Spanish mountain lizard
| Spanish mountain lizard | ||||||||||||
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Spanish mountain lizard ( Iberolacerta cyreni ) |
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| Iberolacerta cyreni | ||||||||||||
| ( Hellmich & Müller , 1937) |
The Spanish mountain lizard ( Iberolacerta cyreni ) is a species of lizard that occurs in central Spain in the Sierra de Guadarrama and Sierra de Gredos mountains at altitudes between 1300 and 2500 meters.
features
The Spanish mountain lizard is similar to the Iberian mountain lizard ( Iberolacerta monticola ). It has a strong, flattened body, is medium in size and reaches a total length of 18 to 23 cm. The head is also flat, the tail long. The males have a variable back markings with a pattern of black, more or less contiguous spots. The basic color is green or green-brown, more rarely brown. The flanks are darker, often blue shoulder spots appear. Females are solid brown with a dark stripe on the sides. The underside is whitish to greenish and only slightly spotted in both sexes. Young animals have a blue tail.
Way of life
The Spanish mountain lizard only lives in the mountains at altitudes of 1300 to 2500 meters. It inhabits mountain slopes that are overgrown with grasses and bushes, as well as relatively humid depressions filled with rubble, and feeds on small insects and spiders. The animals often reach a high population density and are relatively insensitive to long winters and cool, humid summers. The males form territories in which several females usually live. The females lay three to eight eggs in July or August, which remain in the ground for about two months until the young hatch.
Subspecies
- Iberolacerta cyreni castilliana ( Arribas 1996), Sierra de Gredos
- Iberolacerta cyreni cyreni (Müller & Hellmich 1937), Sierra de Guadarrama
A third subspecies that used to belong to the Spanish mountain lizard is now considered a separate species ( Martinez-Rican mountain lizard ( Iberolacerta martinezricai )).
literature
- Axel Kwet: Reptiles and Amphibians of Europe. Kosmos, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-440-10237-8 .
Web links
- Iberolacerta cyreni in The Reptile Database
- Iberolacerta cyreni inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.1. Posted by: Valentin Pérez-Mellado, Marc Cheylan, Iñigo Martínez-Solano, 2008. Retrieved September 24, 2013.