Revisiting Spanopoula islet: Podarcis erhardii (Bedriaga, 1886) population thriving 45 years after first recorded

By

Adamopoulou, Chloe
Linardaki, Eirini
Thanou, Evanthia

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2025-4-22

Original Publication

Herpetozoa

Volume

38

Pages

93--95

Subjects

Aegean Archipelago , Body size , islet , Lacertidae , Mediterranean , molecular identification

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/herpetozoa.38.e149373

 

Abstract

The Erhard’s wall lizard Podarcis erhardii (Bedriaga, 1886) was first recorded on the tiny rocky islet of Spanopoula, near Kea (Aegean Archipelago, Greece), in 1980. Since then, there has been no other published reference to confirm the species’ presence or to estimate its population status. Here, we report on a herpetological survey we carried out on Spanopoula 44 years later, which added a third species (Mediodactylus kotschyi) to the islet’s herpetofauna list. During our visit, we collected body-size measurements and tissue samples for the molecular identification of the Podarcis lizards inhabiting the islet. We found a thriving population of medium-sized wall lizards, belonging to the mainland form, P. erhardii livadiacus (Werner, 1902). As this subspecies is not present in adjacent Kea and nearby islands, our finding supports a human-mediated dispersal scenario.