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Aim: Analyses of biogeographical patterns and macroecology of islands require large datasets reporting the occurrence of species. The Mediterranean region is a biodiversity hotspot, which hosts a large number of reptile species and has been the focus of many studies. Nevertheless, comprehensive inventories describing the features and biodiversity of these environments are lacking. We gathered a dataset summarizing data on reptile distribution on islands of the Mediterranean basin and Macaronesia, also including detailed information on the geographical features. Location: Islands from the Mediterranean Basin, the Atlantic Ocean within the Mediterranean biogeographical region, and Macaronesia (Canary and Savage Islands, Azores, Madeira and Cape Verde). Time period: Present. Taxon: Reptiles (squamates and turtles). Methods: Initially, we developed a geographical database describing islands of the study region, then gathered information on reptile occurrences from 757 bibliographical sources, including atlases, published papers and the grey literature. Through a critical review of these sources, we also obtained information on the status of populations (native, island endemic or non-native) and on the reliability of occurrence data. Results: We obtained basic geographical information from 1875 islands covering the whole study region and with a very broad range of geographical features. We gathered >4150 records of reptile occurrence on islands, referring to 198 taxonomic units (species or species complexes); information on population status was available for 84.9% of records. Data are provided as comma-delimited text files. Main conclusions: The database provides a key resource for biogeographical analyses and can also serve as a backbone for conservation studies. The availability of a large database on island features can also be useful for biogeographers working on other taxonomic groups. Nevertheless, more data are required for some geographical areas, in order to ascertain the status (e.g., native vs. non-native) of many populations and to understand the interplay between natural and human-driven processes.

Species vary extensively in geographic range size and climatic niche breadth. If range limits are primarily determined by climatic factors, species with broad climatic tolerances and those that track geographically widespread climates should have large ranges. However, large ranges might increase the probability of population fragmentation and adaptive divergence, potentially decoupling climatic niche breadth and range size. Conversely, ecological generalism in large-ranged species might lead to higher gene flow across climatic transitions, increasing species' cohesion and thus decreasing genetic isolation by distance (IBD). Focusing on Australia's iconic

Three new species were recently described from the Calotes mystaceus Duméril & Bibron, 1837 complex. Of the three new species, C. vindumbarbatus Wagner, Ihlow, Hartmann, Flecks, Schmitz & Böhme, 2021 was known only from northern Myanmar. Seven specimens of lizard were collected from Tongbiguan Nature Reserve, western Yunnan, China. Phylogenetically, these specimens clustered with the type specimens of Calotes vindumbarbatus from Myanmar with strong support and showed inappreciable genetic divergence from the type specimens of C. vindumbarbatus. We report the first country record of C. vindumbarbatus from China. In addition, a supplementary description, based on the newly-collected specimens and revised diagnosis of this species, was provided.

The introduction of mammalian predators often results in loss of native biodiversity due to naiveté of native prey to novel predators. In New Zealand, an island system with virtually no native mammalian predators, introduced mammalian predators threaten a large proportion of the native fauna. A critical step in adapting to introduced predators is the ability to recognize and respond to a novel predation threat. Whether New Zealand's lizards can do this has received little attention. We compared the basking behaviour of native McCann's skinks (Oligosoma maccanni) when exposed to a live cat (Felis catus), cat body odour, a model raptor (representing a coevolved predator) or procedural controls. We inferred predator recognition from reductions in individual basking and higher selection for basking sites with greater refuge availability. We tested these behavioural responses for two skink populations: one from an area with high abundance of mammalian predators including feral cats and the other from a fenced conservation reserve where predators have been excluded for over 10 years (3–4 skink generations). Skinks from the high-predator population reduced basking when exposed to cat and raptor cues, whereas skinks from the predator-free population did not. These results suggest that within approximately 150 years of exposure to novel predators, McCann's skinks might be able to recognize the threat posed by invasive mammals. However, they also demonstrate that predator recognition and antipredator behaviours may not necessarily be retained once gained. The rapid loss of basking-related antipredator behaviours might reflect the high fitness costs of reduced basking for this species. Our results indicate that the behavioural response of skinks is flexible and that skinks may maximize individual fitness by balancing the risk of predation with the costs of antipredator behaviours

