For 24 years, we studied the interaction of the endemic Balearic lizard Podarcis lilfordi) and the dead horse arum (Helicodiceros muscivorus) on Aire Island, a small coastal islet of the Balearic Archipelago (Spain). From a small initial plant population, the frugivorous activity of lizards apparently resulted in an extraordinary increase in plant abundance over the entirety of Aire Island. The intensity of seed dispersal by lizards was higher in years with lower rainfall and, consequently, with lower availability of other food resources. Thus, the fruits of the dead horse arum were an alternative food strongly exploited during years of food shortage. Leer más.

Un estudio elaborado por la Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC) ha revelado que la mayoría de las especies de anfibios no se reproducen mediante «el típico y ancestral método», con un ciclo de vida con larvas acuáticas que metamorfosean a adultos terrestres, sino mediante modos alternativos. Leer más. Artículo original.

S’analitzen els factors que determinen la coexistència de la tortuga de rierol (Mauremys leprosa), espècie autòctona de la península Ibèrica i que es troba en perill d’extinció, i la tortuga d’orelles vermelles (Trachemys scripta elegans), una de les espècies invasores més perilloses, en els aiguamolls del Delta del riu Llobregat.  Leer más.

The new species from the Farasan Islands represents the second vertebrate species endemic to the archipelago. Together with the descriptions of the diagnostic features of both species, we provide complete annotated mitochondrial genomes of both holotypes and of holotypes of two other species from the clade to characterize their mitogenomic composition and architecture. Leer más. Ir a Novataxa.

The Malagasy genus Gephyromantis contains 51 species of primarily terrestrial or scansorial frogs. Although many species are morphologically weakly divergent from each other, the combination of molecular and bioacoustic evidence has led to a continuous flow of species discoveries in the last years.  Leer más.