1

The Conservation Status of the World’s Reptiles

2 3

Monika Böhm1, Ben Collen1, Jonathan E.M. Baillie2, Janice Chanson3,4, Neil Cox3,5,

4

Geoffrey Hammerson6, Michael Hoffmann7, Suzanne R. Livingstone8, Mala Ram1,

5

Anders G.J. Rhodin9, Simon N. Stuart7,10, Peter Paul van Dijk10, Bruce E. Young11,

6

Leticia E. Afuang12, Aram Aghasyan13, Andrés García14, César Aguilar15, Rastko Ajtic16,

7

Ferdi Akarsu17, Laura R.V. Alencar18, Allen Allison19, Natalia Ananjeva20, Steve

8

Anderson21, Claes Andrén22, Daniel Ariano-Sánchez23, Juan Camilo Arredondo24, Mark

9

Auliya25, Christopher C. Austin26, Aziz Avci27, Patrick J. Baker28,29, Andre F. Barreto-

10

Lima30, César L. Barrio-Amorós31, Dhruvayothi Basu32, Michael F. Bates33, Alexandre

11

Batistella34, Aaron Bauer35, Daniel Bennett36, Wolfgang Böhme37, Don Broadley38, Rafe

12

Brown39, Joseph Burgess40, Ashok Captain41, Santiago Carreira42, Maria del Rosario

13

Castañeda43, Fernando Castro44, Alessandro Catenazzi45, José R. Cedeño-Vázquez46,

14

David

15

Cogalniceanu51, Hal Cogger52, Claudia Corti53, Gabriel C. Costa54, Patrick J. Couper55,

16

Tony Courtney56, Jelka Crnobrnja-Isailovic57, Pierre-André Crochet49, Brian Crother58,

17

Felix Cruz59, Jennifer C. Daltry60, R. J. Ranjit Daniels61, Indraneil Das62, Anslem de

18

Silva63,64, Arvin C. Diesmos65, Lutz Dirksen, Tiffany Doan66, C. Kenneth Dodd, Jr.67, J.

19

Sean Doody47, Michael E. Dorcas68, Jose Duarte de Barros Filho69, Vincent T. Egan, El

20

Hassan El Mouden70, Dirk Embert71, Robert E. Espinoza72, Alejandro Fallabrino73, Xie

21

Feng74, Zhao-Jun Feng75, Lee Fitzgerald76, Oscar Flores-Villela77, Frederico G. R.

22

França78, Darrell Frost79, Hector Gadsden80, Tony Gamble81, S.R. Ganesh82, Miguel A.

23

Garcia83, Juan E. García-Pérez84, Joey Gatus85, Maren Gaulke86, Philippe Geniez49, Arthur

24

Georges87, Justin Gerlach88, Stephen Goldberg89, Juan-Carlos T. Gonzalez12,90, David J.

25

Gower91, Tandora Grant92, Eli Greenbaum93, Cristina Grieco94, Peng Guo95, Alison M.

26

Hamilton96, Kelly Hare97, Blair Hedges98, Neil Heideman99, Craig Hilton-Taylor100, Rod

27

Hitchmough101, Bradford Hollingsworth102, Mark Hutchinson103, Ivan Ineich104, John

28

Iverson105, Fabian M. Jaksic106, Richard Jenkins107, Ulrich Joger108, Reizl Jose109, Yakup

29

Kaska110, J. Scott Keogh111, Gunther Köhler112, Gerald Kuchling113, Yusuf Kumlutaş114,

30

Axel Kwet115, Enrique La Marca116, William Lamar117, Amanda Lane118, Bjorn

31

Lardner119, Craig Latta120, Gabrielle Latta120, Michael Lau121, Pablo Lavin122, Dwight

32

Lawson123,

33

Lipczynski127, Aaron S. Lobo128, Marco A. López-Luna129, Luca Luiselli130, Vimoksalehi

34

Lukoschek131,132, Mikael Lundberg133, Petros Lymberakis134, Robert Macey135, William E.

35

Magnusson136, D. Luke Mahler137, Anita Malhotra138, Jean Mariaux139, Bryan Maritz140,

G.

Chapple47,48, Marc

Matthew

Cheylan49,

LeBreton124,

Edgar

Diego

Lehr125,

F.

