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A new species of the genus Physalaemus Fitzinger, 1826 (Anura, Leiuperidae) from Southeastern Brazil
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A new species of the genus Physalaemus from the Atlantic Rain Forest of the state of Minas Gerais is described. It belongs to P. signifer species group and is characterized by well-developed vocal sac, second finger with the same size of the fourth, granulate dorsal skin, large inguinal gland with black ocelli, presence of dorso-lateral folds, and advertisement call composed by harmonic notes, generally four, being the last shorter than the others. Information on tadpole external morphology are also presented.
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Can microsatellite markers resolve phylogenetic relationships between closely related crested newt species (Triturus cristatus superspecies)?
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Theoretical and empirical studies revealed that fast evolving microsatellite markers might be successfully employed in phylogenetic reconstruction. In this study we used seven highly polymorphic microsatellite loci and six different genetic distances to infer the performance of microsatellites in estimation of phylogenetic relationships between closely related crested newt species (Triturus cristatus superspecies). Many intraspecific distances exceeded interspecific values likely due to loss of genetic distance linearity in time, revealing that none of them was able to estimate divergence between the species. The Neighbor-joining trees constructed on the basis of genetic distances showed trichotomies (three-way polychotomies) and low bootstrap support at the species level. This study thus revealed limits of microsatellites to estimate phylogenetic relationships between the crested newt taxa.
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Assignment tests applied to relocate individuals of unknown origin in a threatened species, the European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis)
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The pet trade is an important business around the world and one of the factors that might menace some wild populations. If wild animals are collected to maintain them as pets, this activity can produce several problems: i) an increase of population vulnerability, especially in the case of rare species; ii) the release of exotic pets in natural habitats, with the risk of competition with native species and the spreading of parasites and diseases, and iii) the maintenance of animals of unknown origin in Recovery Centres or zoos, which if too numerous are sacrificed or re-located to their supposed original regions. In this paper, we used seven microsatellite loci to analyze genetic diversity and genetic structure of the European pond turtle (Emys obicularis) covering the species range in the Iberian Peninsula. A Bayesian test revealed a genotypic differentiation between the regions sampled where most individuals (90%) were assigned to their sampling location with a probability higher than 95%. The likelihood values for individuals from Recovery Centres to came from one of our populations was higher than 90% in 22 out of 36 individuals. This work is a first step to relocate animals of unknown origin taking into account genetic similarities and contribute to reinforcement programs of endangered species.
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Seasonal variation in the diet of a population of Hyla arborea from Romania
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We examined the diet of Hyla arborea over its entire activity period (March to late September, 2004), and analysed a total of 585 adult samples. From the stomach contents we identified plant remains, shed-skin fragments, and animals. We identified a total of 2976 prey items, almost all of which originated from the terrestrial environment. Adult araneans and coleopterans were the most abundant prey items in the diet of the studied tree frogs. Some of the prey items become abundant in certain parts of the year (e.g. Homoptera, Lepidoptera larvae, Trichoptera). The dietary diversity index is high and exhibits seasonal changes. During the period of study an important seasonal change was observed in feeding intensity and in the type of consumed prey. Our results show that Hyla arborea has a broad dietary diversity which was expected as a consequence of exploiting the habitat both vertically and horizontally, possibly allowing access to a broader spectrum of prey.
