Here be dragons!
In October I was fortune enough to go on holiday to Malta. Whilst being somewhat disappointed at the sheer lack of diversity in the bird species we observed, I was taken by the many ‘Filfola lizards’ that we spotted throughout Valletta and elsewhere in Malta and Gozo. The filfola lizard or Maltese wall lizard (Podarcis filfolensis) is a species in the family Lacertidae. In the Maltese Islands, there are four subspecies , all of which are endemic there.
Podarcis filfolensis ssp. Maltensis is the subspecies found on the three main islands: Malta, Gozo and Comino. It is normally greenish and sometimes speckled. Podarcis filfolensis ssp. Filfolensis is endemic to the tiny islet of Filfla just off the coast of Malta; it is the largest of the four subspecies and is blackish with bluish spots. Podarcis filfolensis ssp. Generalensis is endemic to Fungus Rock (west coast of Gozo); it has a reddish belly and blue-like flanks. Podarcis filfolensis ssp. Kieselbachi is endemic to Selmunett, otherwise known as St.Paul's Islands. Its colours vary greatly e.g. brown, grey, etc. with an orange belly and small black spots. The population became extinct in 2005. Other sub-species are thought to inhabit the nearby Pelagian Islands of Italy.
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