Cisneros-Heredia50,

Duncan

Limpus126,

Dan

Nicola

1

Otavio A.V. Marques141, Rafael Márquez142, Marcio Martins18, Gavin Masterson140, José

2

A. Mateo143, Rosamma Mathew144, Nixon Mathews145, Gregory Mayer146, James R.

3

McCranie147, John Measey148,149, Fernando Mendoza-Quijano150, Michele Menegon151,

4

Sébastien Métrailler152, David A. Milton153, Chad Montgomery154, Sérgio A. A.

5

Morato155, Tami Mott156, Antonio Muñoz-Alonso157, John Murphy158, Truong Q.

6

Nguyen37,159, Göran Nilson160, Cristiano Nogueira161, Herman Núñez162, Nikolai Orlov20,

7

Hidetoshi Ota163, José Ottenwalder164, Theodore Papenfuss165, Stesha Pasachnik166, Paulo

8

Passos141, Olivier S.G. Pauwels167, Valentín Pérez Mellado168, Néstor Pérez-Buitrago169,

9

Eric R. Pianka170, Juan Pleguezuelos171, Caroline Pollock100, Paulino Ponce-Campos172,

10

Robert Powell173, Fabio Pupin174, Gustavo E. Quintero Díaz175, Raju Radder176, Jan

11

Ramer177, Arne Redsted Rasmussen178, Chris Raxworthy79, Robert Reynolds179, Nadia

12

Richman1, Edmund Leo Rico180, Elisa Riservato181, Gilson Rivas182, Pedro L. B. da

13

Rocha183,

14

Mark-Oliver 186

Rödel184, 67,187

Roosenburg , James P. Ross 190

Lourdes

Rodríguez 188

Schettino185,

Willem

M.

189

, Riyad Sadek , Kate Sanders , Georgina Santos-

191

15

Barrera , Hermann H. Schleich , Benedikt R. Schmidt192,193, Andreas Schmitz194,

16

Mozafar Sharifi195, Glenn Shea118, Hai-Tao Shi196, Richard Shine176, Roberto Sindaco94,

17

Tahar Slimani197, Ruchira Somaweera176, Steve Spawls, Peter Stafford91, Rob Stuebing,

18

Sam Sweet198, Emerson Sy199, Helen Temple200, Marcelo Tognielli5,201, Krystal Tolley148,

19

Peter J. Tolson202, Boris Tuniyev203, Sako Tuniyev203, Nazan Üzüm27, Gerard van Buurt,

20

Monique Van Sluys204, Alvaro Velasco187, Miguel Vences205, Milan Veselý206, Sabine

21

Vinke207, Thomas Vinke207, Gernot Vogel208, Milan Vogrin209, Richard C. Vogt136, Oliver

22

R. Wearn1, Yehudah L. Werner210, Martin J. Whiting211, Thomas Wiewandt212, John

23

Wilkinson213, Byron Wilson214, Sally Wren2, Tara Zamin215, Kaiya Zhou216, George

24

Zug217

25 26

Running title: Conservation Status of Reptiles

27 28

1 Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, NW1 4RY,

29

UK

30

2 Conservation Programmes, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London,

31

NW1 4RY, UK

32

3 Species Programme, IUCN, Rue Mauverney 28, 1196 Gland, Switzerland

33

4 IUCN - CI Biodiversity Assessment Unit, c/o 130 Weatherall Road, Cheltenham

34

3192, Victoria, Australia

35

5 IUCN - CI Biodiversity Assessment Unit, Conservation International, 2011 Crystal

1

Drive Ste 500, Arlington, VA, 22202, USA

2

6 NatureServe, 746 Middlepoint Road, Port Townsend, WA, 98368, USA

3

7 IUCN SSC Species Survival Commission, c/o United Nations Environment Programme

4

World Conservation Monitoring Centre, 219 Huntingdon Road, Cambridge, CB3 0DL,

5

UK

6

8 Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biomedical & Life Sciences, Graham

