Is Longevity Related to Body Size or Behavior in a Hatchling Turtle?

David A. Pike and Richard A. Seigel

Adequate knowledge of life history patterns is crucial when evaluating conservation options of declining species. Data often exist for adult animals, which are usually more visible in the environment and thus easier to study. However, hatchling and juvenile animals are critical to maintaining recruitment into a population, and data on these life stages are often lacking. We investigated the manner by which body size and behavior of hatchlings affect longevity (days) in a terrestrial turtle, Gopherus polyphemus, living in a protected habitat in Florida, USA. Survival was not related to body size, activity, or movement patterns and the occurrence of hatchlings killed by predators seemed random. Body size was consistent within, but not among clutches. However, variation in behavior and longevity was consistent among, but not within clutches. Thus, it appears that individual female tortoises are producing offspring of consistent size, with different behavioral traits that also differ in longevity (during the first year of life). These findings demonstrate the importance of individual female gopher tortoises to the stability and growth potential of a population because all females seem capable of producing offspring varying in longevity over short time-scales (<1 year). However, because all hatchlings in this study were depredated during their first year of life, the relationship between patterns of longevity in juvenile animals and population dynamics in long-lived species deserves further attention.

Keywords: natural selection, Gopherus polyphemus, predation, survival, tortoise.

New Records of Reptiles (Reptilia, Squamata) at Azov Seashore of Taman' Peninsula (Krasnodar Kray, Russia)

V. G. Starkov and V. F. Orlova

For the first time at Azov seashore of Taman' peninsula (settlement Golubitskaya and west of Peresyp' village) there were found populations of meadow lizard Darevskia praticola pontica (Lantz et Cyren, 1919). The lizards live in the lower parts of a high shore slope with a phryganoid vegetation. The density of their population can reach 1 individual per square meter (1 individual per 1 m²), and in the places of their concentration — 5 and more individuals per 1 m². In second place, in the upper parts of the shore slope near village Peresyp' the glass lizard, Pseudopus apodus (Pallas, 1775) was also found. New records of these species are separated for 30 km to the east and 70 km to the south correspondingly from previously known localities. The runner, Elaphe sauromates Pallas, 1814, which has not been found earlier in the Eastern Azov area, is not rare in the Akhtanizov estuary region.

Keywords: Reptilia, distribution, Taman' Peninsula, Krasnodar kray, Darevskia praticola, Pseudopus apodus, Elaphe sauromates.

The Morphology and Distribution of Ablepharus bivittatus (Ménétriés, 1832) (Reptilia: Sauria: Scincidae) in Turkey

Çetin Ilgaz, Yusuf Kumlutas, Kurtulus Olgun, and Ibrahim Baran

A total of 34 Ablepharus bivittatus specimens collected from two different localities in Van, Turkey (75 km SE of Van — first locality of Ablepharus bivittatus in Turkey and 10 km NE of Caldiran) were examined in terms of pholidosis characters, morphometric measurements and color-pattern features. Two populations were differentiated from one another in terms of the number of the scales composing the rings around the eyes (left) (ESa) according to the results of the Mann–Whitney U-test. One-way analyses variance (ANOVA) based on morphometric measurements revealed significant differences in terms of the distance of fore and hindlimb index (GA1), head index (HI), head length index (HL1), forelimb index (LP1a) and hindlimb index (LP2a) between the 2 populations. Regarding morphological features, especially morphometric measurements, Turkish specimens are differentiated from Ablepharus bivittatus specimens from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran. Furthermore, Ablepharus bivittatus specimens were recorded for the first from a new locality (10 km NE of Caldiran) and the known range of species was extended in Turkey.

Keywords: Ablepharus bivittatus, new locality, distribution, Van, Turkey.

Description of a New Species of the Genus Cyrtodactylus GRAY, 1827 (Squamata: Sauria: Gekkonidae) from the Karst of North Central Vietnam

Hoang Xuan Quang, Nikolai L. Orlov, Natalia B. Ananjeva, Andrew Grieser Johns, Hoang Ngoc Thao, and Dau Quang Vinh

This paper describes a new species of the genus Cyrtodactylus. Cyrtodactylus chauquangensis sp. nov. occurs in the karst of Quy Hop District, Nghe An Province (North Central Vietnam). It can be distinguished from all other Cyrtodactylus species occurring in Vietnam by a combination of characters: the number of pre-anal pores, the presence or absence of femoral pores or larger femoral scales, scales across the abdomen in the middle of the body, interorbital scales, snout-vent length, proportions of the body and color pattern.

Keywords: Gekkonidae, Cyrtodactylus sp. nov., Indochina, North Central Vietnam.

Further Studies on the Lizard Cranial Osteology, Based on a Comparative Study of the Skull in Trachylepis aurata transcaucasica and Laudakia nupta (Squamata: Sauria)

Hiwa Faizi and N. Rastegar-Pouyani

In the present paper, the skull roof, palate, braincase, lower jaw and dentition of the skull of the adult Trachylepis aurata transcaucasica have been described and compared with those of the skull in Laudakia nupta. Patterns of diversity between lizard skulls in two species studied from morphological and functional perspective. We provide a detailed description of the cranial osteology, lower jaw and dentition of two species in two different families: Trachylepis aurata transcaucasica (Scincidae) and Laudakia nupta (Agamidae), based on 10 dry skulls. We showed detailed descriptions of all bones as well as the overall architecture of the skull. Individual variation within each of these two species are discussed and compared. The greatest intraspecific variation are thickness of the individual bones, degree of elongation or expansion of processes, form and type of dentition in the lower jaw, the position of temporal fenestra, differences in basioccipital, and especially in palatal and associated structures. Furthermore, a brief comparison in skull architecture and dentition between Laudakia nupta and some of its congeners are provided.

