Northern Spain/French Pyrenees Salamander trip

[wouter]

Me, Mark Bakkers and my father are back from a week long herping in the French Pyrenees and the north Spanish Cordillera Cantabrica. We search mostly in Asturias, North Burgos and French Basque country, but we also made short stops in Cantabria and Navarra. We drove about 3800 kilometers, but it was really worth it!

The total score is about 25 (sub)species of reptiles and amphibians, with among those 10 caudate (sub)species. Our biggest missers were probably the transition form of S.s.fastuosa-S.s.bejarae in northern Burgos, from which we only found larvae, and the three north Iberian viper species.

I'll start with some pics from our trip, and Mark will add on;

Northen Burgos area (with thanks to Ruben Martinez for hints!) Here we found 3 newt species, Rana perezi, Alytes obstetricans and larvae of Salamandra;

Mesotriton alpestris cyreni:

And a female;

Lissotriton helveticus alonsoi males;

Lissotriton helveticus alonsoi female;

Triturus marmoratus;

And again;

A nice marsh area with multiple species, and I think Pelodytes eggs;

For the snake lovers, we found this juvenile Hierophis viridiflavus a bit earlier on the trip;

Then we drove to Asturias and Cantabria, for the salamander species... The Picos de Europa. Here we found Salamandra salamandra bernardezi and Chioglossa lusitanica, next to some other species.

Salamandra salamandra bernardezi:

The ones we found;

All moss, ferns and beech there;

The first animal we found in the Tendi valley; a Painted frog, Discoglossus sp. I think this must be D. galganoi, but it could be D. jeanne too...

We found S. s. alfredschmidti, Rana iberica, Rana temporaria parvipalmata and more Chioglossa lusitanica here, next to the common wall lizards.

A stream next to the Tendi river...

I'll let Mark finish with the rest of the Tendi valley and the French Basque country Pyrenees! Hope you enjoy the pics!

 

[mark]

Nice photos Wouter!

Now some of mine:

S.s. alfredschmidti:

Variation in S.s. alfredschmidti:

Habitat of S.s. alfredschmidti:

 

[mark]

Calotriton asper:

 

[mark]

One of my favourite species of the trip:

Chioglossa lusitanica

 

[mark]

S.s. fastuosa:

 

[francesco]

wow! I particularly appreciated the pictures of the bernardezi and alfredschmidti habitat

 

[kamil]

Hi,

did you really find alfredschmidti at the river?!
Have you found the T. boscai in Tendi-Valley? Where did you find Chioglossa and which conditions did you have?

Best Greetings,

Kamil

 

[wouter]

Kamil, we found the alfredschmidti nearby the Rio Tendi. But since they don't need to deposit larvae in water I expect them to live next to the Rio Tendi also.

We haven't found any L. boscai there, I believe that the most eastern distribution is the Picos de Europa though. I did find L. helveticus in the Tendi valley two years ago.

We found the Chioglossa at exactly the same locations and conditions as the salamandra, humid and mostly under wood. o my own experience (and those of Mark who caught almost all of them) they are not so hard to find as is sometimes told. It are indeed great salamanders too find!

(Message edited by wouter on May 05, 2006)

(Message edited by wouter on May 05, 2006)

 

[wouter]

One of my favorits during the trip; a reddish-coloured Rana pyrenaica: (with thanks to Jeroen Speybroeck for some Pyrenean hints)

(Message edited by wouter on May 05, 2006)

 

[mark]

Hehe, you've beaten me to it Wouter

As Wouter already says the Chioglossa's were found mostly under logs, but sometimes under stones as well. It seems that once the find a suitable microclimate under a log multible animals can gather there.

(Message edited by mark_bakkers on May 05, 2006)

 

[mark]

Calotriton asper habitat:

Anguis fragilis:

 

[john]

Simply fabulous, Mark and Wouter.

Are you guys interested in writing an article about your trip for the Caudata.org Magazine?

 

[william]

ahhh anguis fragilis

great shots guys!

 

[mark]

@ John: I think we could write an article about it, I'll let you know.

@William: Yes, Anguis are very cool animals. I was very surprised when I found it, especially because I was searching for bernardezi...

 

[christian]

Really nice pictures !

 

[patrick]

Very nice pictures!
This photograph reportage shows us the beauty of nature. And these beautiful animals are one of the many reasons why we must protect nature and keep it this way.

gr patrick

 

[sarah]

are there any salamander species in the UK?

And are there any other species of newts apart from smooth, palmate and great crested newts?

 

[john]

There are a couple of isolated alien newt populations in the UK but no salamanders.

 

[sarah]

darn, how boring is that, i love newts and sals too

 

[william]

well if we were still attached to the continent we would only have two more species anyway, the fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra) and the alpine newt (Mesotriton alpestris) these species were probably in the UK before the iceage, but were driven back down south with the ice, and they just didn't make it back in time before the channel filled up after the ice retreated.