Competition between animals for limited resources often involves signaling to establish ownership or dominance. In some species, the defended resource relates to suitable thermal conditions and refuge from predators. This is particularly true of burrow-dwelling lizards such as the Qinghai toad-headed agama (Phrynocephalus vlangalii), which are found on the Tibetan plateau of western China. Male and female lizards occupy separate burrows, which are vital for anti-predator behaviour during warmer months when lizards are active and, crucially, provide shelter from harsh winter conditions. These lizards are readily observed signaling by means of tail displays on the sand dunes they inhabit. Given the selective pressure to hold such a resource, both males and females should exhibit territorial behaviour and we considered this study system to examine in detail how social context influences motion based territorial signaling. We confirmed that territorial signaling was used by both sexes and by adopting a novel strategy that permitted 3D reconstruction of tail displays, we identified significant variation due to social context. However, signal structure was not related to lizard morphology. Clearly, the burrow is a highly valued resource and we suggest that additional variation in signaling behaviour might be mediated by resource quality.

Climate-modulated parasitism is driven by a range of factors, yet the spatial and temporal variability of this relationship has received scant attention in wild vertebrate hosts. Moreover, most prior studies overlooked the intraspecific differences across host morphotypes, which impedes a full understanding of the climate-parasitism relationship. In the common lizard (Zootoca vivipara), females exhibit three colour morphs: yellow (Y-females), orange (O-females), and mixed (mixture of yellow and orange, M-females). Zootoca vivipara is also infested with an ectoparasite (Ophionyssus mites). We therefore used this model system to examine the intraspecific response of hosts to parasitism under climate change. We found infestation probability to differ across colour morphs at both spatial (10 sites) and temporal (20 years) scales: M-females had lower parasite infestations than Y- and O-females at lower temperatures, but became more susceptible to parasites as temperature increased. The advantage of M-females at low temperatures was counterbalanced by their higher mortality rates thereafter, which suggests a morph-dependent trade-off between resistance to parasites and host survival. Furthermore, significant interactions between colour morphs and temperature indicate that the relationship between parasite infestations and climate warming was contingent on host morphotypes. Parasite infestations increased with temperature for most morphs, but displayed morph-specific rates. Finally, infested M-females had higher reductions in survival rates than infested Y- or O-females, which implies a potential loss of intraspecific diversity within populations as parasitism and temperatures rise. Overall, we found parasitism increases with warming temperatures, but this relationship is modulated by host morphotypes and an interaction with temperature. We suggest that epidemiological models incorporate intraspecific diversity within species for better understanding the dynamics of wildlife diseases under climate warming.

Running speed and camouflage are associated with the foraging and anti‐predator abilities of animals. The toad‐headed lizard, Phrynocephalus versicolor, has evolved a darker dorsal color in melanistic habitats and maintained a lighter color in adjacent, non‐melanistic habitats. We test the hypothesis that lizards have weaker running speed on well‐matching backgrounds than on less matching backgrounds. We used lizard models to compare the predation pressure, while the running speed of dark and light lizards were compared in field tunnels using a video recording method. Our results indicated that both the dark lizards in melanistic Heishankou (HSK) and the light lizards in non‐melanistic Guazhou (GZ) face lower predation pressure than potential color‐background unmatched lizards. The light lizards have a potentially higher running speed than darker lizards in melanistic habitats, which implies that substrate color matching populations with benefits of camouflage might have lower anti‐predation pressure, and the costs of investment in melanin production may reduce running capacity., The lizards with substrate matching dorsal color have lower predation pressure than substrate unmatched lizards. The dark lizards with benefits of camouflage lowed the running speed in melanistic habitat.

Holcosus gaigeae es una lagartija de tamaño pequeño y cuerpo moderadamente robusto que tiene una distribución restringida a la porción Mexicana de la Península de Yucatán. La información existente acerca de su ecología e historia natural es limitada. En este escrito se presentan observaciones de depredación, dieta y reproducción de H. gaigeae en diferentes porciones de los estados de Yucatán y Campeche, en México, las cuales aportan nueva información acerca de los aspectos ecológicos de esta especie.

