Herpetological explorations of the Balearic Islands during the last two centuries

Abstract

Knowledge of Balearic amphibians and reptiles is closely linked to the developmentof European herpetology itself. The first herpetological study of the Balearic Islandswas made at the end of the 18th century and during the first decades of the 19th century.We divide herpetological explorations of the Balearic Islands into three periods:first, a general approach by local naturalists and travellers; second, scientificexploration of the archipelago by professional collectors and herpetologists from themost important European museums and universities, with studies mainly focused onsystematics and taxonomy; and third, scientific description of evolutionary processesobserved on islands and their relationship to emergent disciplines such as islandbiogeography and insular ecology. In this work, we review these most importantsteps in the development of herpetological knowledge of the Balearic Islands fromtwo different and complementary approaches: the origin, personality and objectivesof researchers, and the discoveries they made during more than two centuries