Wall Lizards in Britain


For those of you interested in this year's discovery of wall lizards at Folkestone, you may be interested to visit a web site dedicated to recording other occurrences of these colourful lizards.

The site is maintained by Steve Langham on behalf of the Surrey Amphibian and Reptile Group. Regarding speculation as to whether the lizard is native:

"There has been some discussion as to whether the Wall lizard is a species native to the UK, as it is in the Channel Islands. Although it cannot be ruled out with all certainty, there is no scientific evidence to support such a claim.

One argument that is frequently cited is an analogy with the Pool frog, which was believed to be an alien species, yet has recently been accepted as a native. This acceptance of the native status of the Pool frog was based upon scientific assessment of substantial evidence (including ancient records, museum specimens, zooarchaeological remains & DNA analysis), rather than mere speculation, as is the case with the Wall lizard."

There's lots of other useful information available. Visit the site to read more and perhaps to add your own observations. I must remember to add details of a colony that used to be located near Canterbury. I wonder if Steve would also be interested in putting something together on green lizards?!

Lee Brady
KRAG Chairman

Posted: Mon - October 22, 2007 at 10:33 am        

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