
Amphibia
Los anfibios son uno de mis grupos favoritos. Fascinantes y clave en la evolución en la tierra, tienen características únicas que los hacen intrigantes y foco de admiración de muchos de nosotros. En esta sección se incluyen dos de los tres principales grupos de anfibios: Anuros (ranas y sapos) y urodelos (tritones y salamandras).
Veréis que algunas fotos contienen textos informativos de la especie (para verlo entero clickar en la imagen), mientras que otras no. Este es uno de los objetivos de esta página pero requiere bastante tiempo, así que aún estamos trabajando en ello.
Anura
Los anuros, es decir, sapos y ranas se caracterizan por su ausencia de cola en estadio adulto y unas patas posteriores más desarrolladas. Generalmente presentan reproducción externa, y algunas tienen unos cuidados parentales extraordinarios que podéis leer en la entrada de blog "Los mejores padre respiran por la piel". Sus vocalizaciones o cantos son otra característica que los hace muy interesantes, permitiendo incluso diferenciar especies tan solo por ellos.

coloraciones muy rojizas.
Se distribuye por la región eurosiberiana que incluye desde el Norte de España hasta los Urales, con una abundancia mayor en el centro y norte de Europa.
ENG: The european common frog (Rana temporaria) is a large sturdy frog. It has some dark spots that go from the nostrils to the armpits, giving it the appearance of a mask. It has a short and rounded snout, and shorter hind legs than other brown frogs (both characters that help identify). The coloration is very variable, from brown or gray to very reddish colorations.
It is distributed in the Eurosiberian region that includes from the North of Spain to the Urals, with a greater abundance in the center and north of Europe.

Su distribución se extiende por gran parte del norte y noroeste peninsular, descendiendo hacia el centro en Portugal, y con poblaciones aisladas en algunos puntos del sistema central como la Sierra de Francia, Sierra de San Mamede o Sierra de Villuercas por ejemplo.
The iberian frog (Rana iberica) is an Iberian endemism, a frog of small size and very slender, with a characteristic dark spot in the tympanic zone, typical of brown frogs. The eardrum of this species is smaller than the eye and is separated from it (characteristic that helps to define the species) and very long hind legs, with the tibiotarsal joint that surpasses the snout (defining characteristic for the identification in some species of brown frogs).
Its distribution extends over much of the north and northwest peninsular, descending towards the center in Portugal, and with isolated populations in some points of the central system such as the Sierra de Francia, Sierra de San Mamede or Sierra de Villuercas for example.


Pero como se puede ver en la imagen, no es parda sino azul, esto es debido a que en época reproductora, los machos compiten entre sí con los típicos coros y para llamar más la atención frente a los competidores adquieren ese tono azulado.
Se distribuye por el centro de Europa y parte de Asia.
ENG: Moor frog (Rana arvalis) is a species of the brown frog group, with a very similar coloration to the common frog (Rana temporaria) and other members of the group, with a brown color and a darker stripe on the back of the eye. They are differentiated by the tarsal tubers of the hind legs, muzzle length and other biometric differences.
But as you can see in the image, it is not brown but blue, this is because in breeding season, males compete with each other with the typical leks and to draw more attention than competitors acquire that bluish color.
It is distributed by the center of Europe and part of Asia.


Se distribuye por la península y el ser de Francia aunque también ha sido introducida en los archipiélagos canario y balear.
ENG: Undoubtedly the most ubiquitous and common species in the whole Peninsula is the Perez’s frog (Pelophylax perezi), but no less beautiful. It belongs to the Ranidae family. This species has a great variability in the patterns and coloration. This is one of the many specimens that group around ponds during spring and summer.
It could be found in all Iberian Peninsula and South France, also introduced in Canary and Balearic Islands.




Su distribución abarca la Península Ibérica y parte de Francia. En la Península está bien representada en la zona noroccidental, pero está presente en gran parte de la península a excepción de la franja mediterránea.
ENG: Belonging to the Hylidae family with only two representatives in the Iberian Peninsula, the Moller’s tree frog (Hyla molleri) is a species of arboreal habit, which can be found in the reeds and vegetation near ponds during the day, but during the night they are grouped in the ponds for their reproduction.
Its distribution covers the Iberian Peninsula and part of France. In the iberian peninsula it is well represented in the northwestern zone, but it is present in a large part of the peninsula with the exception of the Mediterranean coast.




En cuanto a su distribución está presente en toda la Península salvo Cataluña y parte de Aragón, siendo muy escaso en la Comunidad Valenciana y Murcia.
ENG: The iberian painted frog (Discoglossus galganoi) is an iberian endemism. Its morphology is similar to a frog, it has a heart-shaped pupil, presents a varied coloration, with three typical morphs (spotted, striped and smooth). In this case, it is a male of spotted morph of the subspecies D.g.galganoi, which occupies the western part of the Peninsula. It belongs to the Alytidae family.
It is present in all the Peninsula except Cataluña and part of Aragon, being very scarce in the Comunidad Valenciana and Murcia.






