Intraspecific variation and detectability of iridescence in the dorsal coloration of a wall lizard
Abalos, J. LU
; de la Cruz, F.
LU
; Pérez i de Lanuza, G.
and Font, E.
(2025)
In Journal of Zoology
326(3).
p.239-255
- Abstract
Iridescence refers to the optical property of surfaces for which the reflected wavelengths depend on viewing geometry. Although iridescence underlies some of the most striking animal colours, the sensory stimulation elicited by iridescent spectral shifts in relevant observers has seldom been explored. Wall lizards (genus Podarcis), with remarkable intraspecific colour variation and possible iridescence, offer a unique opportunity to investigate how these traits interact to shape overall colour appearance. Here, we set out to study iridescence in Podarcis liolepis in two localities in which lizards differ in dorsal coloration: the València Botanical Garden (EB) and La Murta Natural Park (LM). To determine the presence of angle-dependent... (More)
Iridescence refers to the optical property of surfaces for which the reflected wavelengths depend on viewing geometry. Although iridescence underlies some of the most striking animal colours, the sensory stimulation elicited by iridescent spectral shifts in relevant observers has seldom been explored. Wall lizards (genus Podarcis), with remarkable intraspecific colour variation and possible iridescence, offer a unique opportunity to investigate how these traits interact to shape overall colour appearance. Here, we set out to study iridescence in Podarcis liolepis in two localities in which lizards differ in dorsal coloration: the València Botanical Garden (EB) and La Murta Natural Park (LM). To determine the presence of angle-dependent reflectance, we measured dorsal coloration at three different configurations (0°, 60° and 90° angles between incident light and observer location) in 87 lizards of either sex and used visual modelling to determine their detectability when viewed by conspecifics, raptors and humans. Our results show that P. liolepis dorsal coloration varies chromatically with sex and locality and also shows iridescence (i.e. reflectance peaks at shorter wavelengths with increasing viewing angle). Lizards from EB are brown dorsally, whereas most lizards from LM, especially males, show a green dorsal background coloration, reflectance peaking at shorter wavelengths in lizards from LM compared to lizards from EB. Angle-dependent shifts in peak location are smaller in LM males than in other groups, yet iridescence appears more pronounced (i.e. larger chromatic distances between viewing angles) in LM than in EB due to greater overlap between the involved waveband and receiver cone sensitivities. Additionally, P. liolepis dorsal iridescence may be more noticeable to humans and raptors than to lizards. Our findings suggest that intraspecific colour variation influences iridescence detectability across observers, underscoring the need for objective colour quantification and visual modelling to assess the ecological consequences of animal coloration.
(Less)
- author
- Abalos, J.
LU
; de la Cruz, F.
LU
; Pérez i de Lanuza, G.
and Font, E.
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025-07
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- intraspecific colour variation, iridescence, reptile coloration, sensory ecology, sexual dichromatism, spectrophotometry, visual modelling, wall lizards
- in
- Journal of Zoology
- volume
- 326
- issue
- 3
- pages
- 17 pages
- publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105002617818
- ISSN
- 0952-8369
- DOI
- 10.1111/jzo.70016
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- fa8c70f9-dc82-4cb8-8917-10d46c8dba63
- date added to LUP
- 2025-08-28 11:20:45
- date last changed
- 2025-08-28 11:21:59
@article{fa8c70f9-dc82-4cb8-8917-10d46c8dba63,
abstract = {{<p>Iridescence refers to the optical property of surfaces for which the reflected wavelengths depend on viewing geometry. Although iridescence underlies some of the most striking animal colours, the sensory stimulation elicited by iridescent spectral shifts in relevant observers has seldom been explored. Wall lizards (genus Podarcis), with remarkable intraspecific colour variation and possible iridescence, offer a unique opportunity to investigate how these traits interact to shape overall colour appearance. Here, we set out to study iridescence in Podarcis liolepis in two localities in which lizards differ in dorsal coloration: the València Botanical Garden (EB) and La Murta Natural Park (LM). To determine the presence of angle-dependent reflectance, we measured dorsal coloration at three different configurations (0°, 60° and 90° angles between incident light and observer location) in 87 lizards of either sex and used visual modelling to determine their detectability when viewed by conspecifics, raptors and humans. Our results show that P. liolepis dorsal coloration varies chromatically with sex and locality and also shows iridescence (i.e. reflectance peaks at shorter wavelengths with increasing viewing angle). Lizards from EB are brown dorsally, whereas most lizards from LM, especially males, show a green dorsal background coloration, reflectance peaking at shorter wavelengths in lizards from LM compared to lizards from EB. Angle-dependent shifts in peak location are smaller in LM males than in other groups, yet iridescence appears more pronounced (i.e. larger chromatic distances between viewing angles) in LM than in EB due to greater overlap between the involved waveband and receiver cone sensitivities. Additionally, P. liolepis dorsal iridescence may be more noticeable to humans and raptors than to lizards. Our findings suggest that intraspecific colour variation influences iridescence detectability across observers, underscoring the need for objective colour quantification and visual modelling to assess the ecological consequences of animal coloration.</p>}},
author = {{Abalos, J. and de la Cruz, F. and Pérez i de Lanuza, G. and Font, E.}},
issn = {{0952-8369}},
keywords = {{intraspecific colour variation; iridescence; reptile coloration; sensory ecology; sexual dichromatism; spectrophotometry; visual modelling; wall lizards}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{3}},
pages = {{239--255}},
publisher = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
series = {{Journal of Zoology}},
title = {{Intraspecific variation and detectability of iridescence in the dorsal coloration of a wall lizard}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jzo.70016}},
doi = {{10.1111/jzo.70016}},
volume = {{326}},
year = {{2025}},
}