First report of a green toad (Bufo viridis sensu lato) in the Early Pleistocene of Spain Palaeobiogeographical and palaeoecological implications

For the first time unequivocal fossil remains of a green toad (Bufo viridis s I) are described in the Iberian Peninsula The fossils come from the Cueva Victoria site a late Early Pleistocene (ca 1 1-1 2 Ma) karstic filling in semi and southeastern Spain (Murcia region) By extension other remains from two other Early Pleistocene spanish localities Barranco Leon D (ca 1 3Ma) and Almenara Casablanca 3 (ca 1 1 Ma) an cautiously attributed to the group B midis The B wicks group was previously reported with some uncertainty to the west of its current distribution area in Western Europe (Spain and France) in the Pliocene (Bufo cf viridis) and less probably in the Early Miocene (Bufo aff viridis) Since no osteological differences have been established between the recently described extant species of B viridis s I (e g Bulb balearicus Bufo siculus Bufo boulengeri B viridis sensu strict and Bufo van abilis) no precise palaeobiogeographical relationships can be drawn for the Spanish fossils However the occurrence of a third species of bufonid toad during the Pleistocene in the South of the Iberian Peninsula raises some interesting ecological questions in relation to the local disappearance of the green toad which can be hypothetically linked to the intensification of the Pleistocene glacial/interglacial climate dynamic or to probable competition with another toad Bufo calamita (C) 2010 Academie des sciences Published by Elsevier Masson SAS All rights reserved