Physiology is crucial for the survival of invasive species in new environments. Yet, new climatic conditions and the limited genetic variation found within many invasive populations may influence physiological responses to new environmental conditions. Here, we studied the case of the delicate skinks (Lampropholis delicata) invading Lord Howe Island (LHI), Australia. On LHI, the climate is different from the mainland source of the skinks, and independent introduction events generated invasive populations with distinct genetic backgrounds. To understand how climate and genetic background may shape physiological responses along biological invasions, we compared the physiological traits of a source and two invasive (single-haplotype and multi-haplotype) populations of the delicate skink. For each population, we quantified physiological traits related to metabolism, sprint speed, and thermal physiology. We found that, for most physiological traits analysed, population history did not influence the ecophysiology of delicate skinks. However, invasive populations showed higher maximum speed than the source population, which indicates that locomotor performance might be a trait under selection during biological invasions. As well, the invasive population with a single haplotype was less cold-tolerant than the multi-haplotype and source populations. Our results suggest that limited genetic variability and climate may influence physiological responses of invasive organisms in novel environments. Incorporating the interplay between genetic and physiological responses into models predicting species invasions can result in more accurate understanding of the potential habitats those species can occupy.

Climate change represents a real threat to biodiversity conservation worldwide. Although the effects on several species of conservation priority are known, comprehensive information about the impact of climate change on reptile populations is lacking. In the present study, we analyze outcomes on the potential distribution of the black beaded lizard (Heloderma alvarezi Bogert & Martin del Campo, 1956) under global warming scenarios. Its potential distribution, at present and in projections for the years 2050 and 2070, under both optimistic and pessimistic climate change forecasts, were computed using current data records and seven bioclimatic variables. General results predict a shift in the future potential distribution of H. alvarezi due to temperature increase. The optimistic scenario (4.5 W/m2) for 2070 suggests an enlargement in the species’ distribution as a response to the availability of new areas of suitable habitat. On the contrary, the worst-case scenario (7 W/m2) shows a distribution decrease by 65%. Moreover, the range distribution of H. alvarezi is directly related to the human footprint, which consequently could magnify negative outcomes for this species. Our research elucidates the importance of conservation strategies to prevent the extinction of the black beaded lizard, especially considering that this species is highly threatened by aversive hunting.

Aim . Comparison of two methods (genetic and morphological) for assessing the polymorphism of populations of the eastern sand lizard ( Lacerta agilis exigua ) in two ecologically different localities. Material and Methods . For this, we used the method of polylocus genotyping of genomic DNA regions flanked by inverted repeats of microsatellites and fragments of long terminal repeats of endogenous retroviruses, as well as the assessment of a number of phenotypic characteristics. The material was lizards (a total of 55 adults) caught in two localities: in the Novonikolaevsky District of the Volgograd Region and in the vicinity of the Strizhament mountain, Stavropol Territory. Results . Of the two methods for assessing the state of the population genetic structure of the eager lizard, the most informative for identifying interpopulation and sex differences was a comparative analysis of the spectra obtained using microsatellite sequences and sites of endogenous retroviruses. This method made it possible to identify the most polymorphic DNA markers, which make it possible to obtain the most informative spectra in terms of the number of loci and polymorphism necessary for describing the genetic structures and their dynamics in the eastern darting lizard with high resolution. Conclusion . The studies carried out allowed us to identify the most informative indicators for describing population structures and their dynamics in the eastern darting lizard. For the first time, data were obtained indicating that the greatest contribution to interpopulation differentiation in different localities of capture is made by the variability of males compared to females.

