Morphological variability of Podarcis hispanica (Sauria: Lacertidae) in Portugal

Abstract

A total of 35 morphological characters (biometry, scalation, chromatic pattern) were studied through multivariate analyses on 10 populations sampled across the range of the Iberian wall lizard (Podarcis hispanica) in Portugal. Biometry clearly splits the samples into two different types. Differences in scalation between the two types were not clear, but multiple correspondence analyses showed that different chromatic patterns fit each of the types: one presented dark dorsal patterns (e.g. reticulated, eyeled, striped) and whitish-pearly belly, while the other showed green or yellow-brown patterns and yellow-orange belly. These two morphotypes constitute different molecular lineages and have different ranges of distribution.