Sexual dimorphism of the body size of a multicolored lizard in the south-eastern Lower Volga

Abstract

The investigation in the population structure of the western subspecies of the multicolored lizard ( Eremias arguta deserti Gmelin, 1789) was carried out in semi-deserts of the Lower Volga region. The purpose of the study was to find out the features of the population morphometric data. The main research methods: measuring the length of the trunk and tail with an accuracy of up to a millimeter, statistical data processing using the Kolmogorov - Smirnov test in the STATISTICA 12 program. Statistical analysis showed the presence of sexual dimorphism in the population in terms of body parameters: the length of the tail of males is significantly greater than that of females. The calculation of the statistical significance of the differences between the average length of the trunk and the length of the tail confirmed that males and females have longer tails than the trunk. Yet sexually mature males and females do not differ significantly from each other in terms of body size. At the same time, females have a certain variability of morphometric data, which serves as one of the main indicators of intra-population variability.

Keywords

• eremias arguta deserti
• multicolored lizard
• eremias arguta deserti
• population
• sexual dimorphism
• morphometric data
• lower volga region