Global climate change is already contributing to the extirpation of numerous species worldwide, and sensitive species will continue to face challenges associated with rising temperatures throughout this century and beyond. It is especially important to evaluate the thermal ecology of endangered ectotherm species now so that mitigation measures can be taken as early as possible. A recent study of the thermal ecology of the federally endangered Blunt‐nosed Leopard Lizard (Gambelia sila) suggested that they face major activity restrictions due to thermal constraints in their desert habitat, but that large shade‐providing shrubs act as thermal buffers to allow them to maintain surface activity without overheating. We replicated this study and also included a population of G. sila with no access to large shrubs to facilitate comparison of the thermal ecology of G. sila populations in shrubless and shrubbed sites. We found that G. sila without access to shrubs spent more time sheltering inside rodent burrows than lizards with access to shrubs, especially during the hot summer months. Lizards from a shrubbed site had higher midday body temperatures and therefore poorer thermoregulatory accuracy than G. sila from a shrubless site, suggesting that greater surface activity may represent a thermoregulatory trade‐off for G. sila. Lizards at both sites are currently constrained from using open, sunny microhabitats for much of the day during their short active seasons, and our projections suggest that climate change will exacerbate these restrictions and force G. sila to use rodent burrows for shelter even more than they do now, especially at sites without access to shrubs. The continued management of shrubs and of burrowing rodents at G. sila sites is therefore essential to the survival of this endangered species., The Blunt‐Nosed Leopard Lizard is a federally endangered ectotherm adapted to California's San Joaquin Desert ecosystem. We compared a population of lizards who had access to shrubs to a population of lizards who had no access to shrubs in the Carrizo Plain National Monument, and found that lizards who do not have access to shrubs thermoregulated more accurately (unexpected), with a trade‐off of being forced underground into cooler burrows for more of the day compared with lizards who had access to shrubs.

A body plan (bauplan) is a suite of morphological characters shared by phylogenetically related animals at some point during their development. Despite its value, the bauplan concept is still rarely employed to characterize functional groups in community ecology. Here, we examine habitat use and spatio-temporal activity correlates of an entire seven-species community of lizards with different bauplans. The study was carried out in three locations in central Italy, encompassing a complex landscape with a patchy mosaic of a wide variety of habitats and microclimates. We tested four hypotheses regarding niche breadth, habitat use, and activity patterns. The first hypothesis, niche complementarity, in which species with similar body shapes should non-randomly partition available habitats, was not supported. By contrast, the hypotheses that larger bodied species should have a wider niche breadth, that slower species should inhabit habitat types of higher cover, and species inhabiting open sunny habitats should exhibit more seasonally variable activity patterns, were all supported by the data. Sympatric lizard communities in our study area were clearly organized by autecological constraints and eco-physiological attributes.

Mediterranean islands have a high diversity of squamates, although they are unevenly distributed. This variability in the composition of the reptile assemblages across islands may have been influenced by differences in the colonization abilities of these species. To evaluate the dispersal capacities of squamate species, we modeled their sea routes using cost surface models. We estimated the effects of some life‐history traits and the phylogenetic signal in the characteristics of the modeled dispersal paths. We hypothesized that a significant phylogenetic signal should be present if the dispersal ability is enhanced by traits shared among evolutionarily related species. The results showed that no phylogenetic signal was present in the characteristics of the dispersal paths (i.e., in the distance traveled/bypassed sea depth). Thus, no superior island‐colonizer lineages were detected in Mediterranean Squamata. However, our analyses also revealed that small‐sized lizards were superior to other groups of squamates at dispersing over long distances on the sea., The dispersal of reptiles throughout the Mediterranean islands lacks a phylogenetic structure. Only small lizards appear to be better dispersers, but this trait evolved independently in several unrelated lineages.

We document the first verifiable records of Heloderma alvarezi (Bogert & del Campo, 1956) in southeastern Guerrero, Mexico. We recorded seven individuals of H. alvarezi near the village of Cihuapoloya, municipality of Cuautepec. These are the westernmost records of the species, extending its distribution by approximately 149 km from the nearest previously known occurrences in Oaxaca. With these records, the number of reptile species in Guerrero increases to 182.

We present the first record of Phyllopezus pollicaris from the state of Espírito Santo, southeastern Brazil, at the Atlantic Forest rock outcrops of the Pedra do Elefante – an inselberg area located at the municipality of Nova Venécia. We discuss the first state record for the genus, the geographic distribution range for this species, and the records outside the seasonally dry forest biomes, in which the species rarely occurs.

