Distribution and Range Extension of the Elegant Coralsnake,Micrurus elegans

The role of Indigenous and Community Conservation Areas in herpetofauna conservation: a preliminary list for Santa Cruz Tepetotutla, Oaxaca Mexico

“…Amongst our records, we provide the second known locality for Anolis rubiginosus , Rhadinaea bogertorum and Cryophis hallbergi . It is also important to mention the cases of Micrurus elegans , for which, until 2017, only five recorded localities in Oaxaca existed, none of which corresponds to the community of Santa Cruz Tepetotutla ( Campbell and Lamar 2004 ; Soto-Huerta and Clause 2017 ) and Scincella cherriei which was previously recorded only for the physiographic sub-provinces of “Planicie Costera del Golfo” (PCG) and “Depresion Istmica de Tehuantepec” (DIT) in Oaxaca ( Mata-Silva et al 2015 ) more than 77 km north from our record. In addition, the new geographical information added to the previously-known distribution ( Heimes 2016 ) of the rediscovered Rhadinella schistosa suggests a wider distribution area for this species, extending from the northern slopes of Sierra Juarez to the Planicie Costera del Golfo.…”

“…Although Oaxaca harbours the greatest herpetofauna diversity in Mexico, the lack of exploration at remote areas has resulted in considerable information gaps (Casas-Andrew 2004; Mata-Silva et al 2015 : Soto-Huerta and Clause 2017 ). As a consequence, some of the largest forest patches that prevail in the State due to conservation actions carried out by indigenous communities are understudied, which in turn promotes the idea that many amphibian and reptile species occur only in unprotected areas (i.e.…”

“…For threatened species, increasing distributional records is of paramount importance to model their potential distribution, to propose conservation zones that effectively cover their areas of occurrence and to understand the role that ICCAs play in their survival in addition to providing baseline information for ecological studies at these sites ( Duran et al 2012 ; Nelson 2012 ; Soto-Huerta and Clause 2017 ; Reyes-Velasco and Ramírez-Chaparro 2019 ; Clause et al 2020 ). However, distributional knowledge of some endemic species in this region is still incomplete.…”

“…In general, herpetofauna studies in the tropics, such as Mesoamerica, are limited ( Soto-Huerta and Clause 2017 ). Even though the SMO is one of the relatively highly studied areas in the region, several enigmatic species are still only known from their type locality or nearby localities: Anolis rubiginosus , Abronia mitchelli , Cryophis hallbergi , Craugastor polymniae , Quilticohyla acrochorda , Sarcohyla cyanomma and Sarcohyla calvicollina ( IUCN 2020 ).…”

“…Even though the SMO is one of the relatively highly studied areas in the region, several enigmatic species are still only known from their type locality or nearby localities: Anolis rubiginosus , Abronia mitchelli , Cryophis hallbergi , Craugastor polymniae , Quilticohyla acrochorda , Sarcohyla cyanomma and Sarcohyla calvicollina ( IUCN 2020 ). Moreover, the fact that most of the knowledge is concentrated at localities in close proximity to paved roads leaves most of the territory with information gaps (Casas-Andreu 2004; Soto-Huerta and Clause et al 2017 ). In addition, new species descriptions for this region indicate that Oaxaca’s biodiversity is still underestimated ( Mata-Silva et al 2015 ).…”