Evolutionary history drives the geographical distribution of dorsal patterns in the common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis)

What is it about?

In this article we investigate the spatial distribution patterns of dorsal melanin-based polymorphisms in the common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis) under the perspective of potential climatic, ecological and phylogenetic drivers of phenotypes' occurrence across the species native range using open access data available from the iNaturalist database. Our findings support the general hypothesis that the frequency of different morphs is affected not only by present-day selective pressures (i.e. climatic and environmental constraints) but also, and mostly, by the evolutionary history of the model species. We believe that our work is of interest because we address a major issue in reptile ecology and evolution in terms of the possible ecological and evolutionary trade-offs of specific dorsal phenotypes.

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