Search results for "Podarcis"

Description deSkrjabinelazia pyrenaican. sp. (Nematoda : Seuratidae) et proposition d’une nouvelle diagnose pour le genreSkrjabinelazia

1988

Description de Skrjabinelazia pyrenaica n. sp. (Nematoda : Seuratidae), parasite intestinal du lezard iberique Podarcis hispanica (Steindachner, 1870) et du lezard des murailles Podarcis muralis (Laurenti, 1768) (Reptilia : Lacertidae), captures dans les Pyrenees Centrales iberiques. La nouvelle espece est caracterisee, chez le mâle, par le nombre de papilles cloacales et la longueur des spicules et du gubernaculum et chez la femelle par la presence d’une ornementation cuticulaire particuliere, ainsi que par les dimensions des œufs. En accord avec les caracteristiques morphologiques et anatomiques observees chez S. pyrenaica n. sp. et apres la revision generique de Skrjabinelazia , une nouv…

Population genomics of wall lizards reflects the dynamic history of the Mediterranean Basin

2021

AbstractThe Mediterranean Basin has experienced extensive change in geology and climate over the past six million years. Yet, the relative importance of key geological events for the distribution and genetic structure of the Mediterranean fauna remains poorly understood. Here, we use population genomic and phylogenomic analyses to establish the evolutionary history and genetic structure of common wall lizards (Podarcis muralis). This species is particularly informative because, in contrast to other Mediterranean lizards, it is widespread across the Iberian, Italian, and Balkan peninsulas, and in extra-Mediterranean regions. We found strong support for six major lineages within P. muralis, w…

Serotoninergic innervation of nonprincipal cells in the cerebral cortex of the lizard Podarcis hispanica.

2004

The mechanism of serotoninergic transmission in the neo- and archicortex of mammals kis complex, including both synaptic and nonsynaptic components, direct actions on principal cells, and indirect effects mediated by GABAergic interneurons. Here we studied the termination pattern and synaptic organization of the serotoninergic afferents in the cerebral cortex of the lizard, Podarcis hispanica, which is considered to correspond in part to the mammalian hippocampal formation, with the aim of unraveling basic, phylogenetically preserved rules in the connectivity of this pathway. We demonstrate that serotoninergic afferents, visualized by immunostaining for serotonin itself, establish multiple …

Variazione morfometrica di Podarcis waglerianus in un sistema microinsulare

2010

Zinc accumulation in the telencephalon of lizards.

1987

The zinc concentration in the brains of two species of lizard was determined by atomic-absorption spectrophotometry. The zinc concentration was found to be highest in the telencephalon of Lacerta galloti (21.1 micrograms/g fresh weight) and Podarcis hispanica (16.77 +/- 0.8 micrograms/g) while the mesencephalon and brain stem exhibited lower zinc concentrations, i.e., 7.0 micrograms/g in Lacerta galloti and 6.08 +/- 0.4 micrograms/g in Podarcis hispanica. This high telencephalic concentration of zinc is paralleled by intense and well-defined Timm reactivity used for demonstrating the presence of zinc-containing boutons at the light-microscope level. Volumetric-densitometric studies of these…

CRMP-4 expression in the adult cerebral cortex and other telencephalic areas of the lizard Podarcis hispanica.

2002

The control of neuritogenesis is crucial for the development, maturation and regeneration of the nervous system. The collapsin response-mediated protein 4 (CRMP-4) is a member of a family of proteins that are involved in neuronal differentiation and axonal outgrowth. In rodents, this protein is expressed in recently generated neurons such as some granule neurons of the dentate gyrus, as well as in certain differentiated neurons undergoing neurite outgrowth or synaptogenesis during adulthood. Since CRMP-4 protein appears to be highly conserved throughout the evolutionary scale, we have used immunocytochemistry to study its distribution in the lizard cerebral cortex. We have found pronounced …

Natural History and impacts of an invasive snake: the horseshoe whip snake, Hemorrhois hippocrepis (Linnaeus, 1758), on Ibiza

2021

The island of Ibiza, located in the Balearic Islands (Western Mediterranean), has remained free of introduced snakes for millennia, unlike the majority of Mediterranean islands. But in 2003, with the Mediterranean garden fad, the entrance of old olive trees to the island became common, and three snake species appeared on Ibiza, traveling as stowaways inside the trunks of the olive trees. The most successful invader was the horseshoe whip snake (Hemorrhois hippocrepis). This PhD dissertation studies the natural history of the invasive population and compares it to the source population’s, in the southern Iberian Peninsula, in order to acquire knowledge that helps fighting against the invasio…

Epistatic interactions between pterin and carotenoid genes modulate intra-morph color variation in a lizard.

2021

Color polymorphisms have become a major topic in evolutionary biology and substantial efforts have been devoted to the understanding of the mechanisms responsible for originating such colorful systems. Within-morph continuous variation, on the other hand, has been neglected in most of the studies. Here, we combine spectrophotometric/visual modeling and genetic data to study the mechanisms promoting continuous variation within categorical color morphs of Podarcis muralis. Our results suggest that intra-morph variability in the pterin-based orange morph is greater compared to white and yellow morphs. We also show that continuous variation within the orange morph is partially discriminable by …

Regulatory changes in pterin and carotenoid genes underlie balanced color polymorphisms in the wall lizard

2019

Significance Reptiles show an amazing color diversity based on variation in melanins, carotenoids, and pterins. This study reveals genes controlling differences between three color morphs (white, orange, and yellow) in the common wall lizard. Orange pigmentation, due to high levels of orange/red pterins in skin, is caused by genetic changes in the sepiapterin reductase gene. Yellow skin, showing high levels of yellow carotenoids, is controlled by the beta-carotene oxygenase 2 locus. Thus, the color polymorphism in the common wall lizard is associated with changes in two small regions of the genome containing genes with crucial roles in pterin and carotenoid metabolism. These genes are likel…

Rapid learning of a spatial memory task in a lacertid lizard (Podarcis liolepis).

2018

Abstract Mammals and birds are capable of navigating to a goal using learned map-like representations of space (i.e. place learning), but research assessing this navigational strategy in reptiles has produced inconclusive results, in part due to the use of procedures that do not take account of the peculiarities of reptilian behavior and physiology. Here I present a procedure suitable for testing spatial cognition that exploits a naturally evolved, ethologically relevant ability common to many lizards (i.e. refuge seeking behavior). The procedure requires lizards to learn the location of an open refuge inside a rectangular arena containing artificial refuges in every corner, using distal ex…