Corresponding author: Julio A. Lemos-Espinal (
Academic editor: J. Penner
A summary of the species of amphibians and reptiles of the state has been compiled, including their geographic distributions, habitats, and conservation statuses. The herpetofauna of San Luis Potosí consists of 41 species of amphibians and 141 species of reptiles. San Luis Potosí shares the highest number of species with Hidalgo and Tamaulipas, and the least number of species with Nuevo León. In San Luis Potosí, there are several taxa of particular conservation concern including salamanders, emydid and trionychid turtles, anguid and xenosaurid lizards, and natricid and colubrid snakes.
Lemos-Espinal JA, Smith GR, Woolrich-Piña GA (2018) Amphibians and reptiles of the state of San Luis Potosí, Mexico, with comparisons with adjoining states. ZooKeys 753: 123–146.
San Luis Potosí is a relatively small state (surface area = 63,068 km2, 3.1% of the surface area of Mexico) located in the north-central part of Mexico, between 24°29' and 21°10'N and 98°20' and 102°18'W (see Figure
Our understanding of the herpetofauna of San Luis Potosí still remains somewhat limited (see
Topographical map with physiographic provinces of the state of San Luis Potosí, Mexico. The thicker black lines delineate the major habitat types found in San Luis Potosí (from west to east): Central Plateau, Sierra Madre Oriental, and North Gulf Coastal Plains (
Climate map of the state of San Luis Potosí, Mexico (modified from García –
Vegetation type map of the state of San Luis Potosí, Mexico (modified from Dirección General de Geografía –
This list of amphibians and reptiles of the state of San Luis Potosí was compiled from the following sources: (1) our own field work; (2) specimens from the Laboratorio de Ecología – UBIPRO (
Amphibian names follow
The number of overlapping species with those neighboring states for which a recent checklist exists (Hidalgo:
San Luis Potosí is home to 182 species of amphibians and reptiles which represent 33 families and 98 genera (Table
A list of 17 species (nine amphibians, eight reptiles) potentially occurring in San Luis Potosí was compiled (Table
The species accumulation curves for all species, amphibians, and reptiles suggest that the current list of species is close to being the likely species richness for San Luis Potosí (Figure
Species accumulation curves for the total herpetofauna, amphibians, and reptiles from San Luis Potosí. Horizontal lines are estimated asymptotes for the species accumulation curves.
Seventeen of the 41 species of Amphibians that inhabit San Luis Potosí are endemic to Mexico, two of which are restricted to small areas in the Sierra Madre Oriental around southeastern San Luis Potosí (Table
Morelet’s Crocodile (
Checklist of amphibians and reptiles of San Luis Potosí providing Global Distribution (0 = Introduced; 1 = Endemic to Mexico; 2 = Distributed in the United States and Mexico; 3 = Distributed from Mexico and south of Mexico; 4 = Distributed from the United States to Central or even South America; 5 = Distributed from Canada to Mexico or south of Mexico), the habitat type (
Taxa | GD | Habitat type | IUCN | Population Trend | EVS | SEMARNAT | Source |
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List of amphibian and reptile species that potentially occur in San Luis Potosí.
CLASS |
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Likely to occur in south-southeastern SLP (credible but not documented or published records exist) | |
Reported by |
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Likely to occur in southeastern SLP | |
Likely to occur in southeastern SLP | |
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Reported by |
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Likely to occur in southeastern SLP | |
Likely to occur in southeastern SLP | |
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Likely to occur in southeastern SLP | |
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Likely to occur in southeastern SLP | |
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Reported by |
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Likely to occur in central-eastern SLP | |
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Likely to occur in southeastern SLP | |
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Likely to occur in southeastern SLP | |
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Reported by |
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Likely to occur in southern SLP | |
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Likely to occur in central-eastern SLP | |
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Likely to occur in southeastern SLP |
When considering all the species of amphibians and reptiles in San Luis Potosí, the number of species in the Chihuahuan Desert, the subtropics of the Sierra Madre Oriental, and generalist habitat types are about equal with 30% of the species occurring in each of these habitat types (Table
At the family level, some families appear to be primarily associated with specific habitat types whereas others are found across habitat types.
