Shape variability of the head ofOphisops elegansMénétriés, 1832 (Reptilia: Lacertidae) from Konya, Turkey

Abstract

Ophisops elegans is a widely distributed lizard species. Like other lacertids, O. elegans has characteristic head plates. In this paper, the variation of the head plate morphology between sexes was studied in the subspecies Ophisops elegans centralanatoliae. According to our results, both size and shape of the head plates show sexual dimorphism. The most remarkable shape difference between sexes is observed in the parietal region. In addition, the ontogentic allometry of the head plate shapes was investigated.

How to Render Species Comparable Taxonomic Units Through Deep Time: A Case Study on Intraspecific Osteological Variability in Extant and Extinct Lacertid Lizards

“…In lacertid lizards -the focus of our study -knowledge of morphological intraspecific variability is mostly limited to external or soft tissue features. Several previous studies have analysed or discussed intraspecific variability in lacertid lizards, but mostly focused on single species or particular character complexes (e.g., Mateo 1988;Bruner et al 2005;Brecko et al 2008;Bruner and Costantini 2009;Kirchhof et al 2012;Borczyk et al 2014;Tayhan et al 2016). Few studies have quantified variability among extant taxa on a larger scale (Barahona and Barbadillo 1998), or assessed the validity of extinct species based on osteological intraspecific variability from extant relatives (Mateo 1988;Barahona et al 2000).…”