Faculty Opinions recommendation of Is the Podarcis muralis lizard left-eye lateralised when exploring a new environment?

The phylogenetic relationships and possible origin of a putative non-native population of Podarcis muralis in Ukraine were assessed based on sequences of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome b. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the Ukrainian lizards belong to two distinct mitochondrial lineages (haplogroups), both occurring within the Central Balkan clade, which includes most of central and south-eastern European populations. From overall three detected Ukrainian haplotypes, one haplotype share same genetic signal with the hyplotype from the locality Bjala (Bulgaria), the other two are unique for Ukrainian population. Two of haplotypes correspond with haplogroup covering large geographic region of Bulgaria, Serbia, and Romania. These results reinforce previous findings that the species has the ability to establish new populations out of its native range. While most introductions to Germany and Britain have been deliberate, it appears likely that human transport of goods via the Danube river of goods is responsible for the range expansion into Ukraine.

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Predation on Common Wall Lizards: Survival Probabilities of Melanic Individuals

Russian Journal of Herpetology ◽

10.30906/1026-2296-2021-28-6-369-374 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 28 (6) ◽

pp. 369-374

Author(s):

Jenő J. Purger ◽

Renáta Bocz

Keyword(s):

Survival Rates ◽

The Body ◽

Body Parts ◽

Selective Predation ◽

Podarcis Muralis ◽

Habitat Features ◽

Survival Probabilities ◽

Common Wall ◽

Plasticine Models ◽

The City

For estimation of predation plasticine models of prey animals are often used, because the soft material preserves imprints left by predators. We assumed that melanic common wall lizards (Podarcis muralis) disappear by selective predation faster than cryptic individuals and habitat features have important role in this process. We studied the survival probabilities of cryptic and melanic colored plasticine common wall lizard models in habitats with different background coloration on selected places near the city of Pécs (south Hungary), where melanic common wall lizards had been observed earlier. Contrary to our expectations the daily survival rates of melanic plasticine common wall lizards were somewhat higher in all three locations (sandstone quarry, stone wall, coal pit) than those of the cryptic ones, but these differences were not significant. Predators were mostly mammals, which left more marks on plasticine models than birds, but we could not show a preference of the body parts of prey. We concluded that rare occurrence of melanic common wall lizards in habitats near the city of Pécs is not due to predation pressure.

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Hyper-validation of five nomina of amphibians and reptiles threatened by senior synonyms or homonyms

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.3221.1.3 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 3221 (1) ◽

pp. 37 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

ALAIN DUBOIS ◽

ROGER BOUR

Keyword(s):

Indirect Evidence ◽

Podarcis Muralis ◽

Triturus Cristatus ◽

Lacerta Viridis

Five nomina of amphibians and reptiles introduced by Laurenti (1768) and traditionally used in European herpetology (Hyla,Natrix, Lacerta viridis, Podarcis muralis, Triturus cristatus) are threatened by senior synonyms or homonyms published earlierby Garsault (1764) in a work that has long remained unnoticed by herpetologists. In a previous paper, we used Article 23.9.1 ofthe Code on reversal of precedence to validate these well-known nomina. The validity of our action was challenged because wehad only used indirect evidence for this validation, quoting a single reference for each of these five nomina instead of 25. Herewe argue that our action was indeed valid under the Code, but, to preclude any further discussion, we provide 25 references or more to the use of each of these five nomina in order to “hyper-validate” them.

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