Water contaminants play an important role in threatening amphibian species already in the midst of the sixth extinction. Species relying exclusively on agricultural habitats for breeding are under multiple, and sometimes synergistic, threats because of the high levels of contamination from chemicals used as plant fertilizers and pest control. In the Republic of Korea, two anuran species listed as endangered occur primarily in rice paddies: Suweon Treefrogs (Dryophytes suweonensis) and Gold-spotted Pond Frogs (Pelophylax chosenicus). The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between the occurrence of these two species and water contaminants in rice paddies. Water quality and contaminants were assessed through multisite triplicate sampling. The rice paddies where the two anuran species occurred were characterized by higher concentrations of iron and lower concentrations of phosphate than rice paddies without the two species. Furthermore, low conductivity in the water was correlated to the occurrence of P. chosenicus, and low ammonium nitrate was a reliable predictor for the occurrence of D. suweonensis. These contaminants principally result from the application of chemical treatments on agricultural fields. The decline of these two endangered anuran species might be related to current agricultural practices.

The functional components of the lizard skull are divided into the chondrocranial braincase, protective dermatocranium, lower jaw, and hyobranchial apparatus. These regions are interconnected and become operational through the quadrate, a bone critical for cranial biomechanics and support of the peripheral auditory system. The quadrate is a complex and variable structure in squamates; however, neither the intraspecific nor interspecific variation of this element has been studied in detail. We investigated the intraspecific variation of quadrate morphology within Hemidactylus turcicus with the use of cleared and double-stained specimens and high-resolution x-ray microcomputed tomography. Our objectives were to quantify quadrate shape and the degree of intraspecific variation within this element with the use of 2-D and 3-D geometric morphometric analyses and investigate if this variation is driven by ontogeny and/or sexual dimorphism. Our results demonstrate that ontogeny, but not sexual shape dimorphism, drives the intraspecific variation of quadrate bone morphology in H. turcicus. We also illustrate the benefit of using 3-D morphometric analyses on complicated morphological structures. This is the first study to quantify the intraspecific variation of a single cranial element within geckos, and it highlights the importance of using increased sample sizes to further characterize the natural variation of skeletal morphology.

Caribbean Anolis lizards exhibit a complex suite of ecological, morphological, and behavioral traits that allow their specialization to particular microhabitats. These microhabitat specialists, called ecomorphs, have independently evolved on the four islands of the Greater Antilles, and diversification among anole ecomorphs has been the focus of many studies. Yet, habitat specialization has also occurred among species within the same ecomorph group. Here, we examined ecological, morphological, and behavioral divergence in three Hispaniolan trunk–ground species, the cybotoid anoles: Anolis cybotes, A. marcanoi, and A. longitibialis. We found differences in limb morphology, locomotor behavior, and perch use among the three cybotoid species that mirror differences across the ecomorphs. Among these species of cybotoids, those that have longer limbs tend to move less frequently, occupy broader perches, and have smaller fourth toes with fewer lamellae. We also observed that the species with greater male-biased size dimorphism had larger heads, smaller dewlaps, and smaller testes. These results are consistent with the predictions of sexual selection theory, in that species with large male body size may have larger heads because of increased male–male combat, and smaller testes potentially attributable to a trade-off between pre- and postcopulatory selection. Overall, our study suggests that a combination of local adaptation to different structural habitats and sexual selection might produce ecomorphological diversification within cybotoid anoles of the same ecomorph group.

There is an increasing need for effective biomonitoring tools that quantify patterns of habitat occupancy by reptile species. Environmental DNA (eDNA) has been regarded as an emerging tool to detect specific target species; however, the dynamics of accumulation and degradation of eDNA in terrestrial environments are poorly understood. This study determines the time required for terrestrial snakes to leave enough eDNA behind to become detectable (accumulation time) as well as its persistence (degradation time). By targeting mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I and 12S rRNA genes of Red Cornsnakes (Pantherophis guttatus) in a controlled laboratory setting, we found that eDNA can be detected 3.5 h after the snakes had contact with soil and for up to 6 d after their removal. Estimated accumulation rate of Pantherophis guttatus eDNA per gram of snake biomass per hour was 12.6 μg. We also evaluated the applicability of eDNA detection under field conditions by targeting the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene of a cryptic invasive species in South Florida, Burmese Pythons (Python bivittatus). Soil samples were derived from two groups of field sites: telemetry-monitored refugia (i.e., radiotelemetry evidence of python presence) and telemetry-absent refugia (i.e., no telemetry evidence, but monitored with a burrow camera at time of sample collection). We were able to detect the presence of python eDNA in 66.7% of the telemetry-monitored sites that fit within our laboratory-defined residence and degradation time window. Additionally, at the telemetry-absent sites, no eDNA from Burmese Pythons was detected and burrow cameras did not detect their presence. We concluded that eDNA technology using soil can be an effective detection tool for terrestrial snakes, particularly when used with other traditional tracking and sampling methods.

