Phenotypic traits of sand lizard (Lacerta agilis) and the environmental factor effects

Abstract

The comparative analysis of the variability of the sand lizard’s (Lacerta agilis) phenotypic traits was carried out. Lizards were trapping in four different localities. 12 morphometric characters and 22 scaling parameters were included in controlled traits; comparisons of populations were performed using Student’s t-test and discriminant analysis. Lizards were captured in the village Yamnoye, Voronezh Region, the village Verkhnekardail’skiy in the Volgograd Region, and in the villages Sredniy and Poperechnyy of the Stavropol Territory. The village Yamnoye is experiencing the greatest anthropogenic pressure due to its proximity to Voronezh city and the airport. The largest number of statistically significant differences in morphometric characters was found between lizards of the Stavropol Territory and lizards from the villages Verkhnekardail’skiy and Yamnoye, between which there were significantly low number statistically significant differences in the same characters. Sexual dimorphism was most pronounced in lizards of the locality with the highest anthropogenic load - the village Yamnoye. When analyzing the characteristics of scaly cover of lizards of closes localities in villages Yamnoye and Verkhnekardail’skiy, there were more statistically significant differences than between the lizards of the last and the most remote Stavropol Territory. When assessing the severity of sexual dimorphism in terms of scaling, statistically significant differences between males and females were observed in population lizards of the Stavropol Territory and the village Verkhnekardail’skiy. The sexual dimorphism on scaly cover in lizard population of the village Yamnoye was not revealed and a relatively reduced diversity of the scaly cover was observed. Our data indicate that the variability of various phenotypic characteristics of the sand lizard is related in different ways to the influence of environmental factors, such as the geocological position of the localities of animal reproduction, anthropogenic load.