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Beaver ponds as habitat of amphibian communities in a central European highland
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The Eurasian beaver Castor fiber, formerly occurred across the Palaearctic, but was nearly eradicated in the 19th century. Due to reintroductions in the 20th century, beaver populations are increasing and now extend into highland areas. Natural still waters are scarce in highlands of Central Europe. Therefore the question arises, “Are beaver ponds essential habitats for amphibians?”, especially since fishes, predators of amphibian larval stages, also inhabit beaver ponds. We investigated the amphibian fauna of one typical valley in the Eifel, that was colonized by beavers in 1981, and compared areas with and without beaver ponds. All anuran species of the region occupied beaver ponds, including species that were absent (Alytes obstetricans, Bufo bufo and Rana kl. esculenta) or rare (Rana temporaria) in natural waters. Alytes obstetricans obviously benefited from pond construction and the removal of trees by beavers which leads to sunny plots along the slopes of the valley, crucial habitat for this species. The urodelans Salamandra salamandra, Triturus alpestris and Triturus helveticus were widely distributed in beaver ponds. Our results show clearly, that beaver altered landscapes offer high quality habitats for amphibians in our study area. Due to a considerable increase of habitat heterogeneity in impounded streams, the predator Salmo trutta was not able to extirpate the amphibian fauna. We conclude that the historic effects of beavers need to be considered for a proper understanding of patterns of amphibian distribution and habitat requirements in Central European Highlands. Furthermore, beaver-created landscapes will be of future relevance for conservation of endangered species, like Alytes obstetricans.
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Blood cell morphology of the Moorish gecko, Tarentola mauritanica
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The morphology of erythrocytes, trombocytes, monocytes, basophils and lymphocytes on Moorish geckos (Tarentola mauritanica) is quite similar to that of other reptiles, even though some peculiarities were detected for heterophils and eosinophils. Moreover, we found a fourth type of granulocyte whose morphology highly differs from both heterophils and eosinophils. Sexually-based differences in the relative abundance of different types of leukocytes was detected: lymphocytes were the most frequent in females, while heterophils and eosinophils prevailed in males. Interestingly, in most individuals we found intra-erythrocytic vacuoles whose structure is similar to that previously described as Chelonoplasma in tortoises and Serpentoplasma in snakes.
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Altitudinal variation in reproductive strategy of the toad-headed lizard, Phrynocephalus vlangalii in North Tibet Plateau (Qinghai)
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Phrynocephalus vlangalii, a toad-headed viviparous sand lizard, is endemic in the Northern Tibet (Qinghai) Plateau in China. Lizards were collected from 14 localities along the large altitudinal gradient (2289-4565 m a.s.l) to analyze the variation of reproductive traits among localities. Both litter size and mean offspring (scaled embryo) mass were positively correlated with female snout-vent length (SVL). Females produced fewer and larger offspring with increasing elevation when the effect of body size (SVL) was removed. This strategy may possibly be correlated with early survival and growth of offspring. The decreased litter size cline along altitudinal gradient might be correlated with more anatomical constraints at higher altitudes. The lizard has lower coefficient of variation (CV) of litter size at higher environments. Moreover, females from higher elevations had less reproductive investment (relative litter mass, RLM). Study concluded that P. vlangalii fit into the common pattern of higher elevation animals that have smaller clutches of larger offspring and lower reproductive effort.
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Diversity, ecological structure and conservation of herpetofauna in a Mediterranean area (Dadia National Park, Greece)
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The current study attempts to explore the diversity patterns and the ecological structure of herpetofauna in order to provide a guideline for its conservation management, taking as case study the Dadia national park, in Greece. We surveyed 36 sites by conducting time constraint visits and random transects to sample semi-aquatic (amphibians and freshwater terrapins) and terrestrial (lizards and terrestrial tortoises) herpetofauna respectively. We recorded 20 herpetofauna taxa, including five protected species. The park authorities should maintain brooks as a high priority habitat for semi-aquatic herpetofauna, periodically flooded land and lowland streams as important habitats, and to a lesser degree anthropogenic wet habitats. Semi-aquatic species have narrow habitat requirements related to substrate type and humidity. Terrestrial herpetofauna species are influenced by the degree of shade and the type of substrate; they favour a diversity of semi-open habitats (open oakwoods, heaths), located in the buffer zone rather than in the core of the park that contains densely forested habitats. Management focusing on raptors, the initial conservation priority of the national park, is compatible with the conservation of the terrestrial herpetofauna, as the proposed maintenance of an open forest structure is beneficial for terrestrial herpetofauna as well. Our research indicates that future management programs will have to address the needs of herpetofauna species independently and that they should also be integrated in the monitoring programme of the park, with emphasis on the conservation status and trend of the five protected species.
