One of the 9 wall lizards on WAnimals
Reptiles · Squamata · Lacertidae
Common Wall Lizard
Podarcis muralis
The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary
It has up to six different colour forms on the throat and belly, each morph tied to a different breeding and territorial strategy. Introduced to North American cities, it copes well with colder climates.
Weight
2 g – 10 g
Size
12 cm – 20 cm
Lifespan
7 years
Diet
Insectivore
Feeds mainly on insects and other invertebrates.
Activity
Diurnal
Active mainly during the day.
Social structure
Solitary
Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.
Sighting difficulty
Easy
Fun facts
- It has as many as six different colour morphs on the throat and belly.
- Its introduced North American populations cope with colder climates than its native range.
- One documented individual lived 14 to 16 years.
Life cycle & biology
- Skeleton type
- Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (reptile)
- Habitat & environment
- Stone walls, rocky ground, gardens and woodland edges across much of Europe, with introduced populations in North America
- Birth weight
- Exact weight at hatching not found as a precise figure
- Size at birth
- Precocial, fully formed and independent on hatching
- Sexual maturity
- 2-3 years
- Gestation / incubation
- 6-11 weeks
- Litter / clutch size
- 3 to 10 eggs per clutch, with 2-3 clutches a year
Sources consulted: ResearchGate (age and growth study); Animalia.bio; BioDB; AnAge (genomics.senescence.info); Wikipedia (Podarcis muralis); Academia.edu
Where to find it
See its range on the interactive mapWhere to watch it
Parques y spots de buceo donde se ha documentado esta especie — se muestran 10 de 141 documentados.
Related species
Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Common Wall Lizard — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.
Large Psammodromus
Psammodromus algirus
Viviparous Lizard
Zootoca vivipara
Western Green Lizard
Lacerta bilineata
Sand Lizard
Lacerta agilis
Green Lizard
Lacerta viridis
Spanish Wall Lizard
Podarcis hispanicus
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