Just a few days ago we were telling you how fungal diseases — already so menacing for frogs, bats, and salamander — are starting to threaten snakes as well. At this point, it’s unclear if a single pathogen is responsible or if it is a series of ailments rather than one, but the most likely culprit seems to be a pathogen called Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola, which causes skin lesions, scabs, and crusty scales and can cause fatal infections in some cases. Leer más.
Anurans in Peninsular India exhibit close biogeographical links with Gondwana as well as Laurasia, often explainable by the geological history of the Indian subcontinent; its breakup from Gondwanan landmasses followed by long isolation that resulted in diversification of endemic lineages, and subsequent land connections with Asia that enabled dispersal of widespread groups. Although widely distributed, the frog subfamily Microhylinae mostly comprises of geographically restricted genera found either in Southeast and East Asia or Peninsular India and Sri Lanka. Leer más.
The majority of amphibian species rely on insects and other invertebrates as their main food source. A decline in the number of insect species available may have devastating impacts on amphibian species worldwide. With 43% of amphibian species experiencing population declines and 32% globally threatened with extinction (AmbhibiaWeb, 2019; Stuart et al., 2004), additional stresses could trigger further declines. Although the effects on amphibian species may vary by location and habitat, species which are specialists on the insects that are in highest decline are most likely to be worst affected. Leer más.
En un esfuerzo por erradicar esta ecotragedia, el Servicio Federal de Pesca y Fauna Silvestre de los Estados Unidos (USFWS) publicó un decreto en enero de 2016 que prohibió que se importaran 201 especies de salamandras a los Estados Unidos en concordancia con la Ley Lacey. Pero ahora algunos científicos, dada la información nueva sobre la propagación del Bsal y sus portadores potenciales, afirman que esta prohibición no es suficiente. Leer más.
An integrative taxonomic analysis using color pattern, morphology, and 1449 base pairs of the ND2 mitochondrial gene and its five flanking tRNAs demonstrated that eight species-level lineages occur within the Cyrtodactylus intermedius complex (Cyrtodactylus intermedius sensu stricto, C. phuquocensis and related populations) of the Cardamom mountains and associated highlands that have a sequence divergence ranging 3.4–8.9%. Additionally, each lineage is discretely diagnosable from one another based on morphology and color pattern and most occur in specific geographic regions (upland areas, karst formations or islands) that prevent or greatly restrict interpopulation gene flow. Six of these lineages were masquerading under the nomen C. intermedius and are described as the following: Cyrtodactylus auralensis sp. nov. endemic to Phnom Aural, the highest mountain in Cambodia; C. bokorensis sp. nov. endemic to the Bokor Plateau, Cambodia; C. cardamomensis sp. nov. from the main block of the Cardamom mountains; C. thylacodactylus sp. nov. endemic to Phnom Dalai the northernmost peak of the Cardamom mountains; C. laangensis sp. nov. endemic to the Phnom Laang karst formation, Cambodia; and C. septimontium sp. nov. from the Bảy Núi Hills of southwest Vietnam. Leer más.
