Steppe runner
| Steppe runner | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eremias arguta deserti from Romania |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Eremias arguta | ||||||||||||
| ( Pallas , 1773) |
The steppe runner ( Eremias arguta ) is a species of lizard belonging to the desert runner genus . It is common in Europe and Asia from the Black Sea region to western Mongolia .
features
In contrast to most other types of desert runners, the steppe runner has a robust, stocky build, with a relatively short-looking tail. As with the other species, this tapers significantly immediately behind the tail base.
The entire body is covered by white, elongated spots in a linear arrangement on a light brown to sand-colored background. The dark borders of these light spots often merge laterally and thus result in dark brown to black transverse bands. The pattern of the steppe runner is very variable overall, so that different combinations of light stripes and dark brown bands can result.
distribution
The distribution area includes the Black Sea region from northeast Romania over the Caucasus and Central Asia to the Chinese Dzungarei and the Gobi Desert in western Mongolia .
In Europe, the steppe runner occurs in Romania, but only in the sand dunes of the Danube Delta . From there, its European distribution area extends through Moldova and Ukraine to southern Russia into the Urals and the Caucasus.
Systematics
The steppe runner was first described as Lacerta arguta by the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas after his trip through Russian provinces in 1773 . He found this lizard in arid areas around the Caspian Sea and on the southern Irtysh .
Subgenus
The steppe runner ( Eremias arguta ) belongs within the genus of the desert runners ( Eremias ) to the nominotypical subgenus Eremias (Eremias) . This subgenus includes several species that are native to central Asia, including Eremias aria , Eremias intermedia, and Eremias nigrocellata . The steppe runner has the largest range of all species of this subgenus.
Subspecies
In the distribution area of the steppe racer, six subspecies are morphologically and molecularly differentiated from one another. The southernmost population Eremias arguta uzbekistanica from Uzbekistan forms a clade with the subspecies Eremias arguta darevskii from Issyk Kul lake in Kyrgyzstan . In the north of the range, the populations of the northern Caucasus, Europe and western Kazakhstan form the subspecies Eremias arguta deserti . The nominotypical form Eremias arguta arguta is native to the rest of Kazakhstan. The subspecies Eremias arguta potanini to the east is difficult to distinguish from the nominotypic form. For this purpose, a separate clade was found in the valley of the Ili River in Kazakhstan, which could be compared as a sister group to the other steppe runners. The South Caucasian occurrences form the subspecies Eremias arguta transcaucasica with some other Central Asian populations .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Peter Simon Pallas: Journey through different provinces of the Russian Empire. Zweyter Part from the year 1770–1771, Imperial Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, 1773, Appendix, pp. 20–21
- ^ Günter Diesener and Josef H. Reichholf: Lurche und Kriechtiere. Steinbach's natural guide, Mosaik Verlag, Munich 1996, p. 137, ISBN 3-576-10697-9
- ↑ Eremias arguta in The Reptile Database
- ↑ a b Nikolay Jr. A. Poyarkov, Valentina F. Orlova, Marina A. Chirikova: The mitochondrial phylogeography and intraspecific taxonomy of the Steppe Racerunner, Eremias arguta (Pallas) (Lacertidae: Sauria, Reptilia), reflects biogeographic patterns in Middle Asia . Zootaxa, 3895, 2, pp. 208-224, December 2014
literature
- Peter Simon Pallas: Journey through different provinces of the Russian Empire. Second part of the year 1770–1771, Imperial Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, 1773, Appendix, pp. 20–21 (first description, in Latin)
- Günter Diesener and Josef H. Reichholf: amphibians and reptiles. Steinbach's natural guide, Mosaik Verlag, Munich 1996 ISBN 3-576-10697-9
- Wolf-Eberhard Engelmann, Jürgen Fritzsche, Rainer Günther, Fritz Jürgen Obst : amphibians and reptiles of Europe. Neumann Verlag, Leipzig - Radebeul 1985
- W. Bischoff: The lizard fauna of Georgia - Part I: General remarks, as well as the genera Eremias, Ophisops and Lacerta. Die Lidechse, Volume 14, Issue 2, pp. 44–60, August 20, 2003
- Marina A. Chirikova & WG Kolbinzev: Morphology and subspecies of the steppe runner , Eremias arguta Pallas, 1773, in Kazakhstan. Salamandra, 39, 2, pp. 49-60, 2003
Web links
- Eremias arguta in The Reptile Database
- Eremias arguta , Amphibians and Reptiles of Europe by Paolo Mazzei, photos, accessed December 15, 2014