After considering size effects, we found significant differences in body proportions between the sexes and across colour morphs, which suggests an important influence of lowland and montane habitats in shaping morphological variation. By contrast, head shape did not exhibit significant variation across sexes or colour morphs. Instead it was mainly associated to allometric variation, where the supraocular and the rear regions of the head were the areas that varied the most throughout growth and across individuals. Leer más.

We measured 7016 adult individuals captured in 41 populations, covering most of the species’ distribution in metropolitan France, including Corsica. Body size variation in our sample was wide and comparable to that found across the species’ worldwide range. Variation was similar in magnitude at regional and local levels, suggesting that body size is influenced by local factors as much as by regional factors such as climate or genetic lineage. Smaller sizes were associated with Mediterranean or altered oceanic climates, and with two lineages (E. o. galloitalica and E. o. galloitalica/E. o. orbicularis), while larger sizes were associated with northern environments and the orbicularis lineage. Leer más.

Ecologistes en Acció del País Valencià, dins la seua àrea de treball sobre biodiversitat, està elaborant una sèrie de documentals sobre biodiversitat, per tal d’educar i conscienciar la ciutadania sobre la importància de la nostra biodiversitat, les amenaces que pateix i la forma de protegir-la. Llancem el primer lliurament dedicat als rèptils del País Valencià, grup faunístic amb més de 24 representants que habiten en ambients tan diversos com els marins, els aiguamolls, els cultius, les muntanyes, les ciutats, etc. Ir al enlace.

Using a panel of 31 diagnostic nuclear SNP markers in 56 toad populations from the southern Alps and the northern and central Apennines, we document that the range of the spined toad, Bufo spinosus, extends along the Mediterranean coast from France into the northwest of Italy. This species, and the common toad B. bufo, engage in a unimodal hybrid zone, with B. spinosus at the higher and B. bufo at the lower altitudes of the Ligurian Alps. The width of 24.0 km observed in the Italian section of the long hybrid zone is narrower than documented in France (ca. 50 km). Using six mitochondrial SNP markers, we resolve several haplotype groups, with approximate distributions as ‘bufo-e2’ across the French–Italian border region, ‘bufo-e3’ in the Italian Alps, ‘bufo-e6’ in the Apennines and ‘spinosus’ with a single occurrence in Italy. Leer más.

A new species of extinct lizard, Kopidosaurus perplexus, has just been described. The first part of the name references the lizard’s distinct teeth; a ‘kopis’ is a curved blade used in ancient Greece. But the second part is a nod to the ‘perplexing’ matter of just where the extinct lizard should be placed on the tree of life. Leer más.