We present a description of the external morphology of Phyllomedusa azurea and describe the internal oral morphology of P. azurea and P. oreades from populations of the Brazilian Cerrado. We also present a comparison with the available descriptions of the external morphology of tadpoles from the P. hypochondrialis group and review the internal oral morphology of the Phyllomedusa genus. The tadpole of P. azurea is characterized by a tooth row formula of 2(2)/3(1), few submarginal papillae, and spiracle positioned ventrally. Phyllomedusa oreades has a diamond-shaped buccal floor, numerous pustulations randomly distributed throughout the buccal floor arena, and a triangular buccal roof. The variation observed in the morphology of P. azurea tadpoles highlights the need to understand how morphological variation affects traits used in species diagnosis and the extent to which this variation could be explained by resource use, geographic variation, and/or ontogeny.

Fritziana is a genus of phytotelm-dwelling frogs that inhabits bamboo and bromeliads in the southern and southeastern portions of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Currently, five species are known, but the existence of undescribed species has been acknowledged. Here, we conducted a species-delimitation analysis of Fritziana using deoxyribonucleic acid sequences comprising two fragments of a mitochondrial gene (16S). The species delimitation analysis (with 16S) with Bayesian inference and maximum parsimony supported the recognition of a new species as an exclusive lineage, sister to all other Fritziana species. Bioacoustic and morphological evidence also support this finding. The new species occurs from 1166 to 2146 m above sea level and inhabits bromeliads from the National Park of Serra dos Órgãos, in the municipality of Teresópolis, state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Compared with its congeners, the new species has nostrils narrowly separated, diameter of tympanum equal to or larger than diameter of disc on finger III, subarticular tubercles divided, and venter uniformly beige; advertisement call with notes composed of more than two pulses, and without the longer first pulse group.

With the use of a concordance and a mitochondrial tree–morphological character congruence approach, we show that recently discovered populations of Lophocalotes represent a new species. Like its only known congener, the new species occurs only on Sumatra in montane forests above 1000 m. The new species differs from L. ludekingi in having more gulars, ventrals, and subdigital lamellae; in having males with a lower nuchal crest not supported by an arched flap of skin and white gular markings; and in having females with cream buccal epithelia. These agamids are slow-moving, arboreal, generalist predators and lay 2–6 eggs, multiple times per year. Lophocalotes exhibits pronounced sexual dimorphism. Interestingly, coloration of the buccal epithelium is sexually dichromatic in the new species. The recently described nematode Spinicauda sumatrana infected most hosts in our sample, and parasite load increased with snout-to-vent length. Lophocalotes is closely related to Dendragama and Pseudocalotes and shares two derived characters with Pseudocophotis sumatrana: a prehensile tail and reduced keels on the subdigital lamellae.

We describe a new species of coralsnake from northern Dinagat Island, southeastern Philippines. The discovery of this new species comes as a surprise because it is phenotypically distinct from all other Philippine coralsnakes and has a close phylogenetic affinity to the blue coralsnakes of the Sunda Shelf. The new species is distinguished from all Philippine and other Southeast Asian taxa by its large body size and ventral scale counts; its black head and neck; an alternating, broadly banded color pattern of black and off-white; and a bright orange tail. We use DNA sequence data to investigate the phylogenetic placement of the new species and that of several other populations of Philippine coralsnakes with respect to other Southeast Asian and Australasian elapids. Our results corroborate the uniqueness of the new species with respect to all other Philippine and Sundaic taxa, including the species most closely related to it: Calliophis bivirgatus, C. bilineatus, C. philippinus, and C. suluensis. We summarize phylogenetic, biogeographic, and phenotypic character data that substantiate the elevation of Philippine species of Calliophis (formerly considered subspecies of C. intestinalis: C. bilineatus, C. philippinus, and C. suluensis) and Hemibungarus (formerly subspecies of H. calligaster: H. calligaster, H. gemianulis, and H. mcclungi) to the level of full species. The allopatric distributions of these taxa emphasize the systematic and biogeographical significance of the newly discovered taxon: a poorly understood and independent colonization of the Philippine Archipelago by elapid snakes.