The strip of land between the beachesand the adjoining green areas would be par-ticularly attractive to property developers.This transitional area with its light coveringof juniper is also important for biodiversity.Herpetological observations include tortois-es, Balkan Green Lizards, the Snake-eyedSkink and the Peloponnese Wall Lizard.Numerous snake tracks are to be seen on thepatches of sand. During the visit to theisland, many empty shotgun shells werefound, indicating that hunting is common.On Vardhia, three hunters with seven track-er dogs were seen training the dogs to catchliving hares (Lepus!). They left with onedead and one living hare. According to thelocal residents, the hunters were from themainland.

Greece is responsible for the conser-vation of the endemic plant species listedabove, as they are to be found along thecoast especially. Their habitats could bedestroyed by tourism. During this visit tothe island, the site of Saponaria jagelii wasshown to a local opinion leader, who waseducated in Britain and speaks excellentEnglish. He promised to campaign at thelevel of the state authorities on the subject.Here, Natura 2000 clearly has a problemwith regard to implementation.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: The author is grate-ful to his colleagues who joined the excursion, namelyPeter GOOP, Wilfried KAufMANN and Günter STADLER.Thanks also go to Basil P. CHONDROPOuLOS, Depart -ment of Biology, university of Patras, and Panayiotis PA -fiLiS, Department of Zoology and Marine Biology, uni -versity of Athens, for valuable information provided.

REfERENCES: GLASER, H. (2014): Klare Mehr -heit für Elafonisos.- Geo Saison, Hamburg; 2014 (2):99-109. JAGEL, A. (1992): Zur flora und Vegetationder insel Elafonisos (Lakonien, Griechenland). Diplo -ma Thesis, Ruhr universität Bochum, Germany. WWWdocument available at < http://www.botanik-jagel.de/diplom/Elafonisos_flora.htm >. KALMOuKi, N. (2014):Greek island of Elafonisos on sale.- Greek Reporter,May 17, 2014. WWW document available at < http://greece.greekreporter.com/2014/05/17/greek-island-of-elafonisos-on-sale/ > [last accessed: April 6, 2015].LEHMANN, i. (1980): Griechische inseln 1 – DieWestägäis. Schroeder Reiseführer. Leichlingen (K.Schroeder Verlag), pp. 382. MONTMOLLiN, B. DE &STRAHM, W. (Eds.) (2005): The top 50 Mediterreanisland plants: Wild plants at the brink of extinction, andwhat is needed to save them. iuCN/SSC Mediterra -nean island Plan Specialist Group. iuCN, Gland, CHand Cambridge, uK, pp. x, 110. NATuRA 2000 STAN-DARD DATA fORM GR 2540002 (1995, 2009): PeriochiNeapolis Kai Elafonisos. WWW document available at< http:/natura2000.eea.europa.eu/Natura2000/SDf.

aspx?site=GR2540002 >. PAfiLiS, P. (2012): Southern -most European island record of Malpolon insignitus(GEOffROy DE SAiNT-HiLAiRE, 1809).- Herpetozoa,Wien; 25 (1/2): 66-67. WiiKiPEDiA (2014): Elafonisos[German and English versions]. WWW documentsavailable at < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elafonisos >and < http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elafonisos > [lastaccessed: June 17, 2014] . WyATT, B. & BRiGGS, D. &MOuNSEy, H. (1988): CORiNE: an information systemon the state of the environment in the European Com -munity; pp. 378-396. in: MOuNSEy, H. & TOMLiNSON,R. f. (Eds.): Building databases for global science.London (Taylor & francis).

