Please keep sending in your good wildlife photos, as I depend on the goodwill of readers to keep the feature going.
Today we have a rarity: photos of amphibians, and they’re lovely. The photographer is evolutionary biologist Iñigo Martinez-Solano, who introduces himself at the beginning (his captions are indented). As always, click on the photos to enlarge them.
I am sending some amphibian pictures in case you want to use them for your website. I am an evolutionary biologist based at Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales in Madrid, and I’ve specialized in the study of the evolutionary history, biology and conservation of amphibians. Below I’m providing more details about the different species featured in the pictures:
Alytes cisternasii (Iberian midwife toad): midwife toads (genus Alytes) are the only extant representatives an old frog lineage (their closest living relatives are painted frogs (see below), with an estimated divergence time >130 million years ago according to TimeTree. They have evolved parental care; the mating takes place on land and males carry the eggs for several weeks until larvae are ready to swim and actively feed.
Discoglossus galganoi (Iberian painted frog): painted frogs (genus Discoglossus) are representatives of another independent old frog lineage. This species is endemic to the Iberian peninsula; they breed in small ephemeral ponds, completing their larval development in just about a month.
Pelobates cultripes (Iberian spadefoot): these toads have specialized metatarsal tubercles they use to bury themselves >0.5 meters below the ground, similarly to New World spadefoot toads (genera Spea and Scaphiopus).
Chioglossa lusitanica (gold-striped salamander): this is the only extant representative of the genus. It is a member of family Salamandridae but shows many morphological and behavioral convergences with Plethodontids (lungless salamanders).
Salamandra salamandra (fire salamander): these spectacular animals are incredibly diverse in color, but also in other features like reproductive modes. The species is larviparous (larvae develop for some weeks in the uterus of the female and are then released in ponds or streams), but some populations in northern Iberia are viviparous, giving birth to fully developed terrestrial metamorphs.
Triturus marmoratus (marbled newt): what can I say? Beautiful animals, aren’t they?
Pleurodeles walti (Iberian ribbed newt): the largest salamander in Europe, reaching up to 30 cm. As a defensive mechanism, they can project their ribs through the skin (see picture).
Great to see these pics. For me, it is especially good, giving me all sorts of info of which I was unaware.
This one is not the only ‘reader pics’ to do that of course, especially for me, a biology ignoramous.
I hope this feature continues strong for a long time, even though I seldom reply to these..
Thanks for the kind words! I am glad you liked the photos. For me, one of the fun things about amphibians is how little we know about them. In fact, I’ve spent the last 12 years doing routine population monitoring studies to try to answer what I call “kid questions”: how long do they live, where do they go when ponds dry up…every time my kids asked me things like these I had to admit I didn’t know…so we started using microchips to try to estimate how many are there, how far they move, how old they can get…best decision in my life, every year we learn new things about these critters!
Excellent photography! Very informative!
Thank you!
Very cool amphibians! Thanks Iñigo for sharing these!
Thank you!
Very nice. Thank you.
Thanks!
Nice information and pictures. Thanks!
Thank you!
Such interesting animals, and informative commentary. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you!
Wonderful and informative post!
Please keep contributing! I especially love that Iberian ribbed newt.
I wonder what would be threatening about showing your ribs as a defense mechanism? Maybe it’s like people who are proud, puff up their chest making themselves bigger?
Thank you for sharing these photos and information.
I imagine it makes them hard to swallow.
That’s right! Their main predators are birds like herons or egrets, which can deal with them, but having one of the large ones going down your throat may not be the greatest gastronomic experience. One of the common names in eastern Spain is “oufegabous”, which can be translated as “bull-choker” because occasionally, when cattle drink from the ponds where they live, they accidentally swallow them and die asphyxiated with the newt stuck in their throat…
thank you! please see my response to Mark’s comment below
Of course not everyone can do it, but the extra evolution info was great, thanks!
Glad you liked it, thanks!
Thank you for the great photos and education today! So many new areas to explore.
Indeed! We know pretty little about the lives of these critters! Glad you liked the post, thanks!
Why do we love amphibians? Why are they so fascinating? Is it their soothing clicks in summer nights? Or something else? Thank you so much for these wonderful photographs.
Thank you! I agree they have something special, I have been fascinated with them since I was a kid. I think their complex life cycles, with tadpoles becoming tiny frogs/toadlets has a lot to do with that…
Many of the photographs in “Readers’ wildlife photos” are great, and we’ve had many brilliant contributors (Stephen Barnard and John Avise, to name just two), but as a herpetologist, I just have to say how much I love these photos. They are not just technically superb, they reveal wonderful insights into the natural history of the animals. I’m especially impressed by the photo of Pleurodeles, which shows the ribs protruding through the body wall. I did not know (having only handled preserved specimens) that the tubercles on the side are brightly colored, and thus likely act as a warning. The ribs carry with them poison secreted by skin glands in the tubercles.
When I taught herpetology, students would squeeze a preserved Pleruodeles to feel the sharp ribs, but this photo makes the point effectively for those who can’t get to squeeze one. Plus the color! Kudos to Iñigo!
GCM
Thank you! Pleurodeles are bizarre animals indeed, I forgot to mention they (like most newts and salamanders) have amazing tissue regeneration skills, being able to entirely regrow limbs after severe injuries!
Wow! So many memories. I’ve now lived in North America (US and Canada) since 2003, but during my time as an undergraduate at the University of Porto (Portugal) I made several field trips as a volunteer for the Atlas of Portuguese Herptofauna, and then did my senior thesis on genetic work in the hybrid zone between Triturus marmoratus and T. pygmaeus. They are the coolest! Thank you so much for this post. In a year where Xmas won’t be spent at home with family, this brought home to me!
Thank you Armando! Maybe we have friends in common, I was a postdoc in CIBIO for a year and have been collaborating with Pim Arntzen for a while, I assume you worked with him? One of my goals for the coming years is to study the marmoratus / pygmaeus hybrid zone in the Gredos and Guadarrama mountains in Central Spain, which so far hasn’t been as thoroughly explored as in Portugal…
These were exceptional photos and the commentary was informative and interesting. Thanks!
Glad you liked it, thank you!
Excellent post, Dr. Martinez-Solano. Gracias!
Thank you!