the online meeting place for all who love our amphibians and reptiles |
|
Subspecies |
Post Reply |
Author | ||
Yashca
Member Joined: 06 Feb 2009 Status: Offline Points: 19 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Posted: 26 Mar 2012 at 10:32pm |
|
I was reading today about how certain bird species, amongst other things, have different subspecies in different parts of the British Isles. For example, the Coal tit has an Irish subspecies, as well as a mainland Britain one, which are both different from the continental subspecies. Dipper have two different species throughout the British Isles, as do Yellowhammer and Wren.
I would have thought, especially with birds being able to disperse much more easily than reptiles and amphibians, that some of our herps might possibly have different subspecies in different parts of their range? Are all Irish herps the same subspecies as mainland Britian? And, if so, are they the same as continental Europe? The only possible one that I can think of would be Pool Frog? I know that they occur as a reintroduced 'Northern/Brown' population, as well as an introduced 'Southern/Green' population - are these different subspecies?
|
||
Caleb
Senior Member Joined: 11 Apr 2011 Status: Offline Points: 660 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
Yes, all the native herps in the British Isles and Ireland are currently regarded as being of the same subspecies as those on the nearest parts of continental Europe.
There currently aren't any subspecies recognised for the pool frog. The Scandinavian and British pool frogs are often described as the 'Northern clade', as they've been found to be genetically and acoustically different from Southern animals. |
||
Post Reply | |
Tweet
|
Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |