
lizardry 4
June 2024
Tails
Tough news from the South Devon Wall Lizard patch, a newcomer was spotted basking quietly in rare sun,only for closer examination to show he had been viciously attacked, losing two fingers ripped off his right foreleg.



Seems unlikely to have been predation as the tail and body are intact; likeliest seems to be their loss in a fight with another male for Alpha-Male dominance of the females in the group. A third possibility (least likely),is that it was a very strong female turning down an invitation to mate.
Pix Leo,NF.
MeAnhILe InDIA – unDeRoooD fInDs A nATIve wALL LIZARD on The ZIgZAg pATh In BouRneMouTh…….

AnD MAIA sAIf fInDs A LocAL on RhoDes……

TAILS OF THE UNEXPECTED
“Tails are important. Most attention has been directed to regeneration – embryologists and transplant surgeons are interested in the fact that this is the highest vertebrate that can regenerate an organ system – or to its use as a “lure” to distract potential predators”. Roger Avery.


For two years I have been observing and photographing a group of Podarcis muralis that live under my garden potting table in Newton Ferrers, South Devon.

While accepting the importance of the regenerative qualities of their tails to embryologists, my observations suggest that their tails are of great significance to the lizards as a fifth limb. It is used physically to support and balance their bodies while hunting and climbing, and as a support in defaecation.
It is used arched and swished in mating and exploratory situations, I suggest beyond the concept of defence against predators. The placement of the tail in basking shows a deliberate choice. These uses parallel the way tails are employed by monkeys, dogs and horses, as well as showing pleasure.
My thoughts are based on having watched the 2019 group of six on 60 occasions, photographing them 40 times at ranges of 4 to 10 feet, producing some 2,700 photos.
The seven lizards in the 2020 group, identified individually by cheekmarkings and tail colouring, then given names from Arthurian legend, have already been seen on 40 occasions between Mar 21 and May 11 and photographed on 31 of them, producing 2,200 photos, often taken at close quarters.
While hunting, the tail is in constant use as a balance and as a brace, twisting and supporting as a lizard scrambles around on a rough wall. Consecutive frames of Pendragon, hunting and using his tail to give him purchase and balance as he reaches deep into a crack the tail is pressed against an ivy root, changing position as he moves to the right..



Gladys arched to climb out of a pot, and exerted pressure on her tail to assist…

….looked at sideways, the pressure on the tail is clearer…

On her hunting circuit May 9, I watched Gladys climb into this flower pot on a high shelf and lose balance while exiting. She found that the overhang prevented her forefeet from getting purchase. But her tail was still looped back over the rim of the pot, and I saw a distinct pull on her tail as she hauled herself back up.

Tails have significance in mating, as a female (Gladys) will raise her tail off the ground as an invitation,

While a bite from a male( Pendragon on Gladys )is an invitation to mate.


…. during mating Pendragon’s tail slips down the crack in the table…

….before arching over his back…

I also suggest the tail might be used to indicate personal pleasure, as seen among many animals with tails. Here Angharad is tasting the sugar off a hot cross bun….
… her lifted tail swishing to and fro…..rising off the table.


I feel this was a sign of pleasure, and not defensive waving.
Pendragon tasted the same morsel, without moving his tail.

I do not think either of them felt threatened, and that the waving indicated enjoyment.
Angharad’s tail gave muscular help in defaecation with the tip arched against the ground. This seems to help the legs raise the vent.

What I have seen suggests that they do not simply drag their tails behind them like Mary’s little lamb…….

above Pendragon below Tristan

….but that their total control over the tail muscles indicate that all movements are deliberate…….and that tails have sensory feeling.
At the end of mating, Gladys lies in comfort on Pendragon’s left, their forelimbs against each other’s bodies…..

…but behind them, their tails are deliberately crossed……

When Bronwen mated with Pendragon, she made tail contact before…..

….and lay with him afterwards…

A basking lizard usually leaves the tail in a straight line behind, but I have observed many occasions when the tail is curved gracefully back parallel to the body in what could be termed the “hairpin” position. They will often choose to stay in this position for five minutes or more. In the situations shown, there was space for the tail to have lain straight.

Above, Pendragon, below, Guinevere..

while watching Tristan basking …..

…a photo taken ten seconds later shows his tail flicked round to lie close bedside him….

I believe the tail plays a significant role in the life of a lizard, both in muscular action as well as an indicator of emotion.
The major reference books mention autotomy, but make little or no other comment on the influence tails may have on their behaviour. Arnold and Burton’s Field Guide mentions only tail colouring. Simms’ British Lizards deals with autotomy briefly and mentions waving. Beebee and Griffiths in the New Naturalist volume explain the biology of the replacement, note that lizards that have lost their tails have some problems of balance when active, mention tail-gripping in mating, but make no other comments.
I suggest that the tails of Podarcis muralis play a greater role in theirlives than simply having the replacement capability that excites embryologists and surgeons. The lizard’s nervous system has control over the tail vertebra and shedding the tail is a deliberate action, which has been known to be repeated a second time (Simms) when under further attack. I have observed it exercising this kind of control when using the strength of its tail in many situations, playing the part of a fifth limb when actively hunting and climbing and defaecating, as well as showing emotion in individual situations.
I suggest that the significance of the tail in the lifestyle of Podarcis muralis has not been fully appreciated and deserves further study.
Raymond Wergan Newton Ferrers.
see LizARDRY 5 ARounD juLY 24 on “scenTIng”