APORTES AL CONOCIMIENTO DE LOS MAMÍFEROS, REPTILES Y ANFIBIOS CONTINENTALES DE ARAYA, PENÍNSULA DE ARAYA, ESTADO SUCRE, VENEZUELA.

The arid and semi-arid zones in the Araya Peninsula, as in the rest of Venezuela, have been severely impacted by poorly planned anthropogenic activities. According to the national threat criteria for terrestrial ecosystems, this region is in the Critically Endangered category, which is why it is listed as a bioregion with priority for exploration and conservation in Venezuela. In order to generate information on the continental fauna of the Araya locality of Sucre state, surveys were carried out in different ecosystems during 2010-2019, involving the rainy and dry seasons. For the search, collection and / or observation of the fauna reported in this study, different sampling techniques (conventional and non-conventional) were used. The fauna inventory yielded 26 families, 31 genera and 32 species (15 mammals, 16 reptiles and 1 amphibian). In the Vulnerable category there is the southern long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris curasoae) and as exotic-invasive the tropical house gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia). In addition, Iguana iguana, Sylvilagus floridanus and Pecari tajacu are reported as hunting species. The xerophilous shrubs presented the greatest diversity of vertebrates referred to in this study, followed in decreasing order, according to the number of species, the aquatic grassland, the mangrove swamp and with a low representation of the psamophilic and halophilic grasslands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]