A progressive extirpation: an overview of the fossil record of Salamandrina (Salamandridae, Urodela)

ABSTRACT

Salamandrina is the only extant representative of the Salamandrininae, characterised by a unique suite of morphological, ecological, and ethological features. The Salamandrina species are endemic of Italy, although their past distribution included different areas of Europe. Fossil remains belonging to this genus were previously described from the Miocene of Hungary, Mio-Pliocene transition of Greece, and Pliocene of Sardinia. The fossil record of this genus is herein expanded, with detailed descriptions of pre-caudal and caudal vertebrae from the Miocene of Germany (Petersbuch), Greece (Ano Metochi), Sardinia (Oschiri), and Spain (La Gloria, La Roma, Masada Ruea, Puente Minero), and the Pleistocene of Italy (Montagnola Senese). Otic-occipitum complexes and limb elements referred to Salamandrina are also described from the Miocene of La Roma (Spain). All these remains are referred to Salamandrina sp., given that identification at the species level of the retrieved skeletal elements is not possible. Nevertheless, the fossil record clearly indicates that the current range of this genus is the result of a prolonged extirpation process that ultimately led to the significant shrinkage of the original range or, at least apparently, to a late dispersal into the Italian Peninsula.

KEYWORDS:

• Palaeontology
• Neogene
• Quaternary
• extinction
• European urodeles

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants (ex-60% 2018-2020) from the Università degli Studi di Torino. G.P. was supported by funds from the Earth and Environmental Science Department of the University of Pavia and the Societas Herpetologica Italica (‘Prof. Francesco Barbieri’ prize) and from the SYNTHESYS Project http://www.synthesys.info/, which is financed by the European Community Research Infrastructure Action under the FP6 ‘Structuring the European Research Area’ Programme (ES-TAF 1642). L.M. received support from the SYNTHESYS Project (FR-TAF 2486 and HU-TAF 2724). A.V. is funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation through a Humboldt Research Fellowship. M.D. acknowledges the Generalitat de Catalunya (CERCA Program), and the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación (CGL2016-76431-P, AEI/FEDER, EU). L.R. was supported by Fondi di Ateneo dell’Università di Firenze. M. Böhme e W. Wessel are thanked for the loan of fossil materials under their care. B. Sanchiz, S. Bailon, and J. Vörös kindly offered assistance respectively during the work at MNCN in Madrid, MNHN in Paris, and HMNH in Budapest.

Data availability statement

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung; Generalitat de Catalunya; Synthesys Project; Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación; Università degli Studi di Firenze; Università degli Studi di Torino.