The study describes how the behaviour of the ocellated lizard varies in response to rising temperatures, a vital aspect for reptiles and other ectothermic organisms, which depend on external heat sources and are unable to maintain body temperature in the same way as mammals and birds (endotherms).

In a warmer climate, the ability of ocellated lizard (Timon lepidus) populations to respond will not be uniform: some lizards, considered “generalists”, show greater resilience and a higher capacity for mobility at high temperatures compared to “specialists”, whose mobility stagnates at high temperatures and, as a result, are less adapted to take advantage of extreme warming scenarios.

“The strategy based on a ‘generalist’ profile proves to be more effective in the long term for coping with climate change than specialist profiles,” notes Antigoni Kaliontzopoulou, a member of the UB’s Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences. “However, while increased mobility can offer more opportunities for reproduction and foraging, it is also associated with a higher risk of mortality from predation.”

The study, which integrates physiological, behavioural and microclimatic data, provides a powerful approach to predicting how climate change can reshape the spatial and temporal niches of ectotherms. “The results of the study are relevant to ectothermic organisms in general: lizards are excellent models for studying these impacts, as their body temperature and physiological performance depend directly and closely on the environment and temperature,” says Kaliontzopoulou.

The study is also signed by experts Katerina Sioumpoura, Neftalí Sillero and Carolina Reyes-Puig of the University of Porto (Portugal), and Urtzi Enriquez-Urzelai of the Czech Academy of Sciences (Czech Republic).