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List Of Amphibians Of Bulgaria
Bulgaria is a country in southeastern Europe situated entirely in the Balkan peninsula. Bulgaria is inhabited by 22 autochthonous amphibian species, which makes the amphibians the least diverse class of vertebrates in the country. They include nine species of newts and salamanders from a single family, Salamandridae, as well as 13 frog and toad species from five families— Bombinatoridae, Bufonidae, Hylidae, Pelobatidae and Ranidae. The most recently classified species are the northern crested newt, identified in 2005, and the Macedonian crested newt, identified in 2007. In 2017 genetic studies suggested that the smooth newt was a species complex and was split in six species, of which three are found in Bulgaria—the smooth newt ''sensu lato'', the Greek smooth newt and the Schmidtler's smooth newt. Some of the most common species include the European green toad, yellow-bellied toad, and marsh frog. The foundations of Bulgarian herpetology (the study of amphibi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macedonian Crested Newt
''Triturus macedonicus'', the Macedonian crested newt, is a newt species of the crested newt species complex in genus ''Triturus'', found in the Western Balkan peninsula (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, North Macedonia, north-western Greece and south-western Bulgaria). To the North, its range borders that of the Danube crested newt and the Northern crested newt and to the East, that of the Balkan-Anatolian crested newt. It was first described as a variety of ''Triturus karelinii'', later considered a subspecies of ''Triturus carnifex'', and was elevated to species rank following molecular phylogenetic analysis in 2007. ''Triturus arntzeni'' was considered a synonym of ''T. macedonicus'', but this name applies in fact to a hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ... be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rodope Montane Mixed Forests
The Rodope montane mixed forests is a terrestrial ecoregion of Europe defined by the WWF. It belongs in the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome and the Palearctic realm. Geography The Rodope mountane mixed forests cover the higher parts of the Balkan Mountains, the Rhodope Mountains, Rila, Pirin, Vitosha, Sredna Gora, Ograzhden and Maleshevo, situated almost entirely in Bulgaria, as well as in some adjacent areas in Greece, North Macedonia and Serbia. They span an area of 31,600 km2 and are replaced at lower altitudes by the Balkan mixed forests. Flora The number of species of vascular plants in the ecoregion are estimated at 3,000. The lower areas are covered with mixed deciduous woods, most prominently with European beech, Oriental hornbeam, European hornbeam and several oak species. The higher zones are dominated by coniferous forests — Scots pine, Bosnian pine, Macedonian pine, Bulgarian fir, Silver fir, Norway spruce, etc. The highest altitudes support sh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Balkan Mixed Forests
The Balkan mixed forests are a terrestrial ecoregion of southeastern Europe according to both the WWF and Digital Map of European Ecological Regions by the European Environment Agency. It belongs in the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome and the Palearctic realm. Geography The Balkan mixed forests cover much of the valleys, plains and mountain slopes of the eastern Balkans, mainly Bulgaria, on different altitude, except higher parts of the Rila-Rhodope and Balkan, Mountains, where they are substituted by the Rodope montane mixed forests. It extends from approximately the Drina valley to the coasts of the Black, Marmara and Aegean Seas and occupy 224,400 km² (86,600 sq. mi) in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Serbia, Romania, Greece, Kosovo and Turkey. The ecoregion is surrounded by the Euxine-Colchic deciduous forests (in Turkey, Georgia and Bulgaria), Aegean and Western Turkey sclerophyllous and mixed forests (in Greece), Pindus Mount ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palearctic Realm
The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Siberian region; the Mediterranean Basin; the Sahara and Arabian Deserts; and Western, Central and East Asia. The Palaearctic realm also has numerous rivers and lakes, forming several freshwater ecoregions. The term 'Palearctic' was first used in the 19th century, and is still in use as the basis for zoogeographic classification. History In an 1858 paper for the ''Proceedings of the Linnean Society'', British zoologist Philip Sclater first identified six terrestrial zoogeographic realms of the world: Palaearctic, Aethiopian/Afrotropic, Indian/Indomalayan, Australasian, Nearctic, and Neotropical. The six indicated general groupings of fauna, based on shared biogeography and large-scale geographic barriers to migration. Alfred Wallace ad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ecoregion
An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural communities and species. The biodiversity of flora, fauna and ecosystems that characterise an ecoregion tends to be distinct from that of other ecoregions. In theory, biodiversity or conservation ecoregions are relatively large areas of land or water where the probability of encountering different species and communities at any given point remains relatively constant, within an acceptable range of variation (largely undefined at this point). Three caveats are appropriate for all bio-geographic mapping approaches. Firstly, no single bio-geographic framework is optimal for all taxa. Ecoregions reflect the best compromise for as many taxa as possible. Se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ivan Buresh
