Diversity of Amphibians and Reptiles in Bangladesh

Bangladesh lies at the crossroads of India (Gondwanan origin) and Southeast Asia (Laurasian origin), and harbors a diverse amphibian and reptile fauna. Roughly 85% of its amphibians and reptiles are facing conservation threats of various kinds. This is obviously an under-estimate since most of these survey results are over a century old. The country was plagued by war, civil revolutions, and political instability, which led to a long gap in natural history studies. Bangladesh is currently experiencing an ‘age of discovery,'' and more than 42% of the amphibian species and 18% of the reptile species were first reported from the country only in the past decade. Limited and inadequate information is known on geographic distributions and natural history of these species. Extensive surveys are urgently needed for Bangladesh as a major part of its forest cover has been cleared in the last few decades. To address some of these issues, a herpetofaunal survey was conducted focusing on species diversity in different forest types in Bangladesh. The impact of the climate change on these animals has also been presented. Finally, conservation needs are discussed with management recommendations.