Russian Journal of Herpetology最新文献

{"title":"Preliminary Assessment of the Diversity and Habitat Preferences of Herpetofauna in Cholistan Desert, Pakistan","authors":"W. Ali, A. Javid, A. Hussain, S. M. Bukhari, S. Hussain","doi":"10.30906/1026-2296-2021-28-6-375-379","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30906/1026-2296-2021-28-6-375-379","url":null,"abstract":"This one-year survey was conducted from February 2017 to January 2018 to assess the herpetofaunal diversity in Cholistan desert, Bahawalnagar district, Punjab, Pakistan. Field surveys were conducted during dawn and dusk for fifteen consecutive days in alternate months and five sub sampling sites were sampled at ten field visits. Specimens were collected through hand capture, using snake sticks, forceps, drag nets, noose traps, pitfall and funnel traps. Overall, two species of toads, two species of frogs, two species of turtles, ten lizards species and ten snake species belonging to 23 genera and 14 families were recorded. Simpson index was calculated as 0.933, evenness 0.733 and Shannon – Wiener index was 2.947 indicating moderate to high level of diversity. Bufo stomaticus (Pi = 0.1253), Uromastyx hardwickii (Pi = 0.0739) were the dominant amphibian and reptilian species, respectively while Uromastyx asmussi was recorded for the first time in the study area. Hand capture and pitfall traps appeared to be the most effective methods to capture the amphibian and reptiles. The distribution ranges of amphibians and reptiles have changed and such surveys are necessary to update baseline information in the country. We recommend further systematic survey work and molecular analysis of the native species be undertaken in the future to supplement our findings.","PeriodicalId":48693,"journal":{"name":"Russian Journal of Herpetology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49400999","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Distribution Patterns and Ecological Niches of the Red-tongued Pit Viper (Gloydius ussuriensis) and the Central Asian Pit Viper (Gloydius intermedius) in Cheonmasan Mountain, South Korea","authors":"M. Do, Ki-Baek Nam","doi":"10.30906/1026-2296-2021-28-6-348-354","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30906/1026-2296-2021-28-6-348-354","url":null,"abstract":"Studies on the distribution of species are important to understanding the interspecific ecological niche and habitat selection through geographic environmental information. Particularly, vipers in the same genus have been an important topic because they show differences in the preferred geographical environment, depending on the distance of the phylogenetic relationship. This study investigated the geographical environment of red-tongued pit vipers (Gloydius ussuriensis) and Central Asian pit vipers (Gloydius intermedius) in the mountainous area, Cheonmasan Mountain County Park, South Korea, from April 2012 to October 2014, to understand the relationships among their habitat characteristics and ecological niche. Red-tongued pit vipers mainly lived in low altitude, wet valley areas with a low solar reflectance, while Central Asian pit vipers inhabited high altitude, dry land with large amounts of sunshine. As a result, our study supports that the ecological niche of red-tongued pit vipers and Central Asian pit vipers, inhibiting in Cheonmasan Mountain was overlapped low according to the majority of geographical environmental variables. The differentiated diet preference might be took into consideration as one of the potential key factors to the ecological niche differentiation among two species.","PeriodicalId":48693,"journal":{"name":"Russian Journal of Herpetology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44633788","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"David B. Wake (1936 – 2021), Salamander Specialist and Evolutionary Biologist","authors":"A. Bauer","doi":"10.30906/1026-2296-2021-28-6-380-382","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30906/1026-2296-2021-28-6-380-382","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48693,"journal":{"name":"Russian Journal of Herpetology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47248374","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Predation on Common Wall Lizards: Survival Probabilities of Melanic Individuals","authors":"J. Purger, R. Bocz","doi":"10.30906/1026-2296-2021-28-6-369-374","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30906/1026-2296-2021-28-6-369-374","url":null,"abstract":"For estimation of predation plasticine models of prey animals are often used, because the soft material preserves imprints left by predators. We assumed that melanic common wall lizards (Podarcis muralis) disappear by selective predation faster than cryptic individuals and habitat features have important role in this process. We studied the survival probabilities of cryptic and melanic colored plasticine common wall lizard models in habitats with different background coloration on selected places near the city of Pécs (south Hungary), where melanic common wall lizards had been observed earlier. Contrary to our expectations the daily survival rates of melanic plasticine common wall lizards were somewhat higher in all three locations (sandstone quarry, stone wall, coal pit) than those of the cryptic ones, but these differences were not significant. Predators were mostly mammals, which left more marks on plasticine models than birds, but we could not show a preference of the body parts of prey. We concluded that rare occurrence of melanic common wall lizards in habitats near the city of Pécs is not due to predation