×

The final part of a series of papers on the lizards of the Caucasus, that have been published in previous years. The paper reports on the life habits, capture and keeping in terraria of several lizards of Soviet Transcaucasia. In these respects the agamid Phrynocephalus helioscopus persi- cus and three species of the lacertid genus Eremias occuring in that area (i. e. strauchi, velox, pleskei) are discussed. Finally a !ist of all lizard species and subspecies actually known to occur in this region is given.

×

Many regions of the former USSR still re- ceive little attention from Western visitors, herpetologists not excluded. For the Cau- casus Mountains this is all the more sur- prising since the area forms a zone where northern and Middle Eastern flora and fauna meet, and which is thus of considera- bly zoogeographical interest. Presently we find three larger states in the Caucasus: Georgia, Azerbaijan and Arme- nia. Turkey borders to the southwest, Iran to the southeast, and in the north it is the Russian federation. Various smaller parts claim independence. The Black Sea forms the natural western boundary, the Caspian Sea the eastern one. Herpetologically the Caucasus is historically well-known because of the work of Darev- sky and collaborators on the rock lizards (at the time still in the large genus Lacerta, now in Darevskia) and the discovery of the first case of parthenogenesis in vertebrates (DAREVSKY, 1967; DAREVSKII, 1978; DAREVSKY & KULIKOVA, 1961). Below we will concentrate on the results of our field trip to Georgia during the last two weeks of June 2003. Predictably, because of our common interest in the group, the lacertids will receive the most attention.

×

The structure and evolution of a satellite DNA family was examined in lizards from the genus Darevskia(family Lacertidae). Comparison of tandem units of repeated DNA (satDNA), CLsat, in all species from the genus Darevskiahas shown that their variability is largely explained by single-nucleotide substitutions, which form about 50 diagnostic positions underlying classification of the family into three subfamilies. Maximum differences between the subfamilies reached 25%. At this level of tandem unit divergence in the subfamilies, no cross-hybridization between them was observed (at 65°C). The individual variability within one subfamily within the species was on average 5% while the variability between species consensuses within a subfamily was 10%. The presence of highly conserved regions in all monomers and some features of their organization show that satellites of all Darevskia species belong to one satDNA family. The organization of unit sequences of satellites CLsat and Agi160 also detected by us in another lizard genus, Lacerta s. str. was compared. Similarity that was found between these satellites suggests their relatedness and common origin. A possible pathway of evolution of these two satDNA families is proposed. The distribution and content of CLsat repeat subfamilies in all species of the genus was examined by Southern hybridization. Seven species had mainly CLsatI (83 to 96%); three species, approximately equal amounts of CLsatI and CLsatIII (the admixture of CLsatII was 2–5%); and five species, a combination of all three subfamilies in highly varying proportions. Based on these results as well as on zoogeographic views on the taxonomy and phylogeny of the Darevskia species, hypotheses on the evolution of molecular-genetic relationships within this genus are advanced.

