Scientific research monitoring

       Reptiles are widely distributed, and the average altitude of Mount Siguniang is up to 4,500m. The area at 2,700~3,400m only accounts for less than 10% of the total area, which mainly is the residential area, featured by the excellent habitat, so the reptiles of Mount Siguniang are mainly distributed in the area. In this general wild investigation, the activity traces of 11 reptile species were found, including Cyrtodactylus russowii, Cyrtodactylus tibetanus, Laudakia papenfussi, Laudakia sacra, Phrynocephalus hongyuanensis, Phrynocephalus helioscopus, Phrynocephalus theobaldi, Scincella monticola, Scincella potanini, Gloydius strauchi and Ovophis monticola. Among them, Cyrtodactylus russowii and Cyrtodactylus tibetanus mainly can be traced in residential areas or surrounding rocky area below 2,900m, Laudakia papenfussi, Laudakia sacra, Phrynocephalus hongyuanensis, Phrynocephalus helioscopus, Phrynocephalus theobaldi are mainly distributed in the bare rock, sand, gravel or dry grass bushwoods on the sunny slope below 3,300m, Gloydius strauchi and Ovophis monticola are mainly distributed in the broadleaved forests, grasses, shrubs, and surrounding residential buildings on the sunny slope of shady valley below 3,400m. It is estimated that there are more species of snakes, which require more time for monitoring and investigation. Scincella monticola and Scincella potanini are the reptiles with the highest distribution in Mount Siguniang, and they can be found in meadows and gravels at the altitude below 4,500m.