A global reptile assessment highlights shared conservation needs of tetrapods

Abstract

Comprehensive assessments of species’ extinction risks have documented the extinction crisis1 and underpinned strategies for reducing those risks2. Global assessments reveal that, among tetrapods, 40.7% of amphibians, 25.4% of mammals and 13.6% of birds are threatened with extinction3. Because global assessments have been lacking, reptiles have been omitted from conservation-prioritization analyses that encompass other tetrapods4–7. Reptiles are unusually diverse in arid regions, suggesting that they may have different conservation needs6. Here we provide a comprehensive extinction-risk assessment of reptiles and show that at least 1,829 out of 10,196 species (21.1%) are threatened—confirming a previous extrapolation8 and representing 15.6 billion years of phylogenetic diversity. Reptiles are threatened by the same major factors that threaten other tetrapods—agriculture, logging, urban development and invasive species—although the threat posed by climate change remains uncertain. Reptiles inhabiting forests, where these threats are strongest, are more threatened than those in arid habitats, contrary to our prediction. Birds, mammals and amphibians are unexpectedly good surrogates for the conservation of reptiles, although threatened reptiles with the smallest ranges tend to be isolated from other threatened tetrapods. Although some reptiles—including most species of crocodiles and turtles—require urgent, targeted action to prevent extinctions, efforts to protect other tetrapods, such as habitat preservation and control of trade and invasive species, will probably also benefit many reptiles.

A review of applications of environmental DNA for reptile conservation and management

“…Approximately 21% of reptile species are threatened with extinction (Cox et al, 2022 ), and the world's total reptile populations are estimated to have declined by 55% in the last 50 years (Saha et al, 2018 ). Primary drivers of decline include habitat loss, climate change, invasive species, and over‐harvesting (Böhm et al, 2013 ).…”

Cryopreservation of Sperm from an Endangered Snake with Tests of Post-Thaw Incubation in Caffeine

“…As a taxonomic group, non-avian reptiles are incredibly speciose (>11,000 species) and many are threatened with extinction [ 17 , 18 ]. Despite this, there has been a relatively limited number of investigations into cryopreservation [ 7 , 19 , 20 ].…”

Reptile research shows new avenues and old challenges for extinction risk modelling

“…In a new PLOS Biology paper, de Oliveira Caetano and colleagues [ 6 ] presented an innovative machine learning analysis to estimate the extinction risk of 4,369 reptile species that were unassessed or data deficient in the Red List. Meanwhile, in a recent Nature paper, Cox and colleagues [ 7 ] presented the results of the Global Reptile assessment, including extinction risk categories for ca. 85% of the 10,196 reptile species in the Red List (the rest being data deficient).…”

“…85% of the 10,196 reptile species in the Red List (the rest being data deficient). Reptiles are a diverse group which represent a perfect example of the “update or outdate” conundrum in the Red List, as their assessment required nearly 50 workshops and 15 years to complete [ 7 ]. At the same time, enough data on reptile distribution and life history are now available [ 8 ] to attempt large-scale extinction risk modelling for the group, indicating that it might be time to “bridge” the research-implementation gap [ 3 ].…”

“…Regardless of prediction performance, both recent works [ 6 , 7 ] highlight the difficulty to properly account for the effect of climate change. Cox and colleagues acknowledged the limited consideration of climate vulnerability in reptile Red List assessments [ 7 ], as the proportion of threatened species at risk from climate change (11%) was much lower than that of birds (30%). This likely indicates lower knowledge rather than lower vulnerability, considering that reptiles are ectotherms with limited climatic tolerance and dispersal ability [ 11 ].…”