The terrestrial herpetofauna of Martinique: Past, present, future

Abstract

I present an up-to-date annotated list of the herpetofauna of Martinique, and try to explain the causes responsible for the eradication of species such as Leptodactylus fallax, Boa sp. and Leiocephalus herminieri. Mabuya mabouya and Liophis cursor have not been seen for decades and may have been extirpated. It cannot be established that the mongoose was responsible; Didelphis marsupialis, of recent introduction, may have played an important role. Introduced and invasive species are numerous in Martinique: Chaunus marinus, Scinax ruber, Eleutherodactylus johnstonei, Gymnophthalmus underwoodi, Iguana iguana, Gekko gecko, Hemidactylus mabouia, without considering escaped pets and the dubious case of Allobates chalcopis as an endemic species. I also present the restoration plan for Iguana delicatissima in the French West Indies and the conservation work for this species in Martinique; increase of nesting areas, translocation, creation of numerous protected areas, and control of I. iguana. Of a total of 13 endemic and indigenous species from Martinique, three are definitely and a further two are probably eradicated. Including Guadeloupe, the French West Indies have the highest loss of herpetological biodiversity among all the islands in the West Indies.

A new fossil species ofBoaLinnaeus, 1758 (Squamata, Boidae), from the Pleistocene of Marie-Galante Island (French West Indies)

“…However, considering the South American origin of the Boa genus (Albino, 2011;Head et al, 2012), and the central position of the two above-mentioned islands in the Lesser Antillean island chain, it is likely that Boa snakes occurred in the past on all the islands separating the northernmost islands of Dominica from continental South America. This hypothesis is partly confirmed by historical evidence demonstrating the past occurrence of Boa snakes on the islands of Martinique (Labat, 1724;Breuil, 2009) and Saint Vincent (Moreau de Jonn es, 1816), showing that these large snakes probably became extinct recently: during the 18th century on Martinique and during the 19th or 20th centuries on Saint Vincent. In addition, fossil evidence suggests the past occurrence of Boa snakes north of Dominica, as far as the northernmost island of Antigua, during the Holocene (Steadman et al, 1984;Pregill et al, 1988), but also on Marie-Galante Island during the Pleistocene (Stouvenot et al, 2014;Bailon et al, 2015;Bochaton et al, 2015b).…”

“…This possibility is, however, considered to be likely because these snakes are known to occur or to have occurred in the past on several islands south and north of Guadeloupe, which means that this latter archipelago represents a gap in the past distribution of boid snakes across the Lesser Antilles. Still, in contrast to the islands of Martinique (Labat, 1724;Breuil, 2009), Saint Vincent (Moreau de Jonn es, 1816), and Dominica (Anonyme de Carpentras, 1618; Labat, 1724), none of the historical chroniclers describing past Guadeloupe snakes (Du Tertre, 1654; Rochefort, 1658) ever described a Boa snake. There is consequently a possibility that Boa snakes went extinct during the end of the Pleistocene or the early Holocene on other Guadeloupe islands, in the same enigmatic way as on Marie-Galante Island.…”

Gymnophthalmus underwoodi Grant, 1958 (Reptilia: Gymnophthalmidae), a new record for the island of Montserrat

“…Turk et al (2010) found that G. underwoodi exhibited a broader distribution across xeric habitats than the bisexual G. pleii on Dominica. Breuil (2009) observed a decrease in G. pleii populations with respect to G. underwoodi in some locations on Martinique where the species are found sympatrically, suggesting that the more recent arrival of G. underwoodi may result in the displacement of the endemic G. pleii in some areas.…”

“…Whether the colonization of G. underwoodi on Montserrat represents a natural or artificial introduction is uncertain, as the origin of this lizard remains ambiguous on many islands in the archipelago (Daniells et al 2008, Breuil 2009, Powell et al 2011. Unisexual species, such as G. underwoodi, may have an easier time dispersing and establishing new populations than bisexual species since a population of the former could descend from a single individual.…”

“…Near Montserrat, both species of Gymnophthalmus have been recorded on Guadeloupe (Breuil 2002), Martinique where the species may be sympatric (Breuil 2009), and Dominica where the species are allopatric (Daniells et al 2008, Turk et al 2010.…”