Definition of the Caribbean Islands biogeographic region, with checklist and recommendations for standardized common names of amphibians and reptiles

Abstract

To facilitate biological study we define “Caribbean Islands” as a biogeographic region that includes the Antilles, the Bahamas, and islands bordering Central and South America separated from mainland areas by at least 20 meters of water depth. The advantages of this definition are that it captures nearly all islands with endemic species and with at least some Antillean-derived species, and still circumscribes a region of high biodiversity and biogeographic significance. We argue that Caribbean islands, in this expanded sense, are also cohesive from a conservation standpoint in that they share high human population densities and similar conservation threats. A disadvantage of this definition, strictly applied, is that it includes some islands (e.g., Trinidad) that have mostly mainland species. However, we propose that researchers can increase the stringency of the definition so that it is less inclusive, and make comparisons between different definitions as needed. We provide an updated checklist with standardized common English names for the 1,013 species of amphibians and reptiles occurring in the region, along with principles for constructing common names.

The earliest record of Caribbean frogs: a fossil coquí from Puerto Rico

“…The ectepicondyle (radial epicondyle) is poorly developed and is represented as a small ridge extending from the diaphysis and along the lateral surface of the condyle. We compared LACM 162445 with representatives of all extant anuran genera native to the Caribbean [12] (figure 2; electronic supplementary material, table S1), including Boana and Osteopilus (Hylidae), Leptodactylus (Leptodactylidae) and…”

“…Based on time-calibrated molecular phylogenetic analyses, at least some of the anurans found today on the Hispaniolan and Puerto Rican banks are estimated to have reached there by the Oligocene [13][14][15]. Approximately two-thirds of all Caribbean frog species are Greater Caribbean landfrogs (genus Eleutherodactylus), part of a large clade now called Terraranae [12,16,17]. On the Caribbean islands, these predominantly direct-developing and terrestrial species occupy a range of microhabitats, leading to their characterization as an adaptive radiation [18][19][20].…”

New distributional records of the Samana least gecko (Sphaerodactylus samanensis, Cochran, 1932) with comments on its morphological variation and conservation status

“…1 ), an east–west airline distance of 82.2 km. Therefore, the distribution of this gecko is now only exceeded by those of S. copei, S. darlingtoni, S. difficilis, and S. elegans ( Schwartz & Henderson, 1991 ; Hedges, 2020 ), species previously recognized as widely spread on Hispaniola ( Hass, 1991 ; Schwartz & Henderson, 1991 ). We also report the maximum altitude so far recorded for this species: 257 m. a. s. l. exceeding by 200 m former records reported by Cochran (1932) and Landestoy, Incháustegui & Hedges (2016) .…”

“…Lizards of the genus Sphaerodactylus (107 recognized species, Uetz, Freed & Hosek, 2020 ), have diversified remarkably on Caribbean islands, and occur in Central and Northern South America and in the Pacific Island of Cocos ( Hass, 1991 ; Henderson & Powell, 2009 ; Hedges et al, 2019 ; Hedges, 2020 ). This is a clade of small geckos (geckolet) containing also one of the smallest amniote vertebrates in the world with a maximum snout-vent length of 18 mm ( Hedges & Thomas, 2001 ).…”

A revision of the genus Audantia of Hispaniola with description of four new species (Reptilia: Squamata: Dactyloidae)

“…Finally, since we have taken the liberty to suggest common names for the seven species of Audantia treated in detail in this work, we would also like to point out common names for the remaining species of this genus, already coined (Hedges et al, 2019): Audantia armouri (Black-throated Stout Anole), A. breslini (Northwestern Stout Anole; modified), A. longitibialis (Barahona Stout Anole), A. marcanoi (Red-fanned Stout Anole), A. saxatilis (Banded Stout Anole), A. shrevei (Cordillera Central Stout Anole), and A. strahmi (Bahoruco Stout Anole).…”