Diversidad de anfibios y reptiles en el Parque Nacional Alto Purús, la Reserva Comunal Purús y sus áreas de influencia

We provide a list of species diversity of amphibians and reptiles for the Alto Purus National Park, the Purus Communal Reserve, and their areas of influence, with the goal of highlighting the relevance of these areas for the conservation of the Amazon’s biological diversity. From a general perspective, these data are relevant to understand patterns of species diversity, especially in the southwestern Amazonía, and particularly in the geological zone known as the Fitzcarrald Arch. Our results stem from three biological inventories performed, respectively, during the rainy seasons of 2013, 2014, and 2015 along the headwaters of the Cocama, La Novia, and Purus rivers (Purus river basin), Sepahua river (Urubamba-Ucayali river basin), and Jurua river (Jurua river basin). We complement our results with a literature review of previous inventories in the area. Our surveys resulted in 186 species, 118 amphibians and 69 reptiles. Among amphibians the dominant groups were hylids, with 52 species, and leptodactylids and craugastorids with 19 species each. The most diverse genera were Dendropsophus and Pristimantis, with 19 and 18 species respectively. Among the reptiles, snakes with 28 species were the most diverse, followed by microteids lizards (Gymnophthalmidae) with 12, and Anolis, (Dactyloidae) with eight. Three species, Dendropsophus xapuriensis, Erythrolamprus dorsocollarinus, and Potamites juruazensis, are new records for Peru. Records of Chiasmocleis supercilialbus and Pristimantis buccinator increase considerably the geographic distribution known for these species. We also provide new records for species poorly represented in scientific collections, Dendropsophus timbeba, Phyllomedusa atelopoides, Ranitomeya vanzolinii, and Oscaecilia bassleri among amphibians; Amphisbaena alba, A. fuliginosa, Enyalioides laticeps, and E. palpebralis among squamates. These results increase the number of species known in the area from 69 to 124 species in amphibians (80% increase), and from 64 to 93 species in reptiles (45% increase). After incorporating the results from previous studies, the full species list for the area, the Alto Purus National Park and its area of influence, includes 217 species, of which 50 species of amphibians and 18 reptiles were found within the Purus Communal Reserve. Our study reveals that the studied region is one of the herpetologically most diverse areas in southern Amazonía but that further studies are necessary to understand its diversity.