Biología térmica de la lagartija balear, Podarcis lilfordi (Günther, 1874) en dos poblaciones de Menorca

  1. Valentín Pérez-Mellado
  2. Teresa Alonso Fernández
  3. Mario Garrido Escudero
  4. Carmen Guerra Rodríguez
  5. Zaida Ortega Diago
  6. Alejandro Villa García
Journal:
Revista de Menorca

ISSN: 0211-4550,  2659-4544

Year of publication: 2013

Issue: 92

Pages: 219-244

Type: Article

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Abstract

The thermal biology of the balearic lizard, Podarcis lilfordi was studied in two insular populations of Menorca (balearic Islands, Spain), Aire and Co-lom islets. Active lizards showed body temperatures around 32 to 33ºC du-ring spring and above 35ºC during summer. In Aire islet, during spring, most of the activity was performed under suboptimal body temperatures, while the opposite situation was observed in Colom islet. The study of body temperatu-res in active lizards and the comparison with operative temperatures and the range of selected temperature range showed that the balearic lizard is an effi-cient thermoregulator at both populations and during both seasons under study. The thermal quality of Colom islet is higher during spring and lower during summer than the thermal quality of Aire islet. during spring, the effectiveness of temperature regulation is significantly higher in Colom islet, while during summer the situation is reverted, with a higher effectiveness in Aire islet. The role of wind in the thermal balance of lizards at both islets was discussed.In Aire islet, during spring, the open spathes of the arum lily, Dracunculus muscivorus, were also employed as an usual thermoregulation perch. Even if the majority of the spathes had a lower thermal quality than other subtrates, lizards actively selected warmer spathes, reaching higher body temperatures than on other susbtrates.

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