A new moderate-sized species of fringe-limb treefrog of the genus Ecnomiohyla is described from the Atlantic premontane slope of central Costa Rica. It differs primarily from other members of the genus in having the combination of cephalic and dorsal osteoderms, extensive digital webbing, a pointed prepollical bony projection in adult males, and the fleshy scalloped fringe on the hindlimb continuing across the heel. Additional material of the related but much larger species, Ecnomiohyla miliaria, is documented from localities of virtual sympatry for the two taxa. Leer más.
A new species of gecko superficially resembling Hemidactylus maculatus is described from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Hemidactylus acanthopholis sp. nov. is a large sized Hemidactylus, SVL at least 91.7mm. Leer más.
 | Francisco J Zamora-Camacho, Senda Reguera, M Virtudes Rubiño-Hispán, Gregorio Moreno-Rueda. Evolutionary Biology. June 2014. Most animals rely on their escape speed to flee from predators. Here, we test several hypotheses on the evolution of escape speed in the lizard Psammodromus algirus. We test that: (1) Longer limbs should improve speed sprint. (2) Heavier lizards should be impaired regarding their sprint speed ability, suggesting a trade-off between fat storage and escape capability. (3) Males should achieve faster speeds due to their higher exposure to pre-dators. (4) Gravid females, with increased body mass, should perform lower speed than non-gravid females. And (5) there are inter-population differences in sprint speed across an elevational gradient. We measured lizards sprint speed in a lineal raceway in the laboratory, filming races in standardized conditions and then calculating their maximal speed. Leer más.
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Jihène Ben Hassine, Daniel Escoriza. Herpetological Bulletin 06/2014; 127:22-32. Bufo spinosus belongs to a successful Bufonidae lineage widely widespread in the western Palaearctic ecozone, reaching its southwestern limits in northern Africa. However in this latter region appears in fragmented populations, mainly restricted to mountain areas, and its biology is poorly known. Here we reviewed the scattered knowledge on B. spinosus in Tunisia, including new ecological and morphological data. Leer más.
