The effects of meal size and feeding frequency on digestion in common wall lizards (<em>Podarcis muralis</em>)

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..., , # 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_...,