We present the classification results of a supervised algorithm of road images containing amphibians. We used a prototype of a mobile mapping system composed of a scanning system attached to a traction vehicle capable of recording road surface images at speed up to 30 km/h. We tested the algorithm in three test situations (two control and one real): with plastic models of amphibians; with dead specimens of amphibians; and with real specimens of amphibians in a road survey. The classification results of the algorithm changed among tests, but in any case, it was able to detect more than 80% of the amphibians (more than 90% in control tests). Leer más.

This two-day symposium is the first international event to approach chytrids and ranaviruses as a combined threat to amphibians. It will drawn on key research communities, as well as on-the-ground conservationists, to aid the process of moving beyond single pathogen research and management, into managing mixed infections and potentially competing pathogens. This symposium will take place in the Huxley Lecture Theatre, Main Meeting Rooms, Zoological Society of London, Outer Circle, Regents Park, NW1 4RY. 24 Apr – 25 Apr 2019. Leer más.

We determined the impacts of fragmentation on genetic diversity at the immunity locus MHC IIB, a hypothesized predictor of disease susceptibility. Contrary to the expectation that MHC diversity would remain high due to balancing selection, island populations lost genetic diversity at this locus while simultaneously experiencing positive selection at MHC IIB. Leer más.

El proper dissabte 12 de gener de 2019 es farà una xarrada a càrrec de Luis Albero, membre de l’Associació Herpetològica Timon (AHT) i Societat Valenciana d’Ornitologia (SVO), en la qual ens explicarà la seua experiència d’un mes buscant amfibis, rèptils i altres animals per les selves de Costa Rica. Leer más.

Trobar un nou punt de cria d’amfibis en un zona tan afectada pels impactes antròpics, d’origen humà, com és la Ribera del Xúquer sempre és una bona notícia. I més quan es tracta d’un punt de reproducció del gripau comú, Bufo spinosus, que ha patit els últims anys un procés de rarificació al nostre país, de vegades molt accentuat. Leer más.