The purpose of this book is to communicate basic knowledge about two species of amphibians of the Urodela order, the fire salamander and the banded newt, along the southern border of their distribution in Israel in an area of especially extreme conditions, and to present to the reader the fascinating world of these species. The book is based on theoretical material from the academic literature that has been published in journals in the English language over the past 40 years.
Sample Chapter(s)
PREFACE (80 KB)
Components of the Book:
- Head Page
- Copyright Page
- PREFACE
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- THE RESEARCHERS WHOSE FINDINGS ARE THE BASIS OF THIS BOOK
- Table of Contents
- INTRODUCTION: THE CLASS OF AMPHIBIANS
- THE URODELA (CAUDATA) ORDER
- PART A: THE FIRE SALAMANDER (Salamandra infraimmaculata)
- CHAPTER 1: ADULTS
- DESCRIPTION, DISTRIBUTION AND CLASSIFICATION
- HABITAT
- BEHAVIOR OF SALAMANDERS AFTER METAMORPHOSIS IN THE TERRESTRIAL PHASE
- POPULATION STRUCTURE
- FOOD AND NATURAL ENEMIES
- THE SOUTHERN DISTRIBUTION BORDER
- THE HABITAT IN THE GALILEE—THE MERON REGION
- THE HABITAT IN THE CARMEL
- THE HABITAT IN THE TEL DAN NATURE RESERVE
- GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE ISRAELI SPECIES (Salamandra infraimmaculata)
- DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SALAMANDERS IN ISRAEL
- CHAPTER 2: GENETIC AND MORPHOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN POPULATIONS
OF SALAMANDERS IN HABITATS IN ISRAEL
- SIZE AND BODY
- DIFFERENCES BETWEEN POPULATIONS IN ISRAEL
- DIFFERENCES IN BODY MARKINGS BETWEEN POPULATIONS IN ISRAEL
- SPOTS: YOUNG AND ADULT INDIVIDUALS IN THE GALILEE REGION
- SPOTS: THE GALILEE AND TEL DAN ADULTS
- SPOTS: THE GALILEE AND CARMEL YOUNG INDIVIDUALS
- GENETIC INFLUENCE ON COLOR MARKINGS
- DIFFERENCES IN PLASMA PROTEINS BETWEEN POPULATIONSGENETIC DIFFERENCES
- BETWEEN POPULATIONS OF THE FIRE
- SALAMANDER IN ISRAEL AT THE DNA LEVEL
- CHAPTER 3: SEASONAL ACTIVITY OF SALAMANDERS
- RESEARCH METHODS
- FINDINGS
- CHAPTER 4: THE COMPOSITION OF POPULATIONS FROM VARIOUSHABITATS
- CHAPTER 5: REPRODUCTION OF THE FIRE SALAMANDER IN ISRAEL
- SEXUAL BEHAVIOR
- STAGES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR (FIGURE 5.2)
- THE SAMPLES INVESTIGATED
- REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS
- THE OVARIES
- THE OVARIAN CYCLE OF THE FIRE SALAMANDER COMPARING OVARY SIZE OF THE FIRE SALAMANDER IN DIFFERENT HABITATS
- COMPARING THE DEVELOPMENT OF EGGS IN DIFFERENT HABITATS
- COMPARING THE OVARIAN CYCLE OF FIRE SALAMANDER FROM DIFFERENT HABITATS
- THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BODY SIZE AND OVARY SIZE
- THE OVIDUCT OF THE FIRE SALAMANDER IN ISRAEL
- THE UTERUS OF THE FIRE SALAMANDER IN ISRAEL
- DEVELOPMENT OF THE EGG
- PRIOR TO THE VITELLOGENESIS STAGE
- THE VITELLOGENESIS STAGE
- AFTER THE VITELLOGENESIS STAGE
- DISTRIBUTION OF EGGS WITHIN THE OVARY IN THE VITELLOGENESIS STAGE
- THE REPRODUCTIVE CYCLE