pressure.","PeriodicalId":48693,"journal":{"name":"Russian Journal of Herpetology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44135539","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Living in Patchy Habitats: Substrate Selection for Basking by Sympatric Lizards in Contrasted Anthropogenic Habitats in Western France","authors":"R. Meek, L. Luiselli","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-300197/v1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-300197/v1","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The influence of temperature on the physiological processes in reptiles is well known, for example growth, reproduction, muscular energy are all largely temperature dependent and therefore temperature is a key aspect of reptilian ecology. However, there may be constraints on the ability of reptiles to harness thermal energy, particularly during cold seasons in the temperate zones. Substrate selection is a key aspect in thermoregulation and can enhance heat uptake. For example, wood substrates are known to increase rates of heat gain in basking reptiles enabling earlier attainment of optimum body temperatures compared to other substrate types, which enables increased time available for other activities. In this paper we describe substrate use for basking in two species of lizard, Lacerta bilineata and Podarcis muralis in a hedgerow and suburban garden in western France compared against a null model of substrate availability. When different substrates were pooled based on their material similarities both species were recorded in greater frequency on wood based materials in comparison to their availability compared to non-wood substrates. However at a finer level, in comparison to substrate availability (fallen tree branches, tree stumps, open ground etc), P. muralis showed strong substrate selection for basking, whereas L. bilineata did not depart significantly from the null model. We speculated that intra-specific aggression in L. bilineata was a possible cause of this result due to dominant individuals limiting smaller or female lizards from accessing prime basking sites. Differences in communal basking between the two species supported this notion.","PeriodicalId":48693,"journal":{"name":"Russian Journal of Herpetology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47340464","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Scale Microstructures of Pygopodid Lizards (Gekkota: Pygopodidae): Phylogenetic Stability and Ecological Plasticity","authors":"T. Dujsebayeva, N. Ananjeva, A. Bauer","doi":"10.30906/1026-2296-2021-28-5-291-308","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30906/1026-2296-2021-28-5-291-308","url":null,"abstract":"The skin, as the interface of the body with the outside world, is directly exposed to the impacts of the environment. We have examined the microstructure of scale surfaces and the numerical distribution and morphology of skin sensory organs (SSO) in Australian limbless lizards of the family Pygopodidae. We have shown that the hairy sensory organs, as complex morphological structures, are a stable characteristic of the scale integument of pygopodids. This feature reflects their relationship to geckos and is shared homoplastically with some iguanian families (Dactyloidae, Leiosauridae, Opluridae, Chamaeleonidae). At the same time, scale micro-ornamentation as an elementary morphological structure is more plastic and, although the basic spinulate pattern is dominant, other variants occur on the scales of the serpentine body of pygopodids. We accept the spinules of MiO and the hairs of SSO as homologous structures at the cellular level since they are both derivatives of the Oberhäutchen cell surface. We propose to characterize the hair-bearing SSO of gekkotan and iguanian lizards as Oberhäutchen hairy sensory organs (ObHSO). Domination of SP MiO and presence of ObHSO in the integument of Gekkota and several families of Iguania, and sporadic occurrence of SP MiO in autarchoglossan taxa provide justification for regarding these characters as plesiomorphic. We characterize the high abundance (iterative state) of SSO in the scales of the head of pygopodids as representing the phenomenon of «overiteration», in which the phylogenetically established condition is enhanced by functional demands on the organism.","PeriodicalId":48693,"journal":{"name":"Russian Journal of Herpetology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-10-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44833964","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Tongue Morphology in Horned Lizards (Phrynosomatidae: Phrynosoma) and its Relationship to Specialized Feeding and Diet","authors":"K. Schwenk","doi":"10.30906/1026-2296-2021-28-5-309-317","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30906/1026-2296-2021-28-5-309-317","url":null,"abstract":"In lizards, the tongue is joined to the mandible by the median genioglossus medialis muscle and the larger, paired genioglossus lateralis muscles. These muscles run through a frenulum and along the sides of the tongue, forming its walls. In horned lizards, however, the genioglossus lateralis muscles fail to join the tongue for most of its length, forming separate ridges evident in the floor of the mouth lateral to the body of the tongue. This unique tongue morphology co-occurs with horned lizards’ ability to consume large numbers of potentially lethal harvester ants, a diet enabled by a feeding mechanism in which ants are rapidly immobilized with strings of mucus before immediate swallowing. Circumstantial evidence implicates the unusual morphology of the genioglossus lateralis muscles in the mucus-binding