Posee una distribución amplia a nivel europeo: parte de Suiza, Bélgica y Alemania, en casi todo el territorio de Francia y gran parte de la Península Ibérica, aunque está ausente en Andalucía.
ENG: Male common midwife toad (Alytes obstetricans), carrying their eggs, a typical reproductive behaviour of this species. It is a small size amphibian of the family Alytidae, quite ubiquitous. It has three metacarpal tubers in its forelimbs, feature that distinguish tthem (among other morphological and cromatic fectures) from their iberian relative (A. cisternasii).
Its wide distribution occupies most of Europe: part of Switzerland, Belgium and Germany, all France and most of Iberian Peninsula, absent in Andalucía.


De distribución amplia en toda Europa, desde la Península ibérica hasta Bielorrusia, Ucrania y Suecia, incluyendo Reino Unido.
ENG: It is a member of Bufonidae family. It is easy to distinguish from the common toad because of its less marked parotoid glands, its different, much less robust silhouette and variable yellow eyes. It usually has a pale vertebral line characteristic of the species. Its name in Spanish is due to its movements with walking/running locomotion instead of leaping. It has a wide distribution in Europe, from Iberian Peninsula to Belarus, Ukraine and Sweden, including Britannic Islands.



Urodela
Los urodelos agrupan a los tritones y salamandras, y son particularmente especiales e intrigantes para mi. Algunos pareciendo verdaderos dragones crestados en su fase acuática, poseen una belleza incomparable que espero os deje tan absortos como a mí. No necesitan presentación alguna, pero tan solo mencionar que hay algunos que se han adaptado de manera extrema y carecen de pulmones, o el proteo que vive en el agua dentro de cuevas y se puede observar a metros o incluso centímetros de distancia de su ubicación inicial con años de diferencia, sin duda todo un ejemplo de sedentarismo.

ENG: Iberian ribbed newt (Pleurodeles waltl) is the biggest urodele of the Iberian Peninsula. It has an elongated morphology with flattered head, brown-grey coloration with dark spots. Its most representative feature is their orange spots where its ribs are located, they use it as defensive mechanism: its poison glands are located there and it is able to project its ribs laterally, so if a predator bite him, it will spike its ribs and spread the poison. Its powerful immune system allows its recuperation without any problem.
It is well distributed in all the Iberian Peninsula and West Morocco. It inhabits mainly in Centre and South Peninsula, with exception of Almería, an extremely arid area.


Su distribución es muy amplia ocupando todo el paleártico occidental, desde el sur de la Península Ibérica hasta Europa del Este (Bulgaria, Ucrania, Rumanía, Grecia, etc.). En la Península ocupa la mayor parte del territorio.
ENG: Common Fire Salamander (Salamandra salamandra) is one of the most conspicuous urodeles of the Peninsula. This member of Salamandridae family has a vivid coloration, usually black and yellow, with prominent parotid glands as seen in the picture.
There are 9 different subspecies of Fire Salamander in the Iberian Peninsula, distinguished for their coloration and pattern and the length or their rostrum. This one is from the subspecies S.s.bejarae.
Their reproduction is ovoviviparous and larviparous tipically, but there was noticed cases of viviparous reproduction in S.s.fastuosa y S.s.bernardezi subspecies.
Its distribution is very wide occupying all the western Palearctic, from the south of the Iberian Peninsula to Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Ukraine, Romania, Greece, etc.). In the Peninsula it occupies most of the territory.




Presenta una coloración marrón achocolatada, con el vientre más oscuro y con dos bandas dorsales de color cobrizo-dorado y que llegan hasta la cola, dotando a este animal de una belleza única.
En cuanto a su distribución como endemismo ibérico, solo se distribuye en el noroeste peninsular (Asturias, Galicia y parte de León), llegando por Portugal hasta la Serra da Estrela.
ENG: The gold-striped salamander (Chioglossa lusitanica) is one of the most peculiar Iberian endemisms. It is an urodele with an elongated body, and it has a tail that, when it has not been regenerated, reaches lengths that double the body size. It is undoubtedly the most agile urodele in land of the Iberian species and presents another unique character of this species, which is the caudal autotomy, that is to say, like the lizards, the gold-stripe salamander is also able to detach its tail in case of be trapped by said member.
It has a chocolate brown color, with a darker belly and two dorsal bands of copper-gold color that reach to the tail, giving this animal a unique beauty.
Regarding its distribution as Iberian endemism, it is only distributed in the peninsular northwest (Asturias, Galicia and part of León), arriving through Portugal to the Serra da Estrela.




Su distribución se limita a la parte occidental de la Penínula Ibérica.
ENG: It is an Iberian endemism, small size urodele very common in Salamanca and in general in the western Iberian Peninsula. Recently it has been split into two species.
Its distribution is limited to the western part of the Iberian Penínula.










Su distribución ocupa Europa sudoccidental: la mitad oeste de Francia y en la Península ocupa la mitad occidental, aunque es escaso o está ausente en zonas cercanas a Pirineos con clima eurosiberiano.
ENG:
It is included in Salamandridae family like all the Iberian urodele amphibians. During aquatic phase it inhabits calm waters with vegetation where lays its eggs.
Its distribution covers Southwest Europe, in the Peninsula occupies the western half, although it is scarce or absent in areas close to the Pyrenees with Eurosiberian climate.

