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This study presents for the first time the morphometric characteristics of the Montandon's newt Triturus montandoni population from the Jeseniky Mountains (Czech Republic), where the species reaches the northwest margin of its distribution range and occurs outside the Carpathians. All measurements were taken on live narcotized animals in -315). The snout-vent length (SVL) was found to be the best univariate measure of overall body size, highly correlated with PCI (principal component). Overall 'body shape' as measured by PC2, was determined primarily by the relative length of limbs. Scaling of body characters against SVL (geometric mean regression slope) did not differ between sexes but suggested positive adult allometry for most characters. In absolute terms, males were smaller than females in all examined characters (although not significantly so in length of hind limbs). Males were characterized by relatively longer limbs, larger head, shorter tail and shorter axilla-groin distance. The mean SVL in composite samples varied significantly over three years and between two localities, while the degree of sexual size dimorphism remained stable.
Three populations of the Triturus cristatus superspecies were studied using morphological and electrophoretic techniques. Two bivariate statistics - the ratio between the length of forelimbs and interlimb distances and that between head width and body length - and eleven allozyme loci revealed close similarity between a sample taken in Moravia (Czech Republic) and a sample of T. dobrogicus collected in Vienna (Austria). Accordingly, the Moravian population should be classified as T dobrogicus. Therewith, the northeastern limit of the known distribution of Triturus dobrogicus is extended into the Czech Republic.
A reproducing population of the common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis) is reported from the Czech Silesia (Czech Republic) for the first time. The lizards live in the ruins of the castle Šelenburk which is located on the Cvilín Hill near the town Krnov. This finding extends the known range of P. muralis from the nearest known Moravian locality cca 60 km to the North-West.
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