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Seven polymorphic microsatellite loci were isolated and characterized from the grapsid crab Pachygrapsus marmoratus using FIASCO (fast isolation by AFLP of sequences containing repeats) protocol. Twenty-seven primer pairs were designed, 14 of which worked well in polymerase chain reaction (PCR), amplifying a fragment of the expected size. Variability was tested in 18 specimens collected along the coast of Tuscany (Italy). Five loci were discarded due to stutter products during their amplification, and two resulted to be monomorphic. The remaining seven loci, showed a number of alleles ranging from two to 14 and an observed heterozygosity ranging from 0.12 to 0.67

Salamandrina perspicillata, from Northern and Central Italy, and Salamandrina terdigitata, from Southern Italy, represent a unique case of endemism among the amphibians of Europe. Some efforts were made to study the biology and ecology of these species, but only few studies focused on their comparative osteology. In particular, detailed descriptions of isolated skeletal elements and comparisons with other European urodeles are not available in literature hindering the identification of their fossils that testify for an ancient much broader range. The correct identification of fossil remains, mostly based on careful osteological descriptions, is fundamental to study the evolution of the range of this genus through time and the origin of the current endemic condition. This work is focused on the description of selected skeletal elements (occipito-otic complex, limb bones, atlas, trunk, sacral, caudosacral and caudal vertebrae) of dry-prepared skeletons and CT-scans of wet preserved specimens, which are the most common in the fossil record. We provide osteological comparison of Salamandrina with other genera of Europe, yielding diagnostic characters which allow the identification of fossils at a generic level. No significant differences between the two species S. perspicillata and S. terdigitata were found in the described skeletal elements, thus, the identification of skeletal elements at the species level is, at the moment, impossible.

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