Armenian rock lizard

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Armenian rock lizard
Armenian rock lizard (Darevskia armeniaca)

Armenian rock lizard ( Darevskia armeniaca )

Systematics
Superordinate : Scale lizards (Lepidosauria)
Order : Scale reptiles (Squamata)
Family : Real lizards (Lacertidae)
Subfamily : Lacertinae
Genre : Caucasian rock lizards ( Darevskia )
Type : Armenian rock lizard
Scientific name
Darevskia armeniaca
( Mehely , 1909)

The Armenian rock lizard ( Darevskia armeniaca , syn .: Lacerta armeniaca ), also Armenian mountain lizard , belongs within the family of real lizards to the genus of the Caucasian rock lizards , a spin-off from the old collective genus Lacerta .

description

The Armenian rock lizard is similar in appearance to the wall lizard . It has a pointed head, a slender flattened body and a long tail . The color varies in various shades of brown with larger bluish dots on the head that look like shields and small bluish dots on the back and between the flanks to the underside of the abdomen. Their short, almost dainty extremities end in long, pointed claws . The total length of the Armenian rock lizard is 18 to 20 centimeters.

distribution

The natural range of the Armenian rock lizard stretches across the Caucasus , from South Georgia , Armenia to northeastern Turkey , and occasionally in the Ukraine . Their preferred habitat is the mountains . There she stays at altitudes between 1,700 and 2,200 meters on warm rock ledges and between rock niches.

food

In addition to insects , spiders and other arthropods , the Armenian rock lizard also prefers sweet fruits .

Reproduction

The Armenian rock lizard belongs to the group of vertebrates with virgin generation ( parthenogenesis ). This is a single sex reproduction - there are only females . After a hibernation, these lay between two and five inseminated eggs , from which only females hatch again. The first generation is only found in some Caucasian rock lizards , American racing lizards , geckos , some species of snakes (e.g. the flowerpot snake ) and some fish . More often, it comes in invertebrate animals before as rotifers , aphids , water fleas and worms . The cause of the parthenogenesis of the Armenian rock lizard can be a lack of mating partners or a kind of reproduction strategy . The Armenian rock lizard is not yet considered an endangered species.

literature

  • Илья С. Даревский, Н. Ƚ.Кан, Н. Л. Рябuнuна u др: Биологические и молекулярно-генетические характеристики партеногенетического вида ящериц Lacerta armeniaca (Mehely) интроду-цированного из армении на украину. In: Российская академия наук. Доклады Академии Наук. Vol. 363, No. 6, 1998, ISSN  0002-3264 , pp. 846-848, ( Biological and molecular genetic characteristics of the parthenogenetic lizard Lacerta armeniaca (Mehely), introduced from Armenia to Ukraine. ).
  • Ilya S. Darevsky: Lacerta armeniaca Méhely, 1909. In: Jean-Pierre Gasc et al. (Ed.): Atlas of amphibians and reptiles in Europe. Societas Europaea Herpetologica et al., Bonn et al. 1997, ISBN 2-86515-103-4 , pp. 232-233.
  • Ilya S. Darevsky, Larisa A Kupriyanova: Rare males in parthenogenetic lizard Lacerta armeniaca Méhely. In: Vertebrata Hungarica. Vol. 21, 1982, ISSN  0506-7839 , pp. 69-75, digital version (PDF; 10.2 MB) .
  • Феликс Д. Даниелян, А. К. Айказян: Новый тип эмбрионального уродства у партеногенетического вида скальных ящериц Lacerta armeniaca. In: Биологический журнал Армении. Vol. 27, No. 2, 1974, ISSN  0366-5119 , pp. 99-101, digitized version (PDF; 1.2 MB) , ( New case of embryonal deformity of parthenogenetic species of rock lizard Lacerta armeniaca. ).
  • Ilya S. Darevsky, Felix D. Danielyan: Diploid and Triploid Progeny Arising from Natural Mating of Parthenogenetic Lacerta armeniaca and L. unisexualis with Bisexual L. saxicola valentini. In: Journal of Herpetology. Vol. 2, No. 3/4, 1968, pp. 65-69, doi : 10.2307 / 1563104 .

Web links

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