. An ecogeographic analysis of the herpetofauna of the Yucatan Peninsula. Amphibians; Amphibians; Reptiles; Reptiles. YUCATAN HERPETOFAUNA 15 density is greatest at the base of the peninsula, diminishes toward the center, and then increases toward the north end (Fig-7). Endemism.—The number of endemic species of amphibians and reptiles per grid square is indicated in Figure 8. En- demism is unquestionably greatest at the north end of the peninsula, where as many as 20 of the 26 peninsular endemics occur in a single grid square. In contrast, por- tions of El Peten have no endemics. Amphibians a
. An ecogeographic analysis of the herpetofauna of the Yucatan Peninsula. Amphibians; Amphibians; Reptiles; Reptiles. YUCATAN HERPETOFAUNA 15 density is greatest at the base of the peninsula, diminishes toward the center, and then increases toward the north end (Fig-7). Endemism.—The number of endemic species of amphibians and reptiles per grid square is indicated in Figure 8. En- demism is unquestionably greatest at the north end of the peninsula, where as many as 20 of the 26 peninsular endemics occur in a single grid square. In contrast, por- tions of El Peten have no endemics. Amphibians are underrepresented among the endemics: they account for of the entire herpetofauna, but constitute only of the total number of en- demics. Lizards and snakes are over- represented. Respectively they constitute and of the herpetofauna, but comprise and of the endem- ics. The single endemic turtle constitutes of the endemic fauna. DISCUSSION A number of biologists have sug- gested that the Yucatan Peninsula could be partitioned on the basis of biological criteria. Smith (1940) utilized the dis- tributions of lizards of the genus Scelo- porus to define two provinces in the Yucatan Peninsula; Stuart (1943) used distributions of salamanders to recognize biotic areas in Guatemala, including El Peten; and Savage (1966) subdivided the herpetofauna of the peninsula into two geographical assemblages. More comprehensive treatments, which com- bine information for many groups of or- ganisms, include that of Goldman and Moore (1945) who recognized but a single province in the peninsula. Smith (1949) recognized provinces similar to those in his 1940 paper, but added an additional province. Stuart (1964) dis- tinguished the northwest corner of the peninsula from the remainder of the pen- insula. One generalization that emerges from these studies is that the north and northwest portion of the peninsula repre- sents an area biotically distinct from th
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