The particularities of a remote islet shape the thermoregulatory profile of an endemic Mediterranean lizard.

ABSTRACT

Environmental temperatures considerably affect the reptilian ability for thermoregulation and harsh climatic conditions may impose a highly effective body temperature regulation to lizards. Such demanding conditions are more common to extreme mainland habitats (e.g. deserts or mountains). To the contrary, islands have more benign climate conditions thanks to the thermal buffering effect of the surrounding sea. However, this favorable effect may be eliminated in small size islets where the scarcity of thermal shelters and exposure to high winds create challenging conditions. Here we investigate the impact of a tough islet habitat on the thermoregulation of Podarcis levendis, a lacertid lizard endemic to two rocky islets in the north Cretan Sea, Greece. To evaluate the thermoregulatory effectiveness of P. levendis we measured operative and body temperatures in the field and the preferred body temperatures in the lab. Analyses of the thermal data revealed an accurate, precise, and effective thermoregulator, achieving very high thermoregulation values (E =0.91, de¯-db¯ =7.6). This high effectiveness comes to compensate living in an inhospitable habitat as the operative temperatures denote (de =7.79). Our findings, together with the limited published literature, suggested the lack of a general pattern for all insular lizards and indicated a possible deviation for islet habitats.