Articles
The Italian wall lizard, Podarcis siculus campestris, unexpected presence on Gorgona Island (Tuscan Archipelago)
Alan J. Coladonato- Gianluca Lombardo
- Antonio Torroni
- Matilde Boschetti
- Stefano Scali
- Marco Mangiacotti
- Roberto Sacchi
Published 2022-07-28
Keywords
- Introduced species,
- Gorgona Island,
- Tuscan Archipelago,
- mtDNA CYB sequences,
- Podarcis siculus campestris
How to Cite
Zuffi, M. A. L., Coladonato, A. J., Lombardo, G. ., Torroni, A., Boschetti, M., Scali, S., Mangiacotti, M., & Sacchi, R. (2022). The Italian wall lizard, Podarcis siculus campestris, unexpected presence on Gorgona Island (Tuscan Archipelago). Acta Herpetologica, 17(2), 135–145. https://doi.org/10.36253/a_h-12388
Abstract
We here report the unexpected presence of the Italian wall lizard (Podarcis siculus campestris) on Gorgona Island, in the Parco Nazionale Arcipelago Toscano (Tuscan Archipelago, Tyrrhenian Sea, Tuscany, Central Italy). Field observations were carried out in 2020 confirming its presence on the island, where it had never been reported before. We recorded 37 GPS points of the species in three major areas of Gorgona (with 50 lizard records) and about 180 visual counts regarding all age classes (newborns, juveniles and adults). The species was found in the urban area (site of state prison) and in two grassy and bushed areas, around and along olive tree plantations. Seven individuals were captured and their tails were used to assess the sequence variation of the mitochondrial CYB gene. Biometrical parameters were also evaluated for six of these individuals. We detected three distinct CYB haplotypes that were compared to Podarcis siculus CYB sequences available in public databases. They resulted identical or phylogenetically closest to those found in mainland Tuscany. One haplotype, found in three specimens, was identical to one previously detected at Orti Bottagone (WWF Oasis in Piombino), while the other two haplotypes were most similar to haplotypes reported in the Giannella peninsula and Pisa, respectively.
References
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Akopyan, M., Cobos, A.J., Donihue, C., Lambert, M., Watkins-Colwell, G.J., Robertson, J.M., Pauly, G.B. (2017): Invasion of Italian wall lizard. Direct submission
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Buglione, M., Petrelli, S., Maselli, V., Trapanese, M., Salvemini, M., Aceto, S., Anna Di Cosmo Fulgione, D. (2019): Fixation of genetic variation and optimization of gene expression: The speed of evolution in isolated lizard populations undergoing Reverse Island Syndrome. PLoS One, 14: e0224607.
Burke, R. L., Hussain, A. A., Storey, J. M., & Storey, K. B. (2002): Freeze tolerance and supercooling ability in the Italian wall lizard, Podarcis sicula, introduced to Long Island, New York. Copeia, 2002: 836–842. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1448165
Clemens, D.J., Allain, S.J.R. (2021): An unusually high number of Italian wall lizards Podarcis siculus campestris entering Great Britain as stowaways. Herpetol. Bull. 156: 42.
Corti, C. (2006): Podarcis sicula. In Atlante degli Anfibi e dei Rettili d’Italia/Atlas of Italian Amphibians and Reptiles. Sindaco, R., Doria, G., Razzetti, E., Bernini, F. (Eds.), Societas Herpetologica Italica: 486–489. Firenze: Edizioni Polistampa.
Crnobrnja Isailovic, J., Vogrin, M., Corti, C., Pérez Mellado, V., Sá-Sousa, P., Cheylan, M., Pleguezuelos, J., Sindaco, R., Romano, A., Avci, A. (2009): Podarcis siculus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2009: e.T61553A12515189.
Corti, C., Biaggini, M., Capula, M. (2011): Podarcis siculus (Rafinesque-Schmaltz, 1810). In Fauna d'Italia 47. Reptilia: 407–417. Corti, C., Capula, M., Luiselli, L., Razzetti, E., Sindaco, R., Eds., Ministero dell’Ambiente e Tutela del Territorio, Direzione Protezione della Natura: Calderini Gruppo 24 Ore, Bologna.
