Our results provide important guidance on how to prioritize measures that incorporate climate change in decision-making processes related to the current and future management and protection of marine turtles at the ocean-basin scale, and could be used to guide decisions in other regions globally. Leer más.
The frequency of collisions was independent of tortuosity, presence of fences, and precipitation, while mean temperature significantly increased the probability of collision of mammals, birds, and reptiles. There was a seasonal effect in the number of collisions, which spatial pattern depended on the class of vertebrates. All this leads us to conclude that, to reduce the impact caused by roadkill mortality on wildlife, we need specific measures to be taken timely in each critical place and for each vertebrate group. Leer más.
We conclude that paleoclimate, and particularly extreme aridification, acted as a main driver of diversification in arid mountain systems which is tangled with the generation of highly adapted endemicity. Our study provides a valuable contribution to understanding the evolution of mountain biodiversity and the role of environmental factors in shaping the distribution and diversity of reptiles in arid regions. Leer más.
Furthermore, evidence for gene flow was also found for currently allopatric species pairs. Genetic exchange among these well-defined, distinct, and several million-year-old reptile species emphasizes that speciation and maintenance of species distinctness can occur despite continued genetic exchange. Leer más.
The results of a review of the chelonian remains retrieved in the excavations carried out in Mealhada (Coimbra, central Portugal) are presented here. Mealhada is a Portuguese Middle Palaeolithic classical site, discovered at the end of the 19th century, and chronologically ascribed to the interglacial Riss-Würm (ca. 120 ka BP). This study has allowed the identification, justification, and figuration of remains attributed to three Iberian chelonian taxa, Testudinidae indet., Mauremys leprosa, and Emys orbicularis, the last one being recognized for the first time in this site. Leer más.
