Celestus fowleri 

• Summary
• Classification Schemes
• Images & External Links
• Bibliography
• Full Account

Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
Animalia	Chordata	Reptilia	Squamata	Anguidae

Scientific Name:	Celestus fowleri (Schwartz, 1971)
Common Name(s): English – Bromeliad Galliwasp, Fowler's Galliwasp
Synonym(s):	Diploglossus fowleri Schwartz, 1971

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:	Vulnerable D2 ver 3.1
Year Published:	2016
Date Assessed:	2015-07-20
Assessor(s):	Wilson, B.S., Hedges, B., Gibson, R. & Koenig, S.
Reviewer(s):	Bowles, P.
Contributor(s):	McLaren, K., Mitchell, S. & Hanson, S.
Facilitator/Compiler(s):	Brooks, T. & NatureServe
Justification: The species meets the threshold for Critically Endangered under B1 based on its extent of occurrence of only 13 km2 and it occurs at a single location defined by potential future impacts from land conversion and timber extraction at the known locality, which is not protected. However, ongoing pressures appear negligible, there is no evidence of ongoing decline or extreme fluctuations, and surveys of its apparently preferred microhabitat suggest that its population is not likely to be limited by habitat availability. As such it is listed as Vulnerable applying Criterion D2, with a plausible future threat from the encroachment of agricultural or logging activity on a larger scale than is practised at present. This could change substantially should the species be discovered to occur more widely, given the extent of ongoing habitat degradation through the Cockpit Country.
Previously published Red List assessments:	1996 – Data Deficient (DD) Download assessment 1994 – Indeterminate (I) Download assessment

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species is endemic to Jamaica, known only from around the type locality, Winsor Cave, in the Cockpit Country, Trelawny Parish; at an elevation near 160 m asl (Schwartz 1970, Henderson and Powell 2009). The species may occur at other localities in the Cockpits; however, exhaustive searches in bromeliads by herpetologists through the region have not yet yielded any records (S.B. Hedges pers. comm. 2015).
Countries occurrence:	Native: Jamaica
Additional data:	♦ Estimated area of occupancy (AOO) - km2: 13 ♦ Continuing decline in area of occupancy (AOO): No ♦ Extreme fluctuations in area of occupancy (AOO): No ♦ Estimated extent of occurrence (EOO) - km2: 13 ♦ Continuing decline in extent of occurrence (EOO): No ♦ Extreme fluctuations in extent of occurrence (EOO): No ♦ Number of Locations: 1 ♦ Continuing decline in number of locations: No ♦ Extreme fluctuations in the number of locations: No ♦ Lower elevation limit (metres): 160 ♦ Upper elevation limit (metres): 160
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	The species is known from the type series, which was collected around 1970; it was also photographed by R. Diesel in the 1990s (S.B. Hedges pers. comm. 2015).
Current Population Trend:	Stable
Additional data:	♦ Continuing decline of mature individuals: No ♦ Extreme fluctuations: No ♦ Population severely fragmented: No ♦ No. of subpopulations: 1 ♦ Continuing decline in subpopulations: No ♦ Extreme fluctuations in subpopulations: No ♦ All individuals in one subpopulation: Yes

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	The species is found in mesophilic habitats of deciduous forest, in bromeliads to at least 2.5 m above the ground (Henderson and Powell 2009). S. Koenig (in litt. to S.B. Hedges 2015) has quantified tank bromeliads around Winsor, and based on this does not consider the species to be limited by their availability.
Systems:	Terrestrial

Use and Trade [top]

Use and Trade:

There is no known use of or trade in this species.

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):

The species is potentially threatened by clearance for agriculture, tree-cutting for lumber and yam sticks, and large-scale bauxite mining across Cockpit Country, encompassing the species' tiny known range. However, tree-cutting (either legal or illegal) has been quite rare in Windsor within the last 10 years, subsequent to the cessation of the railroad project and associated extraction of timber for sleeper ties in the late 1980s (S. Koenig in litt. to S.B. Hedges 2015). Moreover, the region's main bauxite reserves and therefore likely mining activity lie to the east of the Winsor area of Cockpit Country (S. Mitchell in litt. to B. Wilson 2015), and so the direct threat from mining may also not be severe, unless the species is found to occur more widely.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:

The species' single locality is outside any forest reserves (K. McLaren in litt. 2015) and not currently managed in such a way as to prevent habitat degradation. However, the locality happens to be in the vicinity of the Winsor Research Centre, which appears to confer some protection to the nearby forest at present, but from which the medium-term sustainability of protection is unclear (B. Wilson pers. comm. 2015). Research into the species' distribution and ecology are also important priorities.

Errata [top]

Errata reason:

This errata assessment has been created because the map was accidentally left out of the version published previously.