A new locality record for Phoenicolacerta laevis (Gray, 1838)(Squamata: Lacertidae) in western Anatolia

Abstract

Arnold et al. (2007) conducted comprehensive molecular and morphological analysis on the subfamily Lacertinae and described 7 new genera. Four species (Lacerta laevis, L. kulzeri, L. cyanisparsa, and L. troodica) formerly considered as part of the genus Lacerta were elevated to a distinct genus by Arnold et al. (2007) as Phoenicolacerta. The first report of the occurrence of P. laevis in Turkey was from the Taurus Mountains (Werner, 1899). Later on, the occurrence of the species from other localities in Turkey was confirmed by Venzmer (1918, 1922), Bird (1936), Bodenheimer (1944), and Mertens (1952). Budak (1976) examined the morphology of P. laevis populations of Anatolia and concluded that they belonged to the nominal subspecies. Budak and Göçmen (1995) compared individuals from the Beşparmak Mountains in Cyprus with populations from Anatolia based on morphological characters and stated that the Anatolian populations could be distinguished from Cypriot ones in having small gular scales with higher numbers, subocular band extending below the temporal band, and an orange-red-colored site being present in the lower part of this region. Bischoff and Franzen (1993) and Bischoff and Schmidtler (1999) supported that P. laevis from Mersin differed in color patterns from P. laevis from Hatay. Tosunoğlu et al. (2001)

An assessment of the herpetofauna of the Oriental Sweetgum forests in southwestern Anatolia, Turkey

“…These authors apparently did not visit or recognize Oriental Sweetgum forests as a unique habitat, except that Baran et al (1994) provided a single record of the water frog Pelophylax bedriagae from a forest patch near Toparlar. The contribution of Ilgaz et al (2016) is the second and last record referring to this unique ecosystem, noting the lizard P. laevis as the most significant finding. Pelophylax bedriagae and Phoenicolacerta laevis were the two most abundant species in our inventory, so it is not surprising that they were the first recorded species from these forests.…”

“…The dataset we produced enabled comparisons with historical records from the study area. Ilgaz et al (2016) recorded Bufotes sitibundus and Ophisops elegans as sympatric species with P. laevis, referencing the Oriental Sweetgum forest. The abundance of these two species throughout the Mediterranean coast confirms this record.…”

“…They reported five amphibians and 24 reptiles, and six amphibians and 20 reptiles, respectively. Ilgaz et al (2016) found Bufotes sitibundus (Pallas, 1771), Phoenicolacerta laevis (Gray, 1838), and Ophisops elegans Ménétries, 1832 in a sweetgum forest patch in Dalaman. To our knowledge, no other publications refer to these forests or to the region.…”

Herpetofauna of the vicinity of Meke Maar (Konya)

“…Ülkemizin biyolojik çeşitliliği, Avrupa ve Ortadoğu ile kıyaslandığında herpetofaunada yer alan türler açısından da oldukça zengindir [7]. Ülkemizdeki söz konusu biyoçeşitliliğin araştırılması 1800'lü yıllardan günümüze kadar süregelmiş olup, çeşitli coğrafi bölgeleri ve farklı habitatları konu alan pek çok herpetofaunal çalışma gerçekleştirilmiştir [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. Konya ili açısından ise, tüm herpetofaunal çeşitliliğini konu alan bir çalışma olmasa da, sınırları içerisinde kalan Karapınar, Akşehir ve Sultan Dağları bölgelerinde herpetofaunanın saptanmasına yönelik bilimsel çalışmalar mevcuttur [20][21][22].…”

Helminth fauna of Lebanon Lizard,Phoenicolacerta laevis(Gray, 1838), (Squamata: Lacertidae) from Southern Turkey

“…These species are European Green Lizard, Lacerta viridis (Schad et al, 1960); Crimean Wall Lizard Podarcis tauricus (Schad et al, 1960); Dwarf Lizard, Parvilacerta parva (Saygı & Olgun, 1993); Danford's Lizard, Anatololacerta danfordi (Gürelli et al, 2007), Balkan Emerald Lizard, Lacerta trilineata (Yıldırımhan et al, 2011); Pleske's Racerunner-Transcaucasian Racerunner, Eremias pleskei, Strauch's Rac-erunner, Eremias strauchi, Suphan Racerunner, Eremias suphani (Düsen et al 2013), Anatolian Lizard, Apathya cappadocica, (Birlik et al, 2015), Spiny-Tailed Lizard, Darevskia rudis (Roca et al, 2015a), and Uzzel's lizard Darevskia uzzelli, Bendimahi Lizard D. bendimahiensis and Van Lizard D. sapphirina (Roca et al, 2015b). Lebanon lizard Phoenicolacerta laevis occurs in southern and western Turkey (Vilayets Hatay, Adana, Mersin, Kahramanmaraş, Osmaniye, Antalya, Muğla and İzmir), western Syria, throughout Lebanon (where widespread, including on Palm Island), northern Israel and northwestern Jordan (Ilgaz et al, 2016). It has a plumped body with a total length up to 25 cm.…”