Fauna di Sicilia. Anfibi

Nuovi dati sulla presenza di Eryx jaculus (Linnaeus, 1758) in Sicilia

The javelin sand boa {Eryx jaculus) is a snake belonging to the Erycidae family, distributed in North Africa, southern Balkans and the Middle East. Recently its presence was confirmed in Italy, in a small area along the coast of south-central Sicily, in the territories of Licata (province of Agrigento). This paper reports the current distribution area, of about 52 km2, obtained by the Minimum Convex Polygon method, using recent bibliographical ob-servations and three new observations carried out between 15 August 2014 and 30 Aprii 2016. The new findings are located east of the known Sicilian distribution area and indicate for the first time the presence of the javelin sand boa in the provin…

Emys orbicularis (Linnaeus, 1758) (Testuggine palustre europea), E. trinacris Fritz et al., 2005 (Testuggine palustre siciliana).

Population size and breeding performance of the Lanner Falcon Falco biarmicus in Sicily: conservation implications

Capsule: We report a significant reduction in population size and breeding success for the Lanner Falcon Falco biarmicus in Sicily, its biggest stronghold in Europe, since the latest coordinated survey. Aims: To provide updated information on current population size of Lanner Falcon in Sicily and to compare breeding parameters with those obtained in previous studies. Methods: We performed an intensive coordinated field survey and literature review of breeding success parameters across the species range. Results: Overall, we monitored 126 territories throughout Sicily where the species had been reported in the last 15 years. Lanner Falcons were present only in 60 of them. Mean nest productiv…

Positive demographic effects of nest surveillance campaigns to counter illegal harvest of the Bonelli's eagle in Sicily (Italy)

Illegal trade in wildlife has been identified as one of the main challenges to wildlife conservation. In 2010, an illegal trade-ring trafficking in birds of prey was uncovered in Sicily (southern Italy). This illegal trade targeted the three most endangered species in Italy: Bonelli's eagle Aquila fasciata, Lanner falcon Falco biarmicus and Egyptian vulture Neophron percnopterus, all of them long-lived territorial raptors threatened with extinction across their European distribution. Illegal harvest primarily involved young birds and eggs taken from nests. After the discovery of these activities, surveillance camps and camera traps connected to the mobile Global System for Mobile communicat…

Discoglossus pictus Otth, 1837 (Discoglosso dipinto).

Long-term changes in the breeding period diet of Bonelli

Context Dietary analyses are essential to achieve a better understanding of animal ecology. In the case of endangered species, assessing dietary requirements is crucial to improve their management and conservation. The Bonelli’s eagle (Aquila fasciata) has experienced a severe decline throughout its breeding range in Europe and, in Italy, fewer than 50 pairs remain, and only in Sicily. This species is subject to major threats, including changes in landscape composition and, consequently, prey availability, which is further aggravated by the occurrence of viral diseases in the case of rabbits. Aims To provide current data on the diet of the Bonelli’s eagle in Sicily during the breeding peri…

ANNUAL ACTIVITY CYCLE OF THE JAVELIN SAND BOA ERYX JACULUS (LINNAEUS, 1758) IN SICILY

The Javelin sand Boa Eryx jaculus is a snake little known from an eco-ethological point of view. Here, some aspects of its phenology are described for the first time. 229 observations were collected in Sicily, with the aim of describing the annual activity of this population. The activity of adult males and juveniles presents a similar trend, with a sharp peak between May and July. Juveniles sharply declined in the following months. Adult females have three peaks of activity of similar amplitude. The activity cycle of the Javelin sand Boa could be modulated by some aspects of his trophic behaviour. In fact, juveniles and adult males prefer prey types highly available only during their maxim…

Identification and potential origin of invasive clawed frogsXenopus(Anura: Pipidae) in Sicily based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA

African clawed frogs of the widespread polytypic species Xenopus laevis Daudin, 1802 (ranging large parts of sub-Saharan Africa) have been spreading since the 1940s, and have established reproductive populations in Europe, Asia and the Americas, where they can have negative impact as competitors of native amphibians and as disease vectors for chytridomycosis or ranaviruses. Here we use two mitochondrial (cytochrome b, 16S rDNA) and one nuclear (RAG 1: Recombination Associated Gene 1) DNA markers to infer the potential origin of invasive clawed frogs from Sicily that represent the largest invasive population in Europe. Identical mtDNA haplotypes match with those of Xenopus laevis, and Sicili…

Biometric characterisation and taxonomic considerations of european rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus (Linnaeus 1758) in Sicily (Italy)

In Sicilian Mediterranean ecosystems the European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus is a keystone species, very important for popular small game species and for ecological reasons. However, its spread across the island seems to have decreased and fragmented in recent times, but until now no accurate population management has been carried out due to the lack of ethological, ecological and taxonomic knowledge. A biometric analysis of European rabbit specimens from Sicily to widen current taxonomic knowledge was performed. In this paper, 7 body variables and 23 cranial variables of 166 and 120 individuals, respectively, were examined. Thereafter, the results were compared with biometric data from o…