Extreme forest modifications detrimentally affected the conservation and ecological value of both amphibian and reptile communities, and altered the evolutionary processes shaping these communities, while forests with lower impact disturbances might, to some extent, serve as reservoirs of species. Leer más.
Researchers at Harvard University’s Museum of Comparative Zoology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology examined the Plethodontidae, a dominant family of salamanders that are all lungless as adults, and discovered that they do develop lungs as embryos, providing insight into the evolution of lung loss over millions of years. Their findings were recently published in the journal Science Advances. Leer màs.
El passat cap de setmana va tindre lloc la segona edició del curs d’herpetologia de l’Associació Herpetològica Timon en Noguera de Albarracín (Terol, Aragó). Leer más.
Auditory function is an important sensory ability that contributes to the survival and reproduction of vertebrates. Studies have shown that turtles can hear and that sex-related differences exist in the auditory function of Trachemys scripta elegans. However, the associated gene expression characteristics are unknown. Therefore, we performed comparative transcriptomics to identify hub genes related to hearing organs involved in development and signal transduction. Leer más.
The genus Atractus includes 146 species of cryptozoic snakes occurring from Panama to northeastern Argentina. Here, a molecular phylogeny of this genus is presented, which encompasses 29% (= 42; six are included here for the first time) of the species currently recognized. Morphological and phylogenetic support is found for three new species of ground snakes, which are described here based on their unique combination of molecular, meristic, and color pattern characteristics. Leer más.
