La Herpetofauna de la Estación de Biodiversidad Tiputini, Ecuador: Diversidad y Ecología de los Anfibios & Reptiles de una Comunidad Taxonómicamente Diversa

<p>The herpetofauna of the Tiputini Biodiversity Station (EBT), Amazonian Ecuador, was studied during four years (11 month/person 1760 hours/person of field work) through the application of Multiple Inventory Methods (transects, leaf-litter quadrats, pitfall traps, larvae study and independent points) to determine the species richness and diversity of amphibians and reptiles of EBT and to analyze the influence of phylogeny over the patterns of use of trophic and spatial resources by the anurans of EBT. The community of amphibians and reptiles of EBT is one of the most diverse by its number of species, 120 species of amphibians and 95 species of reptiles. At least four new (undescribed) species of amphibians were found, one anuran species new to the country, and several records that extend the distributional range of some amphibians and reptiles. Morphological and ecological data were analyzed for the anuran community and a strong relatiohship was found between the use of some resources (e.g., diet, microhabitat, and activity) and the different phylogenetic grups (families) of anurans. Aditionally, I discuss about the patterns of herpetofauna diversity in Western Amazonia and comment on herpetofaunal sampling methods in tropical areas.