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Amphibians of La Escalera Region, Southeastern Venezuela: Taxonomy, Ecology, and Biogeography
Duellman, William E.
Duellman, William E.
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Abstract
Data are presented on the characteristics and natural history of 57 species of anuran
amphibians from a transect from El Dorado in humid tropical forest across the Sierra de Lema to the
Gran Sabana, Estado de Bolivar, Venezuela. Allophryne nithveiii, Phyllomedusa tomopterrm, and
Elachistocleis sp. are reported for the first time from Venezuela. Descriptions and illustrations of tad- poles are presented for Colostethus parkerae, Hyla multifasciata, Leptodactyhis longirostris, L. rugosus, and
L. sabnnensis. Descriptions and illustrations of advertisement calls are presented for Bufo granulosus,
Hyla lemai, H. miiiuscula, H. miinita, H. multifasciata, Phyllomedusa hypocondrialis, Leptodactyhis rugosus, Phifsalaemus enesefae, Cteuophryne geayi, and Elachistocleis sp. Analysis of utilization of calling sites by
anurans in five communities shows greater overlap of calling sites with size of adult males in humid
tropical forest than in very humid lower montane forest and grassland on the Gran Sabana. Few species
are distributed throughout the elevational transect, but some species that occur in savannas in the
lowlands also occur on the Gran Sabana. Comparison of the anuran faunas at 12 sites in the Guianan
region reveals that the fauna in the humid tropical forest in the lowlands to the north of the Sierra de
Lema contains a mixture of forest-dwelling and savanna-inhabiting species, and that the fauna in the
very humid lower montane forest on the northern slopes of the Sierra de Lema is primarily a mixture
of endemics and species shared with the Gran Sabana. Significant negative correlations between dis- tances between sites and coefficients of biogeographic resemblance exist among sites in savannas,
between sites in savannas and lowland rainforest, and between sites in savannas and cloud forest.
Description
Date
1997-07-25
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Publisher
Natural History Museum, University of Kansas
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Research Projects
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Keywords
Anura, Venezuelan Guayana, Taxonomy, Natural history, Communities, Biogeography
Citation
Duellman, W. E. (1997). Amphibians of La Escalera Region, Southeastern Venezuela : taxonomy, ecology, and biogeography / by William E. Duellman. Scientific Papers, (2), 1-52. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.16166