7

Kerr Building, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, G12 8QQ, UK

8

9 Chelonian Research Foundation, 168 Goodrich St., Lunenburg, MA, 01462, USA

9

10 Conservation International, 2011 Crystal Drive Ste 500, Arlington, VA, 22202, USA

10

11 NatureServe, 1101 Wilson Blvd., 15th Floor, Arlington, VA, 22209, USA

11

12 Institute of Biological Sciences, University of the Philippines, Los Banos, 4031

12

College, Laguna, Philippines

13

13 Protected Areas Management Department, Bioresources Management Agency of

14

Ministry of Nature Protection, Yerevan, Armenia

15

14 Estación de Biología Chamela, Instituto de Biología, U.N.A.M., Apdo. Postal 21, San

16

Patricio, Jalisco, 48980, México

17

15 Departamento de Herpetología, Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional

18

Mayor de San Marcos, Peru

19

16 Institute for Nature Conservation of Serbia, dr Ivana Ribara 91, 11070 Belgrade,

20

Serbia

21

17 Doğa Derneği (Nature Association), Hürriyet cad. 43/12 Dikmen, Ankara, Turkey

22

18 Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociencias, Universidade de Sao Paulo,

23

05508-090 Sao Paulo SP, Brazil

24

19 Bishop Museum, 1525 Bernice Street, Honolulu, HI 96817, USA

25

20 Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St.Petersburg 199034

26

Universitetskaya nab. 1, Russia

27

21 University of the Pacific, 3601 Pacific Avenue, Stockton, California 95211, USA

28

22 Nature Artbevarande & Foto AB, Korsviken 117, 459 91 Ljungskile, Sweden

29

23 Organización Zootropic, General Projects, 12 Calle 1–25, Zona 10, Edificio Geminis

30

10, Guatemala 1001, Guatemala

31

24 Museu de Zoologia, Universidade de São Paulo, Caixa Postal 42494, São Paulo, São

32

Paulo, 04218-170, Brazil

33

25 Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Department of Conservation

34

Biology, Permoserstrasse 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany

1

26 Department of Biological Sciences, Museum of Natural Science, Louisiana State

2

University, 119 Foster Hall, Baton Rouge, LA 70803-3216, USA

3

27 Adnan Menderes University, Faculty of Science and Arts, Department of Biology,

4

Aydın, Turkey

5

28 Texas A&M University System, AgriLIFE Research, Blackland Research and

6

Extension Center, 720 E Blackland Rd, Temple, TX 76502, USA

7

29 The Wetlands Institute, 1075 Stone Harbor Blvd, Stone Harbor, NJ 08247, USA

8

30 Departamento Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - RS, Brazil

9

31 Fundación Andígena, PO Box 210, Mérida 5101-A, Mérida, Venezuela

10

32 The Katerniaghat Foundation, C-421 Sector-B, Mahanagar, Lucknow, 226006, India

11

33 Department of Herpetology, National Museum, P.O. Box 266, Bloemfontein, 9300,

12

South Africa

13

34 Department of the Environment - Mato Grosso, Brazil

14

35 Department of Biology, Villanova University, 800 Lancaster Avenue, Villanove,

15

Pennsylvania 19085, USA

16

36 Mampam Conservation, Glossop, UK

17

37 Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig (ZFMK), Adenauerallee 160,

18

53113 Bonn, Germany

19

38 Department of Herpetology, Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe, P.O. Box 240,

20

Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

21

39 University of Kansas Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Institute, Department

22

of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Dyche Hall, 1345 Jayhawk

23

Blvd, Lawrence, KS 66045-7593, USA

24

40 Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve, Ponte Vedra, FL

25

32082, USA

26

41 3/1 Boat Club Road, Pune 411 001, Maharashtra, India

27

42 Sección Zoología Vertebrados, Facultad de Ciencias & Museo Nacional de Historia

28

Natural, Montevideo, Uruguay

29

43 Department of Biological Sciences, George Washington University, 2023 G St. NW,

30

Washington, DC 20052, USA

31

44 Departamento de Biología, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia

32

45 University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3160, USA

33

46 Instituto Tecnológico de Chetumal, Av. Insurgentes No. 330, C.P. 77013, Col. David

34

Gustavo Gtz., Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico

35

47 School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia

1

48 Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology & Evolution, School of Biological

2

Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand

3

49 Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (EPHE-UMR 5175 CNRS), 1919 route

4

de Mende, 34293 Montpellier cedex 5, France

5

50 Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales,

6

calle Diego de Robles y Vía Interoceánica, campus Cumbayá, edif. Darwin, DW-010A.

