Vol. 20 No. 2 (2025)
Articles

Behavioral repertoire of the Madeiran wall lizard, Teira dugesii (Sauria: Lacertidae) in wildlife conditions

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  • José Câmara,
  • Mafalda Abreu,
  • Mariana Soares,
  • José Jesus
José Câmara
Universidade da Madeira, Faculdade de Ciências da Vida. 9000-082, Funchal, Ilha da Madeira, Portugal
Mafalda Abreu
Coleção de Insetos da Universidade da Madeira (UMACI), Portugal
Mariana Soares
Universidade da Madeira, Faculdade de Ciências da Vida. 9000-082, Funchal, Ilha da Madeira, Portugal
José Jesus
Universidade da Madeira, Faculdade de Ciências da Vida. 9000-082, Funchal, Ilha da Madeira, Portugal
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/a_h-17773

Published 2025-11-19

Keywords

  • Behavior,
  • Madeira Island,
  • Lacertidae,
  • Macaronesia,
  • ethogram

How to Cite

Câmara, J., Abreu, M., Soares, M., & Jesus, J. (2025). Behavioral repertoire of the Madeiran wall lizard, Teira dugesii (Sauria: Lacertidae) in wildlife conditions. Acta Herpetologica, 20(2), 221–242. https://doi.org/10.36253/a_h-17773

Copyright (c) 2025 José Tomás Pereira Câmara, Mafalda Abreu, Mariana Soares, José Jesus

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Abstract

The behavioral repertoire of the Madeiran wall lizard, Teira dugesii, was compiled from approximately 70 hours of direct field observations conducted between July 2022 and August 2024 across seven locations along the south coast of Madeira Island. A total of 73 distinct behaviors were recorded and categorized into five groups: maintenance, aggression and defense, feeding, mobility, and reproduction. Observations took place during the species’ daily activity period (09:00–15:00), primarily during the summer months. Maintenance behaviors accounted for the majority of records (86.89%), followed by mobility (6.95%), aggression and defense (3.92%), feeding (1.83%), and reproduction (0.41%). These findings provide new insights into the diverse and complex behavioral repertoire of T. dugesii under natural conditions.

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