Статьи

The distribution and morphometric features of the common toad (Bufo bufo) in the North-East of European Russia are discussed. The northern boundary of the species' range in the region has a complex configuration. In the west and central part of the region, the toad is found up to latitude 65º42'N and 63º01'N, respectively, the eastern border of its habitat moves northwards up to 64º13' and then drops to the south along the Ural Mountain Ridge.

Population density of reptiles in four desert areas of southwestern Tajikistan was estimated in spring 2018–2019. The structure of reptile communities in seven typical landscapes was described. The highest species diversity and population density were observed in sandy landscapes. Seven species of psammobionts formed the basis of these reptile communities.

We studied sexual dimorphism in the black forest-steppe viper, Pelias berus nikolskii (Vedmederja, Grubant et Rudaeva, 1986), inhabiting the Voronezh region. From 2008 to 2017, 118 snakes were captured, of which 84 were males and 34 were females. Body length, tail length, and five head measurements were taken from the individuals was calculated. Analysis of Covariance showed that males and females differed in all traits except the greatest width of the head and head length.

The harvesting of the Central Asian tortoise has been a longstanding practice in Uzbekistan. Throughout the 1930s–1950s, this species was harvested to feed farm livestock and shepherd dogs, and during the World War II, tortoise meat was used to provide additional nutrition to the people. The 1960s marked the start of commercial trade in tortoises. The annual volumes of legal harvesting of wild tortoises started to grow in the late 1990s, and reached 85 thousand specimens per year by 2017.

The morphological characteristics of Coronella austriaca Laurenti, 1768 in the Samara region are presented. The proportion of melanists in the total sample (n = 147) was 2.04%. In wild-caught individuals of different ages and in calves obtained under laboratory conditions which were not in a state of molting, five variants of belly coloration (n = 140) were recorded, namely: black (17.1%), gray (5.0%), brown (17.9%), beige (2.9 %), and orange (57.1%).

In the southern part of Karelia, on the Kizhi island, the temperature dynamics in piles of stones (collected by peasants from fields), in which the common viper takes shelter from the winter cold, was studied. A key role in experiencing winter is played by snow drifts covering the stones from the outside, and heat coming from the depths of the earth. It has been shown that in ordinary winters, the temperature stays at 0°C for three months in the winter shelters of the viper, often drops down to -2°C, and even lower for a short time.

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. rostombekowi N_b = 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.