Lizard colour plasticity tracks background seasonal changes
Environmental heterogeneity on a spatial and temporal scale fosters an organism's capacity to plastically alter coloration. Predation risk might favour the evolution of phenotypic plasticity in colour patterns, as individuals who change colour throughout the year may be able to improve their fi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The Company of Biologists
2020-06-01
|
| Series: | Biology Open |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://bio.biologists.org/content/9/6/bio052415 |
| _version_ | 1818859394643787776 |
|---|---|
| author | Daniele Pellitteri-Rosa Andrea Gazzola Simone Todisco Fabio Mastropasqua Cristiano Liuzzi |
| author_facet | Daniele Pellitteri-Rosa Andrea Gazzola Simone Todisco Fabio Mastropasqua Cristiano Liuzzi |
| author_sort | Daniele Pellitteri-Rosa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Environmental heterogeneity on a spatial and temporal scale fosters an organism's capacity to plastically alter coloration. Predation risk might favour the evolution of phenotypic plasticity in colour patterns, as individuals who change colour throughout the year may be able to improve their fitness. Here we explored the change in dorsal pigmentation of the Italian wall lizard (Podarcis siculus campestris) at three time points (March, July, October) during a period of activity in a Mediterranean natural area in southern Italy. Following a preliminary investigation conducted in 2018, during 2019 we captured 135 lizards and took a picture of their ventral scales to check for possible recapture over the sessions. Lizard dorsal pictures were collected in the field with the support of a reference chart to quantitatively estimate chromatic variables (hue, saturation and value). At the same time, pictures of the environmental background were collected. Our findings suggest that lizards are capable of altering dorsal coloration during seasonal change. They vary from green at the onset of spring, to brownish in the middle of summer and to a greyish colour in October. This modification closely followed environmental background colour variation and enhanced lizard crypsis during each season. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T09:11:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-551e6f04907a41c0acc82f41b24b2270 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2046-6390 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T09:11:29Z |
| publishDate | 2020-06-01 |
| publisher | The Company of Biologists |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Biology Open |
| spelling | doaj.art-551e6f04907a41c0acc82f41b24b22702022-12-21T20:28:11ZengThe Company of BiologistsBiology Open2046-63902020-06-019610.1242/bio.052415052415Lizard colour plasticity tracks background seasonal changesDaniele Pellitteri-Rosa0Andrea Gazzola1Simone Todisco2Fabio Mastropasqua3Cristiano Liuzzi4 Laboratorio di Zoologia, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e dell'Ambiente, Università di Pavia, Pavia 27100, Italy Laboratorio di Zoologia, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e dell'Ambiente, Università di Pavia, Pavia 27100, Italy Societas Herpetologica Italica, Sezione Puglia, Bitritto, BA 70020, Italy Societas Herpetologica Italica, Sezione Puglia, Bitritto, BA 70020, Italy Societas Herpetologica Italica, Sezione Puglia, Bitritto, BA 70020, Italy Environmental heterogeneity on a spatial and temporal scale fosters an organism's capacity to plastically alter coloration. Predation risk might favour the evolution of phenotypic plasticity in colour patterns, as individuals who change colour throughout the year may be able to improve their fitness. Here we explored the change in dorsal pigmentation of the Italian wall lizard (Podarcis siculus campestris) at three time points (March, July, October) during a period of activity in a Mediterranean natural area in southern Italy. Following a preliminary investigation conducted in 2018, during 2019 we captured 135 lizards and took a picture of their ventral scales to check for possible recapture over the sessions. Lizard dorsal pictures were collected in the field with the support of a reference chart to quantitatively estimate chromatic variables (hue, saturation and value). At the same time, pictures of the environmental background were collected. Our findings suggest that lizards are capable of altering dorsal coloration during seasonal change. They vary from green at the onset of spring, to brownish in the middle of summer and to a greyish colour in October. This modification closely followed environmental background colour variation and enhanced lizard crypsis during each season.http://bio.biologists.org/content/9/6/bio052415colour variationcrypsisdorsal pigmentationenvironmentreptilesseason |
| spellingShingle | Daniele Pellitteri-Rosa Andrea Gazzola Simone Todisco Fabio Mastropasqua Cristiano Liuzzi Lizard colour plasticity tracks background seasonal changes Biology Open colour variation crypsis dorsal pigmentation environment reptiles season |
| title | Lizard colour plasticity tracks background seasonal changes |
| title_full | Lizard colour plasticity tracks background seasonal changes |
| title_fullStr | Lizard colour plasticity tracks background seasonal changes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Lizard colour plasticity tracks background seasonal changes |
| title_short | Lizard colour plasticity tracks background seasonal changes |
| title_sort | lizard colour plasticity tracks background seasonal changes |
| topic | colour variation crypsis dorsal pigmentation environment reptiles season |
| url | http://bio.biologists.org/content/9/6/bio052415 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT danielepellitterirosa lizardcolourplasticitytracksbackgroundseasonalchanges AT andreagazzola lizardcolourplasticitytracksbackgroundseasonalchanges AT simonetodisco lizardcolourplasticitytracksbackgroundseasonalchanges AT fabiomastropasqua lizardcolourplasticitytracksbackgroundseasonalchanges AT cristianoliuzzi lizardcolourplasticitytracksbackgroundseasonalchanges |