The body temperature of lizards is strongly influenced by the thermal quality of microhabitats, exploiting the favourable environmental temperatures, and avoiding exposure to extreme thermal conditions. For these reasons, reptile populations are considered to be especially vulnerable to changes in environmental temperatures produced by climate change. Here, we study the thermal physiology of the critically endangered Añelo Sand Dunes Lizard (Liolaemus cuyumhue Avila, Morando, Perez and Sites, 2009). We hypothesise that (i) there is a thermal coadaptation between optimal temperature for locomotor performance of L. cuyumhue and its thermal preference; (ii) L. cuyumhue lives in an environment with low thermal quality; and (iii) a rise in environmental temperatures due to global warming will impose a decrement in locomotor speed represented by lower warming tolerance and narrower thermal safety margins, increasing their already high vulnerability. We recorded field body temperatures (T b), preferred body temperatures (T pref), the operative temperature (T e), and the thermal sensitivity of locomotion at different body temperatures. Our results indicate that this lizard is not currently under environmental stress or exceeding its thermal limits, but that it is thermoregulating below T pref to avoid overheating, and that an increase in environmental temperature higher than 3.5 °C will strongly affect the use of microhabitats with direct sun exposure.

Leaving the water to bask (usually in the sun) is a common behavior for many freshwater turtles, with some species also engaging in “nocturnal basking.” Ectoparasite removal is an obvious hypothesis to explain nocturnal basking and has also been proposed as a key driver of diurnal basking. However, the efficacy of basking, day or night, to remove leeches has not been experimentally tested. Therefore, we examined the number of leeches that were removed from Krefft's river turtles (Emydura macquarii krefftii) after experimentally making turtles bask at a range of times of day, durations, and temperatures. Turtles had high initial leech loads, with a mean of 32.1 leeches per turtle. Diurnal basking under a heat lamp for 3 hr at ~28°C significantly reduced numbers of leeches relative to controls. In diurnal trials, 90.9% of turtles lost leeches (mean loss of 7.1 leeches per turtle), whereas basking for 30 min under the same conditions was not effective (no turtles lost leeches, and all turtles were still visibly wet). Similarly, “nocturnal basking” at ~23°C for 3 hr was not effective at removing leeches. Only 18% of turtles lost leeches (one turtle lost one leech and another lost four leeches). Diurnal basking outdoors under direct sunlight for 20 min (mean temp = 34.5°C) resulted in a small reduction in leeches, with 50% of turtles losing leeches and an average loss of 0.7 leeches per turtle. These results indicate basking can remove leeches if temperatures are high or basking durations are long. However, it was only effective at unusually long basking durations in this system. Our data showed even the 20‐min period was longer than 70.1% of natural diurnal basking events, many of which took place at cooler temperatures. Therefore, leech removal does not appear to be the purpose of the majority of basking events., Aerial basking has long been hypothesized to reduce ectoparasites in turtles. We experimentally tested if basking reduced leech loads in an Australian freshwater turtle. While basking can reduce leech loads, the basking duration and heat intensity greatly influence the results. Thus, we have determined that mean basking times in nature were not sufficient to effectively reduce leech loads, making leech removal unlikely to be the primary mechanism driving basking behavior.

Background For almost two centuries, ecologists have examined geographical patterns in the evolution of body size and the associated determinants. During that time, one of the most common patterns to have emerged is the increase in body size with increasing latitude (referred to as Bergmann's rule). Typically, this pattern is explained in terms of an evolutionary response that serves to minimize heat loss in colder climates, mostly in endotherms. In contrast, however, this rule rarely explains geographical patterns in the evolution of body size among ectotherms (e.g., reptiles). Location China. Aim In this study, we assembled a dataset comprising the maximum sizes of 211 lizard species in China and examined the geographical patterns in body size evolution and its determinants. Specifically, we assessed the relationship between body size and climate among all lizard species and within four major groups at both assemblage and interspecific levels. Results Although we found that the body size of Chinese lizards was larger in warmer regions, we established that at the assemblage level, size was correlated with multiple climatic factors, and that body size–climate correlations differed within the four major groups. Phylogenetic analysis at the species level revealed that no single climatic factor was associated with body size, with the exception of agamids, for which size was found to be positively correlated with temperature. Main conclusions Geographical patterns in Chinese lizard body size are driven by multiple factors, and overall patterns are probably influenced by those of the major groups. We suggest that our analyses at two different levels may have contributed to the inconsistent results obtained in this study. Further studies investigating the effects of altitude and ecological factors are needed to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the evolution of ectotherm body size., We present the most comprehensive database of body size among Chinese lizards. Spatial patterns in the size of Chinese lizards are driven by multiple factors.