7

Casilla Postal 17-12-841, Quito, Ecuador

8

51 University Ovidius Constanta, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Romania

9

52 Australian Museum, 6 College Street, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia

10

53 Museo di Storia Naturale dell'Università di Firenze, Sezione di Zoologia "La Specola",

11

Italy

12

54 Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal-RN, Brazil

13

55 Biodiversity Program, Queensland Museum, PO Box 3300, South Bank, Brisbane Qld

14

4101, Australia

15

56 Queensland Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation,

16

Southern Fisheries Centre, PO Box 76, Deception 4508, Queensland, Australia

17

57 Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics University of Niš & IBISS Beograd, Serbia

18

58 Department of Biological Sciences, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond,

19

Louisiana 70402, USA

20

59 INIBIOMA (CONICET-UNComa), Quintral 1250, (8400) Bariloche, Rio Negro,

21

Argentina

22

60 Fauna & Flora International, Jupiter House, Station Road, Cambridge, CB1 2JD, UK

23

61 Care Earth Trust, No 5, 21st Street, Thillaiganganagar, Chennai 600 061, India

24

62 Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation, Universiti Malaysia

25

Sarawak, 94300 Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia

26

63 Rajarata Univeristy of Sri Lanka, Mihintale, Sri Lanka

27

64 Amphibian Specialist Group IUCN/SSC Working Group, Sri Lanka

28

65 Herpetology Department, Philippine National Museum, Padre Burgos St, Manila,

29

Philippines

30

66 Department of Biology, Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT 06050,

31

USA

32

67 Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville,

33

FL 32611, USA

34

68 Department of Biology, Davidson College, Davidson, NC 28035-7118, USA

1

69 Laboratório de Zoologia de Vertebrados, Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro

2

(LAZOVERTE - UERJ), Brazil

3

70 Université Cadi Ayyad, Département de Biologie, BP: 2390, Marrakech, Morocco

4

71 Fundacion Amigos de la Naturaleza, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia

5

72 Department of Biology, California State University, Northridge, Northridge, California

6

91330-8303, USA

7

73 Karumbe, D. Murillo 6334, Montevideo, Uruguay

8

74 Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 416, Chengdu,

9

Sichuan, China

10

75 Xuzhou Normal University, Jiangsu Province, China

11

76 Texas A&M University, 210 Nagle Hall, College Station, TX 77843-2258, USA

12

77 Museo de Zoologia, Fac. De Cienicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

13

(U.N.A.M.), Mexico

14

78 Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Rio Tinto, PB, Brazil

15

79 American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th St., New York, NY

16

10024, USA

17

80 Instituto de Ecología, A. C., Xalapa 91070, Veracruz, Mexico

18

81 University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA

19

82 Chennai Snake Park, Rajbhavan post, Chennai 600 022, Tamil Nadu, India

20

83 Department of Natural Resources, Puerto Rico

21

84 Museo de Zoologìa, UNELLEZ-Guanare, Venezuela

22

85 Biology Deptartment, University of San Carlos, Cebu, Philippines

23

86 GeoBio Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Richard-Wagner-Str. 10,

24

80333 München, Germany

25

87 Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia

26

88 Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles, 133 Cherry Hinton Road, Cambridge CB1

27

7BX, UK

28

89 Whittier College, Department of Biology, Whittier, CA 90608, USA

29

90 Edward Grey Institute for Field Ornithology, Department of Zoology, University of

30

Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, United Kingdom

31

91 Department of Zoology, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK

32

92 San Diego Zoo's Institute for Conservation Research, 15600 San Pasqual Valley Road,

33

Escondido, CA, 92027, USA

34

93 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, 500 West

35

University Avenue, El Paso, TX 79968, USA

1

94 Istituto per le Piante da Legno e l'Ambiente, corso Casale 476, I-10132 Torino, Italy

2

95 Yibin University, Sichuan, China

3

96 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los

4

Angeles, California 90036, USA

5

97 University of Otago, 364 Leith Walk, Dunedin 9016. PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New

6

Zealand

7

98 Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802

8

USA

9

99 University of the Free State, P.O. Box 339, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa

10

100 Species Programme, IUCN, 219c Huntingdon Road, Cambridge, CB3 0DL, UK

11

101 Department of Conservation, P O Box 10-420, Wellington 6143, New Zealand

12

102 Department of Herpetology, San Diego Natural History Museum, P.O. Box 121390,

13

San Diego, California 92112, USA

14

103 South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5000, Australia

15

104 Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, UMR CNRS 7205 (Origine, Structure et

