Herpetozoa

The genus Leptobrachella is a species-rich genus of megophrid frog. Rapid discovery of many new species within this genus emphasizes the importance of regional research. In this s…

In this work, we describe the first records of head-wobble behaviour for Tachymenis peruviana and T. chilensis coronellina. We analyse this behaviour (occurrence, frequency) and a…

The Afghanistan Mountain Salamander, Paradactylodon (Afghanodon) mustersi (Smith, 1940), is an evolutionary old species, listed as Critically Endangered by IUCN Red List. The spec…

Caecilians (Gymnophiona) are commonly known as limbless amphibians and are the least understood vertebrate order. In this paper, we documented skin color, eye, jaw, snout, tentacu…

We present four cases of rare developmental anomalies in the smooth snake Coronella austriaca Laurenti, 1768 from western Poland. These include brachycephaly, lordosis, a supernum…

Lepidodactylus lugubris is known from tropical Asia, Oceania, and Latin America, but in China it was previously known only from Taiwan Island. In this paper, we report a new herpe…

Some new cases of anomalies in wild Bufotes viridis from Western Poland are presented together with a discussion of their potential causes and a comparison with similar cases from…

We describe a new subspecies of Amyda ornata (Gray, 1861) from the southeastern parts of Bangladesh (Chittagong hill tracts), adjacent regions of north-eastern India (Mizoram, Ass…

We report the first record of the Diadem Snake, Spalerosophis diadema cliffordii (Schlegel, 1837) for Lebanon, based on an adult male found in the semi-desert area of the Beqaa Va…

A new species of bent-toed geckos of the genus Cyrtodactylus is described from western Arunachal Pradesh. The new species is a member of the Indo-Burma clade and is embedded withi…

Ecosystem engineering is among the most important factors shaping ecosystems; however, it remains largely unstudied. Here, we present observations on three lizard species, the com…

The genus Lygosoma Hardwicke & Gray, 1827 is a group of semi-fossorial supple skink from Southeast Asia, the members of which are still understudied in Indochina. Lysosoma quadrup…

In the summer of 2021 we identified three new distribution localities of Darevskia praticola north of the Mureș River, and one locality south of the river. The habitats populated …

Ranaviruses are a group of double-strand DNA viruses that infect fish, amphibians and reptiles. These viruses are responsible for mass fish and amphibian mortality events worldwid…

We report the first country record of Leptobrachella eos (Ohler, Wollenberg, Grosjean, Hendrix, Vences, Ziegler & Dubois, 2011) from Thailand, based on one specimen collected from…

The lowland populations of the viviparous lizard Zootoca vivipara in the Carpathian Basin occur in cold, marshy relict habitats. In one of the largest wetlands in Hungary, Kis-Bal…

Based on a 16S rRNA gene fragment, a molecular phylogeny for the genus Odorrana Fei, Ye & Huang, 1990 was reconstructed, the validity of the poorly-known ranid species O. macrotym…

We report the first record of Limnonectes nguyenorum McLeod, Kurlbaum & Hoang, 2015 outside of Vietnam, namely from China, based on five specimens collected from Daweishan Nature …

This study presents the molecular phylogenetic relationships among Lytorhynchus diadema (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854) populations in Saudi Arabia relative to populations from …

The European green toad, Bufotes viridis (Laurenti, 1768), is a rare and protected species in Vienna. In spring and summer 2020, we conducted a survey to assess size and status of…

We describe two new species of Tropidodipsas related to the T. fasciata species group as defined by Kofron (1987), and provide morphological and molecular data to support the nove…

The taxonomic status of Kalophrynus menglienicus Yang & Su, 1980 was evaluated based on newly collected topotype specimens. Phylogenetic analysis showed that this species should b…

Oviposition site choice affects survival and growth of offspring, particularly in frogs in which the offspring cannot move from the oviposition site. We intended to find the featu…

In anurans, the different types of anti-predator behaviour have been documented in isolation, but some species have shown synergistic strategies in different situations. The displ…

