Trip to Guadarrama mountains ( Central Spain )

[rubén]

I wanted to show some pics of this, my last mountain trip in september, around Guadarrama mountains, just in the limit of Madrid and Segovia provinces.

Peat bogs, grass and ponds where lives T. marmoratus, T. alpestris cyreni and Alytes obstetricans boscai, at 2.140 m. of altitude.

Small neotenic alpestris cyreni

 

[kyle]

Excellent habitat shots Ruben, and great close ups!

 

[mike]

Hi Rubén, thanks for posting. Those are great photos, and it is fantastic to see the natural habitat of some of these salamanders.

Mike

 

[jesper]

Very nice Ruben! Always a pleasure to see your photos.

 

[TJ]

Great photos! I have no doubt they're going to reappear in my dreams tonight. I'd love to have a change to visit such a place some day, picnic basket in hand

Can all three of those three species you mentioned be found in a single pond or are they "allopatric"?

 

[william]

Tim: look at his other post, the pond has 4 caudates and 3 anurans i think in the same body of water.

 

[rubén]

Thanks to all

Tim _ I found as "allopatric" ( in the same ponds ) M. alpestris cyreni, T. marmoratus, and Alyes obstetricans.
Certainly T. marmoratus cannot be called an abundant newt there ( as much as alpestris cyreni ) because there reaches his record of altitude. It's an isolated population ( T. marmoratus prefers the forest level of Pinus sylvestris, 900 - 1.600 m. ) different regarding morphology and colour ( I don't know if genetic too ) with and interesting belly pattern very close to pygmaeus, but then are the most dark, dumpy and robust marmoratus that I have never seen.
It will be necessary to study them better

Over that level, 150 m. higher ( Photographs number 9º, 10º and 11º in Trip to Guadarrama II ) appears the breeding ponds for Bufo bufo, Bufo calamita and Salamandra s. almanzoris.

 

[rubén]

P.S. ( Below 1.600 m. Lissotriton boscai replaces to alpestris cyreni in the same ponds with T. marmoratus )