Wall lizards
Wall lizards | ||||||||||||
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Wall lizard ( Podarcis muralis ) |
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Systematics | ||||||||||||
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Scientific name | ||||||||||||
Podarcis | ||||||||||||
Wagler , 1830 |
Lizards ( Podarcis : from ποδάρκης "swift-footed") are among the Real lizards (Lacertidae). They resemble members of the genus Lacerta , to which they were counted until the 1970s.
distribution
The species live around the Mediterranean Sea and in Western Asia . The wall lizard ( Podarcis muralis ) is also found in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Some species are endemic to certain Mediterranean islands ( e.g. P. filfolensis or P. lilfordi ) and have a correspondingly very small distribution area.
features
Wall lizards are very similar to the lizards of the genus Lacerta , but differ from them in the construction of their skull, the hemipenis and the appendages of the caudal vertebrae. They are small to medium-sized lizards that are mostly brownish or greenish in color. The drawing of the females consists mainly of light, more rarely of dark side stripes, while in the males it is replaced by a pattern of dots and spots. The so-called collar, a scaled transverse band that separates the throat from the breast scales, is always clearly visible and usually weakly sawn. The dorsal scales are weakly keeled. The Adriatic wall lizard , the Taurian lizard and the ruin lizard have monochrome shapes. Some island forms of the Balearic Lizard , the Ruin Lizard , the Malta Wall Lizard , the Adriatic Wall Lizard , and the Pityuse Lizard are melanistic . Animals of the same species on closely spaced islands can look so different that they are classified as their own subspecies.
species
- Columbretes wall lizard ( Podarcis atrata ( Boscá , 1916))
- Bocage's wall lizard ( Podarcis bocagei ( Seoane , 1885))
- Carbonell wall lizard ( Podarcis carbonelli Perez Mellado , 1981)
- Cretan wall lizard Podarcis cretensis ( Wettstein , 1952))
- Cycladic wall lizard ( Podarcis erhardii ( Bedriaga , 1882))
- Malta wall lizard ( Podarcis filfolensis ( Bedriaga , 1876))
- Skyros wall lizard ( Podarcis gaigeae ( Werner , 1930))
- Podarcis guadarramae ( Boscá , 1916)
- Iberian wall lizard ( Podarcis hispanicus ( Steindachner , 1870))
- Pori wall lizard ( Podarcis levendis Lymberakis , Poulakakis , Kaliontzopoulou , Valakos & Mylonas , 2008)
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Balearic lizard ( Podarcis lilfordi ( Günther , 1874))
- † Podarcis lilfordi rodriquezi ( Müller , 1927)
- Catalan wall lizard ( Podarcis liolepis ( Boulenger , 1905))
- Adriatic wall lizard ( Podarcis melisellensis ( Braun , 1877))
- Milos wall lizard ( Podarcis milensis ( Bedriaga , 1882))
- Wall lizard ( Podarcis muralis ( Laurenti , 1768))
- Peloponnese wall lizard ( Podarcis peloponnesiacus ( Bibron & Bory , 1833))
- Pityuse lizard ( Podarcis pityusensis ( Boscá , 1883))
- Aeolian wall lizard ( Podarcis raffoneae ( Mertens , 1952))
- Ruined lizard ( Podarcis siculus ( Rafinesque-Schmaltz , 1810))
- Taurian lizard ( Podarcis tauricus ( Pallas , 1814))
- Tyrrhenian wall lizard ( Podarcis tiliguerta ( Gmelin , 1789))
- South Iberian wall lizard ( Podarcis vaucheri ( Boulenger , 1905))
- Podarcis virescens Geniez , Sa-Sousa , Guillaume , Cluchier & Crochet , 2014
- Sicilian wall lizard ( Podarcis waglerianus Gistel , 1868)
literature
- Günter Diesener, Josef Reichholf : amphibians and reptiles (= Steinbach's natural guide. ). Mosaik-Verlag, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-576-10697-9 .
- Manfred Rogner : Lizards. Volume 2: Monitor lizards, skinks and other lizards as well as bridge lizards and crocodiles. Ulmer, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-8001-7253-4 .