biology

Lilford's wall lizard

Lilford's wall lizard is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lilford's wall lizard rather than just read about it. In short: Lilford's wall lizard (Podarcis lilfordi) is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is endemic to the Gymnesian Islands, the easternmost of the Balearic Islands, Spain.

Key takeaways

Lilford's wall lizard belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lilford's wall lizard to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lilford's wall lizard from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Lilford's wall lizard (Podarcis lilfordi) is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is endemic to the Gymnesian Islands, the easternmost of the Balearic Islands, Spain. There are 27 subspecies that are recognized as being valid. Its natural habitats are temperate Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, rocky areas, and rocky shores. Originally distributed throughout the Gymnesians including the main islands of Mallorca and Menorca, the introduction of alien species which started with the Romans has confined the species to the uninhabited islets around the major islands, on almost each of which a local subspecies has evolved. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Etymology P. lilfordi is named in honour of Thomas Powys, 4th Baron Lilford, a British ornithologist who studied the fauna of the Balearics.

Description Lilford's wall lizard grows to a maximum snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 8 cm (3 in), but adults are usually a little smaller than this. The tail is about 1.8 times as long as the body. It is a robust streamlined lizard with a short head and rounded body with smooth, unkeeled scales. The dorsal surface is usually greenish or brownish but varies much between different island subpopulations. There is usually a pale dorso-lateral stripe and there may be several dark streaks or three dark lines running along the spine. The flanks may be slightly reticulated and the underside is white, cream or pinkish. The throat may be blotched with darker colour. Juveniles sometimes have a blue tail.

Geographic range Lilford's wall lizard is native to the Gymnesian Islands, including Mallorca, Menorca, the Cabrera Archipelago to the south of Mallorca, and the neighbouring rocky islets, which united into a single landmass during the colder periods of the Pleistocene. In historical times it has been extirpated from the two large islands and is now only present on the islets. It was never found on the Pityusic Islands, west of the Gymnesian Islands.

Habitat P. lilfordi is found at low altitudes. It is a mainly ground-dwelling species and largely inhabits rocky areas and scrubland, although it is found in woodland on Cabrera.

Behaviour Lilford's wall lizard is a relatively tame lizard and easy to approach. It mainly feeds on insects, spiders and other arthropods, snails and some vegetable matter. This includes flowers and fruits, nectar and pollen. Some plants endemic to the Gymnesian Islands depend on this lizard for pollination. Other plants known to be pollinated by it include the mastic tree (Pistacia lentiscus), rock samphire (Crithmum maritimum), wild leek (Allium ampeloprasum), clustered carline thistle (Carlina corymbosa) and the sea daffodil (Pancratium maritimum). It is opportunistic around birds' nests in the use of scraps of food that have been regurgitated by gulls for their chicks. It also sometimes moves to the vicinity of nests of the Eleonora's falcon (Falco eleonorae) and feeds on the remains of its prey and the flies that accumulate around the nesting site. It is sometimes cannibalistic, eating juveniles and the tails of other lizards of its own species.

Reproduction P. lilfordi is oviparous. Breeding takes place in the summer, and females may lay up to three clutches of one to four eggs with an average mass of 0.63 g, large for a lizard of this size. The eggs hatch in about eight weeks, and the emerging young measure about 3 to 3.5 cm (1.2 to 1.4 in) from snout to vent.

Conservation status The population of this lizard seems to be in decline. It was at one time very numerous on Menorca and Mallorca but is no longer found on either. This extirpation may have been caused by the proliferation of cats and by other introduced predators, possibly the false smooth snake (Macroprotodon cucullatus) and the weasel (Mustela nivalis). Its total area of occupancy on all the small islands on which it is now present is less than 500 km2 (193.1 sq mi); so the IUCN lists it as being "Endangered".

Subspecies There are 27 recognized subspecies many of which are found on only a single island:

Podarcis lilfordi lilfordi (Günther, 1874) – Aire islet, off the southeastern coast of Menorca Podarcis lilfordi addayae (Eisentraut, 1928) Podarcis lilfordi balearica (Bedriaga, 1879) Podarcis lilfordi brauni (L. Müller, 1927) – Colom islet, off Menorca Podarcis lilfordi carbonerae Pérez-Mellado & Salvador, 1988 – Carbonera islet, off Menorca Podarcis lilfordi codrellensis Pérez-Mellado & Salvador, 1988 – Binicondrell islet, off the southern coast of Menorca Podarcis lilfordi colomi (Salvador, 1980) – Colomer islet, off northeast Menorca Podarcis lilfordi conejerae (L. Müller, 1927) Podarcis lilfordi espongicola (Salvador, 1979) Podarcis lilfordi estelicola (Salvador, 1979) Podarcis lilfordi fahrae (L. Müller, 1927) Podarcis lilfordi fenni (Eisentraut, 1928) – Sanitja islet, off northern Menorca Podarcis lilfordi gigliolii (Bedriaga, 1879) – Dragonera islet, off east of Mallorca Podarcis lilfordi hartmanni (Wettstein, 1937) Podarcis lilfordi hospitalis (Eisentraut, 1928) Podarcis lilfordi imperialensis (Salvador, 1979) Podarcis lilfordi isletasi (Hartmann, 1953) Podarcis lilfordi jordansi (L. Müller, 1927) Podarcis lilfordi kuligae (L. Müller, 1927) Podarcis lilfordi nigerrima (Salvador, 1979) Podarcis lilfordi planae (L. Müller, 1927) Podarcis lilfordi probae (Salvador, 1979) Podarcis lilfordi porrosicola Pérez-Mellado & Salvador, 1988 – Porros islet, north of Menorca Podarcis lilfordi rodriquezi (L. Müller, 1927) – Ratas Island lizard – Formerly Ratas Island, in Mahón's harbour (Menorca). Extinct after island was demolished in harbour expansion. Podarcis lilfordi sargantanae (Eisentraut, 1928) – islets located by the north coast of Mallorca (Sargantana, Ravells, Bledes and Tusqueta). Podarcis lilfordi toronis (Hartmann, 1953) Podarcis lilfordi xapaticola (Salvador, 1979) Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in genus other than Podarcis.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lilford's wall lizard

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lilford's wall lizard claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lilford's wall lizard before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lilford's wall lizard ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lilford's wall lizard

In research: Lilford's wall lizard appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lilford's wall lizard in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lilford's wall lizard is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Endemic fauna of the Balearic Islands, Fauna listed on CITES Appendix II, Habitats Directive species, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lilford's wall lizard outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Lilford's wall lizard in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lilford's wall lizard means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lilford's wall lizard out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lilford's wall lizard in simple terms?

Lilford's wall lizard (Podarcis lilfordi) is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is endemic to the Gymnesian Islands, the easternmost of the Balearic Islands, Spain.

Why does Lilford's wall lizard matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lilford's wall lizard?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lilford's wall lizard.