| morphology, performance, behavior and ecology of three color morphs in males of the lizard podarcis melisellensis. | males of a croatian population of the lacertid lizard podarcis melisellensis exhibit a striking polymorphism, with coloration of the throat and abdomen ranging from completely white, to yellow or orange. in a first attempt to explore the potential ecological and evolutionary significance of this polymorphism, we compared the three forms of males in aspects of their morphology, whole-animal performance, behavior, and ecology. orange males are, on average, larger in snout-vent length and have disp ... | 2007 | 21672832 |
| characterization of polymorphic microsatellite markers in the dalmatian wall lizard podarcis melisellensis (squamata: lacertidae). | we describe polymerase chain reaction primers and amplification conditions for 13 highly polymorphic microsatellite dna loci isolated from the dalmatian wall lizard, podarcis melisellensis. the number of alleles per locus ranged from 12 to 41, with levels of observed heterozygosity between 0.62 and 0.94. most of these loci were successfully cross-amplified in the closely related species p. sicula, but levels of polymorphism were always lower. | 2009 | 21564632 |
| relationships between hormones, physiological performance and immunocompetence in a color-polymorphic lizard species, podarcis melisellensis. | species with alternative phenotypes offer unique opportunities to investigate hormone-behavior relationships. we investigated the relationships between testosterone, corticosterone, morphology, performance, and immunity in a population of lizards (podarcis melisellensis) which exhibits a color polymorphism. males occur in three different color morphs (white, yellow, orange), providing an opportunity to test the idea of morphs being alternative solutions to the evolutionary challenges posed on th ... | 2009 | 19265697 |
| genetic divergence among sympatric colour morphs of the dalmatian wall lizard (podarcis melisellensis). | if alternative phenotypes in polymorphic populations do not mate randomly, they can be used as model systems to study adaptive diversification and possibly the early stages of sympatric speciation. in this case, non random mating is expected to support genetic divergence among the different phenotypes. in the present study, we use population genetic analyses to test putatively neutral genetic divergence (of microsatellite loci) among three colour morphs of the lizard podarcis melisellensis, whic ... | 2010 | 20128114 |
| seasonal changes in parasite load and a cellular immune response in a colour polymorphic lizard. | permanent colour polymorphisms may be maintained by complex interactions between physiological traits (e.g. immunity) and environmental pressures. in this study we investigate morph specific variation in parasite load and cellular immune response (induced by a phytohaemagglutinin, pha injection) in a colour polymorphic population of the dalmatian wall lizard (podarcis melisellensis), where adult males have bright white, yellow or orange throats and ventral sides. orange males have larger heads a ... | 2010 | 20454978 |
| female lizards ignore the sweet scent of success: male characteristics implicated in female mate preference. | sexual selection molds the morphology, physiology and behavior of males in many animals. at first glance, it seems reasonable to assume that females would use the same male traits and signals in mate choice as males do during male-male competition. however, intra- and intersexual competition may affect traits in the same or the opposite direction, with differing strength. we investigated which color, morphometric and performance traits are selected for through male-male competition and whether f ... | 2012 | 22561096 |
| diet variability among insular populations of podarcis lizards reveals diverse strategies to face resource-limited environments. | access to resources is a dynamic and multicausal process that determines the success and survival of a population. it is therefore often challenging to disentangle the factors affecting ecological traits like diet. insular habitats provide a good opportunity to study how variation in diet originates, in particular in populations of mesopredators such as lizards. indeed, high levels of population density associated with low food abundance and low predation are selection pressures typically observ ... | 2019 | 31788186 |
| where to do number two: lizards prefer to defecate on the largest rock in the territory. | many animals use their excrements to communicate with others. in order to increase signal efficacy, animals often behaviourally select for specific defecation sites that maximize the detectability of their faecal deposits, such as the tip of rocks by some lizard species. however, the field conditions in which these observations are made make it difficult to reject alternative explanations of defecation site preference; rock tips may also provide better opportunities for thermoregulation, foragin ... | 2019 | 31400395 |
| coexisting lacertid lizard species podarcis siculus and podarcis melisellensis differ in dopamine brain concentrations. | in the eastern adriatic, podarcis siculus, an invasive species, competitively excludes the native podarcis melisellensis. monoamine neurotransmitters-serotonin (5ht), dopamine (da), and noradrenaline (na)-are implicated in social behavior, and could lie at the basis of the direct behavioral interference of p. siculus with p. melisellensis. to understand the relationship between social behavior and monoamines, as well as the differences in behavior between p. siculus and p. melisellensis, we deve ... | 2019 | 30976920 |
| micro-scale differences in thermal habitat quality and a possible case of evolutionary flexibility in the thermal physiology of lacertid lizards. | we studied the thermal ecology of the lacertid lizards lacerta oxycephala and podarcis melisellensis on the adriatic island of vis (croatia) during summer. these species obviously differ in microhabitat use: l. oxycephala climbs on rocks and stone walls, whereas p. melisellensis is mainly ground-dwelling in vegetation. since theoretical considerations predict a difference in thermal quality between the species' microhabitats, this system seems to present a good opportunity to test the influence ... | 2002 | 28547409 |
| sexual dimorphism of skull shape in a lacertid lizard species (podarcis spp., dalmatolacerta sp., dinarolacerta sp.) revealed by geometric morphometrics. | geometric morphometric techniques were used to examine allometric and non-allometric influences on sexual shape dimorphism (sshd) in the ventral cranium (skull base, palate and upper jaw) of four species of lacertid lizards (podarcis muralis, podarcis melisellensis, dalmatolacerta oxycephala, dinarolacerta mosorensis). these species differ in body shape, ecology and degree of phylogenetic relatedness. the structures of the ventral cranium that were studied are directly involved in the mechanics ... | 2010 | 20439153 |
| variation in the cranium shape of wall lizards (podarcis spp.): effects of phylogenetic constraints, allometric constraints and ecology. | we used geometric morphometrics to explore the influence of phylogenetic and allometric constraints as well as ecology on variation in cranium shape in five species of monophyletic, morphologically similar podarcis lizards (podarcis erhardii, podarcis melisellensis, podarcis muralis, podarcis sicula and podarcis taurica). these species belong to different clades, they differ in their habitat preferences and can be classified into two distinct morphotypes: saxicolous and terrestrial. we found (i) ... | 2012 | 22748667 |