16

Evolution de la Biodiversite), Departement Systematique et Evolution, CP 30, 25 rue

17

Cuvier, F-75005 Paris, France

18

105 Department of Biology, Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana 47374, USA

19

106 Center for Advanced Studies in Ecology and Biodiversity (CASEB), Catholic

20

University of Chile, Santiago, Chile

21

107 University of Aberdeen, School of Biological Sciences, Aberdeen AB24 2TZ,

22

Scotland

23

108 State Natural History Museum (Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum), Pockelsstr.

24

10, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany

25

109 Bohol Island State University, Bohol, Philippines

26

110 Pamukkale University, Department of Biology, Denizli, Turkey

27

111 Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT

28

0200, Australia

29

112 Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum, Senckenberganlage 25, D-60325

30

Frankfurt, Germany

31

113 School of Animal Biology, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling

32

Highway, Crawley, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia

33

114 Dokuz Eylül University, Faculty of Education, Department of Biology, Buca, Đzmir,

34

Turkey

1

115 Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, Zoologie, Rosenstein 1, D-70191

2

Stuttgart, Germany

3

116 Laboratorio de Biogeografía, Escuela de Geografía, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales y

4

Ambientales, Universidad de Los Andes, Apartado Postal 116, Merida, 5101-A,

5

Venezuela

6

117 University of Texas at Tyler, 3900 University Blvd., Tyler, Tx 75799, USA

7

118 Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia

8

119 Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, 80523, USA

9

120 Australian Freshwater Turtle Conservation & Research Association (AFTCRA Inc.),

10

53 Jubilee Road, Carters Ridge, Queensland, Australia

11

121 Kadoorie Farm & Botanic Garden, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR

12

122 Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico

13

123 Zoo Atlanta, 800 Cherokee Avenue, SE Atlanta, Georgia 30315, USA

14

124 Global Viral Forecasting Initiative, Cameroon

15

125 Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, Illinois 61702-2900, USA

16

126 Environment and Resource Science Division, Department of Environment and

17

Resource Management, Australia

18

127 WildScreen, Ground Floor, The Rackhay, Queen Charlotte Street, Bristol BS1 4HJ,

19

UK

20

128 Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK

21

129 Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, División Académica de Ciencias

22

Biológicas, Villahermosa, Tabasco, México

23

130 Centre of Environmental Studies Demetra, via Olona 7, 00198 Roma, Italy

24

131 University of California, Irvine, California 92697, USA

25

132 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University,

26

Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia

27

133 Staatliche Naturhistorische Sammlungen Dresden, Museum für Tierkunde,

28

Königsbrücker Landstr. 159, D-01109 Dresden, Germany

29

134 Natural History Museum of Crete, University of Crete, 71409 Irakleio, Greece

30

135 Department of Biology, Merritt College, 12500 Campus Drive, Oakland, CA 94619,

31

USA

32

136 Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Av. André Araújo, 2936, Aleixo, CEP

33

69060-001, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

34

137 Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology & Museum of Comparative

35

Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

1

138 School of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Bangor University,

2

Deiniol Road, Bangor LL57 2UW

3

139 Museum of Natural History, Route de Malagnou 1, 1208 Geneva, Switzerland

4

140 School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the

5

Witwatersrand, P.O. Wits 2050, South Africa

6

141 Laboratório de Herpetologia, Instituto Butantan, Av. Vital Brazil 1500, São Paulo,

7

SP, 05503-900, Brazil

8

142 Fonoteca Zoológica, Dept Biodiversidad y Biologia Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de

9

Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), José Gutierrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain

