NOVEDAD ZOOGEOGRÁFICA

A new record of Phyllodactylus sentosus (Dixon & Huey, 1970) (Squamata: Phyllodactylidae) for the coastal desert of Peru

 

José Pérez Z.^1,2, César Ramírez², Katya Balta¹

¹ Laboratorio de Estudios en Biodiversidad, Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas y Fisiológicas, Facultad de Ciencias y Filosofía, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Perú.
² Departamento de Herpetología, Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional de Mayor de San Marcos, Perú.

 

Recibida: 11/10/12
Revisada: 31/01/13
Aceptada: 25/01/13

 

Locality.- Peru, Department of Lima, Municipality of El Agustino, La Atarjea (Sedapal) (12° 1' 19.31" S; 76° 55' 2.24" W). Collection data: 7 July 2011, Collector: José Pérez Z. Deposited in the herpetological collection of the Museum of Natural History (MUSM), National University of San Marcos. MUSM 31335, subadult (snout-vent length: 41.1 mm, tail length: 13.4 mm.)

Comments.- Distribution of the critically endangered gecko Phyllodactylus sentosus is restricted to the city of Lima, Perú; where it is known from just five small populations (Dixon and Huey, 1970; Icochea and Cossios, 2006; Pérez, 2009). The natu­ral habitat of this gecko is Coastal Desert in areas with sustrate dry soil or sand with some rocks and without vegetation. Currently this kind of habitat is restricted to a few localities in the city of Lima. Phyllodactylus sentosus has a low reproductive rate (Dixon & Huey, 1970) and poor dispersal ability. These characteristics, coupled with negative impacts from human activities in the city of Lima, have resulted in the severe destruction of their habitats (Icochea, 1998), greatly reducing the chances of the persistence of P. sentosus. Consequently, P. sentosus is the only coastal reptile identified as Critically Endangered in the current Peruvian Wildlife Red List from the National Institute of Natural Resources of Ministry of Agriculture INRENA (Supreme Decree No. 034-2004-AG).

This new record for the city of Lima extends the distribution of P. sentosus 4.5 km (straight line) to the northeast. An unvouchered juvenile was also recorded at this locality in February 2007 (José Pérez, pers. observ.). These two records confirm the presence of the species in the area. Despite the relatively small distance of this new record from the town of Puruchuco-the closest known population (Icochea and Cossios, 2006)-we consider this new record to be a distinct population because there are effective barriers (runways, buildings, etc.) that likely prevent individuals from dispersing between the localities. Documenting this new population is important because of the few known remaining populations of P. sentosus and the serious threats that this species faces.

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank Roger Astucuri of La Atarjea (Sedapal) for authorizing access in Febrary 2007, and an anonymous reviewer for comments on the manuscript.

 

LITERATURE CITED

1. Cossios, E.D. & Icochea, J. 2006. Nuevos registros para el gecko de Lima, Phyllodactylus sentosus (Reptilia, Gekkonidae). Ecología Aplicada 5: 182-184.         [ Links ]

2. Dixon, J.R. & Huey., R.B. 1970. Systematics of the lizards of the gekkonid genus Phyllodactylus of mainland South America. Los Angeles County Museum Contributions in Science 192: 1-78.         [ Links ]

3. Pérez Z., J. 2009. Ecologia e Conservação de Phyllodactylus sentosus (Reptilia : Gekkonidae) na cidade de Lima, Peru. Tese do Doutorado. Universidade do Estado de Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.         [ Links ]