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17
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Introduction
Publications
Publications (17)
Island biogeography theories predict that characteristics such as island size, age, and isolation interplay in host-parasite dynamics. In this study, we analyzed haemogregarines of the Aegean wall lizard, Podarcis erhardii, to investigate how island characteristics relate to parasite prevalence and intensity. A previous assessment of 19 Greek islan...
Molecular tools have revolutionized assessments of blood parasites in freshwater turtles. In the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa, two native species of terrapins occur, Emys orbicularis (Linnaeus) and Mauremys leprosa (Schweigger). Both have been identified as hosts for the blood parasite Haemogregarina stepanowi Danilewsky, 1885, which has also...
Interest in studying cognitive ecology has moved the field of animal cognition into the wild. Animals face many challenges such as finding food and other resources, avoiding and deterring predators and choosing the best mate to increase their reproductive success. To solve these dilemmas, animals need to rely on a range of cognitive abilities. Stud...
Host-gut microbiota interactions are complex and can have a profound impact on the ecology and evolution of both counterparts. Several host traits such as taxonomy, diet and social behavior, and external factors such as prey availability and local environment are known to influence the composition and diversity of the gut microbiota. In this study,...
Host-gut microbiota interactions are complex and can have a profound impact on the ecology and evolution of both counterparts. Several host traits such as taxonomy, diet and social behavior, and external factors such as prey availability and local environment are known to influence the composition and diversity of the gut microbiota. In this study,...
Assessment of parasites and their pathogenicity is essential for studying the ecology of populations and understanding their dynamics. In this study, we investigate the prevalence and intensity of infection of haemogregarines (phylum Apicomplexa) in two sympatric lizard species, Podarcis vaucheri and Scelarcis perspicillata , across three localitie...
Invasive species can carry parasites to introduced locations, which may be key to understand the success or failure of species establishment and the invasive potential of introduced species. We compared the prevalence and infection levels of haemogregarine blood parasites between two sympatric congeneric species in Lisbon, Portugal: the invasive It...
Tonic immobility, or the ability to play dead, is widespread among vertebrates. It is a last line of defence against a threat, and usually follows physical restraint. Here, I report two lizards exhibiting tonic immobility in the presence of humans, but remarkably, without any handling or physical contact. These two lizards belonged to an invasive p...
Biological invasions are a contemporary global threat because invasive species can have substantial negative economic and ecological impacts. Invasive species can outcompete native species through two main mechanisms: interference competition (direct, negative interactions like aggression) and/or exploitative competition (indirect, negative interac...
Invasive species are a global conservation problem that have an enormous economic cost. Understanding the attributes of invasive species and what makes them successful at colonizing and flourishing in novel environments is therefore essential for preventing and ameliorating their negative impact. Learning ability and behavioral flexibility—the abil...
To reduce the impact of biological invasions, we need to understand the behavioural mechanisms that enable some species to be successful invaders. Testing differences in behaviour between sympatric congeneric species with different invasive potential is an opportunity to study specific behavioural traits associated with invasion success. Using the...
Species that are able to solve novel problems through social learning from either a conspecific or a heterospecific may gain a significant advantage in new environments. We tested the ability of a highly successful invasive species, the Italian wall lizard Podarcis sicula, to solve a novel foraging task when social information was available from bo...
Within-species colour variation is widespread among animals. Understanding how this arises can elucidate evolutionary mechanisms, such as those underlying reproductive isolation and speciation. Here, we investigated whether five island populations of Aegean wall lizards (Podarcis erhardii) have more effective camouflage against their own (local) is...
Nowadays it is widely accepted that parasites play a significant role in the community structures in which they occur, and ultimately upon ecosystems. Furthermore, infection by parasites might be associated with considerable deterioration of individual host fitness. While the apicomplexan parasites belonging to the genus Hepatozoon can provoke seve...
Abstract Hepatozoon spp. are identified for the first time in the amphibian Order Gymnophiona, or caecilians, from the Seychelles island of Silhouette. Estimate of relationships derived from partial 18S rRNA gene sequences indicate these are not related to Hepatozoon spp. from frogs, or to other Hepatozoon spp. from reptiles in the Seychelles. Asse...
Projects
Project (1)
Globalization has fuelled biological invasions, which are of great concern due to their negative economic and ecological impacts. I am trying to understand the behavioural and cognitive mechanisms that underline the successful establishment of invasive species.
I am using the Italian wall lizard (Podarcis siculus) – a species known for hitchhiking to new locations – to test a range of hypotheses about what behavioural and cognitive traits that may give this species an advantage during an invasion.