Damas-Moreira, I., Riley, J.L., Carretero, M.A., Harris, D.J., Whiting, M.J. (2020): Getting ahead: exploitative competition by an invasive lizard. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 74: 117. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-020-02893-2
D’Amico, M., Bastianelli, G., Faraone, F.P., Lo Valvo, M. (2018): The spreading of the invasive Italian wall lizard on Vulcano, the last island inhabited by the critically endangered Aeolian wall lizard. Herpetol. Conserv. Biol. 13: 146–157.
Deichsel, G., Nafis, G., Hakim, J. (2010): Podarcis siculus (Italian Wall Lizard) USA: California. Herpetol. Rev. 41: 513–514.
Detwiler, J.T., Criscione, C.D. (2014): Recently introduced invasive geckos quickly reach population genetic equilibrium dynamics. Biol. Invas. 16: 2653–2667.
Ferreira, R.B., Callahan, C.M., Poessel, S.A., Beard, K.H. (2012): Global assessment of establishment success for amphibian and reptile invaders. Wildl. Res. 39: 637–640.
Garcia-Porta, J. Irisarri, I. (2019): Thermal physiology, diversification and genome-wide substitution rates shaped by past and present environmental temperatures in a clade of heliothermic lizards. Direct submission.
Kaliontzopoulou, A., Carretero, M.A., Llorente, G.A. (2007): Multivariate and geometric morphometrics in the analysis of sexual dimorphism variation in Podarcis lizards. J. Morphol. 268: 152–165.
Kapsalas, G., Gavriilidi, I., Adamopoulou, C., Foufopoulos, J., Pafilis, P. (2016): Effective thermoregulation in a newly established population of Podarcis siculus in Greece: a possible advantage for a successful invader. Acta Herpetol. 11: 111–118.
Kearse, M., Moir, R., Wilson, A., Stones-Havas, S., Cheung, M., Sturrock, S., Buxton, S., Cooper, A., Markowitz, S., Duran, C., Thierer, T., Ashton, B., Meintjes, P., Drummond, A. (2012): Geneious Basic: an integrated and extendable desktop software platform for the organization and analysis of sequence data. Bioinformatics 28: 1647–1649.
Kolbe, J.J., Lavin, B.R., Burke, R.L., Rugiero, L., Capula, M., Luiselli, L. (2013): The desire for variety: Italian wall lizard (Podarcis siculus) populations introduced to the United States via the pet trade are derived from multiple native-range sources. Biol. Inv. 15: 775–783.
Mangiacotti, M., Scali, S., Sacchi, R., Bassu, L., Nulchis, V., Corti, C. (2013): Assessing the spatial scale effect of anthropogenic factors on species distribution. PLoS One, 8 (6): e67573. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0067573
Mayer, W., Deichsel, G., Nafis, G., Hakim, J. (2010): Podarcis siculus (Italian Wall Lizard) California. Direct submission.
Podnar, M., Haring, E., Pinsker, W., Mayer, W. (2007): Unusual origin of a nuclear pseudogene in the Italian wall lizard: intergenomic and interspecific transfer of a large section of the mitochondrial genome in the genus Podarcis (Lacertidae). J. Mol. Evol. 64: 308–320.
Podnar, M., Mayer, W., Tvrtković, N. (2004): Mitochondrial phylogeography of the Dalmatian wall lizard, Podarcis melisellensis (Lacertidae). Org. Divers. Evol. 4: 307–317.
Podnar, M., Mayer, W., Tvrtkovic, N. (2005): Phylogeography of the Italian wall lizard, Podarcis sicula, as revealed by mitochondrial DNA sequences. Mol. Ecol. 14: 575–588.
Podnar, M., Pinsker, W., Mayer, W. (2009): Complete mitochondrial genomes of three lizard species and the systematic position of the Lacertidae (Squamata). J. Zool. Syst. Evol. Res. 47: 35-41.