Summary of the number of native species (% in parentheses) in different taxonomic groups found in different habitat types in San Luis Potosí, Mexico (see Table
Taxa |
|
|
|
|
---|---|---|---|---|
|
7 (17.5) | 7 (17.5) | 13 (32.5) | 13 (32.5) |
|
1 (16.7) | 3 (50) | 2 (33.3) | 0 (0) |
|
6 (17.6) | 4 (11.8) | 11 (32.4) | 13 (32.5) |
|
48 (34.8) | 12 (8.7) | 37 (26.8) | 41 (29.7) |
|
0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (100) | 0 (0) |
|
0 (0) | 0 (0) | 3 (42.8) | 4 (57.1) |
|
48 (36.9) | 12 (9.2) | 33 (25.4) | 37 (28.5) |
|
16 (35.6) | 2 (4.4) | 10 (22.2) | 17 (37.8) |
|
32 (37.6) | 10 (11.8) | 23 (27.0) | 20 (23.5) |
Total | 55 (30.9) | 19 (10.7) | 50 (28.1) | 54 (30.3) |
Overall, San Luis Potosí shares the most species with Hidalgo and Tamaulipas, and shares the least number of species with Nuevo León (Table
Results of cluster analysis of the herpetofaunas of San Luis Potosí and its neighboring states (Hidalgo, Nuevo León, Querétaro, and Tamaulipas). The distances provided are Euclidean distances for
Summary of the numbers of species shared between San Luis Potosí and neighboring Mexican states (not including introduced species). The percent of species from San Luis Potosí shared by a neighboring state are given in parentheses. – indicates either San Luis Potosí or the neighboring state has no species in the taxonomic group, thus no value for shared species is provided.
Taxa | San Luis Potosí | Hidalgo | Querétaro | Nuevo León | Tamaulipas |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
40 | 35 (87.5) | 26 (65) | 17 (42.5) | 29 (72.5) |
|
6 | 5 (83.3) | 4 (66.7) | 0 (0) | 4 (66.7) |
|
1 | 1 (100) | 1 (100) | 0 (0) | – |
|
4 | 3 (75) | 3 (75) | 0 (0) | 3 (75) |
|
1 | 1 (100) | – | – | 1 (100) |
|
34 | 30 (88.2) | 22 (64.7) | 17 (52) | 25 (73.5) |
|
6 | 4 (67) | 4 (67) | 5 (83.3) | 5 (83.3) |
|
3 | 3 (100) | 2 (67) | 1 (33) | 2 (67) |
|
5 | 3 (60) | 3 (60) | 3 (60) | 4 (80) |
|
9 | 9 (100) | 6 (67) | 2 (22.2) | 5 (55.6) |
|
2 | 2 (100) | – | 1 (50) | 2 (100) |
|
2 | 1 (50) | 1 (50) | 2 (100) | 2 (100) |
|
4 | 4 (100) | 3 (75) | 1 (25) | 2 (50) |
|
1 | 1 (100) | 1 (100) | – | 1 (100) |
|
2 | 2 (100) | 2 (100) | 2 (100) | 2 (100) |
|
138 | 98 (71.0) | 92 (66.7) | 75 (54.3) | 100 (72.5) |
|
1 | 1 (100) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (100) |
|
1 | 1 (100) | – | – | 1 (100) |
|
7 | 5 (71.4) | 3 (42.8) | 2 (28.6) | 5 (71.4) |
|
2 | 1 (50) | – | 0 (0) | 1 (50) |
|
4 | 4 (100) | 3 (75) | 1 (25) | 3 (75) |
|
1 | – | – | 1 (100) | 1 (100) |
|
130 | 92 (70.8) | 73 (56.2) | 73 (56.2) | 94 (72.3) |
|
45 | 25 (55.6) | 22 (48.9) | 27 (60.0) | 36 (80.0) |
|
5 | 3 (60) | 1 (20) | 2 (40) | 5 (100) |
|
2 | 1 (50) | 1 (50) | – | 1 (50) |
|
1 | – | – | 1 (100) | 1 (100) |
|
2 | 2 (100) | 1 (50) | – | 1 (50) |
|
1 | 1 (100) | 1 (100) | – | 1 (100) |
|
1 | – | – | – | – |
|
1 | 1 (100) | – | – | 1 (100) |
|
19 | 9 (47.4) | 10 (52.6) | 17 (89.5) | 15 (78.9) |
|
5 | 3 (60) | 3 (60) | 4 (80) | 5 (100) |
|
3 | 2 (66.7) | 2 (66.7) | 2 (66.7) | 3 (100) |
|
4 | 2 (50) | 3 (75) | 1 (25) | 2 (50) |
|
1 | 1 (100) | 0 (0) | – | 1 (100) |
|
85 | 67 (78.8) | 51 (60.0) | 46 (54.1) | 58 (68.2) |
|
1 | 1 (100) | 1 (100) | – | 1 (100) |
|
36 | 24 (66.7) | 22 (61.1) | 23 (63.9) | 27 (75) |
|
22 | 19 (86.4) | 13 (59.1) | 6 (27.3) | 14 (63.6) |
|
