Celestus warreni

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	REPTILIA	SQUAMATA	ANGUIDAE

Scientific Name:

Celestus warreni

Species Authority

Infra-specific Authority:

(Schwartz, 1970)

Common Name/s:

English

–

Giant Hispaniolan Galliwasp

Synonym/s:

Celestus carraui

Diploglossus carraui

Diploglossus warreni

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Critically Endangered A2ac; B1ab(i,ii,iii,iv)+2ab(i,ii,iii,iv) ver 3.1

Year Assessed:

2004

Assessor/s

McGinnity, D. (Nashville Zoo, Tennessee, USA) & Powell, R. (Avila University, Kansas, USA)

Evaluator/s:

Hedges, B. (Pennsylvania State University, USA), Incháustegui, S.J. (Grupo Jaragua, Dominican Republic) & Hernández, M. (Dominican Republic)

Justification:
Although the generation length is not known with any certainty (see discussion under 'Habitat and Ecology'), an 80% reduction over the last twenty years seems reasonable, and this triggers a Critically Endangered listing. The extent of occurrence is < 100 km² and the area of occupancy is < 10 km². There is continuing decline in the extent of occurrence, area of occupancy, habitat and numbers of locations and the remaining habitat is severely fragmented.

History:

2000	–	Endangered (Hilton-Taylor 2000)
2000	–	Lower Risk/near threatened (Hilton-Taylor 2000)
1996	–	Endangered (Baillie and Groombridge 1996)
1996	–	Lower Risk/near threatened (Baillie and Groombridge 1996)
1994	–	Insufficiently Known (Groombridge 1994)
1994	–	Insufficiently Known (Groombridge 1994)

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	The entire distribution is on Hispaniola (northern Haiti and northern Dominican Republic) where it occurs up to moderate elevations.
Countries:	Native: Dominican Republic; Haiti

Population [top]

Population:	Most of the population appears to be in Haiti, and it appears that all the subpopulations in the Dominican Republic (those that constituted C. carraui may be largely extirpated. The last collection was of a female collected in the Puerto Plata area, but there are occasional reports of sightings made by local people (S.J. Incháustegui and M. Hernández, pers. comm. 2004). In Haiti, the species is known with confidence from only a single locality.
Population Trend:	Decreasing

Population:

Most of the population appears to be in Haiti, and it appears that all the subpopulations in the Dominican Republic (those that constituted C. carraui may be largely extirpated. The last collection was of a female collected in the Puerto Plata area, but there are occasional reports of sightings made by local people (S.J. Incháustegui and M. Hernández, pers. comm. 2004). In Haiti, the species is known with confidence from only a single locality.

Population Trend:

Decreasing

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	Presumed to be a burrowing species that occurs in mesic lowland broadleaf forest. The captive longevity record is 11 years. But this occurred at a time when the captive husbandry requirements for these species were poorly understood. Based on captive specimens it appears that sexual maturity is reached at 3–4 years of age. A conservative estimate of generation time based on the known captive longevity record and age of sexual maturity from the captives would be 7 years. However, it is probable that once more data is collected over time that this figure will be significantly larger. McGinnity (pers. comm., 2003) believes these animals are long lived (25–30 years, maybe longer), but that we may not know this for sure for a very long time.
Systems:	Terrestrial

Habitat and Ecology:

Presumed to be a burrowing species that occurs in mesic lowland broadleaf forest. The captive longevity record is 11 years. But this occurred at a time when the captive husbandry requirements for these species were poorly understood. Based on captive specimens it appears that sexual maturity is reached at 3–4 years of age. A conservative estimate of generation time based on the known captive longevity record and age of sexual maturity from the captives would be 7 years. However, it is probable that once more data is collected over time that this figure will be significantly larger. McGinnity (pers. comm., 2003) believes these animals are long lived (25–30 years, maybe longer), but that we may not know this for sure for a very long time.

Systems:

Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	Threatened by loss of habitat, especially deforestation for agricultural activities (planting crops and creating pastures). This species is killed by local people who mistakenly consider these lizards to be venomous (the species reportedly has significance in Voodoo religion). Lizards are also killed by dogs, cats and mongooses. The introduction and spread of the mongoose in Hispaniola combined with habitat alteration, are most likley the proximate causes for the recent precipitous decline in giant species of Celestus (Powell and Henderson 2003).

Major Threat(s):

Threatened by loss of habitat, especially deforestation for agricultural activities (planting crops and creating pastures). This species is killed by local people who mistakenly consider these lizards to be venomous (the species reportedly has significance in Voodoo religion). Lizards are also killed by dogs, cats and mongooses. The introduction and spread of the mongoose in Hispaniola combined with habitat alteration, are most likley the proximate causes for the recent precipitous decline in giant species of Celestus (Powell and Henderson 2003).

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	Law 64-00, General Law on Environment and Natural Resources of the Dominican Republic establishes general protection for all its biodiversity, under articles 138 and 140. Article 139 gives protected status to all species considered endangered. Presidential Decree 801-02 reconfirms this protection for all wild reptile species and other taxa of the Dominican Republic. Field surveys are required to determine the remaining population size and distribution, so that a species recovery and management plan can be put in place. Animals are being successfully captive bred at Nashville Zoo (McGinnity 2002). This captive breeding programme should be intensified or increased.

Conservation Actions:

Law 64-00, General Law on Environment and Natural Resources of the Dominican Republic establishes general protection for all its biodiversity, under articles 138 and 140. Article 139 gives protected status to all species considered endangered. Presidential Decree 801-02 reconfirms this protection for all wild reptile species and other taxa of the Dominican Republic.

Field surveys are required to determine the remaining population size and distribution, so that a species recovery and management plan can be put in place. Animals are being successfully captive bred at Nashville Zoo (McGinnity 2002). This captive breeding programme should be intensified or increased.

Citation:	IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 11 October 2008.
Disclaimer:	To make use of this information, please check the Copyright and Data Disclaimer.
Feedback:	If you see any errors or have any questions or suggestions on what is shown on this page, please fill in the feedback form so that we can correct or extend the information provided