UC Berkeley

In 2011 and 2014, we conducted two expeditions to four islands in the Kei Island group in Maluku Province of eastern Indonesia. We documented and collected 33 species of lizards, snakes, and frogs, and after reviewing historical occurrences in the island group, we accounted for a total of 39 species present in the Kei Islands (26 lizards, 10 snakes, 3 frogs). Here we present a checklist with species accounts and a key to all lizards, snakes, and frogs presently known from the Kei Islands, and discuss potentially erroneous previous records. As presently described, the Kei Islands hold four endemic lizards, though we expect some Kei Island populations of species thought to be widespread will be described as distinct species in the future. We report four species that have not previously been documented from the Kei Islands, including three species of gecko (Lepidodactylus), as well as one frog (Litoria cf. bicolor), which raises the number of known amphibians from two to three. We reassess the biogeography of the Kei Islands in the context of this new survey and suggest that rather than simply being part of a filter zone between the Sunda and Sahul Shelves, a substantial proportion of the fauna of small eastern Indonesian islands such as the Kei Islands shows an allegiance with other oceanic islands in the South Pacific. Finally, we discuss conservation of herpetofauna and overall biodiversity in the Kei Islands.