Comparison of Demographic Life‐History Traits of the Snake‐Eyed Skink: Observations From an Island and a Mainland Population

ABSTRACT The life‐history traits of animals are influenced by several factors. It has been proposed that key factors such as competition, predation pressure, and resource availability may differ between mainland and island populations of the same species. In this context, our study focused on an isl...

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Main Authors: Mehtap Ağdağ, Mehmet Zülfü Yıldız, Abdullah Altunışık
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-01-01
Series:Ecology and Evolution
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70699
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author Mehtap Ağdağ
Mehmet Zülfü Yıldız
Abdullah Altunışık
author_facet Mehtap Ağdağ
Mehmet Zülfü Yıldız
Abdullah Altunışık
author_sort Mehtap Ağdağ
collection DOAJ
description ABSTRACT The life‐history traits of animals are influenced by several factors. It has been proposed that key factors such as competition, predation pressure, and resource availability may differ between mainland and island populations of the same species. In this context, our study focused on an island (Yayla, Cyprus) and mainland (Hassa, Türkiye) populations of the snake‐eyed skink, Ablepharus budaki. This study aimed to reveal both intra‐population and inter‐population relationships in terms of mean age, longevity, age at maturity, body size, and sexual dimorphism. Our results show that lizards in the island population had longer lifespans and higher mean ages than the mainland population. Nevertheless, both populations were comparable in terms of mean body size. We also concluded that island individuals reach sexual maturity approximately 1 year later than their mainland conspecifics, and sexual dimorphism in terms of size is observed only in the mainland population. This study, offering initial demographic insights into the non‐mainland population of the species, provides the reason for additional research in this field.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2045-7758
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher Wiley
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series Ecology and Evolution
spelling doaj-art-7b56c010b3be491ba0d56c6d35cb49b62025-01-29T05:08:41ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582025-01-01151n/an/a10.1002/ece3.70699Comparison of Demographic Life‐History Traits of the Snake‐Eyed Skink: Observations From an Island and a Mainland PopulationMehtap Ağdağ0Mehmet Zülfü Yıldız1Abdullah Altunışık2Zoology Section, Department of Biology, Graduate Education Institute Adıyaman University Adıyaman TurkeyZoology Section, Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences Adıyaman University Adıyaman TurkeyDepartment of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University Rize TurkeyABSTRACT The life‐history traits of animals are influenced by several factors. It has been proposed that key factors such as competition, predation pressure, and resource availability may differ between mainland and island populations of the same species. In this context, our study focused on an island (Yayla, Cyprus) and mainland (Hassa, Türkiye) populations of the snake‐eyed skink, Ablepharus budaki. This study aimed to reveal both intra‐population and inter‐population relationships in terms of mean age, longevity, age at maturity, body size, and sexual dimorphism. Our results show that lizards in the island population had longer lifespans and higher mean ages than the mainland population. Nevertheless, both populations were comparable in terms of mean body size. We also concluded that island individuals reach sexual maturity approximately 1 year later than their mainland conspecifics, and sexual dimorphism in terms of size is observed only in the mainland population. This study, offering initial demographic insights into the non‐mainland population of the species, provides the reason for additional research in this field.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70699body sizeislandmorphometrysexual dimorphismskeletochronology
spellingShingle Mehtap Ağdağ
Mehmet Zülfü Yıldız
Abdullah Altunışık
Comparison of Demographic Life‐History Traits of the Snake‐Eyed Skink: Observations From an Island and a Mainland Population
Ecology and Evolution
body size
island
morphometry
sexual dimorphism
skeletochronology
title Comparison of Demographic Life‐History Traits of the Snake‐Eyed Skink: Observations From an Island and a Mainland Population
title_full Comparison of Demographic Life‐History Traits of the Snake‐Eyed Skink: Observations From an Island and a Mainland Population
title_fullStr Comparison of Demographic Life‐History Traits of the Snake‐Eyed Skink: Observations From an Island and a Mainland Population
title_full_unstemmed Comparison of Demographic Life‐History Traits of the Snake‐Eyed Skink: Observations From an Island and a Mainland Population
title_short Comparison of Demographic Life‐History Traits of the Snake‐Eyed Skink: Observations From an Island and a Mainland Population
title_sort comparison of demographic life history traits of the snake eyed skink observations from an island and a mainland population
topic body size
island
morphometry
sexual dimorphism
skeletochronology
url https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70699
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AT mehmetzulfuyıldız comparisonofdemographiclifehistorytraitsofthesnakeeyedskinkobservationsfromanislandandamainlandpopulation
AT abdullahaltunısık comparisonofdemographiclifehistorytraitsofthesnakeeyedskinkobservationsfromanislandandamainlandpopulation