The past, current and future habitat range of the Spider-tailed Viper, Pseudocerastes urarachnoides (Serpentes: Viperidae) in western Iran and eastern Iraq as revealed by habitat modelling

Medically important snakes and snakebite envenoming in Iran

Snakebite is a common health condition in Iran with a diverse snake fauna, especially in tropical southern and mountainous western areas of the country with plethora of snake species. The list of medically important snakes, circumstances and effects of their bite, and necessary medical care require critical appraisal and should be updated regularly. This study aims to review and map the distributions of medically important snake species of Iran, re-evaluate their taxonomy, review their venomics, describe the clinical effects of envenoming, and discuss medical management and treatment, including the use of antivenom. Nearly 350 published articles and 26 textbooks with information on venomous and mildly venomous snake species and snakebites of Iran, were reviewed, many in Persian (Farsi) language, making them relatively inaccessible to an international readership. This has resulted in a revised updated list of Iran's medically important snake species, with taxonomic revisions of some, compilation of their morphological features, remapping of their geographical distributions, and description of species-specific clinical effects of envenoming. Moreover, the antivenom manufactured in Iran is discussed, together with treatment protocols that have been developed for the hospital management of envenomed patients.

A case of envenoming by a Persian false-horned viper Pseudocerastes persicus (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854) (Serpentes: Viperidae) in Southeastern Iran

Despite the wide distribution of the Persian false-horned viper (Pseudocerastes persicus) in the Middle East, few identified bites have been reported. A 33-year-old herpetologist bitten on the hand by Pseudocerastes persicus in Kerman Province, Southeastern Iran, developed local pain and extensive swelling with mild non-specific systemic symptoms and minimal laboratory evidence of systemic envenoming.

Secondary Seed Ingestion in Snakes: Germination Frequency and Rate, Seedling Viability, and Implications for Dispersal in Nature

The importance of vertebrate animals as seed dispersers (zoochory) has received increasing attention from researchers over the past 20 years, yet one category in particular, diploendozoochory, remains understudied. As the term implies, this is a two-phase seed dispersal system whereby a secondary seed predator (carnivorous vertebrate) consumes a primary seed predator or granivore (rodent and bird) with undamaged seeds in their digestive tract (mouth, cheek pouch, crop, stomach, or other organ), which are subsequently eliminated with feces. Surprisingly, although snakes are among the most abundant predators of granivorous vertebrates, they are the least studied group insofar as our knowledge of seed rescue and secondary dispersal in a diploendozoochorous system. Here, using live snake subjects of the Sonoran Desert (one viperid and two colubrid species) and seeds of the Foothill Palo Verde (Parkinsonia microphylla), a dominant tree of the same region, we experimentally tested germination frequency and rate, and seedling viability. Specifically, to mimic rodents with seed-laden cheek pouches, we tested whether wild-collected P. microphylla seeds placed in the abdomen of thawed laboratory mice and ingested by the snakes would retain their germination viability. Second, we examined whether seeds exposed to gut transit germinated at a greater frequency and rate than the controls. While we found strong statistical support for our first hypothesis, both aspects of the second one were not significant. Accordingly, we provide an explanation for these results based on specific life-history traits (dormant and non-dormant seeds) of P. microphylla. Our study provides support for the role of snakes as important agents of seed rescue and dispersal in nature, their potential as ecosystem engineers, and crucial evidence for the investment of field-based studies on diploendozoochorous systems in deserts and other ecosystems.

Historic range dynamics in Kaiser's mountain newt (Neurergus kaiseri): Insights from phylogeographic analyses and species distribution modeling

Vulnerable Kaiser's mountain newt, Neurergus kaiseri, is endemic to highland streams, springs, and pools of the southwestern Zagros mountain, Iran. The present study aimed to use an integration of phylogeographical and species distribution modeling (SDM) approaches to provide new insights into the evolutionary history of the species throughout Quaternary climate oscillations. The phylogeographical analysis was followed by analyzing two mitochondrial DNA (mt-DNA) markers including 127 control region (D-loop) and 72 NADH dehydrogenase 2 (ND2) sequences from 15 populations in the entire species range that were obtained from GenBank. Potential recent and past distribution (the Last Glacial Maximum, LGM, 21 Kya and the Mid-Holocene, 6 Kya) reconstructed by ensemble SDM using nine algorithms with CCSM4, MIROC-ESM, and MPI-ESM-P models. N. kaiseri displayed two distinct lineages in the northern and southern regions that diverged in the Early-Pleistocene. The demographics analysis showed signs of a slight increase in effective population size for both northern and southern populations in the Mid-Pleistocene. Biogeography analysis showed that both vicariance and dispersal events played an important role in the formation of recent species distribution of N. kaiseri. Based on SDM projection onto paleoclimatic data, N. kaiseri displayed a scenario of past range expansion that followed by postglacial contraction. The models showed that the distribution range of the species may have shifted to a lower altitude during LGM while with amelioration of climatic during Mid-Holocene to recent conditions caused the species to shift to the higher altitude. The findings of the current study support the hypothesis that the Zagros mountains​ may be acting as climatic refugia and play an important role in the protection of isolated populations during climate oscillations.