1 | 1 (100) | 1 (100) | 1 (100) | 1 (100) |
|
3 | 2 (66.7) | 1 (33.3) | 2 (66.7) | 2 (66.7) |
|
12 | 12 (100) | 7 (58.3) | 7 (58.3) | 6 (50) |
|
10 | 8 (80) | 6 (60) | 7 (70) | 7 (70) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nearly 82% of the amphibians and reptile species that have been evaluated by the IUCN falls in the Least Concern category (does not include
Percent of
Summary of native species present in San Luis Potosí by family, order or suborder, and class. Status summary indicates the number of species found in each IUCN conservation status in the order
Class | Order/ |
Family | Status |
Mean EVS | SEMARNAT |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0,1,1,1,1,1 | 13.33 | 0,4,1,1 | |
|
0,1,0,0,0,0 | 10 | 0,1,0,0 | ||
|
0,0,1,1,1,1 | 14.5 | 0,3,1,0 | ||
|
0,0,0,0,1,0 | 12 | 0,0,0,1 | ||
|
0,24,4,3,2,0 | 8.93 | 22,9,2,1 | ||
|
0,5,0,0,0,0 | 7.6 | 5,1,0,0 | ||
|
0,1,1,1,0,0 | 12.33 | 1,2,0,0 | ||
|
0,2,3,0,0,0 | 13.2 | 4,1,0,0 | ||
|
0,7,0,1,1,0 | 7.44 | 7,1,1,0 | ||
|
0,2,0,0,0,0 | 5.5 | 2,0,0,0 | ||
|
0,2,0,0,0,0 | 6.5 | 1,1,0,0 | ||
|
0,2,0,1,1,0 | 11.75 | 0,2,1,1 | ||
|
0,1,0,0,0,0 | 8 | 0,1,0,0 | ||
|
0,2,0,0,0,0 | 4.5 | 2,0,0,0 | ||
|
0,25,5,4,3,1 | 9.59 | 22,13,3,2 | ||
|
|
0,1,0,0,0,0 | 13 | 0,1,0,0 | |
|
0,1,0,0,0,0 | 13 | 0,1,0,0 | ||
|
0,3,0,1,0,0 | 13.14 | 2,5,0,0 | ||
|
0,0,0,0,0,0 | 16 | 2,0,0,0 | ||
|
0,2,0,1,0,0 | 11.25 | 0,4,0,0 | ||
|
0,1,0,0,0,0 | 15 | 0,1,0,0 | ||
|
4,84,5,0,7,0 | 10.82 | 80,26,22,1 | ||
|
1,29,3,0,2,0 | 11.84 | 28,10,6,1 | ||
|
1,2,1,0,0,0 | 14 | 3,1,0,1 | ||
|
0,1,0,0,0,0 | 10.5 | 0,2,0,0 | ||
|
0,1,0,0,0,0 | 13 | 0,0,1,0 | ||
|
0,0,0,0,0,0 | 8.5 | 2,0,0,0 | ||
|
0,1,0,0,0,0 | 10 | 0,0,1,0 | ||
|
0,1,0,0,0,0 | 9 | 0,0,1,0 | ||
|
0,0,0,0,0,0 | 12 | 0,1,0,0 | ||
|
0,16,0,0,1,0 | 12 | 16,1,2,0 | ||
|
0,3,0,0,0,0 | 10.0 | 4,1,0,0 | ||
|
0,2,0,0,0,0 | 11.7 | 3,0,0,0 | ||
|
0,2,2,0,0,0 | 13.25 | 0,3,1,0 | ||
|
0,0,0,0,1,0 | 15 | 0,1,0,0 | ||
|
3,55,2,0,5,0 | 10.29 | 52,16,16,0 | ||
|
0,0,0,0,0,0 | 1,0,0,0 | |||
|
0,25,0,0,2,0 | 9.42 | 27,2,6,0 | ||
|
3,10,0,0,2,0 | 9.73 | 14,8,0,0 | ||
|
0,1,0,0,0,0 | 11 | 1,0,0,0 | ||
|
0,2,0,0,0,0 | 13 | 3,0,0,0 | ||
|
0,9,2,0,1,0 | 11 | 4,0,8,0 | ||
|
0,8,0,0,0,0 | 12,9 | 2,6,2,0 | ||
|
4,88,5,1,7,0 | 10.95 | 82,32,22,1 | ||
TOTAL | 4,109,10,4,10,1 | 10.64 | 105,45,25,3 |
The conservation status of the reptiles and amphibians in each habitat type was examined. For amphibians, the percentage of species in protected IUCN categories (
Hopefully, by establishing this list of herpetofaunal species with their global and country-level conservation statuses will prompt further investigations into the amphibians and reptiles of this state, which could provide the needed information to allow for state specific, or even habitat type, conservation measures to be undertaken. Specific threats known to be present in San Luis Potosí are deforestation and habitat loss (
We thank J. Sigala and J. Penner for very helpful comments that greatly improved the manuscript. Support for this study was provided by Dirección General de Asuntos del Personal Académico, Programa de Apoyo a Proyectos de Investigación e Innovación Tecnológica (DGAPA-PAPIIT) through the Project IN215418. We are grateful to Alejandra Núñez Merchand from the National Commission for the Understanding and Use of Biodiversity (