20.500.12556/DiRROS-23943 Effects of biotic and abiotic stressors on asymmetries and head size in two sympatric lizard species Organisms face numerous environmental stressors, which can affect developmental precision. Developmental instability can be used as an efficient and reliable bioindicator of environmental stressors and individual health. However, little information is available about effects of interspecific interactions on occurrence of developmental instability. We analyzed fluctuating asymmetry in two sympatric lizard species (Iberolacerta horvathi and Podarcis muralis), which exhibit a competitive interaction, to determine potential effects of altitude, interspecific competition and urbanization on a set of physical characteristics. We sampled 16 syntopic and allotopic populations and used methods of geometric morphometrics to analyze head morphology. We detected significant effect of altitude, but the trend was not linear: lizards had most asymmetrical heads at mid altitudes, which could be related to lower availability of favorable lizard habitats (open areas) at this altitude and therefore higher competition. We observed that lizards from allotopic populations attained larger head sizes compared to lizards in syntopy that experienced interspecific competition. This could suggest that in sites where competing species is absent, individuals can invest more energy in the development of the body. Moreover, head shape of Iberolacerta horvathi was more asymmetric compared to Podarcis muralis, which could indicate difference between species in the vulnerability to stress effects. We did not detect any statistically significant effect of urbanization, which could relate to relatively low degree of pollution and habitat degradation in our study area. Our results highlight the possibility of using lizards and developmental instability for bioindication of environmental stressors. lizards morphology ecology asymmetries data plazilci morfologija ekologija asimetrije podatki Iberolacerta horvathi Podarcis muralis true false true Dryad Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Neznano 2025-10-27 09:41:58 2025-10-27 09:41:58 2025-10-28 03:41:55 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2020 0 Durham 2020 Durham Nasl. z. nasl. zaslona; Opis vira z dne 14. 8. 2025; Soavtorji: Krofel, Miha; Lazić, Marko; Žagar, Anamarija; 1 spletni vir 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 591 10.5061/dryad.sqv9s4n0v 245664515 https://doi.org/10.1163/15707563-bja10058 0 d156034b-b310-11f0-9bb7-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=35538 https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.sqv9s4n0v 1 d094ace5-b310-11f0-9bb7-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=35537 RAZ_Alagic_Ajsa_2020.zip RAZ_Alagic_Ajsa_2020.zip 1 7025B3946CB2263965AC654152618BD5 55c1111babe9c0537fd5daa65593c6175ff9231f9e77ef672b935975f11a7962 39779635-b311-11f0-9bb7-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=35539 Nacionalni inštitut za biologijo 0 0 0