Die Familie der Warane (Varanidae) Teil 1-3.

Abh. Senck. Natufor. Ges. 462-466. Frankfurt / Main.

1997 erschien die Abhandlung als Taschenbuch im Chimaira-Verlag.

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Böhme, Bonn, hat eine ausführliche Übersicht der rezenten validen Arten und eine vergleichende Nomenklatur angefügt, so dass das Standardwerk von Mertens auch wieder einen hohen aktuellen Wert hat. Nachdem Teile des Werkes schon kurz nach Erscheinen wegen der hohen Nachfrage nachgedruckt wurden, sind die Teile 1 und 2 schon seit mehreren Jahren vergriffen und antiquarisch entsprechend teuer. Die Auflage ist numeriert und auf 500 Exemplare limitiert.

mertens-biblio

06.04.2013 - 1'838

Intellagama lesueurii (Gray, 1831), the correct binomial combination for the Australian Eastern Water Dragon (Sauria, Agamidae).

Zootaxa 3390: 65–67. ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition), ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition)

The Eastern Water Dragon is a large, conspicuous agamid, well known to many inhabitants of eastern Australia. It was first described in the scientific literature as Lophura lesueurii by Gray (1831). Gray’s allocation of this taxon to his earlier genus Lophura Gray, 1827, created for the species Lacerta lophura Shaw, 1802, does not mention that Cuvier (1829) had erected Istiurus for amboinensis Schlosser, 1768, which Cuvier treated as a senior synonym of Lophura.

Cuvier considered the generic name Lophura to be too similar to Lophyrus Latreille, 1802, a genus of conifer sawflies belonging to the family Diprionidae, hence the need for a new genus. Both Gray and Cuvier were evidently unaware that Lophura was unavailable as this name had already been assign ed to a genus of phasianid birds (Fleming 1822). The Eastern Water Dragon has subsequently appeared in the taxonomic literature under the following synonyms: Iguana paramatensis Fitzinger, 1843; Amphibolurus maculiferus Girard, 1857; Amphibolurus heterurus Peters, 1866 and Amphibolurus branchialis De Vis, 1884. The combination Physignathus lesueurii was first used in 1845 by Gray in his Catalogue of the Specimens of Lizards in the British Museum and has been in use ever since. The only other generic name proposed for this taxon is Intellagama Wells and Wellington, 1985, by which the authors implied its distinctiveness from the other member of Physignathus,  the Chinese Water Dragon P. cocincinus Cuvier, 1829. However, as their description provided no evidence to demons trate that Australian water dragons are generically distinct from their foreign congener, this name has not been adopted by subsequent authors, and has been informally treated as a synonym of Physignathus. ....

Atlas zu der Reise im nördlichen Afrika.
Erste Abtheilung Zoologie. Reptilien.

bearbeitet von C.H.G. von HEYDEN.
Herausgegeben von der Senckenbergischen naturforschenen Gesellschaft. Frankfurt am Main.
Gedruckt und in commission bei H. L. Brönner, 1826-28.

Volltext

rüppell-biblio

Leguane - faszinierend und exotisch.

4. Auflage (1. Auflage 2003); 64 Seiten, zahlreiche Farbfotos von Christine Steimer

Verlag Graefe & Unzer GmbH, München. ISBN 978-3-7742-5758-9.

Verlagstext:

Filme wie Jurassic Park haben Echsen ins Bewusstsein vieler Menschen gebracht. Leguane faszinieren uns, denn sie erinnern an die Saurier aus längst vergangenen Zeiten. Verbunden mit dem Wunsch immer Ausgefalleneres besitzen zu wollen, sind Terrarientiere – und damit auch Leguane – heute “en vogue”. Mit der richtigen Pflege und Haltung zeigen sie vielfältige und interessante Verhaltensweisen und werden damit für Ihre Halter zum spannenden Beobachtungsobjekt. Dieser GU Tierratgeber vermittelt alles Wichtige rund um die Themen Einrichtung und Technik, Ernährung und Pflege – damit Sie Ihrem Leguan ein artgerechtes Leben bieten können.

Projektvorstellung - Die Herpetofauna des Kimboza Forest in Tansania unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Türkisen Zwerggeckos Lygodactylus williamsi: Populationsabschätzung und Verbreitungsstudie eines bedrohten Endemits.

Elaphe 1: 17-20.

weinsheimer-biblio

03.04.2013 - 1'925

Applications of Ecological Niche Modeling for Species Delimitation: A Review and Empirical Evaluation Using Day Geckos (Phelsuma) from Madagascar.

Systematic Biology 56 (6): 907 - 923. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10635150701775111

Abstract:

Although the systematic utility of ecological niche modeling is generally well known (e.g., concerning the recognition and discovery of areas of endemism for biogeographic analyses), there has been little discussion of applications concerning species delimitation, and to date, no empirical evaluation has been conducted. However, ecological niche modeling can provide compelling evidence for allopatry between populations, and can also detect divergent ecological niches between candidate species. Here we present results for two taxonomically problematic groups of Phelsuma day geckos from Madagascar, where we integrate ecological niche modeling with mitochondrial DNA and morphological data to evaluate species limits. Despite relatively modest levels of genetic and morphological divergence, for both species groups we find divergent ecological niches between closely related species and parapatric ecological niche models. Niche models based on the new species limits provide a better fit to the known distribution than models based upon the combined (lumped) species limits. Based on these results, we elevate three subspecies of Phelsuma madagascariensis (P. m. madagascariensis, P. m. grandis, and P. m. kochi) to species rank and describe a new species of Phelsuma from the P. dubia species group. Our phylogeny continues to support a major endemic radiation of Phelsuma in Madagascar, with dispersals to Pemba Island and the Mascarene Islands. We conclude that ecological niche modeling offers great potential for species delimitation, especially for taxonomic groups exhibiting low vagility and localized endemism and for groups with more poorly known distributions. In particular, niche modeling should be especially sensitive for detecting recent parapatric speciation driven by ecological divergence, when the environmental gradients driving speciation are represented within the ecological niche models.

Geckos: Biologie - Haltung - Zucht.

176 Seiten, Farbfotos, Zeichnungen. 2. völlig neu bearbeitete Auflage.
Verlag Ulmer Stuttgart. ISBN 3-8001-3854-9

Verlagstext:

Das Buch behandelt die Gruppe der Geckos einschließlich der Flossenfüße.Die vorliegende zweite Auflage des erfolgreichen Werkes berücksichtigt dabei neueste Erkenntnisse über Systematik, Biologie und Verhalten der Tiere. Neben den schon längere Zeit bekannten Geckos wird eine Vielzahl von Arten vorgestellt, die in den letzten Jahren neu importiert und beschrieben wurden. Dabei liegt der Schwerpunkt auf den Geckos, die in der Terraristik gepflegt werden. Systematik dieser Reptilien, ihre Biologie und das Verhalten werden nach den neuesten wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnissen dargestellt. Porträts von über 100 Geckoarten mit vielen Farbfotos vervollständigen dieses alle Aspekte umfassende Werk.

Inhaltsverzeichnis:

• Lebensweise und Verbreitung der Geckos
• Entwicklungsgeschichte und Systematik
• Besonderheiten des Körperbaues
• Terrarien für Geckos und ihre Einrichtung
• Fortpflanzung und Aufzucht
• Inkubationstemperatur und Geschlechterverhältnis
• Ernährung und Futtertierzuchten
• Erkrankungen und ihre Behandlung
• Vorstellung der einzelnen Geckoarten

Aktuelles zur Taxonomie und Systematik asiatischer Grubenottern.

TERRARIA elaphe Heft 1/2012: 52-61.

gumprecht-biblio

Chinese Alligator - Alligator sinensis.

In: Crocodiles. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. Third Edition, ed. by S.C. Manolis and C. Stevenson. Crocodile Specialist Group: Darwin: 5-9.

Auszug:

Ecology and Natural History

The Chinese alligator is a relatively small crocodilian with a maximum length of approximately 2 m. Historically more widely distributed in the lower Changjiang (also known as Yangtze) River system in southeastern China, Alligator sinensis is currently only  known  from  a  small region  in  southeastern  Anhui Province, a fraction of its former distribution. Reports of very low numbers of wild A. sinensis in  Zhejiang  and  Jiangsu  Provinces have not been confi rmed in recent years, and certainly no breeding populations occur outside Anhui Province.

The three principal habitat types where A. sinensis can now be found are:

• remnant wetlands in low, broad, fertile valleys along main river courses, dominated by paddy fields;
• intermediate ponds in low hill valleys (<100 m) but with signifi cant agriculture in the valley above the pond; and, 
• ponds situated in low hill valleys (<100 m) at the upper edge of rice cultivation and the low edge of tree plantations.

Because  they  occur  at  relatively  high  northern  latitude, Chinese alligators spend a large portion of the year hibernating in subterranean burrows. The burrows can be complex, with above and below-ground pools, and numerous air holes. The extensive use of these burrows and their very secretive behavior has allowed A. sinensis to inhabit wetland habitats in areas with dense human populations.

Chinese alligators usually begin to emerge from their dens to bask in May. In June, with warming temperatures, they will begin to make nocturnal sorties. Nesting occurs from early July to late August, with 10-40 eggs being laid in a mound nest of decaying vegetation.

Volltext (PDF)

Dwarf Crocodile - Osteolaemus tetraspis.

In: Crocodiles.Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan: 127-132.
Third Edition, ed. by S.C. Manolis and C. Stevenson. Crocodile Specialist Group: Darwin.

Aus dem Inhalt:

The African dwarf crocodile historically ranged throughout the lowland regions of West and western Central Africa, from Senegal and The Gambia in the west to the eastern border of the Congo Basin in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. Northern Nigeria and Cabinda Province (Angola) are considered to be the northern and southern extents of the genus, respectively. The Central and West African dwarf crocodile (O. tetraspis) is now distinguished from Osborn’s dwarf crocodile (O. osborni), and new research suggests that populations further west are signifi cantly differentiated from lineages in Central Africa and the Congo Basin and warrant a unique species designation (Osteolaemus cf. tetraspis) (Eaton et al. 2009).

The taxonomy of the African dwarf crocodile has been under debate for almost 80 years. Osteolaemus tetraspis was first described in 1860 from Gabon. A second morphological form, discovered in the upper Congo River Basin, was described as a new genus (Osteoblepharon osborni, Schmidt 1919). This new genus was subsequently considered to be unwarranted, resulting first in osborni being relegated as species of Osteolaemus and then to a subspecies, Osteolaemus tetraspis osborni (Wermuth 1953). Some authorities have even suggested that sub-species status may not be merited. A recent morphological study, however, has confirmed fixed differences between tetraspis and osborni, suggesting that each should be resurrected as a distinct taxon. Additionally, a recent molecular  phylogenetic analysis of samples collected from the Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ivory Coast and Ghana supports the evolutionary distinctiveness of dwarf crocodiles in the Congo Basin (osborni) from those further west. This same investigation also revealed that the nominal form of O. tetraspis from Gabon’s Ogooué Basin is genetically distinct from dwarf crocodiles in West Africa, suggesting that at least one new morphologically cryptic species exists in the latter region.