Ruin lizard

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Ruin lizard
Male and female ruined lizard (Podarcis siculus)

Male and female ruined lizard ( Podarcis siculus )

Systematics
Superordinate : Scale lizards (Lepidosauria)
Order : Scale reptiles (Squamata)
Family : Real lizards (Lacertidae)
Subfamily : Lacertinae
Genre : Wall lizards ( Podarcis )
Type : Ruin lizard
Scientific name
Podarcis siculus
( Rafinesque , 1810)

The ruin lizard ( Podarcis siculus ) belongs to the family of the real lizards (Lacertidae) and to the genus of the wall lizards ( Podarcis ).

features

The ruin lizard also occurs in a brownish color.

The ruin lizard reaches a total length of up to 25 centimeters. It is a strong wall lizard with a brownish, gray or green base color. The underside is white, yellow, reddish or light green. In the middle of the back there is a brown vertical stripe. The flanks are pied in various brown, yellowish and green tones.

More than 60 subspecies have been described, which differ mainly in color. A particularly beautiful subspecies is Podarcis siculus coeruleus on rocks off Capri and Sicily . She is black and has a blue belly.

distribution and habitat

General distribution areas

The ruin lizard lives in Italy , the northern Adriatic coast , Corsica , Sardinia and the European part of Turkey . It was introduced by humans in part of Andalusia , Menorca and Philadelphia in the USA . Ruin lizards have also been introduced to Germany or imported and released by irresponsible people. The populations could not last long. Ruin lizards colonize a wide variety of biotopes , go up to an altitude of 1,800 meters and are even particularly common in the vicinity of human settlements. There they are often found in landfills, where they hunt the insects attracted by the garbage.

Population on Pod Mrčaru

In 1971, Italian scientists transported ten ruin lizards from the island of Pod Kopište, 3.5 kilometers further east to Pod Mrčaru (both Croatian islands are in the Adriatic Sea near Lastovo ).

In 2007 and 2008, analyzes showed that the population on Pod Mrčaru, which has been undisturbed for decades, is on average larger, has shorter hind legs and is more slow to flee. This is attributed to a lower threat from predators in the new habitat.

Furthermore, the shape of the head has changed and the jaw muscle has become stronger. Most surprising was the finding that the diet shifted towards plant-based foods and the structure of the intestines changed to allow cellulose to be broken down by microorganisms.

nutrition

Ruin lizards eat insects such as flies , butterflies , caterpillars , crickets and grasshoppers , but also spiders and worms . And the changed species also feed on parts of plants.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Anthony Herrel, Katleen Huyghe, Bieke Vanhooydonck, Thierry Backeljau, Karin Breugelmans, Irena Grbac, Raoul Van Damme, Duncan J. Irschick: Rapid large-scale evolutionary divergence in morphology and performance associated with exploitation of a different dietary resource. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America . Vol. 105, No. 12, 2008, pp. 4792-4795, doi : 10.1073 / pnas.0711998105 , PMID 18344323 .
  2. ↑ Bart Vervust, Irena Grbac, Raoul Van Damme: Differences in morphology, performance and behavior between recently diverged populations of Podarcis sicula mirror differences in predation pressure. In: Oikos. Vol. 116, No. 8, 2007, pp. 1343-1352, doi : 10.1111 / j.0030-1299.2007.15989.x .
  3. ↑ UMass Amherst. In the loop. Talking Points: Lizards undergo rapid evolution after introduction to new home, says researcher. ( Memento of June 5, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) 2008. Retrieved November 28, 2014.

Web links

Commons : ruin lizard ( Podarcis siculus )  - album with pictures, videos and audio files