Late Pleistocene fossils and the future distribution of Rana temporaria (Amphibia, Anura) along the Apennine Peninsula (Italy)
Bartolini-Lucenti, Saverio (Università di Firenze. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra)
Cioppi, Elisabetta (Università di Firenze. Museo di Storia Naturale, Sezione Geologia e Paleontologia)
Rook, Lorenzo (Università di Firenze. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra)
Delfino, Massimo (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)

Fecha:	2014
Resumen:	Background: The effect of past climatic changes on the distribution of organisms is a fertile field of research that has been tackled in many different ways. Because the fossil record provides direct access to the chronological and geographic dimensions of biological events occurred in the past, it can be a useful tool for assessing range contractions and expansions related to climatic changes. - Results: Here, we provide support for the 'recent' shrinkage of the range of a frigophilous anuran, the common frog, Rana temporaria Linnaeus, 1758, by analyzing the amphibian fossil assemblage coming from the Grotta di Equi, a Late Pleistocene site (about 45 ka) located in the Apuan Alps (northern Apennine chain, Massa-Carrara Province, Italy). Besides, R. temporaria, the assemblage includes cf. Salamandra salamandra Linnaeus, 1758 and Bufo bufo Linnaeus, 1758. - Conclusions: The presence of R. temporaria in the Apuan Alps during a cold interglacial phase at an elevation that is much lower than the minimum current elevation in the region (about 300 m lower) supports the previously reported hypothesis that the Pleistocene coolings favored the dispersal of this frigophilous species along the Apennine chain and that its current, locally disjointed distribution is the effect of the post Pleistocene raise in temperature. Our results concur in predicting that the current global warming will further affect, negatively, the range of this frigophilous species by further reducing its distribution in the southern sectors of its range.
Ayudas:	Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad CGL2011-28681 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2014/SGR-416
Derechos:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Lengua:	Anglès
Documento:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Materia:	Biogeography ; Bufo bufo ; Fossil record ; Global warming ; Grotta di Equi ; Rana temporaria ; Salamandra salamandra
Publicado en:	Zoological studies, Vol. 53 (Dec. 2014) , issue 76, ISSN 1810-522X

DOI: 10.1186/s40555-014-0076-5

10 p, 1.3 MB

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Documentos de investigación > Documentos de los grupos de investigación de la UAB > Centros y grupos de investigación (producción científica) > Ciencias > Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP)
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