The collapse of amphibian populations within pristine reserves worldwide suggests that diffuse, globally distributed factors such as pollution may be a cause of these declines. Nevertheless, cause-effect relationships between pollution and declines have proven difficult to establish at all scales, from local to global. We therefore aimed to quantitatively evaluate the weight of evidence for the role of pollution in global amphibian declines by first quantifying the published research on the effects of pollutants for all amphibian species in the world and then cross-referencing this information with species' biogeographic distribution, range area, and conservation status and with threats to species as summarized in the Global Amphibian Assessment. We found strong biogeographic and related taxonomic research biases, with a few, common, widely distributed generalist species from the northern hemisphere accounting for the majority of studies. Tropical regions, where more species and declines occur, were severely underrepresented in ecotoxicological research; therefore, current knowledge does not permit assessment of the significance of pollution in amphibian declines at a global scale or in regions where most declines occur. Moreover, if broader distributional ranges and occurrence at higher latitudes are correlated with broader environmental tolerances, current knowledge may considerably underestimate the sensitivity of the majority of amphibian species to pollutants. Finally, because species studied represent only a narrow subset of traits that mediate exposure and susceptibility to pollution, the current potential for extrapolation among species, guilds, ontogenetic phases, levels of complexity, habitat types, sites, and regions is weak. Ultimately, to mitigate these research biases and thus improve the basis for risk management, research policy must balance the spatial scale of the problem (global) and the distribution of knowledge (regional) so that biodiversity representation can be increased and regional bioindicators of environmental health can be developed.

Sphaenorhynchus platycephalus was briefly described on the basis of a single specimen, with only "S-Amerika" as its locality. Although it has been regarded as a distinct species, compelling evidence is lacking. A comparison of all currently described species of Sphaenorhynchus, including type specimens of several species, allowed us to provide morphological evidence that S. platycephalus and S. orophilus are conspecific, with S. orophilus being a junior synonym of S. platycephalus.

A new species of agamid lizard, of the genus Calotes, is described based on morphological evidence. This species is restricted to the Knuckles massif (>900 m elevation) of Sri Lanka. The genus Calotes consists of seven species in Sri Lanka, five of which appear to form an endemic radiation. The new species most closely resembles C. liocephalus Günther, 1872 which has an isolated population in the central highlands and is only known from Pundaluoya (~1000m), Dickoya (~1200m), Upcot (~1400m), Agrapatanas (1665m) and Peak Wilderness (Sri Pada) (>1400m). The populations from Pundaluoya and Dickoya appear to be locally extinct from the wild and are known only from museum specimens collected over 120 years ago. Males of the new species are different from males of C. liocephalus because of the absence of a gular pouch; by having mid gular scales smaller in size than those of its counterpart; scales on the snout which are larger in size than those on the occipital and forehead; pectoral scales which are not enlarged; elongated subcaudal scales; slightly carinate and acuminate abdominal scales; and scales on venter which are somewhat larger in size than those on dorsum at the same level. Finally, we also redescribe Calotes liocephalus, and provide a key to the Sri Lankan species of genus Calotes.

The tadpole of the north african toad Bufo brongersmai is described for the first time in chronological developmental stages from hatching to the onset of metamorphosis based on a complete ontogenetic series. The structure of the oral disk and of the buccopharyngeal cavity are shown. Fifteen metric parameters are described in eight tadpole size classes by means of standard statistical methods and they are compared with those of other circummediterranean Bufo species. The eidonomic characteristics of the tadpole of B. brongersmai turn out to be intermediate between B. bufo and B. viridis.

Situated at the junction of three continents, Europe, Asia and Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean is an ideal region to study the effects of palaeogeography, ecology and long human presence on animal evolution. Laudakia stellio (Squamata: Agamidae) is found across this region and offers an excellent opportunity for such studies. The high morphological variation across their range suggests that these lizards might represent a species complex. This is the first study exploring their evolutionary history, using molecular markers and individuals from all described subspecies. We employed the latest phylogenetic and species-delimitation methods to identify all distinct evolutionary lineages, their genetic variation and divergence times. The phenotypical diversity of L. stellio matches its genetic differentiation: almost all subspecies correspond to well-supported retrieved subclades and additional distinct lineages representing intermediate morphs have been retrieved. ‘Laudakia stellio’ represents three distinct evolutionary entities that diverged during the Plio-Pleistocene transition, which we propose as distinct species. One includes Greek and Turkish populations, as well as cryptic Anatolian lineages. The second comprises all other Near East populations and the third is endemic to Cyprus. Our results indicate a role of humans in shaping present distribution patterns, and highlight the importance of the Aegean, Anatolia and the Levant as glacial refugia and diversity hotspots.