Cyren's rock lizard
Iberolacerta cyreni, commonly known as the Cyren's rock lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is endemic to central Spain and is currently listed as endangered by the IUCN due to global warming. I. cyreni has evolved to exhibit key behavioral characteristics, namely individual recognition, in which a lizard is able to identify another organism of the same species, as well as thermoregulation.
The genus name, "Iberolacerta," signifies how these lizards are native to Spain, which is located on the Iberian peninsula.
The specific name, "cyreni," is in honor of Swedish herpetologist Carl August Otto Cyrén.
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
Oviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
Precocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. Precocial species are normall...
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starts withIberolacerta cyreni, or the rock lizard, can measure up to 8 cm (3.1 in) snout-to-vent and 24 cm (9.4 in) including the tail. I. cyreni are most likely species where males compete over females; in such cases, bigger lizards demonstrate greater reproductive success, thus resulting in overall larger body sizes and larger combat-related structures, such as the size of the head. In contrast, females are responsible for bearing offspring, and as a result, selection pressures that act on clutch volume or clutch size may favor larger abdomen sizes. As such, males demonstrate larger head sizes compared to females, while female lizards exceed males in abdomen length.
I.cyreni may appear brown or brown with a green undertone. They have dark brown spots aligned vertically down the length of their body. They can be distinguished from other western Iberian Rock Lizards by the lack of blue ocelli, or marks that looks like eyes, on its shoulders.
Lizards of the Iberolacerta genus reside in the mountainous areas of the Western Mediterranean region. In particular, I. cyreni are endemic to Spain's central mountain system in the Sierra del Guadarrama, Sierra de Gredos, Sierra de Bejar, and La Ser. These lizards are found near the tree line in more damp, rocky territories, but can also be found in temperate forests, temperate shrubland, temperate grassland, and plantations.
The diet of I. cyreni is composed mainly of invertebrates such as insects or spiders.
In lizards, male mating success is determined by several phenotypic correlates, including head size, body size, sexual coloration, territory, and behavioral traits (i.e. aggressiveness, activity). The mating system of I. cyreni is characterized as polygynandrous, in which both males and females have multiple mating partners. This is demonstrated through a high frequency of multiple sired clutches, where few males are more successful than others in mating and siring offspring of many female lizards. This is beneficial for both males and females, in that males can increase their reproductive success while females can increase their clutch sizes and hatching success. Several ecological factors could be attributed to such a mating system, such as short breeding seasons, extensive home range overlap, and high local population densities. Polygynandrous mating could allow for other mating strategies to persist in populations, given that mates are transient and the fact that large males do not dominate or claim females.
Additionally, these rock lizards demonstrate a role for mate choice, as the average distance between females and their offspring's sires is significantly greater than the distance to the nearest male. In fact, females do not always mate with the closest male to them, suggesting that females may pick mates far from where they reside. This could be evolutionarily adaptive if low levels of hatchling dispersal occurs, while mating with unrelated males may persist to avoid inbreeding.
Specific male traits, including activity levels that are indicative of dominance and high quality, also explain the high variance in male reproductive success. Outside of the breeding season, male I. cyreni activity is typically low, as it decreases the risk of predation and ensures greater reproductive success in the future. However, during breeding season, male activity is high, as this favors their reproductive success by increasing their access to females through overlapping home ranges and male competitors. In terms of physical characteristics of males, longer tail lengths can indicate to females the ability for male lizards to bask at distances closer to their refuge, making them less vulnerable to predation. Tail length is a strong predictor of a male I. cyreni's reproductive success.
I. cyreni are an endangered species of lizards, and one of the biggest threats to their habitats and survival is an outcome of global climate change. Global temperatures are rising due to climate change, which is detrimental to species adapted to cool climates such as mountainous species. Warmer temperatures could hinder rock lizards’ hatchling success or potentially restrict their activity time spent avoiding overheating. Furthermore, global warming can indirectly impact these lizards by influencing other species, thus altering niche partitioning, increasing the risk of extinction, or encouraging competitive displacement by species more adapted to warmer temperatures.
Their habitats are also threatened by human development, particularly due to the construction of roads and ski resorts.
I. cyreni is protected in two specific areas: the Sierra del Guadarrama Natural Park and Sierra de Gredos Natural Park. Both of these places allow for these threatened lizards to continue reproducing and increase the population size.