This study highlights the ecology, natural history, and a new distribution record by providing a unique habitat occurrence record in karst ecosystem and describes a tail anomaly o…

Some skin secretions with adhesive properties allow frogs to distract predators and escape; their nature is poorly studied. Here, we report the sticky skin secretion released by t…

Bite force can be an important aspect of a lizard’s organismal performance, and is likely to be subject to influence by ambient conditions including an individual’s thermal enviro…

We summarised the records of Tarentola mauritanica in Albania. The first record for the country was published in 1989 from Sazan Island; however, it was never confirmed again. Ano…

Habitat selection has long been a central theme in ecology and has historically considered both physiological responses and ecological factors affecting species establishment. Inv…

We provide the first comprehensive data on the questionable distribution of the genus Pelophylax and the family Ranidae from Pakistan. Based on a literature review and two specime…

A new species of the genus Micryletta Dubois, 1987 is described from Yunnan Province, China, based on morphological and molecular analyses. The most obvious differences between th…

A second observation on the reproduction of Blythia reticulata was based on three eggs found on a forest path among leaf litter and successfully incubated. Given the limited knowl…

Among amphibians, conspecific chemical communication has been widely studied in Caudata. Adult anurans, by contrast, have received less attention. Recently, it was shown that chem…

This study provides distribution data for 12 species of reptiles in the Southern Bug eco-corridor located within the steppe zone, Mykolaiv Oblast (province), Ukraine. We compiled …

Gunung Mulu National Park (GMNP) in northwestern Borneo is marked by high species diversity and diverse environments. We present one new amphibian and ten new reptile records from…

We report the first country record of Calotes irawadi, identified previously as C. versicolor, from China based on four specimens collected from Tongbiguan Nature Reserve, Western…

Two species of rock lizards, the parthenogenetic D. dahli and the sexually reproducing D. portschinskii, coexist in a rocky outcrop in an area of ca. 1 ha, in the vicinity of Tbil…

Life at high altitudes is particularly challenging for ectothermic animals like reptiles and involves the evolution of specialised adaptations to deal with low temperatures, hypox…

A case of Oligodon ocellatus eating a toxic adult toad, Duttaphrynus melanostictus, in Cat Tien National Park, southern Vietnam, is provided. We found a kukri snake having buried …

Predation on adult microhylid frogs Kaloula pulchra by two closely-related colubrid snakes is described, based on two observations of Oligodon formosanus in Hong Kong and one obse…

Understanding population dynamics is vital in amphibian conservation. To compare demography and movements, we conducted a capture-recapture study over three spring seasons in two …

Oligodon hamptoni is a rare species of Kukri Snake known from only two specimens, both collected nearly a century ago in northern Myanmar. Here, we report the third record of this…

Terrestrial reptiles are threatened by numerous anthropogenic activities, including agriculture. Many agricultural methods and techniques affect the herpetofauna located in the ol…

Color aberrations in salamanders are caused by defective chromatophores or by disrupted synthesis of the pigments, and have been previously reported in Europe. In this paper we re…

We report the first country record of Rhacophorus verrucopus Huang, 1983 from Myanmar, based on one specimen collected from Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary, Sagaing Division. Morphol…

We record Zhangixalus franki Ninh, Nguyen, Orlov, Nguyen & Ziegler, 2020 for the first time from China based on two specimens collected from Laoshan Nature Reserve, Yunnan Provinc…

Mexico is home to 18 species of salamanders in the family Ambystomidae. Endangered Ambystoma altamirani Dugès, 1895 is a flagship species for the Lagos de Zempoala National Park (…

Different snake species may be active at various times of the day. In Europe, most snake species are predominantly diurnal, but about a third are partially or principally crepuscu…

A hitherto unknown feeding mode among snakes is described for the colubrid snake Oligodon fasciolatus in Northeast Thailand. Three cases of O. fasciolatus using enlarged posterior…

The genus Microgecko Nikolskii, 1907 (Gekkonidae) currently includes eight species distributed from western Iran to north-western India and Pakistan. During field research in Iraq…