Urosaurus lahtelai, Rau & Loomis, 1977
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publication ID |
1525-9153 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/4E3E8651-FFFA-BB10-FCF8-FB2BCD294842 |
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treatment provided by |
Felipe |
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scientific name |
Urosaurus lahtelai |
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Urosaurus lahtelai View in CoL **
This species is another peninsular endemic.
In summary, of the 78 single-region species found on the peninsula, 46 are peninsular endemics, 23 are non-endemics, and nine are non-native species. Only one of the 10 regions, the CGCR, has no single-region species. Of the 10 phytogeographic regions on the peninsula, the GIR is the most significant with regard to conservation importance, since it contains the largest overall number of species (84), the largest number of single-region species (39), and the greatest number of peninsular endemics (50).
Regional Occupancy and the Coefficient of Biogeographic Resemblance (CBR)
Another indication of conservation significance involving the 10 phytogeographic regions is the relative average regional occupancy ( Table 6). This figure is calculated by recording the number of species occupying each of the regions 1 through 10. For example, the CR contains 60 species that occupy regions 1–10 as follows:
Phytogeographic Number of Species regional occupancy Average regional
Total
region species occupancy
12345678910
CR 60 4 20 30 12 30 24 14 64 63 60 321 5.4
LCVR 68 19 6 21 8 25 36 35 64 63 60 337 5.0
BCCFR 27 4 6 12 8 15 12 0 8 18 60 141 5.2
VR 64 0 10 24 20 45 42 42 88 63 60 394 6.2
CGCR 62 0 4 18 36 35 48 42 88 63 60 394 6.4
MR 51 1 2 6 16 25 48 42 88 63 60 351 6.9
ATR 65 5 6 27 32 20 42 35 88 63 60 378 5.8
SLLR 41 1 4 18 20 15 6 21 56 63 60 264 6.4
PIR 47 4 6 12 8 25 6 28 72 54 60 275 6.3
GIR 84 40 2 9 16 15 24 35 88 54 60 343 4.1
Total — 78 34 57 44 50 48 42 88 63 60 — —
CR (60 species)
Region 1 = 4
Region 6 = 4
Region 2 = 10
Region 7 = 2
Region 3 = 10
Region 8 = 8
Region 4 = 3
Region 9 = 7
Region 5 = 6
Region 10 = 6
Based on these data, the mean regional occupancy value for the CR is 5.4 (321/60). The mean regional occupancy values for the 10 regions range from 4.1 to 6.9 ( Table 6), as follows (in numerical order):
GIR = 4.1
VR = 6.2
LCVR = 5.0
PIR = 6.3
BCCFR = 5.2
CGCR = 6.4
CR = 5.4
SLLR = 6.4
ATR = 5.8
MR = 6.9
The regional occupancy values roughly indicate the relative conservation significance of each of the 10 regions. Thus, the GIR evidently is the most conservation significant region in the Baja California Peninsula, and the MR is the least. Thus, even though the GIR is the region with the highest herpetofaunal figure (84), it supports the highest degree of single-region species, the peninsular endemic species.
As in other MCS studies, we constructed a Coefficient of Biogeographic Resemblance (CBR) matrix in order to elucidate the similarity relationships among the 10 phytogeographic regions we recognize in the Baja California Peninsula, including its associated islands on both the Pacific and Gulf sides ( Table 7). The greatest species richness is contained in the Gulf Island Region (84 species), and the least is in the Baja California Coniferous Forest Region (27 species). The number of shared species between each regional pair ranges from eight between the BCCFR (27 species) and SLLR (41 species), which are relatively small areas located roughly at opposite ends of the peninsula and contain relatively small numbers of species, to 54 between the CGCR (62 species) and ATR (65 species), which are relatively low-elevation regions containing relatively high species numbers and are contiguous in the Cape Region of the peninsula. The mean value of shared species among all 10 regions is 29.9 .
The following data show the ranges and means of shared species (bold in parentheses) for each of the 10 regions, and are arranged according to decreasing species richness (underlined values) in each region:
GIR (84): 9–41 (30.3)
LCVR (67): 15–43 (30.4)
ATR (65): 10–54 (35.4)
VR (64): 16–48 (37.1)
CGCR (62): 11–54 (37.3)
CR (60): 18–45 (29.3)
MR (51): 11–48 (34.1)
PIR (47): 13–33 (27.4)
SLLR (41): 8–39 (24.9)
BCCFR (27): 8–23 (12.9)
The lowest number of shared species in Table 7, i.e., eight between the BCCFR and the SLLR, is understandable inasmuch as six species occur in all 10 of the phytogeographic regions. These six species are Uta stansburiana , Lampropeltis californiae , Masticophis fuliginosus , Salvadora hexalepis , Hypsiglena ochrorhynchus , and Crotalus ruber ( Table 4). The other two species that occur in nine regions are Pseudacris hypochondriaca and Trimorphodon lyrophanes . Interestingly and perhaps expectedly, only one of the eight is an amphibian, one is a lizard, and the remaining six are snakes.
In addition, the two insular regions positioned on either side of the peninsula (PIR and GIR) might be expected to share relatively few species. Their number of shared species (28) is higher than the number between the BCCFR and the SLLR ( Table 7). These 28 species include the six occurring in all 10 regions, as well as one in four regions, two in five regions, one in six regions, three in seven regions, 10 in eight regions, and five in nine regions. Notably, no insular endemic species are shared between these two insular regions. The six peninsular endemic species found in these two insular regions also are found on the intervening mainland regions, and in total are found in five to nine regions.
The CBR values in Table 6 range from 0.16 between the BCCFR and the GIR to 0.86 between the ATR and the CGCR. These relationships easily are understood given that the BCCFR is a “cool mesic area” occupying the “upper elevations of the northern Sierra Juárez and southern Sierra San Pedro Mártir…” ( Grismer, 2002: 12) and the GIR is comprised of the islands in the Gulf region. In addition, the ATR and the CGCR are two regions in the southern portion of the peninsula that are broadly contiguous and overlapping.
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