Records of herpetofauna made in 2023 by Marushchak O. Yu. and Nekrasova O. D.

Study Extent

The dataset represents information on records of herpetofauna made during field season from March to September 2023.

Sampling

Animals were caught manually during the peaks of activity of amphibians or reptiles (mainly from 7:00 to 11:00 am and from 5:00 to 11:00 pm). Catching of amphibians and reptiles wa performed using a net, fishing rod, fishing traps, a hook or by hand. For georeferencing of the records, the points of herpetofauna registrations were collected (with the indication of latitude 00.00000 N and longitude 00.00000 E) using the field off-line orientation program MAPS.ME (version 12.0.1-Google) and Google Earth Pro (Earth version 7.3.3). Visualization of records and creation of maps was carried out in the QGIS program (v.2.181, QGIS Development Team, 2016. QGIS Geographic Information System. Open Source Geospatial Foundation. URL http://qgis.org).The species identification was carried out using methodological materials (Bannikov and Darevsky, 1977; Nekrasova and Morozov-Leonov, 2001; Kuzmin, 2012). No special permits were needed for such work and collecting of common species of reptiles and amphibians. Those records obtained from third parties consisted of: several good quality photos, location, additional information and date. All animals that were spotted - were released at the place of capturing after all needed information was collected.

Quality Control

The authors are fully responsible for the quality and accuracy of data provided within the published dataset.

Method steps

1. Conducting field trips.
2. Manual catching of individuals or taking photos from distance or taking photos from third parties which is enough for species identification.
3. Identification of species based on the available data and known key features.
4. Georeferencing.
5. Organizing of the dataset according to Darwin Core standards.

The dataset consists of records of amphibians (Amphibia class, Anura & Caudata orders) and reptiles (according to Backbone taxonomy, Squamata & Testudines classes).

1. Animalia
   rank: kingdom
2. Chordata
   rank: phylum
3. Amphibia
   rank: class
4. Squamata
   rank: class
5. Testudines
   rank: class
6. Anura
   rank: order
7. Caudata
   rank: order
8. Colubridae
   rank: family
9. Viperidae
   rank: family
10. Lacertidae
    rank: family
11. Anguidae
    rank: family
12. Emydidae
    rank: family
13. Bufonidae
    rank: family
14. Ranidae
    rank: family
15. Hylidae
    rank: family
16. Pelobatidae
    rank: family
17. Bombinatoridae
    rank: family
18. Salamandridae
    rank: family

The dataset covers territory of Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Zakarpattia, Lviv and Khmel'nyts'ky administrative regions of Ukraine.