A lizard “where there is nothing”
- Lately there's a lot of talk about the forest. You will often hear about the recovery of forests, the creation of forests and the extension of forests. And it can be a good action, certainly, because its value as an ecosystem is high. But in that attention and strength that we give to the forest, there are also habitats that we completely forget, which are essential to many other species and which are of great value to biodiversity. In the eyes of man, however, aesthetics have a great weight, and the beauty and grandeur of a forest will attract more than a mere Mediterranean climate area with hardly any vegetation. These habitats, which look like a small desert, seem to us to be “a place where there is nothing”…
Here, precisely, a very short vegetation, always less than 10 cm, and in this area of many clear-cut dwellings is a special sugandila: the Spartan. Not well known, maybe, but worthy of being as dignified as any other lizard.
Heraldic has found his place in the south of Navarre, where he resides in the Basque Country. He likes clayey soils and, above all, open spaces of thyme or syrup or cuttlefish and esparto, like the name of the lizard, as components. According to studies carried out in Navarre, it was mainly found in steppe (70.8% of the observations made), but also in Mediterranean shrubland (25%) and dry and alfer farmland (4.2%). However, it avoids areas of much and long vegetation. In terms of height, this animal is between 660 m and 1,350 m. For all these reasons, the esparto bark is not very abundant or very easy to see.
It's a small reptile. It is usually gray brown and has four clearly marked whitish stripes, which go back to the body. These lines may also include green or yellow colors in some populations. In some areas, especially during the breeding season. At that time, females will plant three or four eggs, at the foot of the vegetation, in a hole excavated in the subsoil. Sugandil babies will be born in August-September.
If someone is detected in the area, the low vegetation found on the site will suddenly and quickly search. When you reach the vegetation, soon! It stops and does not move for a while, taking advantage that the color of your body mimics well in the entorno.Si starts your search, moves slowly to exit the edge of the vegetation. Once there, it will accelerate the step again to reach the next vegetation and once again, hide in it. It's also rare for them to hide in the holes.
It spends the winter sleeping deeply and in Navarre it remains active from April to October, although in December it has ever been seen. It normally activates after bad weather and feeds mostly on small invertebrates.
In Navarre, intensive agriculture is one of the great threats of this species, besides the fires, the urbanization processes and the transformation processes of its residence in agricultural land. Because it is not necessary to preserve a “place where there is nothing” in the eyes of the human being...
Spartano Sugandila (Psammodromus hispanicus)
GROUP: Vertebrate/Reptile.
SIZE: 5 cm approx. No tail.
WHERE DO YOU LIVE? In open Mediterranean places, Arbotadias...
What do you eat? Small vertebrates.
LEVEL OF PROTECTION Not protected.
