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R. Alexander Pyron

Publications and source records attributed to R. Alexander Pyron.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

A dataset of amphibian species in U.S. National Parks

National parks and other protected areas are important for preserving landscapes and biodiversity worldwide. An essential component of the mission of the United States (U.S.) National Park Service (NPS) requires understanding and maintaining accurate inventories of species on protected lands. We describe a new, national-scale synthesis of amphibian species occurrence in the NPS system. Many park units have a list of amphibian species observed within their borders compiled from various sources and available publicly through the NPSpecies platform. However, many of the observations in NPSpecies remain unverified and the lists are often outdated. We updated the amphibian dataset for each park unit by collating old and new park-level records and had them verified by regional experts. The new dataset contains occurrence records for 292 of the 424 NPS units and includes updated taxonomy, international and state conservation rankings, hyperlinks to a supporting reference for each record, specific notes, and related fields which can be used to better understand and manage amphibian biodiversity within a single park or group of parks.

Scientific Data

Morphology and molecular data reveal invasion of cryptic golden tegus Tupinambis cryptus Murphy et al., 2016) in Florida

Golden Tegus ( Tupinambis teguixin sensu lato ) are native to South America and have established a reproducing population in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Recent work divided the Golden Tegu into four separate species, leaving the specific identity of Golden Tegus in Florida unknown. We used morphometric and mitochondrial data to determine the species identity and likely area of geographic origin for a specimen of Golden Tegu collected in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Our results indicate Cryptic Golden Tegus ( Tupinambis cryptus ) are the species established in Florida. Geographic origin is likely mainland Guyana or Venezuela.

Florida