DOI: 10.5061/dryad.0rxwdbs9m
title: Data from: Urban wall lizards are resilient to high levels of blood lead

description: Living in urban environments presents many challenges to wildlife,
 including exposure to potentially toxic pollutants. For example, the heavy
 metal lead (Pb) introduces numerous health problems to all animals,
 including humans. The little work that has been conducted on lead toxicity
 in reptiles suggests that lizards may be extraordinarily resilient to very
 high levels of lead pollution, by either avoiding or mitigating the
 toxicity. To assess the impact of lead exposure, we measured field blood
 levels and tested for the effects on ecologically relevant performance
 measures in common wall lizards (Podarcis muralis) – a small reptile
 particularly capable of thriving in urban environments. We captured
 lizards from roadside and park habitats across Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, and
 quantified the concentration of lead in blood samples (n = 71 adult
 lizards). Lizards from roadside populations had higher blood lead
 concentrations than lizards from park populations, and females had higher
 blood lead concentrations than males regardless of habitat type. We then
 tested two aspects of lizard performance important for survival: (1)
 balance, a cognitively demanding task, to assess the effect of lead on
 cognition (N = 41), and (2) running endurance, an aerobic exercise
 dependent on oxygen (N = 43), to assess the impact of lead on blood
 oxygen-carrying capacity. We then used correlation analyses to quantify
 the relationship between lead levels and these ecologically-relevant
 performance measures. There was no effect of blood lead levels on running
 endurance, but contrary to our predictions there was a slight positive
 effect on balance performance, whereby lizards with higher blood lead
 concentrations slipped less often than lizards with lower blood lead
 concentrations. Understanding the effects of lead toxicity and resilience
 in a particularly resistant animal could help us better respond to public
 health and environmental pollution concerns.
description: # Data from: Urban wall lizards are resilient to high levels of blood lead
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.0rxwdbs9m](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.0rxwdbs9m) ## Description of the data and file structure ### Files and variables #### File: Mooreetal\_LizardLead\_2024\_AnalysisCode.R **Description:** All statistical outputs and data figures from the manuscript can be reproduced by running this code in the R Programming Language using the data files archived here. #### File: Mooreetal\_LizardLead\_2024\_BalanceData.csv **Description:** Provides summarized balance data on common wall lizards (*Podarcis muralis*) from performance trials ##### Variables * B_Date: Date of performance trial * ID: Identification number for each lizard * B_Air_Temp: Air temperature at the start of balance trials (°C) * B_Humidity: Humidity at the start of balance trials (% RH) * B_Start_Tb: Starting body temperature before balance trials (°C) * B_Time: Time balance trials started * B_End_Tb: End body temperature after balance trials (°C) * T1_Distance: Distance covered by lizards on balance beam (mm) (NA indicates data not collected) * T1_Slips: Number of slips on balance beam (NA indicates data not collected) * T1_End: Describes if the last movement on the beam was a slip, a jump off, or completed (NA indicates data not collected) * T2_Distance: Distance covered by lizards on balance beam (mm) (NA indicates data not collected) * T2_Slips: Number of slips on balance beam (NA indicates data not collected) * T2_End: Describes if the last movement on the beam was a slip, a jump off, or completed (NA indicates data not collected) * T3_Distance: Distance covered by lizards on balance beam (mm) (NA indicates data not collected) * T3_Slips: Number of slips on balance beam (NA indicates data not collected) * T3_End: Describes if the last movement on the beam was a slip, a jump off, or completed (NA indicates data not collected) #### File: Mooreetal\_LizardLead\_2024\_EnduranceData.csv **Description:** Provides summarized endurance data on common wall lizards (*Podarcis muralis*) from performance trials ##### Variables * E_Date: Date of performance trial * ID: Identification number for each lizard * E_Air_Temp: Air temperature at the start of endurance trials (°C) * E_Humidity: Humidity at the start of endurance trials (% RH) * E_Start_Tb: Starting body temperature before endurance trials (°C) * E_Start_Time: Time endurance trials started * E_End_Tb: End body temperature after endurance trials (°C) * E_End_Time: Time endurance trials ended * Endurance: Amount of time ran from start to finish (s) #### File: Mooreetal\_LizardLead\_2024\_FieldData.csv **Description:** Provides collection, morphological, and hematological data on common wall lizards (*Podarcis muralis*) in the field  ##### Variables * ID: Identification number for each lizard * CollectionDate: Date data were collected * Lizard_ID: Identification number of each lizard * Population: Population where data were collected  * Sex: Sex of captured lizards * Mass: Mass of lizards at capture (g) (NA indicates data not collected) * SVL: Snout-vent-length (mm) (NA indicates data not collected) * Hct: Hematocrit (NA indicates data not collected) * Blood_Lead: Blood-lead quantification (ppm)