This paper reports the results of our monitoring the presence of advertisements for the sale of sea turtle (Cheloniidae) derivatives on the Internet in Russia in 2021 and 2023. Data on species, number, region of origin, market price and turnover rate of these derivatives are summarized. A brief analysis of the regulatory framework governing the turnover of sea turtle derivatives is given and the conclusion on the necessity of its adjustment is provided.
The results of our comparative analysis of parameters of the leukocyte blood system of underyearlings and mature specimens of the common viper Vipera berus are presented. The material was the blood of 36 females and 26 males caught in the Middle Volga basin, and 13 underyearlings born in captivity from 4 females of this sample. V. b.
Rock lizards of the genus Darevskia have long been an important model object for study of reptile evolution. To understand the overall picture, it is important to know how bisexual and parthenogenetic species are distributed within this genus. The ranges of Caucasian species of rock lizards have been studied for a long time and in detail. However, recent attention to the species inhabiting the territory of Iran has been attracted after the description of several new species in 2013.
With the help of artificial inter-population crosses of adult Rana temporaria from four spatially remote populations of the European part of the species' range, the magnitude and direction of changes in metamorphic traits were estimated.
In this work, we tested the conditions for fulfilling the concept of geographic parthenogenesis by a comparative analysis of the breadth of the ecological niches of parental and parthenogenetic lizards of the genus Darevskia with a various number of established hybridization events. Estimates of the breadth of ecological niches of the parthenogenetic species D. rostombekowiNb = 0.6(±0.08) and parental bisexual species D.
Predictive maps of the distribution of the marsh frog (Pelophylax ridibundus) in Russia under the conditions of global climate change up to 2100 are presented. It is shown that under the influence of global climate change, the range will expand and the centroid will shift to the north-east.
The length of the body without a tail (L.) and the length of an intact tail (L. cd.) were measured in 91 males and 110 females of Anguis colchica from the Chamzinsky rayon of the Republic of Mordovia. A comparative analysis of three morphometric characters (L., L. cd., L./ L. cd.) of males and females was carried out with the construction of variation series and using the frequency approach. Range of variability of L. and L.
Skink lizards have an unusual complex osteoderm, which consists of several bone elements – osteodermitis. We have carried out the first histological and computer microtomographic study of the structure of the original and regenerating complex osteoderms of skink lizards using Eurylepis taeniolata as an object. The topography of osteoderms in the integument of the original region of the tail and its regenerated part was studied. The fundamental similarity of the morphology and microstructure of the original and regenerated osteoderms was showed.
This research paper examines the influence geochemical specifics of habitats on acid base balance of marsh frog blood. An aquatic species, P. ridibundus, is surrounded throughout its entire life cycle by an aquatic environment, which ensures the free exchange of gases and ions across the entire surface of the body, thanks mainly to passive and active transport, which is easily realized in a significant volume.
The results of the study of hematological parameters of the blood of the larvae caucasian brown frog Rana macrocnemis and the total activity of catalase compared with adults and at different temperature conditions: at 23°C and after five days of hypothermia at 5°C. Differences in the blood formula were revealed in different periods of ontogenesis and under the influence of artificial hypothermia.
Distribution of cryptic species of green toads (Bufotes viridis and B. sitibundus) in Dagestan still understudied. We used the nuclear (microsatellite BM224) and mitochondrial (fragment of the CytB gene) markers characterized by species-specific alleles and haplotypes, respectively. Alleles of B. viridis predominated in toad populations in the plains in the north of the republic, while B. sitibundus alleles were more numerous in more southern mountainous and coastal (the coast of the Caspian Sea southeast of Makhachkala) regions.
We used the route method to carry out quantitative counts of reptiles in nine regions of Southeastern Kazakhstan. The results yielded data on the population density of reptiles in fourteen habitats. We observed the greatest diversity of species and the largest number of reptiles in sandy deserts. Both measures were much smaller in loamy plains and low mountains. In desert habitats, the Central Asian tortoise Agrionemys horsfieldii and the rapid racerunner Eremias velox were more common than other species.
In the course of multi-year field research (2002–2022, and partially 2023) in the Karadag Nature Reserve (southeastern Crimea; 44.9º N, 35.2º E) the seasonal activity frame and terms of the emergence of juveniles were studied in two common species of lacertids: the Balkan wall lizard (Podarcis tauricus) and the Crimean rock lizard (Darevskia lindholmi). Activity during the winter period is characteristic for both species: over 22 years of observations, P. tauricus and D.
In order to check the health of individuals of the Mediterranean tortoise Nikolskii Testudo graeca nikolskii Ckhikvadze et Tuniyev, 1986 (22 individuals: 6 males and 16 females) collected in the vicinity of Anapa (Krasnodar region of Russia), a haematological approach was used to assess adaptive blood reactions. Intraerythrocytic parasites Haemogregarina spp. (Adeleorina, Coccidia) were detected in blood smears of 54.5% of turtles.
Main observations were made in a sample plot (by 10 km2) during 1999–2023. In 1999 about 40% of the sample plot was arable lands. In 2000–2003 the ploughing had been stopped. In sandy patches, former arables began to be replaced by heathlands with xerophytic grass and sparse sprouts of pine. In 1999–2005 Z. vivipara inhabited the outer edges of floodplain forest with high density; L. agilis distribution was restricted to small patch (about 25 ha) of drained peatland located 4 km away from floodplain forest. Since 2006 L.
Over the entire observation history (up to and including 2023), the great crested newt Triturus cristatus (Laurenti, 1768) was found in 39 localities within 12 out of 23 administrative districts of the Tula region, with 23 locations (59%) discovered in the last 4 years (2020–2023). The vast majority of the find points (92.3%) belong to the zones of coniferous-broadleaved and broadleaved forests. The species is less common in the forest-steppe zone, although in general its distribution here is insufficiently studied.
Abnormal activity of Pelophylax ridibundus in the cooling pond of the Balakovo NPS (Saratov region) was detected during the winter period of 2003. The temperature range within which this activity was observed corresponds to that for the exit of individuals of this species from wintering during the spring period.
A third specimen of Psammophis lineolatus (Brandt, 1836) from the Caucasus (near the Anabad village, Ordubad district, Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan) is described.
We describe a case of temporary transfer of a striated lizard, Lacerta strigata Eichwald, 1831 to eating winged individuals of the cornfield ant, Lasius alienus (Foerster, 1850) registered in the territory of the Staropavlovskaya village, Stavropol region.
The coloration pattern of 485 newborn sand lizards (Lacerta agilis Linnaeus, 1758) got by laboratory egg incubation was studied. The eggs were laid in terrariums by 109 pregnant females caught at two localities in the Samara Region (2011 - 2013 and 2015). The posterity of the females from the Togliatti locality exhibited two coloration morphs, typica exigua and immaculata-concolor, whereas that of the females from the Mordovo village (33 km from Togliatti, the opposite bank of the Volga river) had only one pattern, typica exigua.