10

143 BIOGES, University of Las Palmas, 35001 Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain

11

144

12

Fruit Garden, Risa Colony, Shillong - 793003, Meghalaya, India

13

145 Wildlife Trust for India (WTI), Species Recovery Program, India

14

146 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Kenosha, WI

15

53141, USA

16

147 Smithsonian Institution Research Associate

17

148 South African National Biodiversity Institute, Private Bag X7, Claremont 7735, Cape

18

Town, South Africa

19

149 Evolutionary Genomics Group, Department of Botany and Zoology, University of

20

Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa

21

150 Instituto Tecnológico de Huejutla, Carr. Huejutla-Chalahuiyapa, A.P. 94, Huejutla de

22

Reyes, Hidalgo, 43000, Mexico

23

151 Museo Tridentino di Scienze Naturali, Via Calepina 14, 38122, Trento, Italy

24

152 Ch. du Bosquet 6, 1967 Bramois, Switzerland

25

153 CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, PO Box 120, Cleveland 4163

26

Queensland, Australia

27

154 Truman State University, Kirksville, MO 63501, USA

28

155 Universidade Tuiuti do Paraná, Curitiba, Parana State, Brazil

29

156 Departamento de Biologia e Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal

30

do Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, Brazil

31

157 El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Chiapas, México

32

158 Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 S. Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60605-2496,

33

USA

34

159 Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet St., Hanoi,

35

Vietnam

Zoological

Survey

of

India,

North

Eastern

Regional

Centre,

1

160 Göteborg Natural History Museum, Box 7283, SE-402 35 Göteborg, Sweden

2

161 Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade de Brasilia, ICC Ala Sul - Campus Darcy

3

Ribeiro, Asa Norte, Brasilia-DF, 70910-900, Brazil

4

162 Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Interior de la Quinta Normal, Santiago, Chile

5

163 Institute of Natural and Environmental Sciences, University of Hyogo, Yayoigaoka 6,

6

Sanda, Hyogo 669-1546, Japan

7

164 Medio Ambiente, Salud & Seguridad Ocupacional, Aerodom SIGLO XXI,

8

Dominican Republic

9

165 Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, 3101 Valley Life Sciences Building, University of

10

California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3160, USA

11

166 University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA

12

167 Département des Vertébrés Récents, Institut Royal des Sciences naturelles de

13

Belgique, Rue Vautier 29, 1000 Brussels, Belgium

14

168 Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain

15

169 Universidad de Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico

16

170 Integrative Biology C0930, The University of Texas at Austin, One University

17

Station, Austin, Texas 78712-0253, USA

18

171 Dep Animal Biology, Fac Sciences, Granada Univer, E-18071 Granada, Spain

19

172 Bosque Tropical, A. C., Privada Marlin # 10, Fraccionamiento Roca Azul, Jocotepec

20

45800, Jalisco, Mexico

21

173 Department of Biology, Avila University, Kansas City, Missouri 64145, USA

22

174 Museo Tridentino di Scienze Naturali, Via Marconi 60, Cura Carpignano (PV),

23

27010, Italy

24

175 Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, C. P. 20131, Aguascalientes,

25

Mexico

26

176 School of Biological Sciences A08, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia

27

177 Indianapolis Zoo, Indianapolis, IN 46222, USA

28

178 School of Conservation, The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Esplanaden 34,

29

DK-1263 Copenhagen K, Denmark

30

179 USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, National Museum of Natural History,

31

Washington, USA

32

180 Fauna & Flora International – Philippines, 182 Saya St Biga 1, Silang, Cavite 4118

33

Philippines

34

181 Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Museo Tridentino di Scienze Naturali, Via

35

Calepina 14, 38122 Trento (Italy)

1

182 Museo de Biologia, Facultad Experimental de Ciencias, La Universidad del Zulia,

2

apartado postal 526, Maracaibo 4011, Estado Zulia, Venezuela

3

183 Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal da Bahia, 40170-290 Salvador, Bahia,

4

Brazil

5

184 Museum für Naturkunde at the Humboldt University, Invalidenstr. 43, 10115 Berlin,

6

Germany

7

185 Institute of Ecology and Systematics, La Habana, Cuba

8

186 Ohio Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Studies, Department of Biological

9

Sciences, Ohio University, 107 Irvine Hall, Athens, Ohio 45701, USA

10

187 IUCN/SSC Crocodile Specialist Group

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188 Biology Department, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon

12

189 School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005,

13

Australia

14

190 Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (U.N.A.M.),

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Mexico

16

191 Instituto y Nucleo Zoologico ARCO, E-04200 Tabernas, Spain

17

192 Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich,

18

Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland

19

193 karch, Passage Maximilien-de-Meuron 6, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland

20

194 Department of Herpetology & Ichthyology, Muséum d'histoire naturelle, 1 route de

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Malagnou, 1208 Geneve, Switzerland

