½ Insects & Arachnids  ½ Amphibians ½ Reptiles ½

Herpetofauna of the Tikal National Park

     The herpetofauna of Peten includes 160 species out of 4,500 which exist world wide. Out of these 2 are caecilians, 6 are salamanders, 36 are frogs, 9 are turtles, 36 are lizards, 69 are snakes and 2 are crocodilians... Ninety-one of these species are present in the Tikal National Park (19 frogs, 5 turtles, 24 lizards, 41 snakes, 1 salamander and 1 crocodilian). This is very important because the park is one of the few remaining undisturbed habitats in the region, where the herpetofauna is effectively protected. Clearing and burning of rainforest accounts for the reductions in amphibian and reptile habitats. This comes as no surprise, as in 1950 there were only 15,000 inhabitants in all of the Peten region. Today the population is 350,000 and rising. Most of the immigrants are ignorant of the local wildlife and fear reptiles and amphibians with a passion. 

Mostly, amphibians are secretive and nocturnal, therefore people tell incredible stories about them, implying they are very dangerous to humans. One such story involves the tapalcuas (caecilians), which are said to jump into bodily orifices when people answer the call of nature in the wild. Another story is that of the niño dormido, a nocturnal salamander, which receives its popular name because, unfortunately, ignorant peasants hold the popular belief that the salamander climbs into babies' beds and infects them and the children die a sudden death. None of these stories are true, and there cannot be any scientific substance to these allegations.  However, people are out to kill any salamander in sight, thus breaking nature's fragile balance.

Photo Courtesy of Claire Masaya

     Amphibians have glandular skins, and are usually moist creatures, who live near water and need a damp environment to survive. They have biphasic life cycles, which means that they usually hatch from eggs and then metamorphose into their final adult form, such as tadpoles that then turn into toads or frogs. (Most of the amphibians in Peten, however, such as salamanders, hatch into miniature adults which then grow, forgoing the larval stage.) Each family has particular features: caecilians have long limbless bodies, they lack eyelids and have rigid skulls.  Their fertilization takes place internally. Salamanders have 4 limbs of equal size and a tail, all of the Guatemalan salamanders have eyelids. Frogs and toads are called anurans, they are jumping amphibians, with stronger and larger hind legs.

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