- THE MECHANISM OF REPRODUCTION
- REPRODUCTION STRATEGY
- PART B: LARVAE
- CHAPTER 6: SPAWNING OF LARVAE IN DIFFERENT HABITATS
- CHAPTER 7: GROWTH RATE AND METAMORPHOSIS OF LARVAE
- CHAPTER 8: FOOD OF LARVAE
- THE EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON THE GROWTH OF LARVAE IN CONTROLLED CONDITIONS
- EXPERIMENTS 1-10
- PART C: ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOR
- CHAPTER 9: THE ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOR OF THE FIRE SALAMANDER
REGARDING WATER AND TEMPERATURE REGULATION
- SELECTION OF SHELTER
- SALAMANDERS’ SELECTION OF GROUND MOISTURE
- THE EFFECT OF MOISTURE AND SIZE OF THE SPACE ON THE SELECTION OF SHELTER
- EXPERIMENTS 6-9
- THE EFFECT OF DEPTH OF MOISTURE ON THE SELECTION OF SHELTER
- CHAPTER 10: REGULATION OF BODY TEMPERATURE
- SALAMANDERS OF TEL DAN
- SALAMANDERS OF THE GALILEE
- SALAMANDERS OF THE CARMEL
- SELECTION OF SALAMANDER LARVAE ACCORDING TO ACCLIMATION
- EFFECTS OF AGE AND SEASON
- SUMMARY
- SUMMARY OF THE FIRST PART, THE FIRE SALAMANDER (S. infraimmaculata)
- PART D: THE BANDED NEWT (Triturus vittatus vittatus )
- CHAPTER 11: THE BANDED NEWT (Triturus vittatus vittatus )
- THE REPRODUCTIVE CYCLE
- BREEDING SITES INVESTIGATED IN AN ECOLOGICAL STUDY
- LIMNOLOGICAL MEASURES
- CHAPTER 12: THE LIFE CYCLE OF THE BANDED NEWT IN VARIOUS HABITATS OF
NORTHERN ISRAEL
- INTRODUCTION
- RESEARCH METHODS
- FINDINGS
- CHAPTER 13: CHANGES IN OOGENESIS AND SPERMATOGENESIS IN THE LIFE CYCLE
OF THE BANDED NEWT
- RESEARCH METHODS
- FINDINGS
- CHAPTER 14: BIOTIC AND ABIOTIC ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS IN VAROUS
WATER SOURCES WHERE THE BANDED NEWT LIVES AND BREEDS IN
ISRAEL
- RESEARCH METHODS
- FINDINGS
- CHAPTER 15: GROWTH RATE AND DURATION OF METAMORPHOSIS OF LARVAE OF
THE BANDED NEWT IN VARIOUS HABITATS
- CHAPTER 16: MOLECULAR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN POPULATIONS OF THE BANDED
NEWT IN HABITATS IN ISRAEL
- RESEARCH METHODS
- FINDINGS
- CHAPTER 17: MOLECULAR DIFFERENCES IN CONSERVED MITOCHONDRIAL GENES
BETWEEN POPULATIONS OF BANDED NEWTS IN ISRAEL
- RESEARCH METHODS
- FINDINGS
- BIBLOGRAPHY
Readership:
Scientists and non-scientists who are interested in amphibians.
Prof. Gad Degani, MIGAL—Galilee Research Institute, Kiryat Shmona, Israel;Faculty of Science and Technology, Tel-Hai Academic College, Kiryat Shmona, Israel
Prof. Heinrich Mendelssohn, the Biological-Pedagogical Institute in Tel Aviv
Prof. Michael R. Warburg, the academic staff of the Faculty of Biology at the Technion—Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa
Prof. Amiram Shkolnik, the Department of Biology at Oranim Academic College; the Institute of Evolution of the University of Haifa,the National Academy of Sciences of the United States
Dr. Tali Goldberg, Tel-Hai College;a laboratory for the storage of fruits in the Galilee
Dr. Oren Pearlson, Tel-Hai College;the University of Haifa
Dr. Rakefet Sharon, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology