Higher taxa for Podarcis hispanicus include family of lizards such as Lacertidae, Lacertinae, Lacertini, Sauria, Lacertoidea, and Squamata.

Podarcis hispanicus adults have a brown or grey-brown skin with darker spots or patterns on their back and side flanks.

It is a fairly small, slender, and somewhat flattened species with a snout-to-vent length (SVL) averaging 50–70 mm (2.0–2.8 in) and a tail twice as long as its body.

The throat is pale with a scattering of small spots, particularly near the sides, and the belly is usually whitish but may be pink, orange, red or buff.

Podarcis hispanicus may have blue or green tail coloration contrasting their darker grey or brown skin complex.

[5] These vibrant tails may also serve as decoys to divert predator’s attacks from vital areas that would experience greater bodily harm.

This helps with their thermoregulation, Podarcis hispanicus in high altitudes will often revert to a darker coloration to prevent them against UV-radiation.

A subspecies of this lizard, Podarcis hispanicus atratus, lives in the Columbretes Islands far off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.

[1] Studies of mitochondrial DNA have shown that there is some gene flow between these species and that they hybridise to some extent where their ranges meet.

[9] It is a climbing lizard and is found on rocks, cliffs, walls, parapets, road cuttings and occasionally tree trunks at altitudes of up to 2,500 m (8,200 ft).

[2] Male Podarcis hispanicus employ strategies during conflict to minimize the risk of injury and avoid excess energy expenditure.

Foot shaking and tail twitches are some behaviors that indicates submission, which the resident male will notice and not respond aggressively.

Their competitor recognition agonistic behavior allows the Pordacis hispanicus to determine the outcome of their conflict more quickly and often leads to shorter aggression time on the second encounter.

[4] This agonistic behavior is advantageous for male adult Podarcis hispanicus to disengage in a conflict when they become aware of a losing outcome, or to assert dominance without expending excess energy.

[10] Podarcis hispanicus sociability is greatly dependent on their conspecific recognition of sex, reproducibility, social ranking and group membership.

True individual recognition allows lizards to establish long-term partners and determine mating possibilities.

The Podarcis hispanicus’ awareness of these reproductive mechanisms allow for their special population to reach stability.

Podarcis hispanicus uses scent marks even in the visual absence of the signaler to assess their contestant and determine the resident’s territorial behavior.

This allows for early assessment of their situation even when the other lizard is not seen, the Podarcis hispanicus can choose to ignore or engage in attack.

Tongue flicking is a behavior that allows the lizard to collect substrate chemicals from its surroundings and recognize scent marks.

Tongue flicking is both an exploratory and anti-predatory behavior as lizards can detect the chemical stimuli of its predators like snakes.

Consecutive sensory habituation allows for lizards to distinguish between a familiar neighbor and potential predators or intruders.

Male Podarcis hispanicus lizards have greater reproductive success than females because of their dominance and ability to territorial behaviors.

The female will also choose territories with conspecific dominant male Podarcis hispanicus during the reproductive season for potential mating.

Male Podarcis hispanicus maximizes his reproductive success by preferentially mating with females in the same territory as him.

[1] As Podarcis hispanicus are native to the Iberian Peninsula, Northwestern Africa and coastal districts of Languedoc-Roussillon in France, all these habitats are altering with increasing human activities.

The Podarcis hispanicus exploratory behavior may be survival advantage, as the learning more about their habitat will help them with their competition and predatory strategies.