Rambaut, A., Drummond, A.J., Xie, D., Baele, G., Suchard, M.A. (2018): Posterior summarization in Bayesian phylogenetics using Tracer 1.7. Syst. Biol. 67: 901.
Sacchi, R., Scali, S. (2016): Podarcis muralis (Laurenti, 1768) (Lucertola muraiola). In: Stoch F., Genovesi P. (ed.), Manuali per il monitoraggio di specie e habitat di interesse comunitario (Direttiva 92/43/CEE) in Italia: specie animali.pp. 278–279. ISPRA, Serie Manuali e linee guida, 141/2016.
Senczuk, G., Colangelo, P., De Simone, E., Aloise, G., Castiglia, R. (2017): A combination of long term fragmentation and glacial persistence drove the evolutionary history of the Italian wall lizard Podarcis siculus. BMC Evol. Biol. 17: 6.
Senczuk, G., Havenstein, K., Milana, V., Ripa, C., De Simone, E., Tiedemann, R., Castiglia, R. (2018): Spotlight on islands: on the origin and diversification of an ancient lineage of the Italian wall lizard Podarcis siculus in the western Pontine Islands. Sci. Rep. 8: 1–12.
Silva-Rocha, Ι., Salvi, D., Harris, D.J., Freitas, S., Davis, C., Foster, J., Deichsel, G., Adamopoulou, C., Carretero, M.A. (2014): Molecular assessment of Podarcis sicula populations in Britain, Greece and Turkey reinforces a multiple-origin invasion pattern in this species. Acta Herpetol. 9: 253–258.
Silva-Rocha, I.R., Salvi, D., Carretero, M.A., Ficetola, G.F. (2019): Alien reptiles on Mediterranean islands: A model for invasion biogeography. Diver. Distrib. 25: 995–1005. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12911
Sindaco, R., Restivo, S., Zuffi, M.A.L. (2016): Podarcis siculus (Rafinesque, 1810) (Lucertola campestre). In: Stoch F., Genovesi P. (ed.), Manuali per il monitoraggio di specie e habitat di interesse comunitario (Direttiva 92/43/CEE) in Italia: specie animali. ISPRA, Serie Manuali e linee guida, 141/2016.
Taverne, M., King-Gillies, N., Krajnović, M., Lisičić, D., Mira, Ó., Petricioli, D., Sabolić, I., Štambuk, A., Tadić, Z., Vigliotti, C., Wehrle, B., Herrel, A. (2020): Proximate and ultimate drivers of variation in bite force in the insular lizards Podarcis melisellensis and Podarcis sicula. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 131: 88–108.
Vanni, S., Nistri, A. (2006): Atlante degli anfibi e dei rettili della Toscana Università degli studi di Firenze. Museo di storia naturale. Sezione di zoologia La specola e Regione Toscana Direzione generale politiche territoriali e ambientali.
Akopyan, M., Cobos, A.J., Donihue, C., Lambert, M., Watkins-Colwell, G.J., Robertson, J.M., Pauly, G.B. (2017): Invasion of Italian wall lizard. Direct submission
Bouckaert, R. , Vaughan, T.G., Barido-Sottani, J., Duchêne, S., Fourment, M., Gavryushkina, A., Heled, J., Jones, G., Kühnert, D., De Maio, N., Matschiner, M., Mendes, F.K., Müller, N.F., Ogilvie, H.A., du Plessis, L., Popinga,A., Rambaut, A., Rasmussen, D., Siveroni, I., Suchard, M.A., Wu, C.-H., Xie, D., Zhang, C., Stadler, T., Drummond, A.J. (2019): BEAST 2.5: An advanced software platform for Bayesian evolutionary analysis. PLoS Comput. Biol. 15: e1006650. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006650
Buglione, M., Petrelli, S., Maselli, V., Trapanese, M., Salvemini, M., Aceto, S., Anna Di Cosmo Fulgione, D. (2019): Fixation of genetic variation and optimization of gene expression: The speed of evolution in isolated lizard populations undergoing Reverse Island Syndrome. PLoS One, 14: e0224607.
