Tyrrhenian Painted Frog

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)..

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).

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).

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).