title: Snake richness in urban forest fragments from Niterói and surroundings, state of Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The Atlantic Forest is a hotspot for biodiversity, an area which houses high species richness and endemism, but with high level of threat. With reference to the herpetofauna, until recently there has been no detailed information regarding diversity of snakes recorded in the Atlantic Forest, the number of endemic species and their distribution ranges. While these basic data were missing, large areas of original forest have continued to be lost to increased urbanization and human population, representing a severe threat to the biodiversity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We recorded 28 snake species in our study area. Dipsadidae was the richest family with 14 species, followed by Colubridae (eight species), Boidae (two species), Viperidae (two species), and Anomalepididae, Elapidae and Typhlopidae (one species each). Most species were forest inhabitants (61%), of which 13 are endemic to the Atlantic Forest. There were no clearly defined species clusters regarding species composition. None of the species recorded in Niterói are listed as threatened in the Brazilian Redlist. However, most of them are strongly associated with forested areas and, perhaps, are not adapted to live in small fragments. Thus, more initiatives should be implemented to evaluate the true conservation status of these species in order to better protect them.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Coleções Biológicas e Biodiversidade, Instituto Vital Brazil, Rua Maestro José Botelho, 64, 24230-410, Niterói, Brazil.
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Citeli
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Biologia Evolutiva Teórica e Aplicada, Departamento de Genética, Instituto de Biologia, UFRJ, Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Laboratório de Coleções Biológicas e Biodiversidade, Instituto Vital Brazil, Rua Maestro José Botelho, 64, 24230-410, Niterói, Brazil.
authors.forename: Breno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hamdan
authors.affiliation: University of Gothenburg. Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences. Carl Skottsberg gata 22B, Se 405 30, Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Thais
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Guedes
keywords: Conservation; Endemism; Forested Areas; Serpentes; Species Richness; Urban Inventory