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The lizard Podarcis carbonelli is an endangered species endemic to the Iberian Peninsula. One location where this species occurs is at the Berlengas Natural Preserve, an Atlantic archipelago off the coast of Portugal. These island populations are geographically separated from nearby mainland populations. The fundamental question is, are these insular individuals distinct from the mainland populations? Four localities were chose for comparison: two island populations and two nearby coastal populations. We assessed this question using three distinct approaches: molecular, morphological and physiological approach. We sequenced the 12S RNA, the mtDNA Control Region and the 7th intron of the !-fibrinogen gene and determined genetic diversity values as well as several parameters of population structure and differentiation. Individuals from these populations were also measured for several biometric characters and their blood lactate concentration was sampled. There was no genetic variation in both the mtDNA regions analyzed. The nuclear intron revealed high levels of genetic variation, with islands having in general lower values than the mainland regions. The four populations sampled had low levels of divergence; the populations of Berlenga and Peniche were the most distinct and the populations of Farilhão and Baleal were the most similar from the four populations sampled. Morphometric analyses revealed a different pattern of similarity among populations with the population of Farilhão being the only population statistically distinct from all other populations based on mass and SVL. Furthermore, island populations were in general more similar to each other than to mainland populations, with the exception of Berlenga males which in size are more similar to the Peniche males. The analysis of the blood lactate concentration revealed that the population of Peniche has significantly lower blood lactate levels than the populations of Farilhão and Berlenga. The lack of genetic differentiation found in the populations under study is most likely due to the recent divergence of these populations. Furthermore, the genetically most different populations (Berlenga and Peniche) are not the most distinct in terms of morphology, particularly the males. This suggests that genetic drift, the most likely mechanism behind the genetic differentiation seen, is not responsible for the morphological differences observed. The morphological differences seen can be attributed to: a possible difference in age of the individuals in each population; mechanisms of natural selection that are favoring specific phenotypes in each of the populations, or phenotypic plasticity. The differences in blood lactate levels found between the population of Peniche and the island populations can be attributed to differences in predatory pressure or home range size. It is suggested that the island populations are closely monitored due to their likely isolation, low mtDNA diversity and possible higher predatory pressure than initially predicted.

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Wall lizards (Podarcis) are the dominant reptile group across most of southern Europe. Their taxonomy is complex because most species exhibit substantial intraspecific morphological polymorphisms. We have estimated the phylogeny of the particularly diverse western Iberian forms using partial cytochrome oxidase and cytochrome b mitochondrial DNA sequence data and have compared this against morphological variation. Of the two currently recognized species in the area-Podarcis hispanica and P. bocagei-neither is monophyletic, and extremely high genetic diversity between newly identified forms (up to 15% cytochrome b divergences) indicates that both are species complexes. Podarcis b. bocagei is genetically distinct from P. (b.) carbonelli which appears to be a separate species using both mtDNA and protein electrophoretic data. The insular form previously assigned to P. b. berlengensis, and sometimes argued to deserve species status is not genetically distinct from P. (b.) carbonelli using the mtDNA sequences. P. hispanica can be separated into at least four highly divergent groups, two in western Iberia, one in eastern Iberia and one in North Africa.

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The taconomic status of Podarcis bocagei in the Iberian Peninsula is reviewed. Since no Holotype is known, a Lectotype from the species is given. P. bocagei carbonelli ssp. n. is also described; it inhabits the western area of the Sistema Central, in particular the `Sierras` of Francia and Gata, both in Spain and the Serra da Estrela in Portugal. Finally, new localities for both subspecies are described, that together with those reported in the previous paper sum a total of 76 localities known up to date.

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Six biometric characters and 15 electrophoretic loci of three known subspecies of Podarcis bocagei were studied. Contrary to biometric indications, Podarcis bocagei berlengensis showed a closer genetic relationship with Podarcis bocagei carbonelli than with the nominal subspecies. The biometric results were confounded by the relative large size of P. b. berlengensis. Post-glacial colonization from two different areas might explain the greater genetic differentiation between the P. b. bocagei and P. b. carbonelli populations (Nei`s D - 0.158 - near the species threshold). It might also explain the known colonization of these two lizards through the islands off the west coast of the Iberian penninsula and their present distributions to the north of (Galicia; Northern Portugal) and to the south of the valley of river Douro (central Portugal, western and Sistema Central), respectively.

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During two journeys from 27.04. – 07.05.2008 and from 21.04. – 27.04.2012, I visited several parts pf Spain together with some friends of mine. We focused on the lizards of the Iberiasn Peninsula. Specifically, we wanted to make some beautiful pictures of the Ocellated Lizatrds Timon lepidus and Timon nevadensis, which unfortunately did not always succeed on the first trip. In the following article, I briefly present the lizards of the family Lacertidae that were found during the two journeys together with some of their localities.