Burke, R. L., Hussain, A. A., Storey, J. M., & Storey, K. B. (2002): Freeze tolerance and supercooling ability in the Italian wall lizard, Podarcis sicula, introduced to Long Island, New York. Copeia, 2002: 836–842. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1448165
Clemens, D.J., Allain, S.J.R. (2021): An unusually high number of Italian wall lizards Podarcis siculus campestris entering Great Britain as stowaways. Herpetol. Bull. 156: 42.
Corti, C. (2006): Podarcis sicula. In Atlante degli Anfibi e dei Rettili d’Italia/Atlas of Italian Amphibians and Reptiles. Sindaco, R., Doria, G., Razzetti, E., Bernini, F. (Eds.), Societas Herpetologica Italica: 486–489. Firenze: Edizioni Polistampa.
Crnobrnja Isailovic, J., Vogrin, M., Corti, C., Pérez Mellado, V., Sá-Sousa, P., Cheylan, M., Pleguezuelos, J., Sindaco, R., Romano, A., Avci, A. (2009): Podarcis siculus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2009: e.T61553A12515189.
Corti, C., Biaggini, M., Capula, M. (2011): Podarcis siculus (Rafinesque-Schmaltz, 1810). In Fauna d'Italia 47. Reptilia: 407–417. Corti, C., Capula, M., Luiselli, L., Razzetti, E., Sindaco, R., Eds., Ministero dell’Ambiente e Tutela del Territorio, Direzione Protezione della Natura: Calderini Gruppo 24 Ore, Bologna.
Damas-Moreira, I., Riley, J.L., Carretero, M.A., Harris, D.J., Whiting, M.J. (2020): Getting ahead: exploitative competition by an invasive lizard. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 74: 117. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-020-02893-2
D’Amico, M., Bastianelli, G., Faraone, F.P., Lo Valvo, M. (2018): The spreading of the invasive Italian wall lizard on Vulcano, the last island inhabited by the critically endangered Aeolian wall lizard. Herpetol. Conserv. Biol. 13: 146–157.
Deichsel, G., Nafis, G., Hakim, J. (2010): Podarcis siculus (Italian Wall Lizard) USA: California. Herpetol. Rev. 41: 513–514.
Detwiler, J.T., Criscione, C.D. (2014): Recently introduced invasive geckos quickly reach population genetic equilibrium dynamics. Biol. Invas. 16: 2653–2667.
Ferreira, R.B., Callahan, C.M., Poessel, S.A., Beard, K.H. (2012): Global assessment of establishment success for amphibian and reptile invaders. Wildl. Res. 39: 637–640.
Garcia-Porta, J. Irisarri, I. (2019): Thermal physiology, diversification and genome-wide substitution rates shaped by past and present environmental temperatures in a clade of heliothermic lizards. Direct submission.
Kaliontzopoulou, A., Carretero, M.A., Llorente, G.A. (2007): Multivariate and geometric morphometrics in the analysis of sexual dimorphism variation in Podarcis lizards. J. Morphol. 268: 152–165.
Kapsalas, G., Gavriilidi, I., Adamopoulou, C., Foufopoulos, J., Pafilis, P. (2016): Effective thermoregulation in a newly established population of Podarcis siculus in Greece: a possible advantage for a successful invader. Acta Herpetol. 11: 111–118.
Kearse, M., Moir, R., Wilson, A., Stones-Havas, S., Cheung, M., Sturrock, S., Buxton, S., Cooper, A., Markowitz, S., Duran, C., Thierer, T., Ashton, B., Meintjes, P., Drummond, A. (2012): Geneious Basic: an integrated and extendable desktop software platform for the organization and analysis of sequence data. Bioinformatics 28: 1647–1649.
Kolbe, J.J., Lavin, B.R., Burke, R.L., Rugiero, L., Capula, M., Luiselli, L. (2013): The desire for variety: Italian wall lizard (Podarcis siculus) populations introduced to the United States via the pet trade are derived from multiple native-range sources. Biol. Inv. 15: 775–783.
