The Ibiza wall lizard (''Podarcis pityusensis'') is a species of

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

in the family

Lacertidae The Lacertidae are the family (biology), family of the wall lizards, true lizards, or sometimes simply lacertas, which are native to Afro-Eurasia. It is a diverse family with at least 300 species in 39 genera. They represent the dominant group o ...

. It is most closely associated with the island of

Eivissa Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its la ...

, or Ibiza, in the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...

, but has become

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

in parts of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. A

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

,Info on Sub-species of wall lizards
''P. pityusensis formenterae'', is limited in natural habitat to the islands of

Formentera Formentera (, ) is the smallest and most southerly island of the Pityusic Islands group (comprising Ibiza and Formentera, as well as various small islets), which belongs to the Balearic Islands autonomous community (Spain). It covers an area of ...

, Illa Conillera and Es Vedrà, south of Ibiza, but has been transported by humans to several other locations in the Mediterranean. The Formentean subspecies tends to be more brightly coloured than its Ibizan and mainland con-specifics. The natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s of ''P. pityusensis'' are temperate

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...

, Mediterranean-type

shrubby vegetation A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

, rocky areas, rocky shores,

arable land Arable land (from the la, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the ...

, pastureland,

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

s, rural gardens, and

urban area An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, t ...

Description

The Ibiza wall lizard grows to a maximum snout-to-vent length of but adults are usually a little smaller than this. The tail is about twice as long as the body. It is robust with a short-head and rounded body with relatively coarse, slightly keeled scales. The dorsal surface is usually green but can be grey or brownish. There is usually a well-defined pale dorso-lateral stripe and there may be a row of dark spots or a dark line running along the spine. The underside is white, cream, grey, orange or pink and the throat, and occasionally the belly, may be blotched with darker colour.

Distribution and habitat

The Ibiza wall lizard is native to the islands of Ibiza and Formentera in the

and the neighbouring rocky islets. It has been introduced to Muella de Palma (Mallorca), Barcelona where it once was assumed it died out but was 're-discovered' in 2007 (Bruekers, 2007) in the town of Aleria in southern Spain and the island of

Gaztelugatxe Gaztelugatxe is an islet on the coast of Biscay belonging to the municipality of Bermeo, Basque Country (Spain). It is connected to the mainland by a man-made bridge. On top of the island stands a hermitage (named Gaztelugatxeko Doniene in Basqu ...

in northern Spain. It is found at altitudes of up to above sea level. This lizard largely inhabits vegetated areas especially in those association with man. As well as gardens, pasture and arable land, it is found on rocks, especially near the coast. On some small islets, it may be very common and live almost exclusively on rock.

Biology

The Ibiza wall lizard feeds on small invertebrates including a high proportion of

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22 ...

s when they are available. It also eats vegetable matter, especially during the summer. Females generally produce a single clutch of one to four eggs. These hatch after a few weeks and the hatchlings are about long from snout to vent. They become sexually mature at the age of one and a half or two years.

Status

Although this lizard does not seem to be in overall decline and faces no significant threats, its total area of occurrence is less than so the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

lists it as being "

Near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

".. More recently, the lizard is facing a threat from invasive snakes which originated from mainland Spain which came to Ibiza in imported olive trees. < https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ibizans-take-up-clubs-against-plague-of-snakes-killing-off-their-beloved-lizard-spxbwxzqp >

Gallery

File:Ibiza Wall Lizard Podarcis pityusensis Nature reserve es Vedrà 19th May 2011.JPG File:Sargantana_camí_de_sa_pujada_3.jpg File:Sargantana_camí_de_sa_pujada_2.jpg File:Podarcys pityusensis kieto parao.JPG, The subspecies Formentera wall lizard (''P. pityusensis formenterae'') File:An Ibiza wall lizard (Podarcis pityusensis) scavenging on fish scraps leftover from another predator - journal.pone.0060797.g001-B.png, Scavenging on fish scraps

References

Bruekers, J. (2007) - Wiederentdeckung von Podarcis pityusensis pityusensis in Barcelona - Die Eidechse, Bonn, 18: 79-84

External links

''Cold-blooded Cannibals: Extreme Adaptations to Island Life''
is a short documentary on adaptations to island life in the Ibiza Wall Lizard.