La investigación comenzó cuando, en un yacimiento del Mioceno Superior (6-7 Ma) cerca de la localidad de Tresjuncos, Cuenca, se encontró el fósil de un renacuajo de unos 16 cm de longitud sorprendentemente bien conservado. “Encontrar fósiles de larvas de anuros, un grupo de anfibios al que pertenecen las ranas y los sapos, es muy complicado. El fósil hallado en Tresjuncos sorprende, además, porque en él se pueden distinguir hasta detalles del cuerpo blando del animal, algo que raramente fosiliza”, explica Borja Sanchiz, investigador del MNCN. Leer más.

The surface tension of water provides a thin, elastic membrane upon which many tiny animals are adapted to live and move. We show that it may be equally important to the minute animals living beneath it by examining air-breathing mechanics in five species (three families) of anuran (frog) tadpoles. Air-breathing is essential for survival and development in most tadpoles, yet we found that all tadpoles at small body sizes were unable to break through the water’s surface to access air. Leer más.

The genus Hemidactylus in Angola is represented by six species, all of them part of taxonomically and nomenclaturally challenging species complexes. We present a detailed taxonomic revision of the group in the region and describe two new species, Hemidactylus nzingae sp. nov. and Hemidactylus paivae sp. nov., both occuring in and potentially endemic to the highlands of Angola. Leer más.

We find that biofluorescence is not restricted to any particular family of salamanders, there is striking variation in their fluorescent patterning, and the primary wavelengths emitted in response to blue excitation light are within the spectrum of green light. Widespread biofluorescence across the amphibian radiation is a previously undocumented phenomenon that could have significant ramifications for the ecology and evolution of these diverse and declining vertebrates. Leer más.