Abstract

ARANDA-COELLO, J. Manuel  and  LIEVANO-OROPEZA, Paola. Population size estimate of Abronia lythrochila Smith & Álvarez del Toro, 1963 (Reptilia: Anguidae) in the Estación Biológica San José, Chiapas, Mexico. Acta Zool. Mex [online]. 2023, vol.39, e2407.  Epub May 06, 2024. ISSN 2448-8445.  https://doi.org/10.21829/azm.2023.3912407.

The arboreal lizard Abronia lythrochila was described about 60 years ago, yet its natural history remains poorly researched. The objective of this study was to estimate the population density and spatial distribution of A. lythrochila at the Centro para la Conservación e Investigación de la Biodiversidad de los Altos de Chiapas (CECIBACH, formerly known as the Estación Biológica San José) in Chiapas, Mexico. Based on field data collected from 2017─2019, the estimated population density was 1.7 individuals per hectare, representing an estimated population size between 7─89 specimens across the entire 16 hectares of CECIBACH. Due to human activities that threaten forests in the highlands of Chiapas, together with misperceptions of the species as dangerously venomous, this population of A. lythrochila could be suffering an ongoing decline. The current study offers the first-ever baseline for comparative population demography of this species.

Keywords : conservation; gerrhonotinae; red-lipped arboreal alligator lizard; reptile; population density.

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