Numerous dietary studies have shown that European vipers (genus Vipera) present low feeding frequency and a specialist diet, which is characterised by a marked ontogenetic shift. However, how eco-geographic factors shape species’ feeding ecology remains scarcely addressed. We investigated the feeding ecology of the Iberian adder, Vipera seoanei, examining 402 specimens distributed across its distributional range and addressing how biological, temporal and eco-geographic factors relate to the species feeding activity and dietary consumption. Leer más.
Population monitoring is essential to determine different aspects of the ecology and conservation of the species. In anurans, recording the acoustic activity of choruses allows surveying populations. Therefore, knowing the timing of male calls is fundamental to achieve this goal. Here we monitored calling activity of the Mediterranean tree frog (Hyla meridionalis) at eight localities in southern Iberian Peninsula and western North Africa in the frame of a citizen science program. Leer más.
The open Mediterranean landscapes in both study regions have been anthropically transformed, and the pressure on their biota has accelerated over recent decades due to habitat loss and degradation. This degradation is affecting Mediterranean organisms such as snakes. The framework we developed allows citizen-science data to be used as a tool to detect population trends and to apply IUCN criterion A (Population size reduction) to species with a high level of imperfect detection or that are suspected to be inaccurately ranked in the assessment of their vulnerability. Leer más
An international team of 114 scientists reports the most comprehensive study of aging and longevity to date of reptiles and amphibians worldwide. Among their many findings, they document for the first time that turtles, crocodilians and salamanders have particularly low aging rates and extended lifespans for their sizes. The team also finds that protective phenotypes, such as the hard shells of most turtle species, contribute to slower aging, and in some cases even ‘negligible aging’ — or lack of biological aging. Leer más.
L’objectiu principal de la present publicació és mostrar una imatge precisa actual de la distribució i de l’estat actual de conservació del tritó en el PNCM. Des de 2017 s’han fet esforços per prospectar la majoria dels torrents del Parc per tal de detectar la presència amb localització exacta i representant la distribució del tritó pirinenc amb quadrícules d’1×1 km. Leer más.
