Species list of the European herpetofauna – 2020 update by the Taxonomic Committee of the Societas Europaea Herpetologica

Abstract

The last species list of the European herpetofauna was published by Speybroeck, Beukema and Crochet (2010). In the meantime, ongoing research led to numerous taxonomic changes, including the discovery of new species-level lineages as well as reclassifications at genus level, requiring significant changes to this list. As of 2019, a new Taxonomic Committee was established as an official entity within the European Herpetological Society, Societas Europaea Herpetologica (SEH). Twelve members from nine European countries reviewed, discussed and voted on recent taxonomic research on a case-by-case basis. Accepted changes led to critical compilation of a new species list, which is hereby presented and discussed. According to our list, 301 species (95 amphibians, 15 chelonians, including six species of sea turtles, and 191 squamates) occur within our expanded geographical definition of Europe. The list includes 14 non-native species (three amphibians, one chelonian, and ten squamates).

Amphibians and Reptiles of the Nature Reserve of Pergusa Lake (Enna, Italy), emphasizing Sicilian endemisms

“…The data were stored in a database for further elaboration, and have been added to the Sicilian Herpetological Database (Turrisi & Vaccaro, ongoing) to update the Sicilian Herpetological Atlas (Turrisi et al, 2008). The systematic account follows the recent checklist of the European herpetofauna (Speybroeck et al (2020), although we still consider Bufotes siculus ) at a full species rank instead of subspecies of B. boulengeri, as documented and supported by Colliard et al (2010).…”

Climate overrides the effects of land use on the functional composition and diversity of Mediterranean reptile assemblages

“…Natrix natrix was split into several species after the analyses of this study were completed (Speybroeck et al, 2020). The records in our region correspond to N. astreptophora (southernmost areas) and N. helvetica, whose distribution is still imperfectly known.…”

Skull osteology of Vipera walser (Squamata, Viperidae): Description, variability, ontogeny, and diagnostic characters in comparison to other Italian vipers

“…The jugular foramen, split in only two openings, could be another potentially significant feature, but the general variability in the skull foramina of Vipera renders the taxonomic significance of this trait questionable. Speybroeck et al (2020) recommended to consider V. walser a subspecies of V. berus. As a matter of fact, the molecular phylogeny of V. walser is still debated, and the external morphology is similar to that of V. berus (Speybroeck et al, 2020).…”

“…Speybroeck et al (2020) recommended to consider V. walser a subspecies of V. berus. As a matter of fact, the molecular phylogeny of V. walser is still debated, and the external morphology is similar to that of V. berus (Speybroeck et al, 2020). We keep a neutral position in this debate; the generally similar skull osteology among Vipera species and the highly variable molecular phylogenies appear to suggest incomplete lineage sorting and thus ongoing divergence between two or several species.…”

“…More recently, Speybroeck et al (2020) expressed skepticism about the species status of V. walser and propose to consider it as a subspecies of V. berus, under the name of V. berus walser (Ghielmi et al, 2016), at least until the distinction from V. berus will be better clarified.…”