×

1. Sexual dimorphism and geographical variability in signs of external morphology are revealed in the species of the studied complexes of rock lizards. The most important for their diagnosis are the features of folidosis of the head. Interspecific and intraspecific differences in morphometric features, color and pattern of the body were detected. 2. In the phylogenetic analysis, the Darevskia (caucasica) samples were divided into the group of the northern slope of the Central Caucasus (D. caucasica), the East Caucasus (D. daghestanica), the Western Caucasus (D. alpina), the northern slope of the Central and Western Caucasus (D. alpina ). Reliable identification and significant genetic differences of D. caucasica and D. daghestanica samples favor their attribution to different species. Within D. alpina two groups with high genetic differences (distances) were identified. Inside Darevskia (saxicola) two lines are described, one of which is connected with the Crimea and the Western Caucasus (D. lindholmi-D. Brauneri), and the second - with the North and West Caucasus (D. saxicola-D. Szczerbaki). 3. As a result of the nomenclatural revision, the lectotype Lacerta praticola pontica, L. saxicola brauneri, L. saxicola daghestanica, L. saxicola lindholmi, and the neotype L. saxicola; Specific locations, years and authors of the description of a number of taxa have been refined. 4. It has been established that the studied supernumerary complexes include the following valid taxa: Darevskia (praticola) - D. pontica pontica, D. pontica hungarica, D. praticola praticola, D. praticola hyrcanica, D. praticola loriensis; Darevskia (caucasica) - D. alpina, D. caucasica caucasica, D. caucasica vedenica, D. daghestanica; Darevskia (saxicola) - D. brauneri brauneri, D. brauneri myusserica, D. saxicola, D. szczerbaki, D. lindholmi. Lacerta saxicola darevskii is regarded as a minor synonym for Lacerta saxicola brauneri. 5. For the first time accurate inventories of findings (1,443 locations) and GIS maps of species arealways were compiled, reliably characterizing the features of their distribution; The structure of areals, the current trends of their changes and the factors influencing the distribution of rock lizards are revealed. It is recommended to carry out conservation measures of international and national level in order to preserve the populations of D. alpina, D. brauneri myusserica and D. szczerbaki, especially in typical territories. 6. The first and only reliable paleontological find of Darevskia sp. - Darevskia sf. brauneri from the Pleistocene site, the caves of Mezmaiskaya. A hypothesis is proposed for the formation of species of complexes, according to which the isolation of their common ancestor from a hypothetical form it is logical to associate with the Miocene and Pliocene boundaries, or with the Cimmerian century of the Pliocene, 153 and the radiation of modern species - with the Akchagylian age, corresponding to the Piacenza and Gelazian tiers. The parallel formation of several Darevskia (praticola) and Darevskia (caucasica) lines around the Greater Caucasus is assumed in the early Pliocene. At the end of the Pontian age, the primary area of ​​the ancestor of the modern forms of Darevskia (saxicola) and the subsequent formation in the Mediterranean landscapes of the Black Sea coast, along the surviving cliff, D. szczerbaki, and the cuestas of the North Caucasus - D. saxicola, could have occurred at the periphery of the Caucasian peninsula.

×

The paper provides data on the current location of the type specimens of Darevskia (praticola) complex as of March 2016: Lacerta praticola Eversmann, 1834 (storage holotype place (on monotype) is unknown), Lacerta vivipara stenolepis Nikolsky, 1911 (holotype for monotypes – ZISP 7203, location unknown), Lacerta praticola pontica Lantz et Cyrén, 1918 (lectotype – ZISP 22853, paralectotypes – ZISP 5279, 5280, 22847, 22852.1-2, 22854), Lacerta praticola hungarica Sobolewsky, 1930 (location lectotype and paralectotypes ZISP 9814 unknown, paralectotypes – ZMMU R 2538), Lacerta plicata Bartenef et Reznikova, 1931 (holotype (on monotypes) – ZISP 15204), Darevskia praticola hyrcanica Tuniyev, Doronin, Kidov et Tuniyev, 2011 (holotype – SNP 1473.5, paratypes – SNP 1473.0-19, ZISP 12301, 12630, 12632-12635), Darevskia praticola loriensis Tuniyev, Doronin, Tuniyev, Aghasyan, Kidov et Aghasyan, 2013 (holotype – SNP 1568.9, paratypes – SNP 1569.1-19, ZISP 17075). The history of description of all known forms of the complex is given. L. praticola pontica has been described in 1918, not in 1919.

×

This publication on the herpetofauna oft he Caucasus is a compilation oft wo articles published in 1967 and 1970 (Zool. Abh. SStaatl. Mus. Tierk. Dresden 29, pp. 85-93 and Aquarien terrarien 17, pp. 120-123.

×

After a brief description of Georgia’s landscape the author reports on the lizards of the family Lacertidae that were found during a herpetological trip in May 2012. In addition, a list of the recorded herpetological taxa is presented.