KEy WORDS: Reptilia: Squamata: Sauria:Mediodactylus kotschyi bibroni, Ablepharus kitaibelii,Ophiomorus punctatissimus, Podarcis p. peloponnesi-acus; Serpentes: Hierophis gemonensis, Telescopus fal-lax fallax, Vipera ammodytes meriodionalis; Elafoni -sos, Peloponnese, Greece; new island records, natureconservation

SuBMiTTED: June 26, 2014AuTHOR: Mario f. BROGGi, St. Mamertenweg

35, Li-9495 Triesen, Principality of Liechtenstein, < mario.broggi@adon.li >

Attempted oophagy observed inPodarcis muralis (LAuRENTi, 1768)

Small lacertid lizards from mainlandpopulations, e. g., Podarcis muralis (LAu -RENTi, 1768), mostly prey on insects andspiders but also other arthropods, gastro -pods and even small vertebrates and plantmatter (ARNOLD 1987; STRiJBOSCH et al.1980; MOu 1987; CAPuLA et al. 1993;PéREZ-MELLADO & CORTi 1993; RiCHARD &LAPiNi 1993; VAN DAMME 1999; CARRETERO2004). Besides, rare dietary events such ascannibalism have been reported for P. mu -ralis (POLiS & MyERS 1985; SCHuLTE 2008;ŽAGAR & CARRETERO 2012; SiMOVić &MARKOVić 2013).

Consumption of eggs (oophagy) canbe either interspecific or intraspecific (can-nibalistic). By definition, cannibalism is aspecial form of predation in which predatorand prey are members of the same species(POLiS 1981). in the genus Podarcis, canni-balistic oophagy was observed in naturalpopulations of at least three species otherthan P. muralis, namely P. liolepis (BOuLEN -GER, 1905) - CASTiLLA 1995 [under the nameP. hispanica atrata], P. siculus campestris(DE BETTA, 1857) - CATTANEO (2005) and P.pityusensis (BOSCá, 1883) - DAPPEN 2011),

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and in captivity in P. erhardii (BEDRiAGA,1882) (BROCK et al. 2014). There is a gen-eral trend in Podarcis that predation of eggsor juveniles appears mainly in insular popu-lations and more frequently in males thanfemales (CASTiLLA & VAN DAMME 1996).

On 8 July, 2013, two of the authors (A.Ž. and M. K.) collected P. muralis on themountain Mala gora above the village ofRibnica in the Dinaric Mountains, southernSlovenia (45° 45’N, 14°45’E). The site wasan open limestone outcrop, approximately450 m2 in size, situated next to a graveledforest road and surrounded by a mixedDinaric fir and beech forest (Omphalodo-Fagetum s. lat.). At 12:15 h an adult femaleof P. muralis was observed trying to con-sume a lizard egg (fig. 1). The observationlasted approximately 15 minutes. Thefemale shook the head, clearly trying toingest the egg held in her mouth. The lizardmanipulated the egg for about five minutes,after which she moved with the egg in hermouth to a nearby refuge in a rock crevice.Several minutes later, she reappeared withpresumably the same egg and continued try-ing to ingest it for another approximately

five minutes, but again did not succeed andfinally abandoned the egg. After ten min-utes of unsuccessfully waiting for thefemale to return, the egg was secured andpreserved in ethanol.

Subsequent study of the egg under abinocular microscope (magnification 40times) revealed the presence of an embryoat developmental stage 27-28 according toDufAuRE & HuBERT (1961). This supportsthe view that the lizard intended to consumea recently laid egg including an apparentlylive embryo (comp. BRAñA et al. 1991).The absence of other small lacertids at thissite (A. ŽAGAR, unpublished data) suggestsintra specific oophagy.

Possible explanations for the occur-rence of oophagy or other forms of canni-balism in this P. muralis population couldbe: high population density, temporary foodscarcity, or the combination of both. Suchreasons were hypothesized to induce otherrare dietary events in lizards such as canni-balism on juveniles or consumption of dan-gerous prey (e.g., scorpions) and shifts toherbivory (PéREZ-MELLADO & CORTi 1993;CASTiLLA & VAN DAMME 1996; COOPER &

204 SHORT NOTE HERPETOZOA 28 (3/4) Wien, 30. Jänner 2016 SHORT NOTE

fig. 1: Attempted oophagy of a female Podarcis muralis (LAuRENTi, 1758), from the Dinaric Mountains in southern Slovenia. Photo: M. KROfEL.

