Iberian mountain lizard
| Iberian mountain lizard | ||||||||||||
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Iberolacerta monticola , male |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Iberolacerta monticola | ||||||||||||
| ( Boulenger , 1905) |
The Iberian mountain lizard ( Iberolacerta monticola , old syn .: Lacerta monticola ) is a species of lizard that occurs in the mountains to the west and northwest of the Iberian Peninsula .
features
It is a medium-sized lizard with a slightly flattened body and a flat, broad head. The total length is a maximum of about 21 centimeters. The coloring and drawing can be very variable. The males are greenish and have a noticeable blackish speckled pattern. The flanks are drawn darker, often with a black mesh pattern and blue polka dots. The females are drawn similarly, but have a brownish basic color on the top. Her belly is colored yellow. It is noticeable that the young animals have blue tails in the first few months.
Other lizards that do not have a green belly in their range are considered to be species of confusion. The Iberian mountain lizard and the wall lizard can be distinguished from one another by the fact that the wall lizard has a clearly spotted throat. The Spanish wall lizard and Bocage's wall lizard are also types of confusion, but are usually more gracefully built.
Occurrence
Iberian mountain lizards are found in northern Portugal and northwestern Spain . You can often find them in mountains, at altitudes of 1500 to 2000 m, and occasionally up to 2900 m. However, they are also known in the lowlands of Galicia (at sea level). They especially feel at home in rocky, slightly to moderately overgrown and relatively humid habitats.
Way of life
Their diet consists of insects , spiders and other arthropods , among other things . Due to the long winter rest in the mountainous areas, reproduction does not take place until June / July, whereby the females lay three to ten eggs under stones and the young hatch after six to eight weeks. Even within the activity period, periods of bad weather can lead to rigidity in the lizards in their hiding places.
protection
The Iberian mountain lizard is listed by the European Union in Annexes II and IV of the Habitats Directive and is therefore a species of community interest that must be strictly protected, and special protection areas must be designated by the member states for their conservation.
literature
- Günter Diesener, Josef Reichholf : amphibians and reptiles (= Steinbach's natural guide. Vol. 4). Mosaik-Verlag, Munich 1986, ISBN 3-570-01273-5 .
Web links
- Photos of the Iberian mountain lizard on www.herp.it
- Iberolacerta monticola in The Reptile Database
- Iberolacerta monticola inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.2. Posted by: Valentin Pérez-Mellado, Paulo Sá-Sousa, Rafael Marquez, Iñigo Martínez-Solano, 2008. Retrieved January 30, 2014.