A preliminary study on the herpetofauna of Gorm mountain no- hunting zone,Jahrom, Fars province

The Gorm mountain with an area of 80000 ha is located in northwest of Jahrom city in Fars province, south of Iran. The area is registered as a no- hunting zone since 1995. In order to study the Herpetofauna of this region, a survey was conducted during Apr. 2007 to Apr. 2008. In this study, three quadrates (size 100×100 m) in different elevations were selected and a total of 225 pitfall traps of two different sizes were placed in the quadrates. Quadrates were visited within three weeks for three months. The trapped samples were collected, transferred to the laboratory, fixed in 10% formalin solution and identified using different valid documents. On the basis of different field works and study of trapped samples in quadrates, 20 reptile species consisting of two species of turtle and tortoise belonging to two genera and two families, eight species of snakes belonging to eight genera and three families and 10 lizard species belonging to ten genera and five families were identified and their conservation status were worked out.