective synonym of .

Phylogeny of Riama (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae), impact of phenotypic evidence on molecular datasets, and the origin of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta endemic fauna.

Riama is the most speciose genus of the Neotropical lizard family Gymnophthalmidae. Its more than 30 montane species occur throughout the northern Andes, the Cordillera de la Costa (CC) in Venezuela, and Trinidad. We present the most comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of Riama to date based on a total evidence (TE) approach and direct optimization of molecular and morphological evidence.

Comparative Evolution of an Archetypal Adaptive Radiation: Innovation and Opportunity in Anolis Lizards.

Adaptive radiation is a widely recognized pattern of evolution wherein substantial phenotypic change accompanies rapid speciation. Adaptive radiation may be triggered by environmental opportunities resulting from dispersal to new areas or via the evolution of traits, called key innovations, that allow for invasion of new niches. Species sampling is a known source of bias in many comparative analyses, yet classic adaptive radiations have not been studied comparatively with comprehensively sampled phylogenies.

Publisher Correction: The global distribution of tetrapods reveals a need for targeted reptile conservation.

In this Article originally published, owing to a technical error, the author 'Laurent Chirio' was mistakenly designated as a corresponding author in the HTML version, the PDF was correct. This error has now been corrected in the HTML version. Further, in Supplementary Table 3, the authors misspelt the surname of 'Danny Meirte'; this file has now been replaced.

Phylogeny and diversity of neotropical monkey lizards (Iguanidae: Polychrus Cuvier, 1817).

Neotropical monkey lizards (Polychrus) are arboreal lizards with compressed bodies, partially fused eyelids and strikingly long, whip-like tails. The eight currently recognized species occur in the lowlands of South and Central America. Based on the largest taxon and character sampling to date, we analyze three mitochondrial and one nuclear gene using Bayesian methods to (1) infer the phylogeny of Polychrus under both concatenated-tree and species-tree methods; (2) identify lineages that could represent putative undescribed species; and (3) estimate divergence times.

A Phylogenetic, Biogeographic, and Taxonomic study of all Extant Species of Anolis (Squamata; Iguanidae).

Anolis lizards (anoles) are textbook study organisms in evolution and ecology. Although several topics in evolutionary biology have been elucidated by the study of anoles, progress in some areas has been hampered by limited phylogenetic information on this group. Here, we present a phylogenetic analysis of all 379 extant species of Anolis, with new phylogenetic data for 139 species including new DNA data for 101 species.