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A PIT tag based analysis of annual movement patterns of adult fire salamanders (Salamandra salamandra) in a Middle European habitat
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We studied patterns of annual movement of individual adult fire salamanders (Salamandra salamandra) during the years 2001 and 2002 in Western Germany in a typical middle European habitat for this species. We tested whether salamanders inhabit small home ranges and move little during the activity period as predicted for a species that shows strong site fidelity to a limited area. Initially, 98 individuals were collected in their natural habitat and marked with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags. Of those individuals 88 were released at the collection site for recapture during the activity periods of the years 2001 and 2002. Ten marked individuals were kept in captivity to test for the tolerance of PIT tags. We did not find any negative impact of PIT tags on marked individuals of S. salamandra, neither under captive nor natural conditions. Forty-seven of the marked individuals (corresponding to 53% of the 88 released ones) were recaptured at least once and 28 individuals (corresponding to 32%) were recaptured multiple times. The return rate of males (78%) was higher than for females (43%). Mean home range size (and standard deviation) was estimated to 494 ± 282 m2 for 4 individuals as the minimum convex polygon based on 5 to 6 recapture events for each individual per year and to 1295 ± 853 m2 for 3 individuals with 8 records over two years. Minimum distances moved inferred from individual recaptures increased during the activity period of both years with time, indicating that individuals have more of a tendency to disperse than to stay within a limited area. Our data suggest therefore that S. salamandra adults display site fidelity, but use a much larger area than hitherto documented for this and other terrestrial salamander species.
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Studies on specialized epidermal derivatives in igianian lizards. I. Gross morphology, topography and histology of callose scales in the Asian Rock Agama, Laudakia himalayana (Steindachner, 1869) (Squamata: Agamidae)
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The integument of juvenile, yearling and adult specimens of the Asian Rock Agama, Laudakia himalayana from the Western Pamir Mountains has been studied. Different degree of callose scale development was recorded in all groups of specimens. There are sexually dimorphic and age differences in their grossform, number and topography. The results are discussed with reference to available ecological and behavioral data concerning agamids and other lacertilian clades.
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Null model analysis of lizard communities in five urban parks of Rome
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Null models are an essential tool for investigating structure in natural communities of animals, including reptiles. In this paper, we studied the assembly structure of a lizard community constituted by four species (Lacerta bilineata, Podarcis muralis, P. sicula, Chalcides chalcides) along 25 different transects, each 300 m long and representing a specific habitat type, in five independent urban green areas in Rome, central Italy. Lacerta bilineata was observed in 92% of the total transects (n = 25), P. muralis in 100%, P. sicula in 72%, and C. chalcides in 52%. Based on the number of lizards observed along the various transects, it seemed that each species was linked especially to particular habitat types within each study area, but that the habitat types frequented by each species were not necessarily exactly the same across the study areas. Null model analyses revealed that the lizard community was not randomly organized in four of five study areas by RA2 (thus denoting that the generalist-specialist nature of the species reduced ecological similarity) but not by RA3 algorithms (thus denoting that the types of resources used did not reduce ecological similarity). Thus, the community structure was due mainly to the different specialist-generalist nature of the various co-occurring species.
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Pheromone trailing in male European whip snake, Hierophis viridiflavus
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The ability of snakes to follow conspecific pheromone trails during the breeding season is of primary importance to locate potential mates, and also to elicit and maintain courtship or other reproductive behaviours, such as agonistic behaviour. Despite the recent increased knowledge on snake chemical ecology, yet little information is available on European species and nothing is known about chemical communication in European colubrid species. The aim of this study was to characterise the pheromone-mediated trailing behaviour in male European whip snake, Hierophis viridiflavus. When tested in trailing experiments using a Y-maze, male European whip snakes displayed the ability to trail both male and female pheromones when presented versus a blank arm of the maze. Moreover, adult males followed the female pheromone trail when presented simultaneously with the male trail. Our study demonstrated that male Hierophis viridiflavus rely on chemical cues for the location and the sexual discrimination of conspecifics during the breeding season. Convergence between different mating systems and chemical communication ability in distantly related species is discussed.
