RAUK - Archived Forum - Thniking of going to France

I was thinking about visiting France looking for Reptiles and amphibians that are there. What sort of   animals do they get there that we do not in the U.k? and also where  is the best places in France to go to if you are looking for them. 

Would like to know what I could expect to find there.

Thanks.

-Rob

You'll find a lot of info in Collins Field Guide Reptiles & Amphibians Britain & Europe, you'll want a copy with you to help with identification.

There are probably other more specific Field Guides to France. When I've been over there it struck me that herps are generally much more common and visible than they are in the UK. Last time I went was to Brittany, you couldn't really help seeing animals.

Try these links for a bit more info

http://www.herp.it/Home.asp

http://intramar.ugent.be/nemys/start.asp?group=16

Hi,

France is big so a general answer would take long. Below you may find the entire list of species, as I have compiled it for EUROHERP. Compared to the (natural) herp fauna of the UK, some species like 1, 3, 11, 15, 16, 22, 25, 29, 31, 36, 47, 59, 63 are present almost in the entire country. Besides that the Mediterranean part of the country has some nice extra's, most of them entering France from Spain (like 7, 9, 14, 17, 23, 27, 30, 32, 33, 38, 44, 49). The Pyrenees are also something different with nice species like 13, 18, 19, 20, 41 and easy 59. Corsica is again a whole different thing but I have left that out for now. Please use the links below if you need vernacular names.

1. Alytes obstetricans (Laurenti, 1768)
2. Anguis fragilis Linnaeus, 1758
3. Bombina variegata (Linnaeus, 1758)
4. Bufo bufo (Linnaeus, 1758)
5. Bufo calamita Laurenti, 1768
6. Bufo viridis Laurenti, 1768
7. Chalcides striatus (Cuvier, 1829)
8. Coronella austriaca Laurenti, 1768
9. Coronella girondica (Daudin, 1803)
10. Discoglossus pictus Otth, 1837
    Remark:   the result of an ancient introduction
11. Emys orbicularis (Linnaeus, 1758)
12. Euleptes europaea (GenÚ, 1839)
13. Euproctus asper (DugÞs, 1852)
14. Hemidactylus turcicus (Linnaeus, 1758)
15. Hierophis viridiflavus (LacÚpÞde, 1789)
16. Hyla arborea (Linnaeus, 1758)
17. Hyla meridionalis Boettger, 1874
18. Iberolacerta aranica (Arribas, 1993)
19. Iberolacerta aurelioi (Arribas, 1994)
20. Iberolacerta bonnali (Lantz, 1927)
21. Lacerta agilis Linnaeus, 1758
22. Lacerta bilineata Daudin, 1802
23. Malpolon monspessulanus (Hermann, 1804)
24. Mauremys leprosa (Schweigger, 1812)
25. Natrix maura (Linnaeus, 1758)
26. Natrix natrix (Linnaeus, 1758)
27. Pelobates cultripes (Cuvier, 1829)
28. Pelobates fuscus (Laurenti, 1768)
29. Pelodytes punctatus (Daudin, 1802)
30. Podarcis hispanicus "morphotype 3"
31. Podarcis muralis (Laurenti, 1768)
32. Psammodromus algirus (Linnaeus, 1758)
33. Psammodromus hispanicus Fitzinger, 1826
34. Rana arvalis Nilsson, 1842
35. Rana catesbeiana Shaw, 1802
    Remark:   introduced
36. Rana dalmatina Fitzinger in: Bonaparte, 1839
37. Rana kl. esculenta Linnaeus, 1758
38. Rana kl. grafi Crochet, Dubois, Ohler & Tunner, 1995
39. Rana lessonae Camerano, 1882
40. Rana perezi Seoane, 1885
41. Rana pyrenaica Serra-Cobo, 1993
42. Rana ridibunda Pallas, 1771
    Remark:   widespread but most likely all introduced
43. Rana temporaria Linnaeus, 1758
44. Rhinechis scalaris (Schinz, 1822)
45. Salamandra atra Laurenti, 1768
46. Salamandra lanzai Nascetti, Andreone, Capula & Bullini, 1988
47. Salamandra salamandra (Linnaeus, 1758)
48. Speleomantes strinatii (Aellen, 1958)
    Remark:   also introduced at one site in the Pyrenees but that may also be another species of the same genus
49. Tarentola mauritanica (Linnaeus, 1758)
50. Testudo hermanni Gmelin, 1789
51. Timon lepidus (Daudin, 1802)
52. Trachemys scripta (Schoepff, 1792)
    Remark:   introduced and reproducing
53. Triturus alpestris (Laurenti, 1768)
54. Triturus carnifex (Laurenti, 1768)
55. Triturus cristatus (Laurenti, 1768)
56. Triturus helveticus (Razoumowsky, 1789)
57. Triturus marmoratus (Latreille, 1800)
58. Triturus vulgaris (Linnaeus, 1758)
59. Vipera aspis (Linnaeus, 1758)
60. Vipera berus (Linnaeus, 1758)
61. Vipera seoanei Lataste, 1879
62. Vipera ursinii (Bonaparte, 1835)
63. Zamenis longissimus (Laurenti, 1768)
64. Zootoca vivipara (Jacquin, 1787)

So is brittany a good place to go then :-). What did you see while you were there?

-Rob