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South-Nyírség (Dél-Nyírség in Hungarian) is located in the North-East of Hungary, within the operational area of our famous Hortobágy National Park.

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South-Nyírség (Dél-Nyírség in Hungarian) is located in the North-East of Hungary, within the operational area of our famous Hortobágy National Park.

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Pleistocene, the north wind formed the surface, creating parabola-shaped sand dunes, with valleys between them. From the valleys, water couldn’t run off, creating low-lying wetland areas. On the sides and tops of the sand dunes, we can find sandy grassland vegetation and dry forests.

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Wetland areas consist of  birch and willow marshy forests, swamp woodlands, wet shrubs, tall-herb vegetations of fern, floating fens and wet meadows.

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Wetland areas consist of  birch and willow marshy forests, swamp woodlands, wet shrubs, tall-herb vegetations of fern, floating fens and wet meadows.

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South-Nyírség is home to 12 amphibian and 7 reptile species (all of them are protected by law in Hungary).

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South-Nyírség is home to 12 amphibian and 7 reptile species (all of them are protected by law in Hungary).

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These wetlands are home to the common lizard (Zootoca vivipara), which lives mostly in the marshes of the valleys between the sand dunes. The common lizard population of South-Nyírség is one of the most numerous in Hungary.

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Hungary’s only terrapin species, the European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis) also lives here

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Grasslands comprise open sandy grasslands, uncharacteristic dry grasslands, sand pastures and sand steppes, which are transformed remnants of the steppe vegetation.

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Grasslands comprise open sandy grasslands, uncharacteristic dry grasslands, sand pastures and sand steppes, which are transformed remnants of the steppe vegetation.

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Balkan wall lizard (Podarcis tauricus) is typical to sandy areas.

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Natural sandy woodland habitats include closed lowland steppic oak forests and open steppic oak forests.

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Natural sandy woodland habitats include closed lowland steppic oak forests and open steppic oak forests.

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South-Nyírség is quite heavily affected by human settlements, as Hungary's second biggest town is located here, and also many small villages, not to mention agricultural areas. This part of the country is very well suitable for agricultural land use, having negative effects on the area's biodiversity.

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South-Nyírség is quite heavily affected by human settlements, as Hungary's second biggest town is located here, and also many small villages, not to mention agricultural areas. This part of the country is very well suitable for agricultural land use, having negative effects on the area's biodiversity.

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Agile frog (Rana dalmatina) is a common amphibian species found in these woodlands.

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Dear co-learners, please feel free to write here your comments and evaluations.

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Dear co-learners, please feel free to write here your comments and evaluations.

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I definitely think that these two phenomena (climate change and the distribution of endemic species in Europe) are connected. The effect of climate change on organisms in Europe is a combination of all the previous first 4 options (1-4) but it is mainly driven by the second one.

During the glacial periods animal and plant species tried to cope with the changing environmental conditions. Particularly for the animal species one of the most important limiting factor could have been food availability. That’s why they moved to warmer areas for food. This mainly happened to species with higher mobility.

Endemic species are mostly evolved in isolated areas, but because glacial and interglacial periods have been alternating several times in Europe, more endemic species can be found also in the mentioned three peninsulas, which served as isolated refugium areas.

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Picture of the genus from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albanerpeton)

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Classification:

Kingdom –  Animalia
Phylum – Chordata
Class – Amphibia
Order – Allocaudata
Family - Albanerpetontidae
Genus - Albanerpeton

Fossils found at: Csarnóta, South-Hungary
From this age: Early Pliocene

Description: "The palaeoenvironment of  A. pannonicus consisted of a karstic terrain, partially covered by a forested landscape that changed over time to a more open grassland or steppe landscape. This species might have had a burrowing lifestyle."

Source:

Venczel, M. & Gardner, James D. (2005): The geologically youngest Albanerpetontid amphibian, from the lower Pliocene of Hungary. Palaeontology, Vol. 48, Part 6, pp. 1273–1300.

https://eol.org/pages/4359185

http://fossilworks.org/?a=taxonInfo&taxon_no=254990

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I haven't found fossil species from my HerpetoArea, that's why I show you a species from my wider HerpetoArea, Hungary. :)

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Scientific name: Zootoca vivipara

Common English name: Common Lizard, Viviparous Lizard

Classification:
Kingdom – Animalia

Phylum – Chordata

Class – Reptilia

Order – Squamata

Family – Lacertidae

Genus – Zootoca

IUCN Red List category: Least concern

Current population trend: Decreasing

Geographic range: see picture

Habitat type: Grassland, Wetlands, Meadows, Woodlands, Coastal areas

Brief description: Viviparous lizards have a wide color range, varying between brown, red, grey, green, or black. This species displays sexual dimorphic color patterns on its underside, with males being brightly colored in yellows, blues, oranges, and greens. Males are also easily identified by having white spots in a longitudinal arrangement on their dorsal side. The base of the tail in sexually mature males is also noticeably thicker than in females. Sexually mature adults of both sexes typically weigh between 2 to 5 g, with total lengths of 50 to 77 mm.

Viviparous lizards are the only lizard species that is known both to give live birth and to lay eggs. In the northern portion of the range and at high altitude it is viviparous, in the southern portion it is oviparous.

More info: https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Zootoca_vivipara/#physical_description

http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Zootoca&species=vivipara

https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/61741/12552141

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Scientific name: Rana dalmatina

Common English name: Agile frog

Classification:
Kingdom – Animalia

Phylum – Chordata

Class – Amphibia

Order – Anura

Family – Ranidae

Genus – Rana

IUCN Red List category: Least concern

Current population trend: Decreasing

Geographic range: see picture

Habitat type: Freshwater, Grassland, Woodlands

Brief description: The species belongs to the 'brown frog' group of species. Dorsal coloration yellowish, brown, greyish or rufous. chevron-shaped (^) dark glandular spot on neck. Dark spots on dorsal surface vary in number, arrangement and size. No spots on flanks. Temporal spot large. Belly white or white-pink, without pattern. Tympanum large and positioned very close to the eye. Vomerine teeth present. Posterior part of the tongue free and forked. Toes webbed. Pupil of the eye horizontal. Body slender. Snout sharp. No male vocal sacs. Legs very long. Shin (knee to ankle) shorter than body by 1.46-1.86 times. When the shins are positioned perpendicularly to the body axis, the heels overlap. When the hind leg is stretched along the body, the tibio-tarsal articulation always exceeds the tip of snout.

More info: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/58584/11790570

https://amphibiaweb.org/species/5016