Abstract
Abstract 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.
Highlights
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
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 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
Summary
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. As far as Europe is concerned, Rana temporaria has been the subject of several papers (Veith et al 2003; Palo et al 2004; Gómez and Lunt 2006; Zeisset and Beebee 2008; Teacher et al 2009; Stefani et al 2012), probably because its current broad range (Gasc et al 1997; Kuzmin 1999; Sillero et al 2014) and the fact that it is adapted to relatively cold environments render this species a good model for evaluating the range changes that occurred during and after the Pleistocene coolings. The fossil record is only marginally taken into consideration in these papers, but it could potentially provide relevant information thanks to the fact that it represents the only way to directly access to the chronological and geographic dimensions of biological events occurred in the past. The presence of anurans in the cave has long been reported (De Stefani 1917; Battaglia 1919; Branchini 1928), even though the authors did not operate any identification on the material or just referred the remains to ‘Bufo vulgaris’ or ‘Rana sp.’ as still indicated in the collection tags
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