The ecological advantages and disadvantages of melanism in reptiles, especially in the adder (Vipera berus (L. 1758)), have been intensively studied over the years. General consideration would agree that, in most cases, adders which go on to become melanistic, are born cryptic, with a typical zigzag pattern, and darken with age, becoming black in the second or third year of life. In the present note we report the second known case in which a cryptic

In Romania, Rana arvalis is distributed in four large geographical regions: the Western Plains, the Transylvanian Plateau, the Eastern Carpathians (all of these are in Transylvania) and the northern areas of Romanian Moldavia. However, the species has also been recorded in the, Tisa River Basin north of Maramures. From current knowledge, R. arvalis populations in Romania occupy very differing, however always humid habitats, all of which are surrounded

The present paper proves that the endangered steppe runner (Eremias arguta deserti) still exists in the Hanu Conachi River Sand Dunes Nature Reserve. Prior to this study, this species has not been recorded for almost 40 years and had been reported as extinct in the romanian red data book of vertebrates.

The Large Whip Snake (Dolichophis caspius) was last recorded in Romanian Moldavia in 1937 and the Romanian Red Data Book of Vertebrates declared the species extinct from the area. The present note prooves that the large whip snake sitll occurs in Moldavia by way of 3 live specimens captured in Galati county in may 2007.

This note presents records the Blotched Snake (Elaphe sauromates) for the first time outside of Dobrudja and Moldavia and for the first time outside of Dobrudja for since 1937. Elaphe sauromates is a criticaly endangered species in Romania.

Due to the scarce available data about urban populations of amphibians and reptiles in Romania, the authors of the present paper aimed to investigate the composition and distribution of the herpetofauna from the urban and peri-urban environments from a city from North-Eastern Romania (the city of Suceava), establish which human activities pose the most serious threat for the herpetofauna, which species are the most vulnerable to human caused ecological

The note presents a case of an unusualy long period of spertm storage in a female Smooth Snake - Coronella austriaca.