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This study examined the role of habitat characteristics on the presence of Salamandra algira in the Edough Peninsula, north-eastern Algeria. In this region, 33 sites were surveyed over the late win...

Pleurodeles poireti is one of the lesser-known amphibians in the Mediterranean region. This species is strictly endemic to the Edough Peninsula in northeastern Algeria. Here we investigated the factors that determine the presence of P. poireti, by affecting its selection of both aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Aquatic habitats were characterised according to their morphology and the physicochemical parameters of the water. We also examined the topographical and substrate features, plant cover and climatic conditions at the occurrence sites. Our surveys indicated that P. poireti is widely-distributed on the Edough Peninsula. Pleurodeles poireti predominantly breeds in moderate to large water bodies densely covered with emergent vegetation. The water parameters are less influential in its selection of breeding sites, except dissolved oxygen and turbidity, which are usually high at the occupied sites. At the broad spatial scale, P. poireti is positively associated with lowlands in cultivated landsc...

Two species of the genus Pelobates occur in the western Mediterranean region: Pelobates cultripes, in the Iberian Peninsula and southern France, and Pelobates varaldii, endemic in northwestern Morocco. These two species form a monophyletic clade within the Eurasian Pelobates and are morphologically conservative. However some morphological differences exist in their larval stages, which have been used to support the distinction between them as separate species. Here we examine the larval morphology at the premetamorphic Gosner stages of both species using linear and geometric morphometrics. The aims were: (i) to investigate the morphological variability of P. varaldii and P. cultripes and (ii) to revise the validity of the taxonomic criteria used to differentiate the larvae of these species. Our analysis revealed high intraspecific variability in both species, especially in the dorso-ventral axis, but without a geographical structure. Our results suggested the existence of morphological divergence ...