Cite this article as:
Kuranova V. N., Yakovlev V. A. Places, times and wintering conditions of the viviparous lizard Zootoca vivipara (Lichtenstein, 1823) (Sauria: Lacertidae) in Western Siberia. Current Studies in Herpetology, 2025, vol. 25, iss. 1, pp. 37-52. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18500/1814-6090-2025-25-1-2-37-52
Places, times and wintering conditions of the viviparous lizard Zootoca vivipara (Lichtenstein, 1823) (Sauria: Lacertidae) in Western Siberia
A number of aspects of the hibernation of the viviparous lizard (Zootoca vivipara) in the Asian part of its range are analyzed. The results of our own field work for the period from 1971 to 2022 in the Altai Republic (Altai Nature Reserve, Tomsk, Kemerovo, Chelyabinsk and Sverdlovsk regions are used). Within 17 localities of the foothill and flat parts of the south of Western Siberia (51°22΄ – 57°04΄ N, 57°33΄ – 88°08΄ E), 54 wintering sites were recorded. 173 li-zards of different sexes and ages were noted in the wintering shelters. The greatest number of hibernations – 75.9% – were found in agrogenic soil (vegetable gardens, arable land, orchards). In the soil at a depth of 15 – 25 cm, the number of hibernation shelters is 2.8 times greater and the number of lizards hibernating in them is 1.5 times greater than at a depth of 0 – 15 cm (p < 0.01). Lizards hibernate alone (44.2%) or in groups (2 individuals – 20.4%, 3 – 19%, 4 and 5 – 5.6% each, 6 – 7.1%, 9, 14 and 40 – 1.85% each). The body of a single wintering individual is curled into a ring or a flattened spiral. In groups, lizards were in balls of different sizes. Z. vivipara has been found to have fluctuations in the timing of wintering and spring emergence, as well as the duration of the active period, which is determined by a set of environmental factors of a particular year. The results of research in the reserve from 1971 to 2017 show that Z. vivipara can be considered a phenological bioindicator, which is manifested in the shift in the emergence of lizards from wintering to earlier dates.
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