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ViTT 2002; PAfiLiS et al. 2008; CASTiLLA &HERREL 2009; ŽAGAR et al. 2011; ŽAGAR &CARRETERO 2012; Zuffi & GiANNELLi2013). The authors’ estimate of the popula-tion density at this site conducted in 2012resulted in high density values (43 individu-als counted per 450 m2 per hour; A. ŽAGAR,unpublished data) and thus revealed a factorpromoting cannibalistic oophagy.

Along with previous reports on preda-tion upon conspecific juveniles (ŽAGAR &CARRETERO 2012), this observation suggeststhat cannibalism may not be uncommon inPodarcis, insular conditions only increasingthe selective pressures promoting it.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Anamarija ŽAGARwas funded through a PhD grant (SfRH/BD/81324/2011) supported by fCT doctoral fellowships under thePrograma Operacional Potencial Humano – Quadro deReferência Estratégico Nacional funds from the Euro -pean Social fund and Portuguese Ministério da Edu -cação e Ciência.

REfERENCES: ARNOLD, E. N. (1987): Re -source partition among lacertid lizards in southernEurope.- Journal of Zoology, London; (B) 1: 739-782.BRAñA, f. & BEA, A. & ARRAyAGO, M. J. (1991): Eggretention in lacertid lizards: relationships with repro-ductive ecology and the evolution of viviparity.-Herpetologica, Lawrence; 47: 218-226. BROCK, K. M.& DONiHuE, C. M. & PAfiLiS, P. (2014): New records offrugivory and ovophagy in Podarcis (Lacertidae)lizards from East Mediterranean islands.- NorthWestern Journal of Zoology, Oradea ;10 (1): 223-225.CAPuLA, M. & LuiSELLi, L. & RuGiERO, L. (1993):Comparative ecology in sympatric Podarcis muralisand P. sicula (Reptilia: Lacertidae) from the historicalcentre of Rome: What about competition and nichesegregation in an urban habitat?- Bollettino di Zoo -logia, Roma; 60: 287-291. CARRETERO, M. A. (2004):from set menu to a la carte. Linking issues in trophicecology of Mediterranean lacertids.- italian Journal ofZoology, Roma; 2: 121-133. CASTiLLA, A. M. (1995):Conspecific eggs and hatchlings in the diet of the insu-lar lizard, Podarcis hispanica atrata.- Bolletí de laSocietat d’Historia Natural de les Balears, Palma; 38:121-129. CASTiLLA, A. M. & VAN DAMME, R. (1996):Cannibalistic propensities in the lizard Podarcis his-panica atrata.- Copeia, Lawrence; 1996 (4): 991-994.CASTiLLA, A. M. & HERREL, A. (2009): The scorpionButhus occitanus as a profitable prey for the endemiclizard Podarcis atrata in the volcanic Columbretesislands (Mediterranean, Spain).- Journal of Arid En -vironments, Kidlington; 73: 378-380. CATTANEO, A.(2005): L’erpetofauna della tenuta presidenziale diCastelporziano (Roma).- Atti del Museo di Storia Na -turale della Maremma, Grosseto; 21: 49-77. COOPER,W. E. Jr. & ViTT, L. J. (2002): Distribution, extent, andevolution of plant consumption by lizards.- Journal ofZoology, London; 257: 487-517. DAPPEN, N. (2011):Cold-blooded cannibals. Observations on cannibalisticegg eating and predation on juveniles within Podarcispityusensis.- L@certidae (Eidechsen Online) 2011:art.113. DufAuRE, J. P. & HuBERT, J. (1961): Table de

