DNA metabarcoding analysis of stomach flushing contents reveals the exceptionally diverse diet of the golden alpine salamander.

ABSTRACT: Amphibians, particularly salamanders, are facing dramatic population declines worldwide; therefore, investigating their role as predators through diet analysis could inform targeted conservation programs. DNA metabarcoding significantly outperforms morphology-based identification of prey taxa in other vertebrates, but has rarely been applied to amphibians, and then only for faecal samples. Here, we chose the golden Alpine salamander Salamandra atra aurorae, an endangered endemism of the Italian Alps, to (i) develop a new metabarcoding protocol for amphibian stomach flushing samples; (ii) investigate the diet of this subspecies, including differences in the Frequency of Occurrence (%FO) of prey taxa between sexes; and (iii) compare these results with a recently published morphology-based id

SUBMITTER: Zanovello L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12484821 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature