The European Lizards, Lacertidae: Podarcis sicula and Podarcis muralis

Abstract

Lizards of the family Lacertidae are often called ‘typical’ lizards. They are long-tailed and very agile and are found on the European, Asian and African continents in a great variety of habitats, even in regions where it is extremely cold in winter. During their active season, they emerge from holes in the ground or between rocks to warm themselves in the sun and hunt for insects, spiders, snails, etc. The species described in this chapter are small lizards of central and southern Europe. The ruin lizard Podarcis sicula may be found in the same habitat as the wall lizard P. muralis, but the wall lizard is generally found in or on walls whereas the ruin lizard spends more time on the ground. They are known in the older literature as Lacerta sicula and muralis. The European lizards were the subjects of one of the first documented, scientific attempts to assess behaviourally whether reptiles can hear. Although she only had crude instruments available, Berger (1924) produced very good evidence that Lacerta agilis (the sand lizard) reacts to air-borne sounds, with an upper frequency limit near 8 kHz. The data described below are from Köppl (in preparation) and Köppl and Manley (in preparation).