Loss of largest and oldest individuals of the Montpellier snake correlates with recent warming in the southeastern Iberian Peninsula

The effects of climate change on organisms are now being extensively studied in many different taxa. However, the variation in body size, usually shrinkage in response to increasing temperature, has received little attention regarding to reptiles. During past periods of global warming, many organisms shrank in size, and current evidence and experiments manipulating temperature have shown a biomass decrease in some organisms with increasing temperatures. Here we test whether the body size of the Montpellier snake Malpolon monspessulanus from the southeastern Iberian Peninsula is changing and correlated with the increasing temperature in this region during a 39year period (1976–2014). We measured the snout–vent length (SVL) of vouchers in scientific collections to check for trends in adult body size at the population level in relation with temperature, while controlling for the age of the individuals (estimated by skeletochronology, n¼141). Given the great ontogenetic variation in body size of the study species, we categorized age in 3 classes: “young adults” (under 5 years old), “intermediate adults” (from 5 to 7 years old), and “old adults” (from 8 to 14 years old). By means of linear mixed models, we found a negative relationship between SVL of “old adults” and average annual temperature in the region during the lifetime of each individual. Our results indicate that largest and oldest individuals of the Montpellier Snake, that is, males because of strong sexual size dimorphism in this species, disappeared from the study population, and suggest that it occurred in response to rising environmental temperature.Junta de Andalucía RNM-25

Culebra de cogulla argelina – Macroprotodon cucullatus (Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire, 1827)

Reptiles - Orden Squamata - Familia Colubridae en la Enciclopedia Virtual de Vertebrados Españoles, http://www.vertebradosibericos.org/.A comprehensive review of the natural history of the Algerian False Smooth Snake Macroprotodon cucullatus in Spain.Peer reviewe

Culebra bastarda – Malpolon monspessulanus (Hermann, 1804)

Reptiles - Orden Squamata - Familia Lamprophiidae en la Enciclopedia Virtual de Vertebrados Españoles, http://www.vertebradosibericos.org/. Versiones anteriores: 23-10-2003; 11-11-2003; 20-12-2006; 29-08-2008; 19-11-2009; 2-10-2015; 2017-01-13.A comprehensive review of the natural history of the Montpellier Snake Malpolon monspessulanus in Spain.Peer reviewe

El papel del Estrecho de Gibraltar en la conformación de la actual fauna de anfibios y reptiles en el Mediterráneo Occidental

Peer reviewe

Cannibalism in Bonelli's Eagle (Aquila fasciata)

Letter.JC had a postdoctoral contract jointly financed by the ESF and by the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha (JCCM, Spain), in the framework of the Operational Programme FSE 2007–2013.Peer Reviewe

The fall of a symbol? A high predation rate by the introduced horseshoe whip snake Hemorrhois hippocrepis paints a bleak future for the endemic Ibiza wall lizard Podarcis pityusensis

Invasive species currently account for a major threat to global biodiversity, and island ecosystems are among the most vulnerable, because of the frequency and success of species introductions on islands. Within Mediterranean islands, reptiles not only are frequently introduced species but are also among the most threatened because of these introductions. The Balearic archipelago is a good example of this, since only two of its current 16 species of reptiles are native. Thirteen years ago, the snake Hemorrhois hippocrepis was introduced by cargo in Ibiza island, and it is in expansion. Individuals obtained from an early eradication campaign showed a fast expression of phenotypic plasticity and acquired larger sizes than those of the source population, probably due to a high prey availability and predator scarcity. The species is thriving at the expense of a small variety of native and non-native prey, but the predation pressure on the endemic Podarcis pityusensis, the only native reptile in the island, is very high, as this lizard represents 56% of the prey in frequency, which might threaten its survival on the long term. Our results on the feeding ecology of the snake are of sufficient concern to justify the maintenance of actions to eradicate this invader.Peer reviewe

Planificación del mantenimiento de un molino de rodillos en una industria dedicada a la fabricación de Carbonato de Estroncio

El objetivo de este PFC es: La realización de un plan de mantenimiento y su puesta en práctica. Se iniciará con una descripción del funcionamiento de un molino vertical de rodillos y su principio de funcionamiento. Se describirán los diferentes equipos que lo componen, de instrumentación, eléctrica, control y mecánicamente. Descripción de las generalidades del Mantenimiento. Para finalmente, desarrollar un plan de mantenimiento preventivo mecánico, con su ruta de engrase, hojas de calibración de instrumentación y los procedimientos de trabajos mecánicos, eléctricos y de calibración de instrumentos.Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería IndustrialUniversdiad Politécnica de Cartagen

Estatus de Coronella austriaca en Sierra Nevada (SE Península Ibérica)

Peer Reviewe

DISTRIBUCIÓN DE LOS ANFIBIOS EN LA PROVINCIA DE GRANADA (SE PENINSULA IBÉRICA)

In this article on use the 10 x 10 km. U. T. M. gnd system to represent the distribution of Amphibians in the province of Granada. We have taken great care to make the sampling effort homogeneus among the 13 1 squares in which the province was divided. We have found 11 Amphibians species, 3 of which are Urodelans and 8 are Anurans. The Granada province is the South-oriental limit for the distribution of the Urodelans in the Ibenan Peninsula, and this is perhaps the reason that the populations of these species are scarce and difficult to find in this area. However, al1 Amurans species show a more South-oriental distnbution. We have studied some physical and climatic parameters to observe which factors condition the distribution of each species. The principal factors in this study area that influence the distnbution are the rainfall, number of water places, the limestone lithology and the presence of woody and shruby areas.En el presente artículo se representa la distnbución de los anfibios por medio de la malla U. T. M. de 10 x 10 km. Se ha prestado especial atención a la homogeneización del esfuerzo de muestre0 a través de las 131 cuadrículas en las que queda dividida la provincia de Granada. En el área de estudio se han encontrado 1 1 especies de anfibios, de las que 3 son urodelos y 8 son anuros. Por aquí pasa el límite suroriental de la distribución ibérica de los urodelos por lo que las poblaciones de las especies son escasas y puntuales; sin embargo, todas las especies de anuros presentan poblaciones más surorientales. Se ha estudiado la relación entre diversos parámetros medioambientales y la distribución de las especies; en el área de estudio el factor con más influencia es, como cabría esperar, la precipitación, seguido del número de puntos de agua, la litología caliza y la presencia de masas arbóreas o arbustivas