développement du lézard vivipare Lacerta (Zootoca)vivipara JACQuiN.- Archives d’Anatomie micro-scopique et de Morphologie expérimentale, Paris; 50:309-328. MOu, y. P. (1987): Ecologie trophique d’unepopulation de lézards des murailles Podarcis muralisdans l’ouest de la france.- Revue d’Ecologie (la Terreet la Vie), Paris; 42: 81-100. PéREZ-MELLADO, V. &CORTi, C. (1993): Dietary adaptations and herbivory inlacertid lizards of the genus Podarcis from westernMediterranean islands (Reptilia: Sauria).- BonnerZoologische Beiträge, Bonn; 44 (3-4): 193-220. POLiS,G. A. (1981): The evolution and dynamics of intraspe-cific predation.- Annual Review of Ecology andSystematics, Palo Alto; 12: 225-251. POLiS, G. A. &MyERS, C. A. (1985): A survey of intraspecific preda-tion among reptiles and amphibians.- Journal of Her -petology, Houston, etc.; 19 (1): 99-107. RiCHARD, J. &LAPiNi, L. (1993): Trophic niche overlap in syntopicpopulations of Lacerta horvathi and Podarcis muralis(Reptilia, Lacertidae).- Atti del Museo civico di Storianaturale di Trieste, Trieste; 45: 151-157. RuGiERO, L.(1994): food habits of the Ruin Lizard, Podarcis sicu-la (RAfiNESQuE-SCHMALTZ, 1810), from a coastal dunein Central italy (Squamata: Sauria: Lacertidae).- Her -petozoa, Wien; 7 (1/2): 71-73. SCHuLTE, u. (2008): DieMauereidechse, erfolgreich im Schlepptau des Men -schen. Bielefeld (Laurenti-Verlag), pp. 160 [Zeitschriftfür feldherpetologie, Beiheft 12]. SiMOVić, A. & MAR -KOVić, A. (2013): A case of cannibalism in the commonwall lizard, Podarcis muralis, in Serbia.- Hyla, Zagreb;2013 (1): 48-49. STRiJBOSCH, H. & BONNEMAyER, J. J.A. M. & DiETVORST, P. J. M. (1980): The northernmostpopulation of Podarcis muralis (Lacertilia, Lacerti -dae).- Amphibia-Reptilia, Leiden; 1: 161-172. VANDAMME, R. (1999): Evolution of herbivory in lacertidlizards: Effects of insularity and body size.- Journal ofHerpetology, Houston etc; 33: 663-674. Zuffi, M. A.L. & GiANNELLi, G. (2013): Trophic niche and feedingbiology of the italian wall lizard, Podarcis siculus cam -pestris (DE BETTA, 1857) along western Mediterraneancoast.- Acta Herpetologica, firenze; 8 (1): 35-39.ŽAGAR, A. & TRiLAR, T. & CARRETERO, M. A. (2011):Horvath’s rock lizard, Iberolacerta horvathi (MéHELy,1904), feeding on a scorpion in Slovenia.- Herpetologynotes, Leiden; 4: 307-309. ŽAGAR, A. & CARRETERO,M. A. (2012): A record of cannibalism in Podarcismuralis (LAuRENTi, 1768) (Reptilia, Lacertidae) fromSlovenia.- Herpetology notes, Leiden; 5: 211-213.

KEy WORDS: Reptilia: Squamata: Sauria: Lacer -tidae; Podarcis muralis, oophagy, cannibalism, behav-ior, Slovenia

SuBMiTTED: May 16, 2014

AuTHORS: Anamarija ŽAGAR (Correspondingautor < anamarija.zagar@gmail.com >) - CiBiO Re -search Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources,inBiO, universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário deVairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, Nº 7, 4485-661Vairão, Vila do Conde, Portugal, Biotechnical faculty,university of Ljubljana, Jamnikarjeva 101, Si-1000Ljubljana, Slovenia; Miha KROfEL - Biotechnicalfaculty, university of Ljubljana, Jamnikarjeva 101, Si-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; Miguel A. CARRETERO -CiBiO Research Centre in Biodiversity and GeneticResources, inBiO, universidade do Porto, CampusAgrário de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, Nº 7,4485-661 Vairão, Vila do Conde, Portugal.

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