ANDALUSIA
In April 2008 I joined the Austrian herpetological field team from www.herpetofauna.at for a 10 day trip across Andalusia in southern Spain to find several endemic amphibians and reptiles as well as a number of other species. Our 11 man strong team resulted in finding almost all of the species present in southern Spain thanks to all of our dedicated enthusiasm. Our first base was Arcos de la Frontera in western Andalusia from which we explored the Sierra Morena and los Alcornocales as well as coastal areas close to Huelva, Cadiz and Doñana National Park.

Table 1: Number of specimens of reptiles and amphibians found in Andalusia, 9th-18th April
Latin name | Common name | Specimens |
Salamandra salamandra | Fire salamander | 1 DOR + larva |
Pleurodeles walti | Sharp- ribbed newt | 3 |
Triturus boscai | Bosca’s newt | common |
Triturus pygmaeus | Southern marbled newt | 2 |
Discoglossus galganoi | Iberian painted frog | 10+ |
Pelobates cultripes | Western spadefoot toad | 1 DOR |
Pelodytes ibericus | Iberian parsley frog | 20+ |
Bufo bufo | Common toad | 3 |
Bufo calamita | Natterjack toad | 5 |
Hyla meridionalis | Mediterranean tree frog | common |
Pelophylax perezi | Iberian water frog | Very common |
Mauremys leprosa | Spanish terrapin | 10 |
Blanus cinereus | Iberian worm lizard | 30+ |
Chameleo chameleon | Mediterranean chameleon | 8 |
Chalcides bedriagai | Bedriaga’s skink | few |
Chalcides striatus | Western three-toad skink | 15+ |
Hemidactylus turcicus | Turkish gecko | few |
Tarentola mauritanica | Moorish gecko | common |
Acanthodactylus erythurus | Spiny-footed lizard | few |
Timon lepidus | Ocellated lizard | 10 |
Podarcis hispanicus | Spanish wall lizard | few |
Podarcis vaucheri | Vaucher’s wall lizard | few |
Psammodromus algirus | Large psammodromus | common |
Hemorrhois hippocrepis | Horseshoe whip snake | 4 |
Rhinechis scalaris | Ladder snake | 1 DOR 1 live |
Malpolon monpessulanus | Montpellier snake | 11 |
Macroprotodon brevis | False smooth snake | 8 |
Natrix maura | Viperine snake | 30+ |
Vipera latastei | Lataste’s viper | 1 |































Granada- Loja- Salobreña
For the second part of our trip we stayed in the province of Granada and in general were able to find more reptiles in this area, whereas we found the areas of western Andalusia better for amphibians.











