ULULONE APPENNICO

The taxonomic status of B. pachypus is controversial even today. However, following recent electrophoretic studies, some authors believe that Italian populations in the area between the Po River and the southern tip of Calabria should be ascribed to the new monotypic species Bombina pachypus. The range of the Apennine yellow-bellied toad, which is endemic to Italy, extends from central Liguria to the Aspromonte area. B. pachypus is most often sighted in the small, shallow water catchments where it reproduces: temporary puddles, potholes in dirt roads, oxbow lakes and stagnant loops in streams and small basins and troughs. In southern Italy, B. pachypus is most often found in hilly and mountainous environments, whereas in northern Italy, it is normally found in planitial and hilly environments. B. pachypus is active from April to October, hibernating underground or under vegetation-covered stones usually not far from the water bodies it frequents in late autumn and winter. Bombina pachypus has a rather long reproductive period, which lasts from the end of April well into September. Apennine yellow-bellied toads can mate several times during the breeding season, which coincides with the annual period of activity. This remarkable reproductive flexibility is possible thanks to prolonged spermiation in males and to the presence of post-vitellogenic follicles in the ovaries of females throughout the activity period. Although some populations of B. pachypus are reported to have disappeared following the destruction and/or alteration of their reproductive sites, it is impossible to say for certain whether the absence of previously reported populations in other stations is due to natural demographic fluctuations or to true extinction of the local population.