Mangiacotti, M., Scali, S., Sacchi, R., Bassu, L., Nulchis, V., Corti, C. (2013): Assessing the spatial scale effect of anthropogenic factors on species distribution. PLoS One, 8 (6): e67573. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0067573
Mayer, W., Deichsel, G., Nafis, G., Hakim, J. (2010): Podarcis siculus (Italian Wall Lizard) California. Direct submission.
Podnar, M., Haring, E., Pinsker, W., Mayer, W. (2007): Unusual origin of a nuclear pseudogene in the Italian wall lizard: intergenomic and interspecific transfer of a large section of the mitochondrial genome in the genus Podarcis (Lacertidae). J. Mol. Evol. 64: 308–320.
Podnar, M., Mayer, W., Tvrtković, N. (2004): Mitochondrial phylogeography of the Dalmatian wall lizard, Podarcis melisellensis (Lacertidae). Org. Divers. Evol. 4: 307–317.
Podnar, M., Mayer, W., Tvrtkovic, N. (2005): Phylogeography of the Italian wall lizard, Podarcis sicula, as revealed by mitochondrial DNA sequences. Mol. Ecol. 14: 575–588.
Podnar, M., Pinsker, W., Mayer, W. (2009): Complete mitochondrial genomes of three lizard species and the systematic position of the Lacertidae (Squamata). J. Zool. Syst. Evol. Res. 47: 35-41.
Rambaut, A., Drummond, A.J., Xie, D., Baele, G., Suchard, M.A. (2018): Posterior summarization in Bayesian phylogenetics using Tracer 1.7. Syst. Biol. 67: 901.
Sacchi, R., Scali, S. (2016): Podarcis muralis (Laurenti, 1768) (Lucertola muraiola). In: Stoch F., Genovesi P. (ed.), Manuali per il monitoraggio di specie e habitat di interesse comunitario (Direttiva 92/43/CEE) in Italia: specie animali.pp. 278–279. ISPRA, Serie Manuali e linee guida, 141/2016.
Senczuk, G., Colangelo, P., De Simone, E., Aloise, G., Castiglia, R. (2017): A combination of long term fragmentation and glacial persistence drove the evolutionary history of the Italian wall lizard Podarcis siculus. BMC Evol. Biol. 17: 6.
Senczuk, G., Havenstein, K., Milana, V., Ripa, C., De Simone, E., Tiedemann, R., Castiglia, R. (2018): Spotlight on islands: on the origin and diversification of an ancient lineage of the Italian wall lizard Podarcis siculus in the western Pontine Islands. Sci. Rep. 8: 1–12.
Silva-Rocha, Ι., Salvi, D., Harris, D.J., Freitas, S., Davis, C., Foster, J., Deichsel, G., Adamopoulou, C., Carretero, M.A. (2014): Molecular assessment of Podarcis sicula populations in Britain, Greece and Turkey reinforces a multiple-origin invasion pattern in this species. Acta Herpetol. 9: 253–258.
Silva-Rocha, I.R., Salvi, D., Carretero, M.A., Ficetola, G.F. (2019): Alien reptiles on Mediterranean islands: A model for invasion biogeography. Diver. Distrib. 25: 995–1005. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12911
Sindaco, R., Restivo, S., Zuffi, M.A.L. (2016): Podarcis siculus (Rafinesque, 1810) (Lucertola campestre). In: Stoch F., Genovesi P. (ed.), Manuali per il monitoraggio di specie e habitat di interesse comunitario (Direttiva 92/43/CEE) in Italia: specie animali. ISPRA, Serie Manuali e linee guida, 141/2016.
Taverne, M., King-Gillies, N., Krajnović, M., Lisičić, D., Mira, Ó., Petricioli, D., Sabolić, I., Štambuk, A., Tadić, Z., Vigliotti, C., Wehrle, B., Herrel, A. (2020): Proximate and ultimate drivers of variation in bite force in the insular lizards Podarcis melisellensis and Podarcis sicula. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 131: 88–108.
Vanni, S., Nistri, A. (2006): Atlante degli anfibi e dei rettili della Toscana Università degli studi di Firenze. Museo di storia naturale. Sezione di zoologia La specola e Regione Toscana Direzione generale politiche territoriali e ambientali.