Understanding growth of the Japanese pond turtle Mauremys japonica in relation to their habitats is crucial in the strategic planning of conservation measures for the species. However, the pertinent baseline data are inadequate. Hence, I sought to investigate geographic variation in the growth rates of M. japonica in the flatland and foothill regions of Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Turtles were captured and recaptured in both regions from 2014 to 2018, and their growth patterns were analyzed using the von Bertalanffy growth curve. The results show that female turtles in the flatlands grew more rapidly than did those in the foothill site. Male turtles showed the same results, but the overall body size of those in the flatlands was larger than those in the mountains. These findings indicate that the flatland region is an essential habitat for the turtles, and that this study may contribute to the conservation of the species, which is already at risk of local extirpation due to multiple anthropogenic threats in the area.

The omnivorous, red-eared slider (RES) turtle, Trachemys scripta elegans (Emydidae), is an alien species introduced to Japan from North America. Young RES mainly eat animal matter, but shift to a diet that includes plants as they grow. In recent years, feeding damage by RES to crops, other cultivated plants and endangered plants has been reported in Japan. Few case studies, however, have focused on the feeding damage by this species to Japanese wild plants. Our study therefore aimed to quantify the feeding damage to Japanese wild plants by RES by comparing data on plants available in their habitat to the stomach contents of the turtles. From April to December, 2018, and April to November, 2019, we captured RES at three ponds in Okayama Prefecture, Japan, during two days each month. A total of 39 individual turtles (14 males and 25 females) were captured using basket traps in the ponds. A total of 35 families, 60 genera and 74 species of vascular plants and algae were found in the ponds. The stomach contents of adult RES from the three ponds contained more plant matter, including algae (71%), than animal matter (29%), confirming previous reports. The stomach contents also included Japanese native plants (Tamasu pond: 63%, Narazu pond: 40%, Sayama pond: 57%, with the total contents of all three ponds being 56%). The findings indicate that Japanese native plant species are included in the diet of the RES.

We report the presence of nucho-dorsal glands in Rhabdophis guangdongensis. This recently described species is the 18th member of the genus known to possess integumentary defensive glands. Nine to ten pairs of nuchal glands, separated by a diastema from 116–118 pairs of dorsal glands were observed in two specimens. Because the species was previously known only from the female holotype, we also report data on the size and scalation of five additional specimens and on the morphology of the hemipenis.

A Japanese microhylid, Microhyla okinavensis, originally described from Okinawajima Island, middle Ryukyus, was long synonymized with M. ornata from India. However, molecular phylogenetic studies revealed its distinct species status from M. ornata, and more recent phylogenetic study revealed the population from the Yaeyama Group of the southern Ryukyus to be a sister taxon to Chinese M. mixtura and not to populations from the remaining group of the Ryukyus, that are sister to another Chinese species, M. beilunensis. The Yaeyama and the remaining Ryukyu populations greatly differ phylogenetically, although less clearly morphologically. From these data, we consider the Yaeyama population as a species distinct from M. okinavensis from the middle Ryukyus.

The green anole (Anolis carolinensis) is on the list of the designated invasive alien species in Japan because of its negative effects on indigenous entomofauna. Therefore, control operations of the lizard are being carried out in some areas on the Ogasawara Islands. The primary population-control measure is the use of adhesive traps on tree trunks. Identification of the characteristics of the tree trunk type that this lizard uses frequently will contribute to effective setting of the traps, thereby improving catchability. To clarify whether or not there is a perching site preference according to plant species, we evaluated the available (n=1,228) and observed (n=811) perching sites in terms of tree species. A lizard food resource survey was also conducted on four major plant species. As for the selectivity of plant species, the screw pine (Pandanus boninensis) was strongly preferred by adult and juvenile anoles (P<0.05). Food availability is not considered to be the rationale for the anoles' preference of the screw pine, because the number of arthropods collected at the screw pine was not larger compared to those on other plant species examined.

