Relationships of the silver rice rat Oryzomys argentatus (Rodentia: Muridae)

Nine skulls of the rare Oryzomys argentatus are compared to 109 skulls of the six races of O. palustris. Mahalanobis distance is greater between O. argentatus and all Floridian forms of O. palustris than the Floridian forms are from each other. In a canonical discriminant analysis, two models grouping O. argentatus with one or both of the insular races of O. palustris (sanibeli and planirostris) were shown by the Roy\u27s Greatest Root statistic to fit the data less well than a model in which O. argentatus was regarded as distinct. A one-way ANOVA and Duncan\u27s Multiple Range Test on the variation in nasal bone proportions show that there are two significantly different groups of these Oryzomys (p \u3c 0.05): all O. palustris together and O. argentatus alone. We hypothesize O. argentatus originated on the Lower Keys in the late Sangamon and underwent selection for character divergence in sympatry with O. palustris during the Wurm

Amphibians and Reptiles of Dinghushan in Guangdong Province, China’s Oldest Nature Reserve

Dinghushan is the only nature reserve at the Tropic of Cancer in mainland China with extensive old growth monsoonal hardwood forest. We here assemble a comprehensive list, with life history notes, of amphibians and reptiles of Dinghushan. Relevant records were scattered over three centuries since the first in 1886. A total of 71 species are known to occur in the reserve, and this number of species per area far exceeds that predicted by classic island biogeographic theory. Among these 71 species, nine are new records: Five frogs (Amolops ricketti, Hylarana macrodactyla, Hylarana taipehensis, Odorrana schmackeri, and Occidozyga lima) and four snakes (Oligodon cinereus, Sinonatrix percarinata, Sinomicrurus macclellandi, and Trimeresurus stejnegeri). One undetermined skink may confound the generic definitions for the genera of Scincella and Sphenomorphus. Among these 71 species, 21 that are not closely associated with old growth forest have not been seen recently. Forest recovery and reforestation of farmland over five decades since the nature reserve was established in 1956 may have contributed to the decline of these species. Dinghushan has 97% of its species occurring strictly in the Oriental zone; among them, about 78% (55) occur both in the South China and Central China regions, 21% (15) occur only in the South China region, and one species was previously known only from the Central China region. The unique location of Dinghushan makes long-term monitoring of its herpetofaunal diversity important for future collaborative studies on a global scale

Amphibians and Reptiles of Dinghushan in Guangdong Province, China’s Oldest Nature Reserve

Dinghushan is the only nature reserve at the Tropic of Cancer in mainland China with extensive old growth monsoonal hardwood forest. We here assemble a comprehensive list, with life history notes, of amphibians and reptiles of Dinghushan. Relevant records were scattered over three centuries since the first in 1886. A total of 71 species are known to occur in the reserve, and this number of species per area far exceeds that predicted by classic island biogeographic theory. Among these 71 species, nine are new records: Five frogs (Amolops ricketti, Hylarana macrodactyla, Hylarana taipehensis, Odorrana schmackeri, and Occidozyga lima) and four snakes (Oligodon cinereus, Sinonatrix percarinata, Sinomicrurus macclellandi, and Trimeresurus stejnegeri). One undetermined skink may confound the generic definitions for the genera of Scincella and Sphenomorphus. Among these 71 species, 21 that are not closely associated with old growth forest have not been seen recently. Forest recovery and reforestation of farmland over five decades since the nature reserve was established in 1956 may have contributed to the decline of these species. Dinghushan has 97% of its species occurring strictly in the Oriental zone; among them, about 78% (55) occur both in the South China and Central China regions, 21% (15) occur only in the South China region, and one species was previously known only from the Central China region. The unique location of Dinghushan makes long-term monitoring of its herpetofaunal diversity important for future collaborative studies on a global scale

New Record of the Leopard Gecko Goniurosaurus araneus (Squamata: Eublepharidae) for China and Habitat Partitioning between Geographically and Phylogenetically Close Leopard Geckos

Two specimens of the Leopard Gecko Goniurosaurus araneus (Squamata: Eublepharidae) were collected from Nonggang National Nature Reserve, Chongzuo Prefecture, Guangxi Zhuang Ethnicity Autonomous Region, China, in October 2011. This species is a new record for China and this report is a range extension for the species from northern Vietnam to southern Guangxi. A phylogenetic study demonstrated that Goniurosaurus araneus and G. luii are a species pair. We show for the first time that they coexist broadly but are narrowly allopatric in a small area in southern Guangxi, separated only by a river, similar to what had been reported previously for G. yingdeensis and Goniurosaurus indet. from northwestern Guangdong. A river as a geographical barrier, elevation, and aspect may have contributed to habitat partitioning between G. araneus and G. luii