0000000000314667
AUTHOR
Matteo Riccardo Di Nicola
Feeding habits of the Short-toed Eagle Circaetus gallicus during the breeding period in Central Italy
Short-toed Eagle Circaetus gallicus is the only snake eagle that nests in the Palearctic. Its diet has been studied in several European countries and it is essentially based on reptiles. The aims of this work were to characterise the feeding habits of Short-toed Eagle breeding in the Tolfa Mountains (Central Italy) including a comparison of the diet with that of other populations. Moreover, we assessed changes in the diet of the former population using published data collected more than 35 years ago. We monitored five nests and three roosts between 2020 and 2021. Using camera traps and the collection and analysis of feeding remains, a total of 247 prey items were identified. The diet of the…
The genetic identity of the only Italian population of the genus Macroprotodon Guichenot, 1850 on the island of Lampedusa, Sicily
The only Italian population of false smooth snakes is found on Lampedusa, a small island located in the Sicilian Channel and part of the African continental shelf. The taxonomic identity of this population is currently uncertain, although it is most often attributed to Macroprotodon cucullatus textilis on a morphological basis. We present here the first genetic data on this population. The analysis carried out on the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene shows that the Lampedusan false smooth snake belongs to a clade shared with a single sample from central Tunisia. The genetic distance between this lineage and its sister group (M. abubakeri) is comparable to or higher than that found among many …
An updated dichotomous key to the snakes of Europe
This work presents an updated dichotomous key to all snake species of Europe, based on morphological, morphometric and distributional characters. It gathers data from both the last dichotomous keys concerning European snake species and every following paper giving updates on taxonomic classification or the occurrence of new allochthonous species. The key includes 58 snake taxa, including 57species and one still unnamed taxon, distributed on the European territory, and photographic material for each species. The aim of this paper is to make the identification of all European snake species through a single manuscript more accessible, not only for researchers, but also for citizen science, thu…
Ophiophagy in Coronella austriaca: first case of predation on Hierophis viridiflavus and first direct observations of predation on Vipera aspis
We describe some cases of ophiophagy behaviour in Coronella austriaca
First record of hypopigmentary anomaly in the Moorish gecko Tarentola mauritanica with an overview of the cases reported for wild geckos
We report the first record of hypopigmentary anomaly in the Moorish gecko
First records of defensive tail vibration in the Italian Aesculapian Snake, Zamenis lineatus (Camerano, 1891)
We report for the first time defensive tail vibration in the Italian Aesculapian Snake, Zamenis lineatus (Camerano, 1891)
DISTRIBUTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MELANISM IN GRASS SNAKES FROM ITALY
In snakes, melanism can improve thermoregulation efficiency, reproductive success and provide additional protection to internal organs from solar radiation. For these reasons, such conditions could be beneficial for animals living in both cold and warm environments. For widely distributed species of grass snake (genus Natrix), several single encounters of melanic individuals are reported in the literature. In the period 2015-2021 a significant number of unpublished observations of melanic Natrix helvetica and N. natrix were collected on the Italian territory and integrated with bibliographic data. The present work illustrates the chromatic variation within melanic individuals and investigat…
Vipera aspis hugyi (Southern Italian Asp) Coloration
We report the first observation of concolor coloration in Vipera aspis hugyi
First documented cases of defensive biting behaviour towards humans by the Italian Barred Grass Snake, Natrix helvetica sicula (Cuvier, 1829)
We report the first documented cases of defensive biting behaviour towards humans by the Italian Barred Grass Snake,
Coronella austriaca (Smooth snake) and Zamenis longissimus (Aesculapian Snake) Defensive Behavior
We report for the first time caudal vibrating defensive behavior in Coronella austriaca e Zamenis longissimus