| new viruses from lacerta monticola (serra da estrela, portugal): further evidence for a new group of nucleo-cytoplasmic large deoxyriboviruses. | lizard erythrocytic viruses (levs) have previously been described in lacerta monticola from serra da estrela, portugal. like other known erythrocytic viruses of heterothermic vertebrates, these viruses have never been adapted to cell cultures and remain uncharacterized at the molecular level. in this study, we made attempts to adapt the virus to cell cultures that resulted instead in the isolation of a previously undetected ranavirus closely related to fv3. the ranavirus was subsequently detecte ... | 2010 | 21138619 |
| detection of zoonotic and livestock-specific assemblages of giardia duodenalis in free-living wild lizards. | giardia duodenalis is a zoonotic parasite that infects the gut of a wide range of vertebrates, including numerous wildlife species. however, little is known about this protozoan parasite in reptiles. fecal samples from 31 wild lizards were collected in galicia (northwest spain) and screened for the presence of giardia by pcr amplification and sequencing of the its1-5.8s-its2 region in the ribosomal unit. this allowed detection of the parasite in 5 samples (16.1%), and enabled identification of g ... | 2017 | 28699999 |
| chemical compounds from femoral gland secretions of male iberian rock lizards, lacerta monticola cyreni. | in spite of the importance of chemoreception and chemical signals in the social organization of lizards, there are only a few studies examining the chemical composition of secretions of lizards used for scent marking. the secretion of the femoral glands of male iberian rock lizards (lacerta monticola cyreni) contains 44 lipophilic compounds, including several steroids (mainly cholesterol), and n-c6 to n-c22 carboxylic acids, and minor components such as esters of carboxylic acids, alcohols, squa ... | 2009 | 16163841 |
| isolation and characterization of polymorphic microsatellite markers in iberolacerta monticola, and cross-species amplification in iberolacerta galani and zootoca vivipara. | fourteen polymorphic microsatellite loci are described for the iberian rock lizard, iberolacerta monticola. genetic variation in a sample of 20 individuals from piornedo (northwestern spain) was quantified both by the number of alleles per locus, which ranged from six to 13, and by the expected frequency of heterozygotes under random mating (heterozygosity), which ranged from 0.761 to 0.902. single locus and global exclusion probabilities were also computed, and indicate a high power of these ma ... | 2008 | 21586043 |
| increased temperature disrupts chemical communication in some species but not others: the importance of local adaptation and distribution. | environmental conditions experienced by a species during its evolutionary history may shape the signals it uses for communication. consequently, rapid environmental changes may lead to less effective signals, which interfere with communication between individuals, altering life history traits such as predator detection and mate searching. increased temperature can reduce the efficacy of scent marks released by male lizards, but the extent to which this negative effect is related to specific biol ... | 2018 | 29375776 |
| a new mountain lizard from montes de león (nw iberian peninsula): iberolacerta monticola astur ssp. nov. (squamata: lacertidae). | iberolacerta populations from the northern montes de leon (nml) were studied by means of external morphology (scalation and biometry), osteology and genetics (mtdna and microsatellites), searching for their homogeneity ("intrazonalanalysis") and, once verified, comparing them with iberolacerta monticola s. str. (from central cantabrian mountains)and/. gal ani (from southern montes de leon) ("extrazonal analysis") from neighboring areas.our "intrazonal analysis" revealed discordances between the ... | 2014 | 24870674 |
| karyological characterization of the endemic iberian rock lizard, iberolacerta monticola (squamata, lacertidae): insights into sex chromosome evolution. | rock lizards of the genus iberolacerta constitute a promising model to examine the process of sex chromosome evolution, as these closely related taxa exhibit remarkable diversity in the degree of sex chromosome differentiation with no clear phylogenetic segregation, ranging from cryptic to highly heteromorphic zw chromosomes and even multiple chromosome systems (z1z1z2z2/z1z2w). to gain a deeper insight into the patterns of karyotype and sex chromosome evolution, we performed a cytogenetic analy ... | 2014 | 24296524 |
| iridovirus-like viruses in erythrocytes of lacertids from portugal. | icosahedral nucleo-cytoplasmic large dna viruses (ncldv)-like viruses, which forminclusions in the erythrocyte cytoplasm of reptiles, were previously presented as candidates for a new genus of the iridoviridae family. the present work describes the distribution of infected lizard hosts and ultrastructural characteristics of the viral inclusions of ncldv-like viruses from portugal and adjacent locations in spain. giemsa-stained blood smears of 235 lacerta schreiberi from portugal and spain, 571 l ... | 2013 | 23806208 |