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Omnivorous diet of the endangered Pygmy Bluetongue Lizard, Tiliqua adelaidensis
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We used scats from 71 individuals to determine the diet of the endangered Pygmy Bluetongue Lizard, Tiliqua adelaidensis, from South Australia. As predicted both from its previously reported behaviour as an ambush forager, and from its relatively small size, this scincid lizard feeds largely on arthropod prey, and the prey in the diet change opportunistically over the spring and summer. As expected, the species is less herbivorous than larger species in the same or related genera. However plant material is included in the diet to a greater extent as the summer progresses. Conservation of this species may rely on maintaining a high abundance of arthropod prey, and a habitat where efficient prey capture is possible, and on retaining appropriate plants in the species' habitat.
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Head morphological variation in Podarcis muralis and Podarcis sicula: a landmark-based approach
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The geometry of the cephalic scales in lizards is easily represented by using landmark based approaches. The cephalic scales may prove useful structures in the investigation of the evolution and morphogenesis of lizards because of their biomechanical relationships with the underlying bones and muscular anatomy. In the present paper the head morphology in Podarcis muralis and Podarcis sicula is compared by using geometric morphometrics and Euclidean distance matrix analysis. The head shape in these two species is largely influenced by a shared allometric pattern, with P. sicula displaying a reduced range of variation. This pattern is probably influenced by the cranial morphogenesis at the fronto-parietal suture, and by the parieto-occipital musculature involved in diet and social behaviours. Minor species-specific differences are evidenced, and should be further investigated.
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Phalangeal formulae of geoemydid terrapins (Batagur, Callagur, Hardella, Heosemys, Kachuga, Orlitia, Pangshura, Rhinoclemmys) reflect distinct modes of life
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Using radiographies of manus and pes of 133 geoemydid terrapins of nine highly aquatic species (genera Batagur, Callagur, Hardella, Kachuga, Orlitia, Pangshura), four aquatic Rhinoclemmys species, three semiterrestrial Heosemys species, and three terrestrial Rhinoclemmys species, we confirm a correlation between mode of life and phalangeal formulae. Terrestrial geoemydid species tend to have lost phalanges or entire digits, while highly aquatic species with extensive toe webbing generally have retained the full phalangeal number in manus and pes. Phalangeal formulae of species that are not so strictly adapted to aquatic environments, and having less extensive toe webbing, are intermediate, like in the studied semiterrestrial species.
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Roost site characteristics of sympatric dwarf chameleons (genus Brookesia) from western Madagascar
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Madagascar's Brookesia dwarf chameleons are believed to require relatively intact forest for survival. Although they have featured in herpetological surveys, taxonomic reviews and trade assessments, very little is known about their microhabitat requirements or ecology. Over a 5 night period in a deciduous forest in western Madagascar we recorded the night roosting sites for three sympatric Brookesia species. We calculated the area and distance between successive night roost locations and described the characteristics of each roost. Distance between roosts and the area used were larger for B. brygooi and B. perarmata than B. exarmata. The distance between roosts was significantly greater for male than female B. brygooi and B. perarmata. Roost sites were generally in low vegetation (<0.75 m) with the animals located on stems or leaves. Roost height differed significantly between the species, with B. brygooi using the highest perches and B. exarmata the lowest.
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Activity patterns of the sand viper (Vipera ammodytes) from the central Balkans
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Activity patterns of the sand viper, Vipera ammodytes from the central Balkans (Serbia, Montenegro and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) were analysed. The total sample (n = 118) was divided into adult males and females, and depending on the part of the day, habitat type, exposition, and behaviour in two separate seasons (spring and summer). Simple correspondence analysis showed that in spring, males and females were associated with different expositions, while in summer, they displayed different behaviours. Multivariate correspondence analysis showed that in spring males were found more often while basking during the midday in the open forests at south-western exposition. In summer, females were found more often while basking or hiding in the morning in rocky terrains at eastern and southern expositions. The results point out that seasonal variation and intergender differences in behaviour and microhabitat use may occur in sand vipers, as was previously observed in other viper species.
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Book Review
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