Data for Behavioral and Cognitive Shifts in Podarcis muralis Along an Urbanization Gradient

Urban habitats impose novel challenges and selection pressures on organisms, leading to shifts in numerous morphological, ecological and physiological traits. In this study, we investigated how human disturbances and presence influence anti-predator responses, foraging behavior, and cognitive traits in lizards. Furthermore, we compared behavioral flexibility, measured through neophobia, spatial learning and reversal learning across populations of the common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis) from urban, suburban, and rural environments. Our results revealed significant behavioral differences associated with urbanization: urban and suburban lizards exhibited shorter flight initiation distances, stayed closer to refuges, and re-emerged more quickly after disturbance compared to rural conspecifics, indicating increased habituation to humans and reduce weariness in human-modified environments. Additionally, rural lizards were more neophilic, while urban and suburban individuals showed increased neophobia. Although spatial learning success varied among populations, there were no significant differences in learning speed, accuracy, or maze navigation. These findings suggest that different cognitive and behavioral traits may respond independently to urban pressures, underscoring the need to avoid broad generalizations when assessing urban adaptation.