Vertebrate Zoology 68(1): 83-90, doi: 10.3897/vz.68.e32228
Comparison of the body size and age structure of Lebanon lizard, Phoenicolacerta laevis (Gray, 1838) at different altitudes in Turkey
expand article infoNazan Üzüm, Çetin Ilgaz, Aziz Avcı, Kamil Candan, Habibe Güler, Yusuf Kumlutaş‡
‡ Dokuz Eylül University, Faculty of Science, Buca-İzmir, Turkiye
© Nazan Üzüm, Çetin Ilgaz, Aziz Avcı, Kamil Candan, Habibe Güler, Yusuf Kumlutaş.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation: Üzüm N, Ilgaz Ç, Avcı A, Candan K, Güler H, Kumlutaş Y (2018) Comparison of the body size and age structure of Lebanon lizard, Phoenicolacerta laevis (Gray, 1838) at different altitudes in Turkey. Vertebrate Zoology 68(1): 83-90. https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.68.e32228
Open Access
Abstract
In this study, comparison of a life history traits (e.g. body size, age at maturity, longevity) of two populations of Phoenicolacerta laevis from different altitudes is being carried out (Anamur, 22 m a.s.l.; Andırın, 1.083 m a.s.l.) for the first time. We applied phalangeal skeletochronology to obtain the age of juveniles and adults. Age was determined by counting the lines of arrested growth (LAGs) in cross-sections. Males in both populations were the larger of the two sexes and a male biased sexual dimorphism was determined for both populations. Body size (SVL) was similar in both sexes and populations. Age of maturity was calculated to be 3 years of age for males and females in both populations. The average age of males and females was calculated as 6.62 ± 0.37 (Mean±SE) and 6.11 ± 0.26 years in Anamur, and 6.15 ± 0.51 and 5.26 ± 0.24 years in Andırın. There was statistically significant variation between sexes, but no significant difference in populations was found in relation to age. For both populations, a significant positive correlation was found between age and SVL in males and females.
Keywords
Lacertidae, Phoenicolacerta laevis, age, size, sexual dimorphism, skeletochronology, Turkey