In this report I examine tradeoffs involving body size, age, and resource allocation within the framework of the Equal Fitness Paradigm (EFP) in six species of plethodontid salamanders of the genus Desmognathus in two assemblages in the southern Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. The species are representative of the three life-history modes associated with habitat utilization in Desmognathus, namely stream, streamside, and forest. The two assemblages include the largest and smallest members of the genus. Among species, I recorded a negative correlation between body size and relative offspring size, a positive correlation between body size and lifetime offspring number, but negative correlations between body size and both lifetime reproductive investment and productivity, as reflected in the decrease in body size with increasing relative offspring size. In comparing these trends with published data on variation in these parameters in animals generally, I conclude that desmognathan salamanders lie at the slow end of the fast–slow axis in the pace-of-life model of life-history evolution. I discuss possible population regulatory mechanisms that operate on these populations, as a function of life-history mode, with special emphasis on streamside species. I suggest that retention of a brief larval phase in streamside species reflects tradeoffs among dispersal-related traits, including survival and growth.

The Baluch Mountain Frog, Chrysopaa sternosignata (Dubois and Khan 1979), is one of the least known amphibian species in the Hindu Kush–Himalayan region. It is endemic to an area on the edge of the Palearctic region with harsh environment and with the long-term complicated security situation, where biodiversity research is difficult or virtually impossible. Thus, very little is known about the life history, ecology, and distribution of this frog, representing the monotypic genus Chrysopaa (Dicroglossidae). Similarly, data about the larva of this taxon are scarce. Thus, we provide the first detailed imagery and description of the larval stage of C. sternosignata (Dubois and Khan 1979) from Afghanistan. One tadpole was obtained from Jabul Saraj, Charikar, Afghanistan. Morphological and genetic analysis of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA confirmed the identity of the larva as C. sternosignata. Tadpole characters were illustrated by photos. Basic measurements and details on oral apparatus provide relevant characteristics to delimit the larva of this species from other spiny frogs. This information should facilitate the identification of C. sternosignata larvae in museum collections and in the field.

An analysis of the diets of reptiles is essential for understanding the role of reptiles in the ecosystem and the employment of successful conservation management plans. For this purpose, noninvasive and invasive methods to identify consumed prey have been used. Here, we investigated the diet of male and female European Green Lizards (Lacerta viridis) by sampling fecal pellets across 2 yr in the spring and late summer at a single site. We used the following two methods for identifying prey remnants from fecal samples: the classical macroscopic approach that requires competent expert knowledge and the molecular approach based on the dietary metabarcoding of nondegraded prey remnant DNA. According to both methods, lizards consumed mainly insects belonging to 13 orders, with Coleoptera as the dominant prey. The number of prey taxa was similar between the sexes, but the prey composition at the genus level was significantly different, with males capturing some coleopterans more than females. The diets also differed significantly between season. In the spring, lizards consumed many more prey types and many more coleopteran specimens than in late summer. The proportion of identified prey taxa was significantly different between the identification methods. From the total of identified prey, macroscopic identification yielded only about 50% of taxa, whereas molecular identification yielded more than 80% of taxa. Our results show that molecular identification can recover a much higher number of prey than the macroscopic method, yet not all prey. Thus, the integration of both methods best described the natural diet and complex trophic interactions of European Green Lizards.

An organism's body shape is influenced by its ecology and environment through selective pressure and phenotypic plasticity. The shape of turtle shells is impacted by locomotor efficiency, and shell shape has been shown to differ between populations occupying different water flow regimes. However, it is not known whether other aspects of the environment, such as water turbidity or plant density, similarly impact shape by influencing locomotor efficiency. We used geometric morphometric methods to analyze the shell shapes of Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta) from several populations in Wisconsin. Water turbidity was found to be correlated with different shell shapes among the populations. In more turbid water, turtle shells were narrower than shells in clear water, and there was an interactive effect between water turbidity and plant density such that shells were anteriorly taller in high plant densities with high water turbidity than in low water turbidity. Shell shape also differed between the sexes and varied with adult size. These correlations suggest that aspects of the aquatic environment in addition to water flow may impact turtle shell shape by influencing locomotor efficiency and that this variation is detectable even within a species and region.