Description
There are two color pattern varieties in this species. Plain colors, like dark brown, dark gray, reddish or red-brown, or individuals with dark brown spots. In the latter case, these spots are not light edged. Although this species has a similar markings as to D. montalentii it can be distinguished from D. montalentii by a number of features. The fourth finger of D. montalentii is wider than the base right after the tip, whereas the fourth finger of D. sardus gets thinner from the base down. D. sardus also has shorter hindleggs than D. montalentii (Noellert and Noellert 1992)..

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: France, Italy

	View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.
	View Bd and Bsal data (25 records).

D. sardus is restricted to Sardinia (including the Maddalena Archipelago and the island of San Pietro), Corsica and several small islands of the Tyrrhenian sea : Iles d'Hyères, Giglio, Montecristo. For the Italian mainland, the species is reported from the small peninsular Monte Argentario (Tuscany). D. sardus inhabits a variety of biotopes. From the open, windy and desolate coast between Bonifacio and Cap Pertusato, to the forest streams of la Forêt de Bavella, and from Mediterranean maquis at sea level to mountain conifer forests (Delaugerre and Cheylan 1992). In contrast to D. montalentii, D. sardus also occupies slightly brackish waters (Clarke B.T. 1990).

Due to the recent discovery of the cryptic congener D. montalentii, very little is known about the exact distribution and ecology of D. sardus. Earlier studies of on the biology of D. sardus may be attributed to either D. sardus or D. montalentii. However, D. sardus seems to be more common in Corsica than D. montalentii; therefore most of the available information on the ecology of both species may hold for D. sardus (Gasc 1997).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
D. sardus lays its eggs in small clumps or singularly on the bottom or between aquatic vegetation. Eggs are brown-black with a gray-white pole. They are 1 to 1.5 mm in diameter, with a gelatinous envelope of 3 to 4 mm in diameter (Delaugerre and Cheylan 1992).

Trends and Threats
D. sardus does not appear to be seriously threatened by the expansion of human activities (Delaugerre and Cheylan 1992) ; however, those populations that inhabit small islands are probably small and therefore more vulnerable. At present it is not known how much these island populations contribute to the overall genetic diversity of D. sardus. Therefore they deserve special attention and possibly conservation efforts (Gasc 1997).

Possible reasons for amphibian decline

Loss of genetic diversity from small population phenomena

References

Clarke, B. T. and Lanza, B. (1990). ''Notes on the morphology and distribution of the Corsican Painted Frogs: Discoglossus sardus Tschudi and D. montalentii Lanza, Nascetti, Capula & Bullini.'' Bulletino del museo regionale di scienze naturali, Torino, 8(2), 531-544.

Delaugerre, M. and Cheylan, M. (1992). Atlas de Répartition des Batraciens et Reptiles de Corse. L'Oikéma, Pamplona.

Gasc, J.-P. (1997). Atlas of Amphibians and Reptiles in Europe. Societas Europaea Herpetologica, Bonn, Germany.

Nöllert, A. and Nöllert, C. (1992). Die Amphibien Europas. Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH and Company, Stuttgart.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2021 Discoglossus sardus: Tyrrhenian painted frog <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/1528> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Dec 15, 2024.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 15 Dec 2024.

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