Past, present, and future climate space of the only endemic vertebrate genus of the Italian peninsula

Abstract

The two extant Salamandrina species represent a unique case of morphology, ecology, and ethology among urodeles. The range of this genus is currently limited to Italy, where it represents the only endemic vertebrate genus, but its past range extended over a much broader area of Europe, including the Iberian and Balkan peninsulas. ENM analyses using modern occurrences of Salamandrina demonstrate that the current climate of the majority of Europe, and especially areas where fossils of this genus were found, is currently not suitable for this genus, neither was it suitable during the last 3.3 million years. This result allows possible assumptions about the climatic influence on the former extirpation of this salamander from several areas of Europe. Furthermore, it shows that, during Pliocene–Pleistocene climatic oscillations, Mediterranean peninsulas, despite being generally considered together because of similar latitude, had different potential to effectively become glacial refugia for this salamander, and possibly for other species as well. Future projections using different CO2 emission scenarios predict that climatic suitability will be even more drastically reduced during the next 50 years, underlining once more the importance of conservation strategies and emission-reducing policies.

Fossil snakes of the Penny Creek Local Fauna from Webster County, Nebraska, USA, and the first record of snakes from the Early Clarendonian (12.5-12 Ma) of North America

“…This may have favoured the survival of amphibians in this area. In a somehow similar way, a persistent humid climate allowed the Italian Peninsula to act as a preferential refuge for amphibians during the Quaternary glacial cycles, versus the role of reptile refuges that was played by the more arid Balkan and Iberian peninsulae (Macaluso et al, 2021(Macaluso et al, , 2023a. A comparable role may be advocated for the Lower Rhine Embayment as well during the late Neogene and maybe the Early Pleistocene.…”

“…With the onset of the Quaternary glacial cycles, amphibians, together with the rest of the European herpetofauna, started to face unsuitable conditions in the areas most influenced by glaciers, thus retreating towards more appropriate environments in the South. The Italian Peninsula, in particular, seems to have acted as a better refuge for at least some groups of amphibians during these times (Macaluso et al, 2021(Macaluso et al, , 2023a, possibly due to a less arid climate compared to the other northern Mediterranean peninsulae. In any case, the Pleistocene witnessed the extirpation or extinction of amphibians that were previously very widespread throughout Europe, such as the alytid frog Latonia von Meyer, 1843 (Szentesi, 2019;Sorbelli et al, 2021) and the whole anuran family Palaeobatrachidae Cope, 1865 (Wuttke et al, 2012;Villa et al, 2016;Roček et al, 2021).…”

A 13‐step framework for better integration of streamlined conservation research

“…This aids in assessing the likelihood of a species' presence in relation to other biotic and abiotic variables, and the potential need for habitat protection. In addition, past and future population ranges can be modeled in relation to paleo‐variations and climate change predictions to assess risks (Macaluso et al, 2021; Figure 1[6.]). Landscape modeling is therefore important in identifying habitats that must be protected to meet the requirements of a specific population and in predicting how these habitats might change in the future.…”

Biogeographic history of Palearctic caudates revealed by a critical appraisal of their fossil record quality and spatio-temporal distribution

“…Proteids are entirely absent from Asia today and their European distribution is restricted to the extant species Proteus anguinus in the Balkan Peninsula [235]. This follows the extinction of the Eurasian genus Mioproteus by the Pleistocene [91,160,197], possibly caused by the climatic oscillations that severely affected many European reptiles and amphibians ( [236] and references therein).…”