Keywords: Skull, Osteology, Braincase, Palatal, Dentition, Laudakia nupta, Trachylepis aurata transcaucasica.

Antimicrobial Activity in the Skin Secretion of Hyla arborea (Linnaeus, 1758)

Basaran Dulger, C. Varol Tok, Serhat Kaya, and Murat Sevinc

In this study, antimicrobial activity of various extracts prepared from Hyla arborea skin secretion have been investigated for their antimicrobial activity. Antimicrobial activity was determined with Escherichia coli ATCC 11230, Staphylococcus aureus 6538-P, Klebsiella pneumoniae UC57, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27583, Proteus vulgaris ATCC 8427, Bacillus cereus ATCC 7064, Mycobacterium smegmatis CCM 2067, Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 15313, Micrococcus luteus CCM 169, Candida albicans ATCC 10231, Rhodotorula rubra DSM 70403, and Kluyveromyces fragilis ATCC 8608 by the disk diffusion method. The extracts of all plant species had strong antimicrobial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, but no activity was seen against the yeast cultures used in this study. According to our results, the extracts prepared from Hyla arborea skin secretion have high antimicrobial activity against the tested bacteria.

Keywords: Hyla arborea, Amphibia, Antimicrobial activity, Skin secretion.

A Case of Natural Triploidy in European Diploid Green Toad (Bufo viridis), with Some Distributional Records of Diploid and Tetraploid Toads

Leo J. Borkin, Dmitry A. Shabanov, Oleg V. Brandler, Oleg V. Kukushkin, Spartak N. Litvinchuk, Gleb A. Mazepa, and Jury M. Rosanov

A triploid female (3n = 33) was found in diploid species Bufo viridis from the Crimea Peninsula, Ukraine. The case is recognized as an occasional autotriploidy. No morphological differences were found between this triploid female and other diploid specimens of the sample. Three categories of triploids in the Bufo viridis group are classified. Based on six green toad samples identified by chromosome number, the distribution of diploid and polyploid toads in Kazakhstan is discussed.

Keywords: Amphibia, Anura, Bufo viridis group, polyploidy, karyotype, genome size, the Crimea Peninsula, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan.

Observations on the Breeding Behavior of Philautus regius Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda, 2005 (Amphibia: Ranidae: Rhacophorinae) in Nilgala, Monaragala District in Sri Lanka

D. M. S. Suranjan Karunarathna and A. A. Thasun Amarasinghe

Breeding behavior of the recently described Philautus regius Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda, 2005 in Nilgala forest vicinity is the firstly described observation on the breeding of Philautus regius documented in the nature. According to our observation this is the first record of a Philautus species digging two holes, similar to those by nesting marine turtles.

Keywords: Amphibians, Ranidae, Philautus, Breeding behavior, Conservation, Sri Lanka.

A New Species of Angular-Toed Gecko of the Genus Cyrtopodion (Squamata: Sauria: Gekkonidae) from South-East Iran (Sistan-Baluchistan Province)

Roman A. Nazarov and Mehdi Rajabizadeh

A new angular-toed gecko was found in South-East Iran. Cyrtopodion sistanensis sp. nov. is referred to C. watsoni (Murray 1892), C. scaber (Heyden, 1827), C. potoharensis Khan, 2001 group but differs from these species by morphometric and pholidosis characters as well as color patterns.

Keywords: a new species, angular-toed gecko, Cyrtopodion genus, Gekkonidae, South-East Iran.

A New Species of the Genus Cyrtodactylus Gray, 1827 and Redescription of Cyrtodactylus paradoxus (Darevsky et Szczerbak, 1997) [Squamata: Sauria: Gekkonidae] from South Vietnam

Nikolai L. Orlov, Nguyen Quang Truong, Roman A. Nazarov, Natalia B. Ananjeva, and Nguyen Ngoc Sang

This paper describes a new species of the genus Cyrtodactylus. Cyrtodactylus caovansungi sp. nov. occuring in the Ninh Thuan Province (South Vietnam). It can be distinguished from all other Cyrtodactylus species distributed in Vietnam by a male with well developed nine V-shaped preanal pores. There are 8 enlarged femoral scales on each side; however femoral pores are present only on three of them, located closer to the knee bend. Roundish-triangular dorsal tubercles with well keels are placed at 16 – 18 not regular longitudinal rows.

Keywords: naked-toes geckos, Cyrtodactylus sp. nov., taxonomy, new species, redescription, Cyrtodactylus paradoxus, Vietnam, Ninh Thuan and Kien Giang provinces.

A New Species of Pseudocophotis (Agamidae: Acrodonta: Lacertilia: Reptilia) from Central Vietnam

Natalia B. Ananjeva, Nikolai L. Orlov, Nguyen Quang Truong, and Roman A. Nazarov

A new agamid lizard, Pseudocophotis sp. nov. from central mountain region of Vietnam (Kon Tum Province) if described. The new species strongly differs from another agamid species of Eastern Himalaya–China–Indochina region by combination of pholidosis, morphometric characters and coloration.

Keywords: Arboreal Agamidae, Draconinae, Pseudocophotis, Pseudocalotes, Japalura, central Vietnam, a new species.