Dracunculus spp. are parasitic nematodes that infect numerous species of mammals and reptiles. The life cycles of Dracunculus species are complex, and unknowns remain regarding the role of paratenic and transport hosts in transmission to definitive hosts. We had two primary objectives: to assess the susceptibility of several species of anurans, lizards, and fish as paratenic hosts for Dracunculus species, and to determine the long-term persistence of Dracunculus infections in African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis). Animals were orally exposed to copepods infected with infectious third-stage larvae (L3s) of either Dracunculus insignis or D. medinensis. Dracunculus L3s were recovered from four anuran species, two lizard species, and one fish species, demonstrating that Dracunculus can infect tissues of a diversity of species. In long-term persistence trials, D. medinensis L3s were recovered from African clawed frogs tissues up to 58 days post-infection, and D. insignis L3s were recovered up to 244 days post-infection. Our findings regarding the susceptibility of novel species of frogs, lizards, and fish to infection with Dracunculus nematodes, and long-term persistence of L3s in paratenic hosts, address pressing knowledge gaps regarding Dracunculus infection in paratenic hosts and may guide future research regarding the transmission of Dracunculus to definitive mammalian hosts.

Background: Many animals display morphological and behavioural adaptations to the habitats in which they live and the resources they exploit. Bite force is an important whole-organism performance trait that allows an increase in dietary breadth, the inclusion of novel prey in the diet, territory and predatory defence, and is important during mating in many lizards. Methods: Here, we study six species of southern African agamid lizards from three habitat types (ground-dwelling, rock-dwelling, and arboreal) to investigate whether habitat use constrains head morphology and bite performance. We further tested whether bite force and head morphology evolve as adaptations to diet by analysing a subset of these species for which diet data were available. Results: Overall, both jaw length and its out-lever are excellent predictors of bite performance across all six species. Rock-dwelling species have a flatter head relative to their size than other species, possibly as an adaptation for crevice use. However, even when correcting for jaw length and jaw out-lever length, rock-dwelling species bite harder than ground-dwelling species. Diet analyses demonstrate that body and head size are not directly related to diet, although greater in-levers for jaw closing (positively related to bite force) are associated to an increase of hard prey in the diet. Ground-dwelling species consume more ants than other species. Conclusions: Our results illustrate the role of head morphology in driving bite force and demonstrate how habitat use impacts head morphology but not bite force in these agamids. Although diet is associated with variation in head morphology it is only partially responsible for the observed differences in morphology and performance.

Ectotherms are vulnerable to environmental changes and their parasites are biological health indicators. Thus, parasite load in ectotherms is expected to show a marked phenology. This study investigates temporal host–parasite dynamics in a lizard community in Eastern Spain during an entire annual activity period. The hosts investigated were Acanthodactylus erythrurus, Psammodromus algirus and Psammodromus edwardsianus, three lizard species coexisting in a mixed habitat of forests and dunes, providing a range of body sizes, ecological requirements and life history traits. Habitat and climate were considered as potential environmental predictors of parasite abundance, while size, body condition and sex as intrinsic predictors. Linear models based on robust estimates were fitted to analyse parasite abundance and prevalence. Ectoparasitic mites and blood parasites from two haemococcidian genera were found: Lankesterella spp. and Schellackia spp. Habitat type was the only predictor explaining the abundance of all parasites, being mostly higher in the forest than in the dunes. The results suggest that particularities in each host–parasite relationship should be accounted even when parasites infect close-related hosts under the same environmental pressures. They also support that lizard parasites can be biomarkers of environmental perturbation, but the relationships need to be carefully interpreted for each host–parasite assemblage.

Although the major Squamata lineages are primarily oriented by chemical or visual sensory systems, many lizards are able to use acoustic information and several species produce sounds. However, while gekkotans are renowned by their complex vocal repertoires, sounds of other lizards are much less known. Herein we characterize the sounds emitted by individuals of Tropidurus catalanensis (Tropiduridae) from southeastern Brazil in response to threat stimuli. Our results revealed that the acoustic display was consistently emitted by adult individuals. The typical sound emission consisted of a single click, very short in duration, and without frequency modulation. This is the first report of sound emission by Tropidurus lizards, expanding the knowledge on the behavioural repertoire of the genus, and contributing to understanding the extension of sound emission in lizards.

