Abstract

CUPUL CICERO, Verónica; AGUILAR CORDERO, Wilian De Jesús; CHABLE SANTOS, Juan  and  SELEM SALAS, Celia Isela. Ethnozoological Knowledge of the Herpetofauna from the Maya Community of Santa Elena, Yucatan, Mexico. Estud. cult. maya [online]. 2019, vol.54, pp.285-314. ISSN 0185-2574.  https://doi.org/10.19130/iifl.ecm.2019.54.994.

Amphibians and reptiles are important organisms for the proper operation of natural ecosystems, but in recent decades they have declined in number and distribution. This is due to several factors, but the anthropogenic ones are the most significant. On the other hand, the loss of biocultural knowledge can modify the perception of these organisms and lead to a difficult coexistence. The objective of this work is to characterize ethnozoological knowledge about the herpetofauna among the inhabitants of the Maya community of Santa Elena, Yucatan. From June to October 2016, 145 questionnaires and two semi-structured key informant interviews were applied. It was concluded that the inhabitants of Santa Elena recognize 68 species (12 amphibians and 56 reptiles), of which 31 are considered poisonous. 44 samples were collected, with Crotalus tzabcan receiving the highest number of mentions (23%). From the species examined in the survey, 13 presented some kind of use. The medicinal one was the most mentioned for C. tzabcan (53.1%) and Terrapene yucatana (25.5%), and the alimentary use for Ctenosaura similis (42%). These results reflect the importance of including local knowledge to improve the conservation measures of this biological group.

Keywords : Ethnoherpetology; reptiles; amphibians; Use Value Index; Maya people.