| St. Paul`s Islands Lizard DESPOTT, 1915 Lacerta muralis LAUR. var. Kieselbachi FEJERVARY, 1924 Lacerta filfolensis kieselbachi MERTENS & MÜLLER, 1940 Podarcis filfolensis kieselbachi BISCHOFF, 1986 Podarcis filfolensis SALVI et al., 2014 |
Despott, G. (1915) - The reptiles of the Maltese Islands. - The Zoologist, 891: 321-360.  Fejervary, G.J. (1924) - Preliminary notes to a monograph of the lacertian fauna of the Maltese islands. - Biologica Hungarica, Budapest, 1 (5): 1-15.  Mertens, R. & Müller, L. (1940) - Die Amphibien und Reptilien Europas. (Zweite Liste, nach dem Stand vom 1. Januar 1940) - Abhandlungen der Senckenbergischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft, 451: 1-56. Bischoff, W. (1986) - Podarcis filfolensis (Bedriaga, 1876) - Malta-Eidechse. - In: Böhme, W. (Hrsg.): Handbuch der Reptilien und Amphibien Europas. Band 2/II Echsen III (Podarcis). 50-64. Sciberras, A. & Schembri, P.J. (2008) - Conservation status of the St. Paul’s Island wall lizard (Podarcis filfolensis kieselbachi). - Herpetological Bulletin, 105: 28-34.  × The population of the endemic Maltese wall lizard, Podarcis filfolensis, on the small island of Selmunett (10.9 ha), off the northeast coast of the island of Malta, has been described as a distinct subspecies P. f. kieselbachi. Selmunett is a protected site and its lizard is a protected species. Reports of a pronounced decline in the Selmunett lizard population were investigated by systematic visual estimates of lizard population density started in 1999. Since August 1999, population counts declined from a high of 18 individuals observed per hour to zero by August 2005. The rate of decline was greatest for juveniles and females. Numerous cases of predation of the lizards by rats were observed and such predation seemed to be the cause of the decline in lizard populations; visual counts of daytime-active rats, also started in 1999, showed a large rat popuation on Selmunett. In turn, the rat population appeared to have increased as a result of organic waste left by human visitors to the islet. A rat eradication programme implemented in 2006 2007 exterminated rats from Selmunett by the summer of 2007, when a few lizards captured in 2004 and kept in captivity since were released back to the islet to augment what remained of the population there (some lizards were spotted by casujal observers, even if none were recorded during the actual counts). It remains to be seen if this attempt at saving the Selmunett wall-lizard population has been successful. Salvi, D. & Schembri, P. & Sciberras, A. & Harris, D.J. (2014) - Evolutionary history of the Maltese wall lizard Podarcis filfolensis: insights on the ‘Expansion-Contraction’ model of Pleistocene biogeography. - Molecular Ecology, 23 (5): 1167-1187. × The Expansion-Contraction (EC) model predicts demographic and range contraction of temperate species during Pleistocene glaciations as a consequence of climate-related habitat changes, and provides a paradigm for explaining the high intraspecific diversity found in refugia in terms of long-term demographic stability. However, recent evidence has revealed a weak predictive power of this model for terrestrial species in insular and coastal settings. We investigated the Pleistocene EC dynamics and their evolutionary consequences on temperate species using the Maltese archipelago and its endemic lizard Podarcis filfolensis as a model system. The evolutionary and demographic history of P. filfolensis as inferred from mitochondrial and nuclear sequences data does not conform to the EC model predictions, supporting (i) demographic and spatial stability or expansion, rather than contraction, of the northern and southern lineages during the last glacial period, and (ii) a major role for allopatric differentiation primed by sea-level dynamics, rather than prolonged demographic stability, in the formation of the observed genetic diversity. When combined with evidence from other Mediterranean refugia, this study shows how the incorporation of Pleistocene sea-level variations in the EC model accounts for a reverse demographic and range response of insular and coastal temperate biotas relative to continental ones. Furthermore, this cross-archipelago pattern in which allopatric diversity is formed and shaped by EC cycles resembles that seen between isolated populations within mainland refugia and suggests that the EC model, originally developed to explain population fluctuations into and out-of refugia, may be appropriate for describing the demographic and evolutionary dynamics driving the high genetic diversity observed in these areas. Sciberras, A. & Sciberras, J. (2024) - Updates on the natural history of Cheirolophus Rock (Maltese Archipelago) with a description of its lacertid. - L@CERTIDAE (Eidechsen Online), 2024 [2]: 9-16. × The islet’s recent discovery by the authors hold quite a rich biota compared to its size. In this work topography is re- described adding one species of flora to the already known six (SCIBERRAS & SCIBERRAS 2010, SCIBERRAS et al. 2012) and 32 new species of fauna to the two recorded (LO CASCIO & SCIBERRAS 2020, AGUIS & SCIBERRAS 2022) with a complete description of the endemic lacertid, Podarcis filfolensis, in situ.
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