The Sicilian wall lizard (''Podarcis waglerianus'') is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae.

Endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, it occurs in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

and the Aegadian Islands. Its 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 are temperate

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s, temperate shrubland,

Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub is a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The biome is generally characterized by dry summers and rainy winters, although in some areas rainfall may be uniform. Summers are typically hot in ...

, temperate

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...

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 th ...

, pastureland, and rural gardens. The IUCN does not consider it to be a

threatened species Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of '' critical depen ...

. Three subspecies are recognized: ''P. w. antoninoi'', ''P. w. marettimensis'', and ''P. w. waglerianus''.

Etymology

The specific name, ''waglerianus'', is in honor of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians ( gymnophiona)) and rep ...

Johann Georg Wagler Johann Georg Wagler (28 March 1800 – 23 August 1832) was a German herpetologist and ornithologist. Wagler was assistant to Johann Baptist von Spix, and gave lectures in zoology at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich after it was moved ...

Description

The Sicilian wall lizard grows to a length around , with males being slightly larger than females. The dorsal surface is usually green, but some females may be olive or brownish. Usually, it has a well-defined white or yellow dorsolateral stripe and often a brown stripe, or series of dots, running along the spine. Other dark spots occur in rows on the back and flanks of males, but females are often a more uniform colour. The underparts are white, with a spotted throat, but may be suffused with orange, pink, or red in breeding males. The Sicilian wall lizard differs from island populations of the

Italian wall lizard The Italian wall lizard or ruin lizard (''Podarcis siculus'', from the Greek meaning agile and feet) is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. ''P. siculus'' is native to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, France, Italy, Serbia, Montenegro ...

in having a deeper head, more slender form, more speckled (rather than reticulated) markings, and the brighter colour of the underparts.

Distribution and habitat

The species is endemic to Sicily and the Aegadian Islands. It frequents areas with lush vegetation on the edges of woodland, bushy slopes, pasture, and cultivated land. It is often present in gardens, especially irrigated ones. In contrast to the Italian wall lizard, it does not climb much and occupies more densely vegetated areas. It is the more common wall lizard inland, while the Italian wall lizard is the more common near the coast.

Biology

The female lays a clutch of four to six oval eggs, usually concealed at the base of a plant. They hatch after about 8 weeks, and the newly hatched juveniles are about long.

Status

''P. waglerianus'' is widespread in Sicily, is tolerant of a range of habitats, and is assumed to have a large total population. Its populations are in general stable, though it may be declining in number on some islands. The

International Union for Conservation of Nature 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 nat ...

has assessed it as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

References

(2005). "Do Endings of Adjective Flectible Species Names Affect Stability? A Final Note on the Gender of ''Podarcis'' Wagler, 1830 (Reptilia, Laceridae)". ''Bonner zoologischen Beiträge'' 53 (3/4): 291–293. (''Podarcis waglerianus'', gender changed from feminine to masculine). * Gistel J (1868). "''Die Lurche Europas. Ein Beitrage zur Lehre von der geographischen Verbreitung derselben'' ". pp. 144–167. ''In'': Gistel J (1868). ''Blicke in das Leben der Natur und des Menschen. Ein Taschenbuch zur Verbreitung gemeinnütziger Kenntnisse insebesondere des Natur-, Länder- und Völkerkunde, Künste und Gewerbe''. Leipzig: Wartig. 274 pp. (''Podarcis wagleriana'', new species, p. 149). (in German). * Sindaco R, Jeremčenko VK (2008). ''The Reptiles of the Western Palearctic. 1. Annotated Checklist and Distributional Atlas of the Turtles, Crocodiles, Amphisbaenians and Lizards of Europe, North Africa, Middle East and Central Asia''. (Monographs of the ''Societas Herpetologica Italica''). Latina, Italy: Edizioni Belvedere. 580 pp. . (''Podarcis waglerianus''). * Taddei A (1949). "''Le lacerte (''Archaeolacerta'' e ''Podarcis'') dell'Italia peninsulare e delle isole'' ". ''Commentationes Pontificia Academia Scientarum'' 13 (4): 197–274. (''Lacerta wagleriana'', new combination, p. 202). (in Italian, with an abstract in Latin).

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1572641 Podarcis Reptiles described in 1868 Taxa named by Johannes von Nepomuk Franz Xaver Gistel Lizards of Europe Endemic fauna of Italy Taxonomy articles created by Polbot