Amphibians and Reptiles of Djerdap

Amphibians and reptiles are two large groups of vertebrate animals. Amphibians were the first vertebrates that colonized land. In comparison to fishes, they possess a number of evolutionary advanced traits. These traits enable them to survive in terrestrial environments. Amphibians, however, need various fresh water habitats, at least for their embryonic development and early life history stages. Reptiles were the first group of terrestrial vertebrates to develop adaptations for conducting a complete life cycle on land/in arid environments. Their eggs have solid membrane which protects the embryo from desiccation. Additionally, reptile skin is covered by thickened cell layers in the form of scales and plates which prevent water evaporation from the body. Amphibians and reptiles have been treated by men as secretive and dangerous creatures for a long time, due to their intriguing habitus and life history. On the other hand, the development and popularisation of biological disciplines related to research of amphibians and reptiles (e.g. batrachology and herpetology) have progressed in relatively slowly. As a result, even nowadays in Europe we may face various superstitious beliefs/sayings and mythological tales about amphibians and reptiles which provoke negative or ignorant attitudes toward them. This monograph was written with a desire to provide the reader with useful information about amphibians and reptiles, and to underline their importance in maintaining local biological communities and ecosystems. Moreover, our intention is to warn the readers of potential factors that threaten the survival of amphibians and reptiles, specifically those the species in Đerdap National Park could face. General information about Đerdap National park is presented at the beginning of this monograph, to remind readers about and to emphasise the importance this area has for biodiversity conservation in both the Republic of Serbia and in Carpathian region of Europe. All these facts could contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the importance of representatives of amphibian and reptile fauna for the conservation of overall species diversity in this region. The first part of this monograph is an overview of both amphibian and reptile species whose presence in the National park has been confirmed, and of those that, being common in the broader area of Đerdap, are still not recorded within the borders of the protected area. Species and their higher taxonomic categories were presented using their Serbian names language (and in English), with appropriate scientific names added after, without or in brackets. The second part is a systematisation of the records (both those collected by the authors and those extracted from literature) in a way that enables a quick view into the importance of local amphibian and reptile fauna for the evaluation of Đerdap National Park within a network of protected areas in Serbia. Additionally, there is an overview of national and international legislations that legally protect these species and also of potential threats they could face. Citation of literature units throughout the manuscript has been done in Cirillic letters for those publications written in Serbian and Russian languages. Those references published in other languages (whether by Serbian or foreign authors) have been written in Latin script. Two chapters are dedicated to the topics permanently attractive to humans but which have also often promoted an erroneous image of amphibians and reptiles. We considered them as necessary for inclusion, but with additional explanations where necessary. These topics are somehow related, since species that produce and segregate various active (colloquially „poisonous“) substances have been the subject of many superstitions from a long time. Also, many amphibian and reptiles species have received unfair roles in local beliefs and mythological rituals exactly because of their peculiar habitus and life styles and due to ignorance of local people. We truly hope that this monograph will raise more sympathy for amphibians and reptiles among inhabitants of Đerdap as well as all readers, and that it will contribute to the better understanding of their general importance. In addition, we need to point that the whole content of the monograph was completed and submitted to the management of Public Enterprise Djerdap NP at the end of 2012 and few additions were made in 2013. Due to numerous obstacles, the process of organisation and realisation of publishing took more than two years. In