Ivan Yosifov Buresh ( bg, Иван Йосифов Буреш; 27 December 1885 – 8 August 1980) was a Bulgarian zoologist and entomologist who has been dubbed "the patriarch of Bulgarian biology". Ivan Buresh was born in Sofia, the capital of the Principality of Bulgaria, to the family of Czech zincographer and photographer Josef Bureš who had settled in Bulgaria after the Liberation in 1878. Buresh finished high school in Sofia and studied natural science at Charles University in Prague and Sofia University. He graduated in 1909 and continued his post-graduate education at the University of Munich under world-famous zoologist Richard Hertwig and Franz Theodor Doflein. From 1914 on, Buresh was curator of the Royal Museum of Natural History. In 1918, he was promoted to director of the Royal Institutes of Natural Science, which included the Royal Museum of Natural History, the Sofia Zoo and the Botanical Garden, among other institutions. He held that post until 1946. In 1926, he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herpetology
Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and reptiles (including snakes, lizards, amphisbaenids, turtles, terrapins, tortoises, crocodilians, and the tuataras). Birds, which are cladistically included within Reptilia, are traditionally excluded here; the scientific study of birds is the subject of ornithology. Thus, the definition of herpetology can be more precisely stated as the study of ectothermic (cold-blooded) tetrapods. Under this definition "herps" (or sometimes "herptiles" or "herpetofauna") exclude fish, but it is not uncommon for herpetological and ichthyological scientific societies to collaborate. Examples include publishing joint journals and holding conferences in order to foster the exchange of ideas between the fields, as the American Society of Ichthyologists and He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marsh Frog
The marsh frog (''Pelophylax ridibundus'') is a species of water frog native to Europe and parts of western Asia. Description The marsh frog is the largest type of frog in most of its range, with males growing to a size around 100 mm (3.9 in) SVL and females slightly larger (4 in) SVL. There is a large variation in colour and pattern, ranging from dark green to brown or grey, sometimes with some lighter green lines; a lighter line on the back is generally present. The frog will usually be darker coloured in early spring to absorb heat more efficiently. Tadpoles can reach up to 190 mm (7.3 in) in length, but this usually occurs in places with long winters where the tadpole has time to grow. Distribution and habitat They occur in a large part of Europe starting from western France and spreading out into the Middle East and about a quarter into Russia. There are also isolated populations in Saudi Arabia and the Russian Far East, along with some introduced populations in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yellow-bellied Toad
The yellow-bellied toad (''Bombina variegata'') belongs to the order Anura, the family Bombinatoridae, and the genus of fire-bellied toads. The toad is distributed mainly across western Europe as well as a handful of countries in eastern Europe. While the population of the toad is steadily decreasing over time, its numbers are not critical enough to be considered threatened or extinct. Conservation efforts in Germany are taking place to remedy the declining population before it is too late. The toad is characterized by its bright ‘yellow belly,’ and has a dark brown and green dorsal body. The toad displays crypsis to camouflage itself from predators. It also positions itself to display yellow coloration when facing a threat. The warts found on the dorsal side allow for the toad's toxins to be readily excreted when needed. The yellow-bellied toad is fascinating species to study because of its breeding choices; it chooses calculated risk when deciding to breed in shallow, un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Green Toad
The European green toad (''Bufotes viridis'') is a species of toad found in steppes, mountainous areas, semi-deserts, urban areas and other habitats in mainland Europe, ranging from far eastern France and Denmark to the Balkans and Western Russia. As historically defined, the species ranged east through the Middle East and Central Asia to western China, Mongolia and northwestern India, and south through Italy and the Mediterranean islands to North Africa. Following genetic and morphological reviews, 14 population (all largely or entirely Asian, except for the African and Balearic green toads) are now regarded as separate species. These species and the European green toad are placed in their own genus ''Bufotes'', but they were included in ''Bufo''. Description The spots on the back vary from green to dark brown and sometimes red spots appear, too. The underside is white or very lightly coloured. The European green toad will change colour in response to heat and light changes. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Schmidtler's Smooth Newt
Schmidtler's smooth newt (''Lissotriton schmidtleri'') is a newt species found from northwestern Greece and southeast Bulgaria over East Thrace across the Bosphorus to northwest Anatolia. Its range borders that of the smooth newt (''L. vulgaris''), the Greek smooth newt (''L. graecus'') and Kosswig's smooth newt (''L. kosswigi'') to the north, west, and east, respectively. Christopher Raxworthy described the species in 1988 as ''Triturus vulgaris schmidtleri'', a subspecies of the smooth newt. After genetic data had suggested the smooth newt was a complex of distinct lineages, Pabijan and colleagues recognised Schmidtler's smooth newt as distinct species in 2017. This was followed by subsequent authors. The species differs from other species in the smooth newt species complex mainly in the male secondary characters during breeding season. It is overall very similar to the smooth newt but rather small, with males reaching length. The dorsal crest reaches 2 mm or more i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
