List of reptiles of Japan

This list of reptiles of Japan is primarily based on the IUCN Red List, which details the conservation status of some one hundred species.[1] Of these, five are assessed as critically endangered (the hawksbill turtle and yellow pond turtle and the endemic Toyama's ground gecko, Yamashina's ground gecko, and Kikuzato's brook snake), ten as endangered, twelve as vulnerable, thirteen as near threatened, fifty-eight as of least concern, and two as data deficient.[1]

According to statistics accompanying the 2020 Japanese Ministry of the Environment (MoE) Red List, one hundred species and subspecies are to be found, but the conservation status of only fifty-seven is detailed.[2][3][4] Of these, five taxa are critically endangered from a national perspective, nine are endangered, twenty-three vulnerable, seventeen near threatened, and three data deficient.[2][3]

Order: Squamata (lizards, snakes, and amphisbaenians)

Suborder: Lacertilia (lizards)

Sakishima tree lizard, D. p. ishigakiense
Kuroiwa's ground gecko
Green grass lizard, Takydromus smaragdinus
Sakishima grass lizard, Takydromus dorsalis
Okada's five-lined skink, Plestiodon latiscutatus
Tsushima ground skink, Scincella vandenburghi

Suborder: Serpentes (snakes)

Japanese ratsnake, Elaphe climacophora
Japanese woodsnake, Euprepiophis conspicillata
Colubrine sea krait, Laticauda colubrina
Japanese keelback, Hebius vibakari
Mamushi, Gloydius blomhoffii
Iwasaki's snail-eater, Pareas iwasakii
Habu, Protobothrops flavoviridis
Japanese odd-scaled snake, Achalinus spinalis

Order: Testudines (turtles)

Superfamily: Chelonioidea (sea turtles)

Green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas, near Naha in Japan
Hawksbill sea turtle

Superfamily: Chelydroidea (snapping turtles)

Superfamily: Testudinoidea (pond turtles and Geoemydid turtles)

Ryukyu yellow-margined box turtle
Ryukyu black-breasted leaf turtle, Geoemyda japonica

Superfamily: Trionychia (softshell turtles)

Japanese names

The Japanese names for the taxa found in Japan have been collated and published by the Herpetological Society of Japan [ja].[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "IUCN Red List>Advanced Search>Taxonomy: Reptilia - Land Regions: Japan". IUCN. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  2. ^ a b 環境省レッドリスト2020掲載種数表 [Ministry of the Environment Red List 2020: Table of Number of Species Listed] (PDF) (in Japanese). Ministry of the Environment. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  3. ^ a b 環境省レッドリスト2020 [Ministry of the Environment Red List 2020] (PDF) (in Japanese). Ministry of the Environment. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  4. ^ レッドデータブック・レッドリスト [Red Data Books and Red Lists] (in Japanese). Ministry of the Environment. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Invasive Species of Japan: Reptiles". National Institute for Environmental Studies. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  6. ^ 岩国のシロヘビ [White Snakes of Iwakuni] (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  7. ^ 日本産爬虫両生類標準和名リスト [Standard Japanese Names for the Reptiles and Amphibians of Japan] (in Japanese). Herpetological Society of Japan. 8 September 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.