Lizard species are rarely detected with perfect accuracy, regardless of the method employed. Nondetection of a species at a site does not necessarily mean the species was absent unless the detection probability was 100%. We assessed the influence of site covariates (less disturbed habitat and disturbed habitat) and sample covariates (temperature, humidity, rainfall) on the occupancy of Eutropis longicaudata in the Aluoi area, central Vietnam. Based on detection/nondetection data over nine visits at 40 less disturbed sites and 39 sites with disturbed habitats, the distribution of E. longicaudata was estimated using site occupancy models. From the best model, we estimated a site occupancy probability of 0.595, a 12.05% increase over the naive occupancy of 0.531 at which E. longicaudata skinks were actually observed. The site covariate of the less disturbed habitat was an important determinant of site occupancy, which was not associated with the variable of disturbance habitats. In the combined AIC model weight, p(precipitation), p(temperature), and p(humidity) have 92%, 36%, and 21% of the total, respectively; providing evidence that environmental conditions (especially precipitation) were important sample covariates in modelling detection probabilities of E. longicaudata. In terms of occupancy probability, the combined weight for the ψ(less disturbed habitat) model and the ψ(disturbed habitat) model were 60% and 32%, respectively. Our results substantiate the importance of incorporating detection and occupancy probabilities into studies of habitat relationships and suggest that the less disturbed habitat associated with weather conditions influence the occupancy of E. longicaudata in central Vietnam.

Harsh and variable environments have been hypothesized to both drive and constrain the evolution towards higher cognitive abilities and behavioural flexibility. In this study, we compared the cognitive abilities of island and mainland Aegean wall lizards (Podarcis erhardii), which were expected to live in respectively a more variable and a more stable habitat. We used four proxies of behavioural flexibility: a neophobia assay, a problem-solving test and a spatial + reversal learning task. Surprisingly, the two populations did not differ in neophobia or problem-solving. Insular lizards, however, outperformed mainland conspecifics in an initial spatial learning task, but were less successful during the subsequent reversal learning. Our results thus seem to indicate that the effect of environmental variability on cognition is complex, as it may favour some, but not all aspects of behavioural flexibility.

The evolutionary role of fire in animals has been poorly explored. Reptiles use sensory cues, such as smell (chemoreception), to detect threats and flee. In Mediterranean ecosystems, fire is a threat faced by reptiles. We hypothesized that the Mediterranean lizard Psammodromus algirus recognizes the threat of fire by detecting the smoke, which triggers a behavioral response that enhances survival in fire-prone ecosystems. We predicted that lizards from fire-prone ecosystems will be more sensitive to fire stimulus than those from ecosystems that rarely burn. We conducted a terrarium experiment in which lizards from habitats with contrasted fire regimes (fire-prone vs. non-fire-prone) were exposed to smoke versus control (false smoke) treatment. We found that, in populations from fire-prone habitats, more lizards reacted to smoke, and their behavioral response was more intense than in lizard populations from non-fire-prone habitats. Our results suggest that an enhanced response to smoke may be adaptive in lizards from fire-prone ecosystems as it increases the chance for survival. We provide evidence that fire is likely an evolutionary driver shaping behavioral traits in lizard populations exposed to frequent wildfires. Understanding ecological and evolutionary processes shaping animal populations is relevant for species conservation in a changing fire regime world., This work was supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of the Spanish Government (grant numbers CGL2015-64086-P, PGC2018-096569-B-I00, and BES-2016–078225)

Invasive species greatly disrupt island ecosystems, risk assessment and the conservation of native ecosystems have therefore become pressing concerns. However, the cost of monitoring invasive species by humans is often high. In this study, we developed a system to detect an invasive lizard species, Anolis carolinensis, that threatens the native insect ecosystem of the Ogasawara Islands in Japan. Surveying these forest lizards requires specialized field observers, a challenge that prevents the government of Japan from efficient conservation and management of this ecosystem. The proposed system detects these lizards in drone images using a type of machine learning called deep neural network. Data were collected using a drone on Ani-jima in the Ogasawara Islands, and the trained network shows approximately 70% precision of detecting A. carolinensis. This study shows the combination of remote sensing and machine learning have the potential to contribute to an efficient and effective approach to conserving ecosystems.

