Lacerta
Temporal range: Miocene—Present, 15–0 Ma
Sand lizard (Lacerta agilis)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Lacertidae
Tribe: Lacertini
Genus: Lacerta
Linnaeus, 1758
Type species
Lacerta agilis
Species

Nine, see text.

Lacerta is a genus of lizards of the family Lacertidae.

Taxonomy

Lacerta was a fairly diverse genus containing around 40 species, until it was split into nine genera in 2007 by Arnold, Arribas & Carranza.[1]

Fossil record

The earliest known members of the genus Lacerta are known from early Miocene epoch fossils indistinguishable in anatomy from the modern green lizards such as Lacerta viridis.[2] Some fossil species from the ice-age mediterranean, such as Lacerta siculimelitensis, reached especially large sizes.[3]

Species

The genus Lacerta contains the following species.[4]

Image Name Distribution
Lacerta agilis – sand lizard
Lacerta bilineata – western green lizard
Lacerta citrovittata – Tinos green lizard Greece
Lacerta diplochondrodes – Rhodos green lizard Greece
Lacerta media Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran,

Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Russia

Lacerta pamphylica Turkey
Lacerta schreiberi – Iberian emerald lizard
Lacerta strigata – Caucasus emerald lizard Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan,

Turkmenistan, Turkey and Iran

Lacerta trilineata – Balkan green lizard
Lacerta viridis – European green lizard

Some species formerly in Lacerta

Arranged alphabetically by specific name:

References

  1. ^ Arnold, E. Nicholas; Arribas, Oscar; Carranza, Salvador (2007). "Systematics of the Palaearctic and Oriental lizard tribe Lacertini (Squamata: Lacertidae: Lacertinae), with descriptions of eight new genera" (PDF). Zootaxa. Auckland, New Zealand: Magnolia Press. 1430: 1–86. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.1430.1.1. ISBN 978-1-86977-097-6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  2. ^ Čerňanský A. 2010. "Earliest world record of green lizards (Lacertilia, Lacertidae) from the Lower Miocene of Central Europe". Biologia 65 (4): 737-741. doi:10.2478/s11756-010-0066-y
  3. ^ Böhme, Wolfgang; Zammit-Maempel, George. "Lacerta siculimelitensis sp. n. (Sauria: Lacertidae), a giant lizard from the Late Pleistocene of Malta". BRILL. Amphibia-Reptilia. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  4. ^ "Lacerta ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  5. ^ Tuniyev, B.; Ananjeva, N.B.; Agasyan, A.; Orlov, N.L.; Tuniyev, S.; Anderson, S. (2017) [errata version of 2009 assessment]. "Darevskia chlorogaster". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2009: e.T164702A114559582. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009.RLTS.T164702A5919117.en. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  6. ^ Wolfgang Böhme; Petros Lymberakis; Varol Tok; Ismail H. Ugurtas; Murat Sevinç; Pierre-André Crochet; Yakup Kaska; Yusuf Kumlutaş; Uğur Kaya; Aziz Avci; Nazan Üzüm; Can Yeniyurt; Ferdi Akarsu; Petros Lymberakis (2009). "Anatololacerta oertzeni". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2009: e.T61527A12504829. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009.RLTS.T61527A12504829.en. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  7. ^ Varol Tok; Ishmail Ugurtas; Murat Sevinç; Wolfgang Böhme; Pierre-André Crochet; Ferdi Akarsu (2009). "Parvilacerta parva". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2009: e.T164674A5917051. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009.RLTS.T164674A5917051.en. Retrieved 16 January 2020.

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