| Sumario: |
Field trips to the Cuenca Alta deI Rio Santa Maria, located in Santa Fe,
province of Veraguas, with the aim of collecting reptiles and amphibians were
conducted. Four survey transects were established: one each at Cerro Tute (CT
), Primer Brazo del Mulaba ( IBM ). Cerro Negro (CNEG), and Cerro Narices
(CEN),respectively. A total of 57 herpetofaunal species was recorded, 27
species of amphibians and 30 of reptiles. The environmental variables are
similar at the different study sites, although significant differences in species
diversity, composition and abundance were documented. The herpetofaunal
inventory at the four study sites was very similar to inventories at the same sites
from studies about 20 years earlierl however, a decrease in the abundance of
some species was observed. I revised earlier species lists from my study sites
and found several obvious errors caused by misidentification of specimens. This
was particularly evident with taxa that have a known distribution restricted to
South America. I provide an updated species list for the herpetofauna of the
Cuenca Alta deIRio Santa Maria and compare its diversity with three localities
with similar climatic characteristics in Lower CentraIAmerica (i.e., Las Cruces in
southern Costa Rica; Cerro La Campana and Parque Nacional Chagres in
centraleastern Panama). The species diversity is similar between the four sites.
For the herpetofauna the Coefficient of Biogeography Similarity between the
Cuenca Alta deI Rio Santa Maria and the three other sites varies between 0.45
(Las Cruces) and 0.53 (Parque NacionalChagres).
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