Amphibian diversity in Shimba Hills National Reserve, Kenya: A comprehensive list of specimens and species.

Abstract

We present the first annotated amphibian checklist of Shimba Hills National Reserve (SHNR). The list comprises of 30 currently known amphibians (28 anurans and two caecilians), which includes 11 families and 15 genera. In addition, individual records per species, distribution in the reserve and brief remarks about the species are presented. The checklist is based on information from museum collections, field guides, unpublished reports and newly collected field data. We are able to confirm the presence of two Eastern Afromontane species in the SHNR: Scolecomorphus cf. vittatus and Callulina cf. kreffti. The latter has not been recorded since the original collection of a single specimen over 50 years ago. SHNR contains the highest number of amphibian species of any known locality in Kenya (about 30% of the country’s total number); therefore it is of national conservation importance. Finally, we briefly discuss the biogeography of the SHNR and its connections to nearby biogeographic regions.

Keywords: coastal forests, checklist, zoogeography, amphibians, Shimba Hills