| causes and evolutionary consequences of population subdivision of an iberian mountain lizard, iberolacerta monticola. | the study of the factors that influence population connectivity and spatial distribution of genetic variation is crucial for understanding speciation and for predicting the effects of landscape modification and habitat fragmentation, which are considered severe threats to global biodiversity. this dual perspective is obtained from analyses of subalpine mountain species, whose present distribution may have been shaped both by cyclical climate changes over ice ages and anthropogenic perturbations ... | 2013 | 23762459 |
| chemical polymorphism and chemosensory recognition between iberolacerta monticola lizard color morphs. | in the lizard iberolacerta monticola, there are 2 discrete color morphs ("blue" vs. "green") that seem to have alternative reproductive strategies. because scent marking of territories and chemoreception are important in social organization of these lizards, we explored whether there is also chemical polymorphism and chemosensory recognition between color morphs. analyses by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry showed that adult males of different morphs had similar chemical compounds in femoral ... | 2009 | 19759363 |
| vitamin d supplementation increases the attractiveness of males' scent for female iberian rock lizards. | evolutionary theory proposes that signals used in sexual selection can only be stable if they are honest and condition dependent. however, despite the fact that chemical signals are used by many animals, empirical research has mainly focused on visual and acoustic signals. vitamin d is an essential nutrient for lizards, but in some lizards its precursor (cholesta-5,7-dien-3-ol=provitamin d) is found in femoral gland secretions, which males use for scent marking and intraspecific communication. b ... | 2006 | 17002947 |
| reliable signaling by chemical cues of male traits and health state in male lizards, lacerta monticola. | in spite of the importance of chemoreception in social organization and sexual selection of lizards, there is a lack of general knowledge on how the characteristics of chemical signals mediate these behaviors. moreover, it is unknown which are the mechanisms that might confer honesty to the information provided by chemical signals. we analyzed here whether characteristics of the lipophilic fraction of femoral gland secretions of lacerta monticola male lizards can be related to the morphology, ph ... | 2006 | 16555130 |
| iberian rock lizards (lacerta monticola) assess short-term changes in predation risk level when deciding refuge use. | prey might assess that risk level estimated in the first encounter with a predator was fixed in subsequent responses, whereas prey using flexible behavior would track short-term changes in risk. the authors examined, in the field, refuge use of iberian rock lizards (lacerta monticola) after simulated predator attacks and tested (a) how risk was assessed when multiple sources of risk were present simultaneously, (b) how short-term changes in risk level of successive attacks affected refuge use, a ... | 2004 | 15482055 |
| prevalence and intensity of haemogregarinid blood parasites in a population of the iberian rock lizard, lacerta monticola. | the study of the effect of parasites on their host populations is essential for understanding their role in host population dynamics and ecology. we describe the general field population biology of haemogregarines in the iberian rock lizard, lacerta monticola, examining the factors that determine the prevalence and intensity of infection. prevalence and infection intensity were higher in adults than in juvenile lizards. the prevalence rate was higher in larger lizards, probably because they were ... | 2004 | 15368125 |
| experimental infection of lacertids with lizard erythrocytic viruses. | lizard erythrocytic viruses (levs) produce inclusions in the cytoplasm of erythrocytes, but their impact on the infected host is poorly understood. this work reports on an experimental study of the infection process in lacerta monticola and lacerta schreiberi from serra da estrela mountain, portugal. | 2002 | 12403919 |
| chemoreception, symmetry and mate choice in lizards. | research on fluctuating asymmetry (fa)-mediated sexual selection has focused almost exclusively on visual signals and ignored chemical communication despite the fact that many species rely on chemical signals for attracting mates. female mate choice based on visual traits appears to be rare in lizards. however, the femoral glands of male lizards produce pheromones which might transmit chemical information about an individual's developmental stability. therefore, we hypothesized that mate choice ... | 2000 | 10972119 |