Different colour types?

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   Is anyone aware of different belly colourations (orange, white, yellow; males and/or females) in common lizards in the UK? According to literature there are males with white, yellow and orange bellies in the Pyrenees and females with yellow or orange bellycolouration in France. 

Regards

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Hans_R Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List New Member Joined: 12 Oct 2012 Location: Glasgow Status: Offline Points: 3	Post Options Post Reply Quote Hans_R Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Different colour types? Posted: 12 Oct 2012 at 11:57am
	Is anyone aware of different belly colourations (orange, white, yellow; males and/or females) in common lizards in the UK? According to literature there are males with white, yellow and orange bellies in the Pyrenees and females with yellow or orange bellycolouration in France. Regards

liamrussell Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 13 Jan 2005 Status: Offline Points: 100	Post Options Post Reply Quote liamrussell Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 13 Oct 2012 at 8:59am
	Most of the males I see are orange, females range from pale yellow/beige, through to orange.

will Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1830	Post Options Post Reply Quote will Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 13 Oct 2012 at 9:43am
	Male common lizards typically have bright yellow/orange/red bellies with black spots, females tend to be pale yellow or cream without many or any speckles, as Liam says. This is very similar to the situation with the completely unrelated smooth newt. It has been suggested that, as with smooth newts, the difference in belly colour helps with identification between the sexes and hence is involved in sexual selection. I was trying to find a decent photo to show this, but could only find the one below, which shows a hint of the bright colour of the male's underside which extends to the inside of his limbs:

GemmaJF Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 Location: Essex Status: Offline Points: 4359	Post Options Post Reply Quote GemmaJF Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 13 Oct 2012 at 10:26am
	As described above the common pattern in the UK is males orange with black spots or speckles, females non-spotted usually lighter yellowish/grey From the ID pages: There is individual variation of course and have seen females with some spots and a few that have a more orange colour, but I have not yet observed an entire population that breaks the rule. Edited by GemmaJF - 13 Oct 2012 at 10:28am

JaySteel Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 07 May 2010 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 157	Post Options Post Reply Quote JaySteel Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 13 Oct 2012 at 2:54pm
	All the males that I have seen lately have the usual orange underside: Jason