An annotated list of the reptiles of the highland grassland of Tandilia Mountains, Argentina

Abstract

The study of biodiversity is a fundamental step to develop conservation strategies. Reptile populations are immersed in a global crisis, due to anthropic disturbances. Almost the entire Pampa ecoregion in Argentina was modified for agricultural and livestock activities, the only remnants of mountain native grasslands in Buenos Aires province being the Tandilia and Ventania mountain systems. Ventania reptiles have been exhaustively researched in last years, while Tandilia counts with fewer studies. We presented an actualized reptiles list of the Tandilia Mountain System. We used five data sources to collect presence records: literature, fieldwork, museum collection, citizen science, and a online database. The composition of reptiles from the Tandilia Mountain range includes 26 species in 12 families. Due to the presence of several endemic reptiles, and the representativeness of more than half of the reptiles of Pampa Ecoregion, Tandilia would be useful to determine conservation priority areas to conserve the native grassland and their reptile fauna.

Species boundaries within the recently diverged South American monocot‐like Eryngium (Apiaceae, Saniculoideae) based on biogeographic, climatic, morphological, and molecular data: E. cerradense, a new species from Paraguay

“…This hypothesis is also supported by the high percentage of endemic flora and fauna found on rocky grasslands, as those of the campos rupestres or campos de altitude (Crisci‐V. & al., 2001; Cardoso da Silva & Bates, 2002; Oliveira & Marquis, 2002; Vera & al., 2021).…”

Conservation Priority Areas for Narrow-Range Reptiles of the Pampas Grassland, East-Central Argentina

“…In this sector, it would be important to create at least one representative protected area as this area lacks formal reserves. There is an ongoing project working in this region (Vera et al, 2021). It would also be important to promote native grassland restoration (Bardgett et al, 2021) and control exotic vegetation.…”

“…From the first herpetological list to the most recent records (e.g., Ringuelet and Arámburu, 1957; Gallardo, 1977; Tiranti and Avila, 1997; Arzamendia and Giraudo, 2004; Giménez et al, 2008; Cabrera, 2017; Di Pietro et al, 2020a; Vera et al, 2021), a total of 52 species of reptiles have been reported in the Pampas grassland ecoregion (3 turtles, 3 amphisbaenids, 18 lizards, and 28 snakes), among which 7 are narrowly distributed: Contomastix celata Cabrera et al, 2019, Homonota williamsii Avila et al, 2012, Liolaemus absconditus Vega et al, 2018, Li. multimaculatus (Duméril and Bibron, 1837), Li.…”

“…We used specimens of these seven species collected during extensive fieldwork throughout the entire geographic distribution range in the Coastal dunes in 2004–2013 (Kacoliris et al, 2016; 2019), on the Ventania mountain in 2010–2015 (Di Pietro et al, 2018), and on the Tandilia Mountains in 2019–2021 (Di Pietro et al, 2020a; Vera et al, 2021). Reptiles were hand-captured during transect and road-riding surveys (see Foster, 2012).…”

Mammals of the Tandilia Mountain system, current species inhabiting Pampean highland grasslands

“…In this system, the native vegetation, which consists of highland grassland, is restricted to hills (cerrilladas) where rocky outcrops and shallow soils prevent cultivation (Herrera and Laterra 2008), thus limiting agricultural extension over native habitats. In these areas, the natural grasslands act as a refuge for native, endemic, and endangered species (Cantero et al 2014;Kristensen et al 2014;Herrera et al 2019Herrera et al , 2022Vera et al 2021). Due to their importance, Bilenca and Miñarro (2004) proposed them as Valuable Pasture Areas.…”