22

195 Department of Biology, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran

23

196 College of Life Science, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, 571158, China

24

197 Cadi Ayyad University, Faculty of Science, Marrakesh, Morocco

25

198 Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA

26

93106, USA

27

199 Herpetological Society of the Philippines, Philippines

28

200 The Biodiversity Consultancy, Cambridge, UK

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201 Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas (IADIZA-CONICET), CC

30

507, CP 5500 Mendoza, Argentina

31

202 Toledo Zoo, PO Box 140130, Toledo, OH 43614, USA

32

203 354000 Sochi, ul. Moskovskaya 21, Russia

33

204 Depto. Ecologia, IBRAG, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rua São

34

Francisco Xavier 524, Maracanã, CEP 20550-013, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

1

205 Technical University of Braunschweig (Technische Universität Braunschweig),

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38092 Braunschweig, Germany

3

206 Palacký University Olomouc, 771 47 Olomouc, Czech Republic

4

207 Filadelfia 853, 9300 Fernheim, Paraguay

5

208 Society for Southeast Asian Herpetology, Im Sand 3, D-69115 Heidelberg, Germany

6

209 DPPVN, Rače, Slovenia

7

210 Department of Evolution, Systematics and Ecology, The Hebrew University of

8

Jerusalem, 91904 Jerusalem, Israel

9

211 Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia

10

212 Wild Horizons, Inc, Iucson, Arizona 85703, USA

11

213 Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, 655A Christchurch Road, Boscombe,

12

Bournemouth, BH1 4AP, Dorset, UK

13

214 University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica

14

215 Department of Biology, Queens University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada

15

216 College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China

16

217 Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA

17 18

Abstract

19

Effective conservation action requires knowledge of the distribution of threatened

20

species and the threat processes affecting them. We present the first global assessment

21

of extinction risk for a random representative sample of 1,500 reptile species. We find

22

strong variation in extinction risk by taxonomic groups and geographic regions, with

23

the most threatened reptiles associated with freshwater environments, tropical regions,

24

and oceanic islands. Extinction risk is predominantly associated with habitat loss and

25

over-exploitation. Our results emphasize the need for research attention to be focussed

26

on tropical areas, which are seeing the highest extinction risk, and fossorial reptiles,

27

for which there is a chronic lack of data.

28 29

Introduction

30

Throughout their 300 million year history [1], reptiles have adapted to almost every

31

temperate, tropical and marine habitat. They play important roles in natural systems,

32

as prey, predators, and commensal species, serve as important bioindicators for

33

environmental health, and provide the ideal study system to illustrate the biological

34

and evolutionary processes that underlie speciation events [2, 3]. Small ranges and

1

narrow niche requirements make reptiles particularly susceptible to anthropogenic

2

threat processes, and therefore a group of conservation concern. Regional assessments

3

in Europe and South Africa indicate that between one-tenth and one-fifth of reptile

4

species may be threatened with extinction [4, 5].

5

More than 9,000 species of reptile have so far been described [6], yet as a

6

group they are poorly-represented on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. This

7

limits our understanding of threats to reptiles, and thus the group is often overlooked

8

in conservation decisions. However, a comprehensive global assessment of all reptile

9

species is impractical in a short time frame. We present the results of the first

10

assessment of the conservation status of a randomly selected, representative, and

11

global sample of 1,500 reptile species, as a shortcut for deriving extinction risk

12

patterns on which to base sound conservation action. In this study, we consider

13

reptiles to include the various taxa that make up the informal group of non-avian and

14

non-mammalian amniotes: Crocodylia, Testudines, Squamata (snakes, lizards,

15

amphisbaenians) and Rhynchocephalia (tuataras). We produce the first global species

16

and threatened species richness maps for reptiles. The results highlight key regions,

17

taxa and anthropogenic threat processes which need to be urgently targeted to

18

effectively conserve the world’s reptiles.

19 20

Methods

21

We randomly selected 1,500 species from a list of all described reptile species [6], as

22

set out in [7]. This represents a manageable yet sufficiently large sample size to report

23

on conservation status and trends, while buffering against falsely detecting

24

improvements in extinction risk [7].

25

Our sample closely reflected the contribution of each taxa towards total reptile

26

diversity: 58% lizards, 37% snakes, 3% turtles/tortoises, 2% amphisbaenians,