Search results for "Reptile"

A catalogue of the vertebrate fossil record from the Guadix-Baza Basin (SE Spain)

2020

In this paper, a catalogue of the vertebrate content of the Guadix-Baza Basin is presented. A total of 93 localities have been reviewed, providing more than 300 vertebrate species. These localities have been included in 11 biochronological units, ranging in age from the late Miocene (MN 13) to the Middle Pleistocene (MmQ 4), including also two MN 10 localities. The best-represented epoch in the Guadix-Baza Basin is the Pliocene (MN 14 to MN 16), with 41 sites. This is followed by the Early Pleistocene (MN17 and MmQ1 to MmQ3) with 30 sites. The vertebrate classes represented in the basin are Actinopterygii, Amphibia, Aves, Reptilia and Mammalia, this last one being the best represented. Amon…

New insights into the gut microbiome in loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta stranded on the Mediterranean coast

2019

Caretta caretta is the most common sea turtle species in the Mediterranean Sea. The species is threatened by anthropomorphic activity that causes thousands of deaths and hundreds of strandings along the Mediterranean coast. Stranded turtles are often cared for in rehabilitation centres until they recover or die. The objective of this study was to characterize the gut microbiome of nine sea turtles stranded along the Sicilian coast of the Mediterranean Sea using high-throughput sequencing analysis targeting V3–V4 regions of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. Stool samples were collected from eight specimens hosted in the recovery centre after a few days of hospitalization (under 7) and from one ho…

Étude des traces de pas de vertébrés du Permien et du Trias d'Ardèche. Enjeux et perspectives.

2022

Le département de l'Ardèche estremarquable car il offre un accès privilégié auxroches sédimentaires permiennes et triasiques danslesquelles abondent les traces de vertébrés fossiles.Une vingtaine de localités et plus de 1500empreintes de pas ont déjà été recensées le longd'une succession sédimentaire affleurant entrePrivas et Les Vans. Ce patrimoine ichnologique,reconnu internationalement, documente le passagede grands groupes de reptiles en terres ardéchoises,incluant essentiellement des représentants basauxde la lignée des crocodiles (pseudosuchiens) et de lalignée des oiseaux (dinosauriformes et dinosaures),ainsi que quelques membres de la lignée des lézards/serpents (lépidosauromorphes)…

Evaluating the potential for evolutionary mismatch in Batesian mimics: A case study in the endangered smooth snake (Coronella austriaca)

2018

Many harmless organisms gain a survival advantage by mimicking venomous species. This is the case of the endangered smooth snake (Coronella austriaca), which mimics venomous vipers. Although this may protect the smooth snake against most of its natural predators, it may render them at greater risk of mortality from humans, who are more inclined to kill species, such as vipers, that they consider dangerous. This may cause an evolutionary mismatch, whereby humans may counteract the natural advantage of mimicry. We explore this possibility of evaluating the willingness of humans to kill smooth snakes versus the adder (Vipera berus), as well as their ability to discern them in the Åland Islands…

Eggshell types and their evolutionary correlation with life-history strategies in squamates

2015

The eggshell is an important physiological structure for the embryo. It enables gas exchange, physical protection and is a calcium reserve. Most squamates (lizards, snakes, worm lizards) lay parchment-shelled eggs, whereas only some gekkotan species, a subgroup of lizards, have strongly calcified eggshells. In viviparous (live-bearing) squamates the eggshell is reduced or completely missing (hereafter “shell-less”). Recent studies showed that life-history strategies of gekkotan species differ between species with parchment- and rigid-shelled eggshells. Here we test if the three different eggshell types found in the squamates are also associated with different life-history strategies. We fir…

Food Habits of the Javelin Sand Boa Eryx jaculus (Linnaeus 1758; Serpentes, Erycidae) in Sicily, Italy

2021

The Javelin Sand Boa, Eryx jaculus, is reported to be a predator of mammals, lizards and their eggs, and occasionally of birds and invertebrates, but data on its diet are scarce and fragmentary. Here we describe some aspects of the feeding behavior of E. jaculus on the Mediterranean island of Sicily. A total of 132 individual snakes were examined. Prey remains were found in 43% of them, both in their feces (82.5%) and gut contents (17.5%). The number of snakes observed and their feeding rate decreased in August, probably as a result of the relatively higher temperatures. Feeding rate increases were observed in adult females in September, perhaps to enhance body reserves before hibernation. …

Feeding habits of the Short-toed Eagle Circaetus gallicus during the breeding period in Central Italy

2022

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 evolutionary course of vertebrate foot, from fish to man

2009

Neurogenesis and Neuronal Regeneration in the Adult Reptilian Brain

2002

Evidence accumulated over the last few decades demonstrates that all reptiles examined thus far continue to add neurons at a high rate and in many regions of the adult brain. This so-called adult neurogenesis has been described in the olfactory bulbs, rostral forebrain, all cortical areas, anterior dorsal ventricular ridge, septum, striatum, nucleus sphericus, and cerebellum. The rate of neuronal production varies greatly among these brain areas. Moreover, striking differences in the rate and distribution of adult neurogenesis have been noted among species. In addition to producing new neurons in the adult brain, lizards, and possibly other reptiles as well, are capable of regenerating larg…

The marine diapsid reptile Endennasaurus from the Upper Triassic of Italy

2005

The marine reptile Endennasaurus from the Upper Triassic Zorzino Limestone of northern Italy is rede- scribed and reassessed. New details of the skull and postcra- nial skeleton are revealed, confirming the attribution of this genus to the diapsid reptile clade Thalattosauriformes. Phylo- genetic analysis suggests that Endennasaurus was related to the European genus Askeptosaurus and the Chinese Anshun- saurus. Despite a rather conservative postcranial morphology, Endennasaurus clearly occupied a highly specialized dietary niche as it combined a slender tapering premaxillary rostrum with a complete absence of either marginal or palatal teeth.