Data and code from: Drivers of species richness in Amazonian amphibians and reptiles: Testing diversity hypotheses across taxonomic groups

Investigating the ecological drivers of species richness in the Amazon Basin enhances our understanding of the eco-evolutionary processes shaping biodiversity across taxonomic groups. Our study investigates the roles of energy availability, water balance, and habitat heterogeneity in shaping the distribution of amphibians and reptiles by testing five ecological hypotheses: energy-environment, energy-water dynamics, productivity, metabolic theory, and habitat heterogeneity. We found distinct patterns across taxa. The energy-environment hypothesis received the strongest support overall, with temperature exerting a positive effect on species richness in all groups, while potential evapotranspiration negatively impacted Gymnophiona and snakes. The energy-water dynamics hypothesis showed moderate, taxon-specific support, performing best for Anura, snakes, Crocodylia, and Testudines. Precipitation had a positive effect across groups, whereas actual evapotranspiration had mixed impacts, with p..., , ---

# README for Dataset: Drivers of Species Richness in Amazonian Amphibians and Reptiles: Testing Diversity Hypotheses Across Taxonomic Groups

**Authors**\
López-Rojas, Jhon Jairo^1,2^ (ORCID: 0000-0001-6726-5095)\
López-Rojas, Carlos Marcial^3^
Solé, Mirco^2,4^ (ORCID: 0000-0001-7881-6227)\
Lourenço-de-Moraes, Ricardo^5^ (ORCID: 0000-0001-6055-5380)

^1^ Facultad de Ecología, Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Peru\
^2^ Programa de Pós-graduação em Zoologia, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Brazil\
^3^ Oficina Zonal Loreto, Organismo de Formalización de la Propiedad Informal, Peru\
^4^ Museum Koenig Bonn, Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Germany\
^5^ Departamento de Botânica e Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

**Article DOI**
10.1002/oik.11319

**Article Date of publication**
November 2025

---

1. DATASET SUMMARY

---

This dataset provides species richness estimates for seven major ectothermic vertebrate groups — Anura, ...,