Using a panel of 31 diagnostic nuclear SNP markers in 56 toad populations from the southern Alps and the northern and central Apennines, we document that the range of the spined toad, Bufo spinosus, extends along the Mediterranean coast from France into the northwest of Italy. This species, and the common toad B. bufo, engage in a unimodal hybrid zone, with B. spinosus at the higher and B. bufo at the lower altitudes of the Ligurian Alps. The width of 24.0 km observed in the Italian section of the long hybrid zone is narrower than documented in France (ca. 50 km). Using six mitochondrial SNP markers, we resolve several haplotype groups, with approximate distributions as ‘bufo-e2’ across the French–Italian border region, ‘bufo-e3’ in the Italian Alps, ‘bufo-e6’ in the Apennines and ‘spinosus’ with a single occurrence in Italy. Leer más.

A new species of extinct lizard, Kopidosaurus perplexus, has just been described. The first part of the name references the lizard’s distinct teeth; a ‘kopis’ is a curved blade used in ancient Greece. But the second part is a nod to the ‘perplexing’ matter of just where the extinct lizard should be placed on the tree of life. Leer más.

¿Sabías que el Mediterráneo Occidental y más concretamente los países de Marruecos y España/Portugal constituyen una de, las quizá, 20 zonas de mayor biodiversidad del planeta? ¡Y también en hérpetos! De hecho, actualmente compartimos con el norte de África 27 especies de las casi 300 de anfibios y reptiles que existen entre los países de Marruecos, Sahara Occidental, Argelia, Túnez, Libia, Egipto, Israel, Jordania… Casi un 10% de especies de anfibios y reptiles ibero-africanas. Leer más.