the meantime, at the end of 2015, The Red Book of Amphibians of Serbia and The Red Book of Reptiles of Serbia are published. We recommend them to all those readers interested in current official national conservation status of amphibian and reptile species listed in this monograph.Vodozemci i gmizavci predstavljaju dve velike grupe kičmenjaka. Vodozemci su prvi kičmenjaci koji su naselili kopno. U odnosu na ribe, oni se odlikuju nizom evolutivno naprednih osobina koje su im omogućile život u suvozemnoj sredini. Međutim, vodozemcima je svakako neophodna vodena sredina u vidu raznovrsnih slatkovodnih staništa, pre svega za odvijanje embrionalnog razvića i ranih faza životnog ciklusa. Gmizavci su prvi kopneni kičmenjaci kod kojih se pojavila sposobnost preživljavanja u suvozemnoj sredini tokom celog života. Njihova jaja imaju čvrstu opnu koja štiti embrion od gubitka vlage, a koža gmizavaca je pokrivena rožnim omotačem koji ograničava isparavanje vode iz tela. Specifičan izgled i način života uticali su od davnina na formiranje stanovišta da su vodozemci i gmizavci tajanstvena i opasna bića. Razvoj i popularizacija batrahologije i herpetologije (bioloških disciplina koje se bave proučavanjem vodozemaca, odnosno gmizavaca) odvijali su se relativno sporo, tako da u Evropi još uvek nije u potpunosti poništen uticaj sujeverja i mitova koji su vekovima doprinosili negativnom ili ravnodušnom stavu čoveka prema ovim dvema grupama životinja. Osnovna motivacija za pisanje ove monografije bila je pružanje korisnih informacija o vodozemcima i gmizavcima i isticanje njihovog značaja u održavanju lokalnih bioloških zajednica i ekosistema. Takođe, namera nam je bila i da upozorimo čitaoce na potencijalne faktore ugrožavanja vodozemaca i gmizavaca, putem upoznavanja sa problemima vrsta koje naseljavaju područje Nacionalnog parka „Đerdap“. Opšte informacije o Nacionalnom parku „Đerdap“ navedene su u uvodnom delu monografije. One bi trebalo da obaveste ili podsete čitaoce na značaj koji ovo područje ima za očuvanje biološke raznovrsnosti Republike Srbije i Karpatskog regiona Evrope. Na taj način će i shvatanje važnosti predstavnika fauna vodozemaca i gmizavaca za očuvanje ukupne raznovrsnosti vrsta ovog područja biti unapređeno. Prvi deo monografije sadrži pregled vrsta vodozemaca i gmizavaca čije je prisustvo potvrđeno na teritoriji Nacionalnog parka, ali i onih vrsta koje do sada nisu nađene u okviru granica zaštićenog područja, a naseljavaju širi prostor Đerdapa. Vrste i više taksonomske kategorije kojima one pripadaju predstavljene su pod srpskim nazivima (u engleskom prevodu pod engleskim nazivima), a naučni nazivi navedeni su u produžetku ili u zagradi. Drugi deo monografije predstavlja sistematizaciju podataka prikupljenih tokom terenskih istraživanja i iščitavanja literature na način koji omogućava brz uvid u značaj lokalnih fauna vodozemaca i gmizavaca za vrednovanje Nacionalnog parka „Đerdap“ u mreži zaštićenih područja Srbije, zatim u nacionalne i međunarodne zakonske okvire kojima su ove vrste zaštićene, kao i u potencijalne probleme njihovog očuvanja. Prilikom citiranja literature, ćiriličnim pismom navedene su reference publikovane na srpskom i ruskom jeziku, dok su latiničnim pismom navedene reference naših i stranih autora publikovane na drugim jezicima. Dva poglavlja posvećena su temama koje su oduvek interesovale ljude, ali često dovodile do pogrešnih predstava o vodozemcima i gmizavcima, pa smo smatrali da ih je neophodno pomenuti, uz dodatna objašnjenja gde je potrebno. Obe teme su na neki način povezane: vrste koje proizvode i luče različite aktivne (u običnom govoru „otrovne“) supstance od davnina su predmet praznoverja. Takođe, mnoge vrste vodozemaca i gmizavaca su upravo zbog svog specifičnog izgleda i načina života, a usled neupućenosti lokalnog stanovništva, dobile neslavne uloge u lokalnim verovanjima i mitološkim obredima. Nadamo se da će ova monografija približiti vodozemce i gmizavce stanovnicima Đerdapa kao i ostalim čitaocima i omogućiti bolje sagledavanje njihovog značaja. U skladu sa time, moramo napomenuti da je tekst monografije u potpunosti oblikovan i predat rukovodstvu JP NP „Đerdap“ krajem 2012 godine, a da je neznatna dopuna podataka urađena 2013 godine. Usled mnogobrojnih problema, organizacija i realizacija štampanja monografije trajale su više od dve godine. U međuvremenu, krajem 2015 godine publikovane su Crvena knjiga vodozemaca Srbije i Crvena knjiga gmizavaca Srbije na koje upućujemo sve čitaoce zainteresovane za trenutni zvanični nacionalni status ugroženosti vrsta koje naseljavaju prostor Đerdapa