DOI: 10.5061/dryad.kh18932dw
title: Data from: revealing hidden biodiversity: novel insights on reptile and amphibian distribution in western Ecuador

description: We present notable distributional updates for 14 species from western
 Ecuador (seven amphibians and seven reptiles). Our findings include the
 northernmost confirmed sighting of Pristimantis kuri (Yánez-Muñoz et al.
 2016) and the southernmost documented record of Imantodes inornatus
 (Boulenger 1896) and Lepidoblepharis buchwaldi (Werner 1910).
 Additionally, we document new records and notes on the distribution range
 of Agalychnis spurrelli (Boulenger 1913), Hyloscirtus alytolylax (Duellman
 1972), Engystomops montubio (Ron et al. 2004), Pristimantis muricatus
 (Lynch and Miyata 1980), Pristimantis nyctophylax (Lynch 1976),
 Pristimantis walkeri (Lynch 1974), Chironius flavopictus (Werner
 1909), Chironius grandisquamis (Peters 1869), Dendrophidion graciliverpa
 (Cadle 2012), Ninia schmidti (Arteaga and Harris 2023), and Urotheca
 fulviceps (Cope 1886). These observations significantly contribute to
 filling information gaps in our understanding of these species'
 distributions. The data, derived from samples collected across diverse
 forested areas in the western region of Ecuador (provinces of Bolívar,
 Cañar, Guayas, El Oro, and Los Ríos), provide valuable insights into the
 ecology and conservation of these species.
description: The data was collected during scientific exploratory expeditions
 in ten tropical forests in western Ecuador, from January 2014 to December
 2023, utilizing non-systematic sampling, a search that was both free and
 unrestricted, visual recordings, and manual capture methods (Rödel and
 Ernst 2004). According to the Ministerio del Ambiente del Ecuador (2013),
 four of the ten forests sampled presented a seasonal foothill evergreen
 forest of the western Cordillera de Los Andes; these sites were: 1) The
 Cerro de Hayas Provincial Natural Recreation Area (camp point: 2° 43'
 50.9'' S, 79° 37' 43'' W, alt. 120 m), in the
 foothills of the Molleturo-Mollepungo mountain range, Naranjal canton,
 Guayas province, Ecuador. Cerro de Hayas is a private reserve that
 protects 631 ha of forests in mountainous landscapes with streams and
 waterfalls. 2) Rancho Alemán (Camp point: 2° 20' 13.6'' S,
 79° 12' 46.8'' W, alt. 235 m), in the western foothills of
 the Cordillera de Los Andes, El Triunfo canton, Guayas province, Ecuador.
 Rancho Alemán is an ecotourism farm that has 25 ha of forest in
 mountainous landscapes with streams and surrounded by the Blanco River. 3)
 San Pablo town (Camp point: 2° 20' 55'' S, 79° 10'
 28.9'' W, alt. 431 m), in the western foothills of the
 Cordillera de Los Andes, Cañar canton, Cañar province, Ecuador. A small
 town surrounded by mountains, ravines, and small waterfalls, where there
 are patches of forests and areas dedicated to agriculture. 4) Cascadas de
 Manuel (Camping point: 3° 12' 23.1'' S, 79° 44'
 9.8'' W, alt. 182 m) located in the El Guabo canton, El Oro
 province. It has mature forest extension, that occupies almost the entire
 micro-basin with a dense tree cover, with an interior vegetation based on
 herbaceous and shrubs. Three forests are evergreen foothill forest of the
 western Cordillera de Los Andes, which were: 5) The surroundings of the El
 Progreso farm (Camping point: 2° 7' 39.4'' S, 79° 7'
 17'' W, alt. 944 m) in the western foothills of the Cordillera
 de Los Andes, Chillanes canton, Bolivar province, Ecuador. This site is a
 tourist farm that presents forest patches with mountainous landscapes with
 streams, ravines, waterfalls and crop areas. 6) El bosque del Amigo farm
 (Camping point: 2° 17' 3.5 '' S, 79° 6' 23''
 W, alt. 879 m), in the western foothills of the Cordillera de Los Andes,
 Cañar canton, Cañar province, Ecuador. This site is an ecotourism farm
 that has 300 ha, has large tracts of forest with mountains, a large number
 of small streams and small areas for agriculture. 7) The surroundings of
 the Ocaña (Camping point: 2° 29' 3.7'' S, 79° 15'
 12.2'' W, alt. 946 m), in the western foothills of the
 Cordillera de Los Andes, Cañar canton, Cañar province, Ecuador. There were
 large patches of forest on sloping slopes of the Río Cañar. The forests
 were dense with predominantly shrubby vegetation and herbaceous in its
 interior. Other ecosystems were, evergreen seasonal
 lowland forest of Jama-Zapotillo that was 8) Pedro Franco Dávila Protected
 Forest (Camp point: 1° 14' 44.2'' S, 79° 39'
 36'' W, alt. 50 m), in the central region of the Ecuadorian
 coast, Palenque canton, Los Ríos province, Ecuador. This site has 140 ha
 of protected forest, a tropical humid forest with two climatic seasons :
 rainy season (January-May) and dry season (June-December). In addition, it
 presents mainland forest, rivers, streams and small swampy areas. 9) The
 surroundings of Mocache (Camping point: 1° 9' 40.9'' S, 79°
 30' 29.4'' W, alt. 57 m), Vinces canton, Los Ríos province,
 Ecuador. It is located on the banks of the Vinces River, has small
 fragments of intervened forest. Its vegetation is sparse, it has few
 shrubs and abundant leaf litter. 10) The surroundings of Macul (Camping
 point: 1° 36' 22.1'' S, 79° 50' 58.8'' W,
 alt. 18 m), Vinces canton, Los Ríos province, Ecuador. Located next to the
 river, it has small remnants of intervened forest rich in litter, but with
 very little shrub and herbaceous vegetation. Specimens
 were hand-captured, photographed, and euthanized using 2% roxicaine
 anesthetic solution, fixed in 10% formalin, and preserved in 70% ethanol.
 Before fixation, tissue samples were taken from the collected individuals
 and preserved in 96% ethanol, following the method described by Székely et
 al. (2016). The specimens are deposited in the following museums: Museo de
 Zoología de la Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (MUTPL), Loja,
 Ecuador; Museo de Zoología de la Universidad del Azuay (MZUA), Cuenca,
 Ecuador; Museo de Zoología de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del
 Ecuador (QCAZ), Quito, Ecuador; and Museo de Zoología, Universidad San
 Francisco de Quito (ZSFQ), Quito, Ecuador. Snout-vent length (SVL)
 measurements were taken with digital calipers and rounded to the nearest
 0.1 mm for small specimens, and with a tape measure for longer specimens.
 The coordinates and elevation were taken with a Garmin GPSMAP 62st GPS
 equipment. Specimens were collected under permit No.
 MAE-DPALR-UPN-UB-2015-002, 008-2015-IC-FLO/FAU-DPG/MAE,
 MAAE-DBI-DBI-CM-2022-0222, MAAE-ARSFC-2022-2204 and No.
 MAATE-ARSFC-2023-0063 approved by the Ministerio del Ambiente, Agua y
 Transición Ecológica.
description: # Data from: revealing hidden biodiversity: novel insights on reptile and
 amphibian distribution in western Ecuador
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.kh18932dw](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.kh18932dw) This dataset provides the location of the new records reported in the manuscript and the historical data collections that were used to compare and conclude our research. Altitude is given when available, otherwise, we have included NA.