Lacerta is a genus of lizards of the family Lacertidae.

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.

Modern range of Lacerta species:
  L. agilis
  L. bilineata
  L. citrovittata
  L. diplochondrodes
  L. media
  L. pamphylica
  L. schreiberi
  L. strigata
  L. trilineata
  L. viridis

Taxonomy

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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

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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

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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

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Arranged alphabetically by specific name:

References

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  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. 1430. Auckland, New Zealand: Magnolia Press: 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 (1982). "Lacerta siculimelitensis sp. n. (Sauria: Lacertidae), a giant lizard from the Late Pleistocene of Malta". Amphibia-Reptilia. 3 (2): 257–268. doi:10.1163/156853882X00473. 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.

Further reading

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  • Arnold EN, Arribas OJ, Carranza S. 2007. "Systematics of the Palaearctic and Oriental lizard tribe Lacertini (Squamata: Lacertidae: Lacertinae), with descriptions of eight new genera". Zootaxa 1430: 1-86.
  • Linnaeus C. 1758. Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio Decima, Reformata. Stockholm: L. Salvius. 824 pp. (Lacerta, new genus, p. 200). (in Latin).