DOI: 10.5061/dryad.2rbnzs82m
title: Data from: The effects of meal size and feeding frequency on digestion in common wall lizards (<em>Podarcis muralis</em>)

description: Understanding the interplay between feeding, energetics, and temperature
 in ectotherms is essential, particularly regarding introduced species and
 responses to climate change. Despite its importance, how feeding regimes –
 including meal timing and size – affect digestion has been underexplored.
 Previous research suggests that digestion is thermally dependent, with
 warm temperatures promoting quick digestion, and that consuming smaller
 meals results in slower digestion. However, empirical evidence is limited.
 Our study quantified digestive passage time, energy budgets, and fecal and
 urate production in the introduced common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis)
 relative to meal size and timing under a naturalistic temperature cycle
 (warm days at 34°C and cool nights at 25°C). We implemented four treatment
 groups based on meal size (large or small) and timing (morning only or
 morning and afternoon). While lizards consuming less food took
 significantly longer to completely pass food items, energy budgets and
 fecal and urate production did not differ among treatments. Our findings
 suggest that the feeding regime may have some influence on digestive
 processes, but not to the extent of regulating energetics in the common
 wall lizard. Consistent energy budgets, despite variable meal sizes and
 timing of food consumption in relation to temperature, may contribute to
 wall lizard invasion success. Digestive processes play a critical role in
 regulating population persistence and expansion. The results of this study
 highlight the importance of quantifying feeding regimes and natural
 temperature cycles, with implications for invasion biology and predicting
 responses to climate change.
description: # Data from: The effects of meal size and feeding frequency on digestion
 in common wall lizards (*Podarcis muralis*) Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.2rbnzs82m](10.5061/dryad.2rbnzs82m) ## Description of the
 data and file structure Data description for data file associated with
 Parks et al. 2025 "The effects of meal size and feeding frequency on
 digestion in common wall lizards (*Podarcis muralis*)" published in
 the *Journal of Experimental Biology*. ### Files and variables #### File:
 Parksetal_2025_PmuralisDigestionData.csv **Description:** Experimental
 Data ##### Variables * LizardID: Individual identification number of each
 lizard * Treatment: Treatment group of lizard (HFHQ/HFLQ/LFHQ/LFLQ) *
 Frequency: Feeding timing group of lizard (high/low) * Quantity: Feeding
 quantity group of lizard (high/low) * Sex: Sex of the lizard (M/F) *
 SVL: Snout-vent length (mm) * kJ_excreted_fecal: Energy content of feces
 excreted (kJ) * kJ_excreted_urate: Energy content of urate excreted (kJ) *
 kJ_consumed_food: Energy content of food consumed (kJ) * pt1_1: Time until
 first appearance of mark 1 (hrs) * pt1_2: Time until final appearance of
 mark 1 (hrs) * pt2_1: Time until first appearance of mark 2 (hrs) *
 pt2_2: Time until final appearance of mark 2 (hrs) * MEI: Metabolizable
 Energy Intake (kJ) * pt_av_firstapp: Averaged time until the first
 appearance of marks 1 and 2 (hrs) * AE: Assimilated Energy (kJ) #### File:
 Parksetal_2025_Analyses.R **Description:** Analysis code ## Code/software
 Programming Language R, version 4.1.3