×

An updated checklist of the herpetofauna of Iran is presented based on records of amphibian and reptile species whose presence has been confirmed in Iran as a result of extensive field expeditions, examination of herpetological collections, literature review, and personal communications from researchers. The herpetofauna of Iran consists of 13 species and five subspecies of frogs and toads belonging to five genera and four families, eight species of salamanders belonging to four genera and two families, nine species and six subspecies of turtles, terrapins and tortoises belonging to nine genera and six families, one species of crocodile, one species of amphisbaenian, more than 125 species of lizards belonging to 36 genera and eight families as well as 79 species of snakes belonging to 37 genera and six families

×

Die Echsenfauna Dagestans (südöstlicher Nordkaukasus, Russland) umfaßt 17 Arten, welche neun Gattungen in fünf Familien angehören (Gekkonidae - l, Agamidae - 4, Anguidae - 2, Scincidae – l und Lacertidae - 9 Arten). Für jede Art wurden detaillierte Verbreitungskarten mit Katastern in Dagestan (50 300 km2) erstellt. Einige Angaben zu den Habitaten, zur Häufigkeit sowie über die lokale Arealdynamik werden ebenfalls mitgeteilt.

×

The taxonomic categories such as population and subspecies were studied on the example of three Caucasian lizard species of genus Darevskia - D. praticola, D. derjugini, and D. rudis by comparing the morphological data and results inferred from nuclear DNA markers. RAPD and new inter-MIR-PCR (IM-PCR) methods were used. The IM-PCR was used to characterize the lacertid DNA fragments located between dispersed SINE type repeats which occurred to be ortologous to mammalian repeats of the same type. It was shown that separation of the Northern population of D. derjugini (subspecies silvatica) is supported by the comparison with two Southern populations (derjugini and barani). The latter ones, in their turn, are very similar and hardly can be considered as good subspecies by the genetic distance. The subspecific division of D. praticola (praticola and pontica) also requires more specification. For example, several populations from North Caucasus (ssp. praticola) occurred to be heterogeneous. The level of differences between ssp. praticola and pontica is of the same order as in some of the praticola populations. Low level of molecular differences between two subspecies of D. rudis (obscura and bischoffi) does not confirm their validity as a full subspecies.

×

We present a comprehensive summary of the distribution of the lizards of Iran accompanied by an annotated checklist. The updated maps of distribution of all 146 species of 41 genera of 11 families are based on all available bibliographic records, catalogues of museum collections and our own field observations. The final dataset used for the distribution maps contains 8525 georeferenced records and cover 41% of the country when plotted on a grid of 0.25° × 0.25° resolution. The dataset is publicly accessible through GBIF portal (http://www.gbif.org/dataset/7db4f705-61ae-4c6e-9de2-06674e7d46b2). Following the latest biogeographic division of the country, ~53% of the species (76 species) inhabit the Iranian Province, ~41% (60 species) the Western Asian mountain transition zone, ~9% (13 species) the Turanian Province, and ~18% (27 species) the Arabian Province. In addition, ~2% (3 species) reach Iran from the Indo-Malay biogeographic region and ~2% (3 species) are believed to have been introduced to Iran by humans. Endemic species (46) represent ~32% of the known species diversity. The most species-rich family of lizards in Iran is Lacertidae with 47 species, followed by Gekkonidae (41), Agamidae (18), Scincidae (15), Phyllodactylidae (10), Sphaerodactylidae (4), Eublepharidae and Uromastycidae (3), Anguidae and Varanidae (2), and Trogonophidae with one representative.

×

The compicated history of the intraspecific taxonomy of meadow lizard, Darevskia praticola sensu lato is considered and the species’ geographical variability in Caucasian Isthmus is analyzed. It was confirmed the species status of Darevskia praticola sensu stricto and Darevskia pontica. Lectotype of Darevskia pontica was assigned and de- scribed; the known paralectotypes of D. pontica are noted. Description of the new subspecies Darevskia praticola hyrcanica ssp. nov. is given from the Talysh foothills and Elbrus range (Azerbaijan, Iran). The possible patters of speciation and distribution of closely related species Darevskia praticola sensu stricto and Darevskia pontica within the Caucasus and the Balkans are discussed.