system.","PeriodicalId":48693,"journal":{"name":"Russian Journal of Herpetology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-10-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48373667","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Male and Female Cloacal Anatomy of the Fischer’s Clawed Salamander, Onychodactylus fischeri (Caudata, Hynobiidae)","authors":"V. Yartsev, S. S. Evseeva, I. Maslova, D. A. Rogashevskaya","doi":"10.30906/1026-2296-2021-28-5-275-280","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30906/1026-2296-2021-28-5-275-280","url":null,"abstract":"The cloaca of salamanders is a complex organ with exocrine glands involved in the production of sex pheromones, spermatophores, and storage of sperm. Since the cloaca provides reproductive functions, its signs are important for phylogenetic analysis in the evolutionary biology of tailed amphibians. For clarification of intrafamilial variation of cloacal characteristics in hynobiids, we studied the anatomy of male and female cloacae of Onychodactylus fischeri via histological, histochemical, and 3D-reconstruction methods. Males and females had ciliated cloacal linings and with sexual dimorphism in cloacal conformation and cloacal glands. As in other males and females of hynobiids, females of O. fischeri possessed only ventral glands, secreting neutral glycoproteins. In contrast, males of this species had three types of the cloacal glands. Glands «B» were like ventral glands of females and other hynobiids, while glands «A» and «C» had different histochemical and morphological characteristics. As our results are generally consistent with the data for the related species O. japonicus, these characteristics of the male and female cloacal anatomy may be common to all species of the genus Onychodactylus. The presence of three types of unique cloacal glands in males distinguishes Onychodactylus from all other hynobiids and salamanders.","PeriodicalId":48693,"journal":{"name":"Russian Journal of Herpetology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-10-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47432463","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"On the Jubilee of the Editor-in-Chief Prof. Natalia B. Ananjeva","authors":"T. Dujsebayeva, I. Doronin","doi":"10.30906/1026-2296-2021-28-5-237-241","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30906/1026-2296-2021-28-5-237-241","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48693,"journal":{"name":"Russian Journal of Herpetology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-10-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43994980","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Growth Layers and Its Complex Structure in a Common Species Under Uncommon Conditions: Pelophylax ridibundus in the Talysh Mountains","authors":"S. Lyapkov, T. E. Kondratova, R. A. Ivolga, E. A. Kidova, A. Kidov","doi":"10.30906/1026-2296-2021-28-5-242-248","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30906/1026-2296-2021-28-5-242-248","url":null,"abstract":"In the Talysh Mountains, the marsh frog, Pelophylax ridibundus (Pallas, 1771), increases its distribution due to human activity. In the mountain forest belt, frogs inhabit flowing ponds with cold spring water. These reservoirs are characterized by a stable temperature regime: the water in them is kept at the level of 10 – 12°C in winter and does not fall below 6°C, and in summer does not rise above 18°C. Probably, the cold flow water of ponds in the mountain-forest belt of Talysh can cause some features of growth and maturation for P. ridibundus. The aim of our work was to study the features of the structure of growth layers including the variation in degree of expression of lines of arrested growth (LAGs) of the marsh frogs in ponds with cold flow water. Frogs were collected in the upper part of the Tangeru River gorge in Sym village of Astara District of Azerbaijan (480 m a.s.l.) in August 2018. In total, we studied skeletochronologically 8 females and 9 males. In contrast to the results of the tubular bones studies in the marsh frog presented in earlier works, the studied individuals are characterized by a more complex and diverse structure in the cross section of shin bones. All the revealed diversity of this structure can be divided into three groups. To the first group are relatively rare cases in which there are growth layers with wintering LAGs and additional growth layers but without additional LAGs. The second group includes more frequent cases in which there are growth layers not only with wintering LAGs but with additional LAGs differing discretely from wintering LAGs. The third group includes the rarest cases where there are growth layers with wintering LAGs and with additional LAGs without discrete difference from wintering LAGs. The revealed high variable structure of growth layers and distinctiveness of LAGs in P. ridibundus can be explained by unusual temperature regime in habitat of studied population and the existence of several activity period during a year. The most continuous period of low temperatures (February and March) corresponds to formation hibernation LAGs and dark rings in growth layers. Besides, period from early December to late January may be so cold that frog growth retard sufficiently or stop completely. The formation of more dark parts of growth layers or even several additional LAGs can correspond to this period.","PeriodicalId":48693,"journal":{"name":"Russian Journal of Herpetology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-10-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41724877","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}