The endemic Japanese freshwater turtle Mauremys japonica is the most common turtle in foothill areas, whereas it is usually absent or scarce in lowland environments in Japan. In contrast, another turtle, Reeves' pond turtle (M. reevesii), usually inhabits lowland areas. Explanation of this pattern based on habitat segregation between M. japonica and M. reevesii remains controversial because several studies have emphasized that M. reevesii is not indigenous but rather introduced from mainland China and the Korean Peninsula. The newly proposed hypothesis is that M. reevesii and the recently introduced red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) have excluded M. japonica from certain suitable habitats in lowland areas. In this study, to test whether M. japonica originally had a broad distribution range covering the habitats currently occupied exclusively by M. reevesii and T. s. elegans, we applied species distribution modeling using MaxEnt and ENMTools to estimate the suitable habitats and ecological niches of M. japonica, M. reevesii, and T. s. elegans, respectively, and examined these similarities. The models showed that M. japonica had the largest suitable habitat range, from flatlands to foothill areas, compared to that of alien species; however, almost the entire habitat area of the native turtle and that of the aliens overlapped. Moreover, these turtles possessed significantly high niche similarity. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that recent species interactions have shaped the distribution of indigenous and alien turtles, although the precise ecological and evolutionary processes have not yet been determined.

Buergeria japonica, long thought to be a single species widely occurring on the Ryukyu Archipelago and Taiwan, proved to include three genetically differentiated clades, (1) the Northern and Central Ryukyu, (2) the Southern Ryukyu and Northern Taiwan, and (3) the Southern Taiwan clades. The Southern Taiwan clade has already been split from the others as a distinct species. A distinct heterospecific relationship of the Southern Ryukyu and Northern Taiwan clade from the Northern and Central Ryukyu clade was also clear from genetic evidence. Morphological comparison between specimens from the Yaeyama (the Southern Ryukyu and Northern Taiwan clade) and Amamioshima, the type locality of B. japonica (the Northern and Central Ryukyu clade), confirmed genetic differences and corroborate their independent species status. Thus, we describe the Northern Taiwan and Southern Ryukyu clade as B. choui sp. nov.

The normal development of the brown frog Rana sakuraii is observed from oocyte to completion of metamorphosis in the laboratory at 15±2°C. Tadpoles of this species can develop completely without any food. Their development is divided into 40 stages and this paper provides descriptions and illustrations of the external features at each stage. After hatching, some developmental events occur simultaneously and elongation of hindlimb buds and toe formation are relatively rapid. On the average, the tadpoles reach the stage 36 with their maximum total length 22.8 mm after 43.9 days. They complete metamorphosis after 56.5 days, reaching the final stage 40 with 8.0 mm in snout to vent length. The labial teeth development of this non-feeding tadpole is generally weak and the formula at a given stage is greatly variable among individuals.

Several reptiles and amphibians frequently occur in environments exposed to artificial lights and appear to effectively hunt prey animals attracted to the light. Therefore, it would be beneficial for them to use such a habitat to survive in urban areas. In this paper, we examined site fidelity of a nocturnal gecko, Gekko japonicus, to a particular artificial light environment in the field. We observed short-term dependence on the same light environment by individual geckos for four to nine consecutive nights and also examined long-term site fidelity once every 10 days from March to November. The same individual frequently came to the particular light for several consecutive nights, but day and time of appearance varied among individuals. Over several months, 20% of marked individuals were repeatedly sighted at the same place although the number of their re-sightings was low (1–5 times). These results suggest that each G. japonicus may settle down in a certain artificially lit environment and use it repeatedly, but the dependence on lights not be so strong.

The genus Nyctibatrachus is endemic to the Western Ghats, India, and includes a number of species that are highly restricted in their distribution. Nyctibatrachus kempholeyensis is an endemic species distributed in the Central Western Ghats. In this paper we describe the development of eight polymorphic microsatellite markers for N. kempholeyensis. These markers were tested for cross-amplification in other Nyctibatrachus species. In addition, we confirmed the cross-amplification of three microsatellite markers from another species, N. major. The 11 microsatellites were screened with 76 individuals of N. kempholeyensis and were found to have 3–8 alleles per locus, with observed heterozygosity ranging from 0.15 to 0.95. These microsatellite markers could be used to study population diversity across fragmented habitats, to quantify genetic structure, and to assess gene flow across the populations in this endemic genus.