A Checklist of the Herpetofauna of the Banjaran Bintang, Peninsular Malaysia

L. Lee Grismer, Chan Kin Onn, Jesse L. Grismer, Perry L. Wood, Jr., Ahmad Norhayati

Abstract


The three major mountain ranges of Peninsular Malaysia comprise areas of extreme environmental diversity, yet they remain relatively unexplored. Although herpetofaunal records from these upland systems are scattered throughout a wide body of literature, only two major studies have focused on the largest mountain system, the Banjaran Titiwangsa and only one major survey was published for a locality in the easternmost range, the Banjaran Timur. The smallest range of mountains in northwestern Peninsular Malaysia, the Banjaran Bintang, has had no major studies focusing specifically on the composition of its herpetofauna. This is despite the fact that it harbors the type localities of seven species of frogs, one caecilian, 10 species of lizards, and four species of snakes, the vast majority of which come from one locality at Bukit Larut, Perak. This study complies all the herpetofaunal records from the literature and museum collections from the Banjaran Bintang as well as presents new locality records for seven species of frogs, one species of lizard, and five species of snakes. This brings the total number of species known from the Banjaran Bintang to 107 (41 frogs, two caecilians, three turtles, 31 lizards, and 30 snakes). In this regard, the much smaller Banjaran Bintang has significantly more species of amphibians and reptiles than any other upland system in Peninsular Malaysia. We regard this as a collecting artifact that underscores the unexplored nature of the other mountain ranges.


Keywords


Malaysia; Banjaran Bintang; Banjaran Titiwangsa; Banjaran Timur; herpetofauna; Bukit Larut

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