Priority Species Factsheet

Common lizard Zootoca vivipara

Description:

The common lizard is a small species growing to around 15cm in length that can vary widely in colour, but is usually a mottled light to dark brown. Males are distinguishable from females having a yellow or orange underbelly whereas females have a dark vertebral line on their back. The species is widespread across the UK and can often be seen basking in open spaces. Adult lizards breed between March and April with females giving birth to 5-9 live young between July and August. In contrast to the adults, the newly born young are a jet black colour which will start to fade after the first hibernation.

National status: UK Priority Species

Local status: Like most of its range, the common lizard is widespread across with a number of healthy populations found in South and East Cambridgeshire and around Peterborough.

Associated habitats: Open grassland, heathland, road embankments and open woodland.

Key sites: Castor Flood Meadows SSSI, Fleam Dyke SSSI, Hampton NR, Orchard Park, Swaddywell Nature Reserve, NNR, NNR.

Suggested actions to benefit this species:

 Increased surveys to understand more about the abundance of the species and its distribution in Cambridgeshire. (Submit sightings to http://www.cperc.org.uk)  The removal of scrub from potential basking areas within known sites in order to offer more space for basking.  The maintenance of grasslands to ensure a high invertebrate abundance will benefit the lizards as invertebrates are a primary food source.  Increased connectivity between known sites. ©Steven Allain Sources of further information: http://www.froglife.org/amphibians-and-reptiles/common-lizard/ http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/species/common-lizard