We report the first cases of mortality in anurans associated with the presence of the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis at four different localities from Catalonia (NE Iberian Peninsula, Spain). All cases were confirmed by both molecular techniques and histology. The infected individuals were two Mediterranean painted frogs (Discoglossus pictus) from Girona province found in 2018 and 2020, one Iberian waterfrog (Pelophylax perezi) from Tarragona province found in 2018, and one European common frog (Rana temporaria) from Barcelona province found in 2019. This is the first time that mortality associated with this pathogen has been confirmed in D. pictus and P. perezi. Leer más.

Giant, long-necked sauropods, thought to include the largest land animals ever to have existed, preferred to live in warmer, more tropical regions on Earth, suggesting they may have had a different physiology from other dinosaurs, according to a new study led by researchers at UCL and the University of Vigo. The study, published in the journal Current Biology, investigated the enigma of why sauropod fossils are only found at lower latitudes, while fossils of other main dinosaur types seem ubiquitously present, with many located in the polar regions. Leer más.

Siguiendo con la serie de 2 artículos sobre los hérpetos de Marruecos y España principalmente, o mejor dicho de reptiles y anfibios ibero-africanos, en el que ya desarrollamos las especies de anfibios en nuestro primer artículo, vamos hoy con un amplio y entretenido artículo sobre las especies de reptiles relacionadas entre la Península Ibérica y el norte de África. Leer más

We map the yearly expansion rate of the snake and estimate via transect surveys how severely it affects the distribution and abundance of the endemic lizard. As well, we surveyed 9 of 30 small lizard populations on islets surrounding Ibiza that have been isolated since the Last Glacial Maximum. Snakes had invaded 49% of Ibiza’s land area by 2018, and censuses show a critical contrast in lizard abundance between areas with and without snakes; almost all censuses in areas without snakes show lizard presence whereas nearly all censuses in areas with H. hippocrepis lack lizard sightings.  Leer más.

Invasive snakes represent a serious threat to island biodiversity, being responsible for far-reaching impacts that are noticeably understudied, particularly regarding native reptiles. We analysed the impact of the invasive California kingsnake, Lampropeltis californiae—recently introduced in the Canary Islands—on the abundance of all endemic herpetofauna of the island of Gran Canaria.  Leer más.