Trophic rewilding provides a nature-based solution for biological conservation; however, empirical studies demonstrating rewilding effects are limited. Megaherbivores moderate the type and quality of habitat available to other fauna. However, these effects may take time to develop. Further, fauna responses to megaherbivore rewilding will depend on a suite of life-history traits and strategies that allow persistence within megaherbivore modified landscapes. We conducted a space-for-time field survey in South African savanna to determine if habitat modifications mediated by a reintroduced megaherbivore, the African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana), impacts the abundance of the diurnal arboreal cape dwarf gecko (Lygodactylus capensis) and two generalist diurnal skinks [the variable skink (Trachylepis varia) and striped skink (Trachylepis striata), collectively] across a 47-year period. The relative abundance of lizards and six habitat attributes utilized by lizards were assessed at 30 sites stratified across three biophysically and climatically similar nature reserves with different elephant reintroduction times (no elephants, 2003, 1972). The arboreal gecko was less common at the reserve with an older reintroduction time than the other reserves and was most commonly observed on, and positively correlated with, the density of the corkwood tree (Commiphora mollis). The generalist skinks were common across all reserves and were observed in a variety of habitats. Our results suggest that elephant rewilding differently impacts lizard species with different life-history strategies and that these effects take prolonged periods to develop. Given such knowledge, a long-term understanding of post-rewilding interactions will be a key point when designing and assessing the success of rewilding initiatives.

Most species of lizard are either diurnal or nocturnal, and it is extremely rare to find species that operate both diurnally and nocturnally, or that may shift from diurnality to partial nocturnali...

As shown from several long‐term and time‐intensive studies, closely related, sympatric species can impose strong selection on one another, leading to dramatic examples of phenotypic evolution. Here, we use occurrence data to identify clusters of sympatric Sceloporus lizard species and to test whether Sceloporus species tend to coexist with other species that differ in body size, as we would expect when there is competition between sympatric congeners. We found that Sceloporus species can be grouped into 16 unique bioregions. Bioregions that are located at higher latitudes tend to be larger and have fewer species, following Rapoport's rule and the latitudinal diversity gradient. Species richness was positively correlated with the number of biomes and elevation heterogeneity of each bioregion. Additionally, most bioregions show signs of phylogenetic underdispersion, meaning closely related species tend to occur in close geographic proximity. Finally, we found that although Sceloporus species that are similar in body size tend to cluster geographically, small‐bodied Sceloporus species are more often in sympatry with larger‐bodied Sceloporus species than expected by chance alone, whereas large‐bodied species cluster with each other geographically and phylogenetically. These results suggest that community composition in extant Sceloporus species is the result of allopatric evolution, as closely related species move into different biomes, and interspecies interactions, with sympatry between species of different body sizes. Our phyloinformatic approach offers unique and detailed insights into how a clade composed of ecologically and morphologically disparate species are distributed over large geographic space and evolutionary time.

The ability to rapidly adjust thermal tolerance in response to variable temperatures may facilitate the success of invasive species in non-native ranges. The Asian house gecko Hemidactylus frenatus is native to the tropics of South and Southeast Asia. This small lizard has spread across the globe and has also successfully invaded colder regions of Australia. In this study, we investigated whether this species displays plasticity in thermal tolerance in its introduced range. We measured cold tolerance (CTmin) and heat tolerance (CTmax) of H. frenatus from two native tropical populations in Thailand, and two introduced subtropical populations in southeastern Australia. We also explored seasonal variation in the thermal tolerance of the introduced populations. We found that heat tolerance (CTmax) of geckos did not differ among four populations in Thailand and Australia (range = 43.4–43.7 °C). By contrast, geckos from southeastern Australia had lower cold tolerance (CTmin) (mean = 10.43 °C) than geckos from Thailand (mean = 11.57 °C). We also documented seasonal shifts in cold tolerance of H. frenatus from southeastern Australia. Geckos captured in winter had cold tolerances 1–2 °C lower than those captured in summer. Unexpectedly, this shift in cold tolerance was accompanied by a 1–2 °C upward shift in heat tolerance. Our results support a growing body of evidence showing that tropical invaders can adjust cold tolerance downwards via plasticity or acclimation. Such changes may allow tropical invaders to expand their geographic range into colder regions of non-native ranges.