| Lacerta anatolica WERNER, 1900 Lacerta oertzeni WERNER, 1904 Lacerta oertzeni oertzeni EISELT & SCHMIDTLER, 1986 Lacerta anatolica aegaea EISELT & SCHMIDTLER, 1986 Anatololacerta anatolica ARNOLD et al., 2007 Anatololacerta oertzeni ARNOLD et al., 2007 Anatololacerta anatolica KARAKASI et al., 2021 |
Werner, F. (1900) - Beschreibung einer bisher noch unbekannter Eidechse aus Kleinasien Lacerta anatolica. - Anzeiger / Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, 37: 269-271.  Werner, F. (1902) - Die Reptilien und Amphibienfauna von Kleinasien. - Sitzungsberichte der Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Classe. Wien, Abteilung 1: 1057-1121.  Eiselt, J. & Schmidtler, F.J. (1986) - Der Lacerta danfordi-Komplex - Spixiana 9 (3): 289-328 Çetin, T. (2006) - Lacerta anatolica anatolica ve Lacerta anatolica aegaea alttrlerinin taksonomik ve sitogenetik incelenmesi. - MSc thesis. Ege Universitesi Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü. 49 pp.  × In this study, two subspecies of Lacerta anatolica (Lacerta anatolica anatolica and Lacerta anatolica aegaea), which are distributed in the Northwest and the West Anatolia, are investigated karyologically and taxonomically. The total of 32 specimens are collected and L . a. anatolica (9 males,9 females) and L . a. aegaea (8 males, 6 females) subspecies are studied at 4 different localities. Totally 19 specimens are studied cytogenetically; 9 of them belong to L . a. aegaea (5 m., 4 f.) subspecies and 10 of them belong to L . a. anatolica (6 m., 4 f.) subspecies. Consequently, taxonomic findings relating to two subspecies are arrangement with study of Eiselt and Schmidtler (1986). The result of cytogenetic study displayed that both subspecies has similar karyotypes and these karyotypes possess 2n=38 chromosomes. Arnold, E.N. & Arribas, O. & 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. × DNA sequence indicates the Lacertidae contain two subfamilies, Gallotiinae and Lacertinae, the latter comprising two
monophyletic tribes, the Eremiadini of Africa and arid southwest and central Asia, and the Lacertini of Europe, northwest
Africa and southwest and east Asia. Relationships within the 108 species of Lacertini are explored using mtDNA
(291 bp cytochrome b; 329 bp 12S rRNA for 59 nominal species, and reanalysis of the data of Harris et al. 1998, and Fu
2000). The morphology of the tribe is reviewed and 64 of its characters (equivalent to 83 binary ones) also used to assess
relationships. The Lacertini are assigned to 19 monophyletic units of 1 to 27 species, recognised here as the following
genera (contents are indicated in brackets): Algyroides, Anatololacerta gen. nov. (L. danfordi group), Apathya (L. cappadocica
group), Archaeolacerta (L. bedriagae), Dalmatolacerta gen. nov. (L. oxycephala), Darevskia (L. saxicola group),
Dinarolacerta gen. nov. (L. mosorensis), Hellenolacerta gen. nov. (L. graeca), Iberolacerta (L. monticola group), Iranolacerta
gen. nov. (L. brandtii and L. zagrosica), Lacerta s. str. (sand and green lizards, L. agilis group), Parvilacerta gen.
nov. (L. parva and L. fraasii), Phoenicolacerta gen. nov. (L. laevis group), Podarcis (wall lizards), Scelarcis (L. perspicillata),
Takydromus (Asian grass lizards), Teira (L. dugesii), Timon (ocellated lizards, L. lepida group) and Zootoca (L.
vivipara). Both mtDNA and morphology indicate that Lacerta and Timon are sister taxa, and DNA suggests further possible
relationships among genera (Fig. 1, p. 6). Neither DNA nor morphology indicates that the archaeolacertas (sometimes
formalised as Archaeolacerta sens. lat.) form a clade. Instead, they are representatives of an ecomorph associated
with living on rock exposures and using the narrow crevices that these contain.
The Lacertidae probably arose in the European area, with the Gallotiinae later reaching Northwest Africa and the
Canary Islands, and the ancestor of the Eremiadini invading Africa in the mid-Miocene. The Lacertini spread through
much of their present European range and diversified, perhaps largely by repeated vicariance, around 12–16 My ago,
producing the ancestors of the present mainly small-bodied genera, which then underwent often modest speciation. Three
units spread more widely: the Lacerta-Timon clade of large-bodied lizards probably dispersed earliest, followed by Algyroides
and then Podarcis. Overall, European Lacertidae show a pattern of repeated spread, often accompanied by restriction
of previous groups. Expansion of Lacertini may have displaced earlier lacertid lineages from all or much of Europe;
while spread of Podarcis may have restricted many other genera of Lacertini. The earlier expansion of the Lacerta-Timon
clade probably did not have this effect, as difference in adult body size restricted competitive interaction with other
forms. Several invasions of more distant areas also occurred: of East Asia by Takydromus over 10 My ago, and more
recently of northwest Africa by Podarcis, Scelarcis and Timon, and Madeira by Teira.
Relationships within the Eremiadini estimated from both mtDNA, and nDNA differ considerably from those based
on morphology. They indicate relatively mesic forms may have diversified widely across Africa and given rise to at least
three independent invasions of arid habitats. MtDNA also indicates that Lacerta andreanskyi belongs in the Eremiadini
and may occupy a basal position there. It is assigned to a further new genus, Atlantolacerta gen. nov. Bellati, A. & Carranza, S. & Garcia-Porta, J. & Fasola, M. & Sindaco, R. (2015) - Cryptic diversity within the Anatololacerta species complex (Squamata: Lacertidae) in the Anatolian Peninsula: Evidence from a multi-locus approach. - Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 82 (Part A): 219-233. × The rapid development of innovative molecular tools for characterizing biodiversity is leading to an extensive and sometimes unexpected renovation of taxonomic classifications. Particularly, for species having allopatric or parapatric distributions or resulting from recent speciation processes, the absence of clear phenotypic differentiation may hinder the recognition of closely related taxa, while intraspecific polymorphism may be confused with the presence of more than one single species. In the present work, we apply different phylogenetic methods in order to infer relationships within the genus Anatololacerta, and to assess the taxonomy of this morphologically diversified group of lizards endemic to western and southern Anatolia and some neighboring Aegean islands. According to morphology, three species have been recognized (Anatololacerta anatolica, A. oertzeni and A. danfordi) as well as several subspecies, but small variation at immunological markers led some authors to join all the populations into one single taxon, A. danfordi. By selecting both mitochondrial and nuclear informative markers, we tested the effectiveness of classical “gene tree” (i.e. Bayesian Inference) vs. innovative (i.e. coalescent-based) “species tree” methods in resolving the Anatololacerta taxonomic enigma, as a case in point for similar studies on species complexes resulting from non-obvious and cryptic diversification patterns. According to our results, the “gene tree” method failed in resolving phylogenetic relationships among clades, whereas the multi-locus “species tree” approach, coupled with species delimitation methods, allowed the identification of four well distinct species. These species probably diversified in different allopatric refugia located in southern and western Anatolia, where isolated populations may have persisted during Pleistocene glacial cycles. Karakasi, D. & Ilgaz, Ç. & Kumlutas, Y. & Candan, K. & Güçlü, Ö. & Kankılıç, T. & Beser, N. & Sindaco, R. & Lymberakis, P. & Poulakakis, N. (2021) - More evidence of cryptic diversity in Anatololacerta species complex Arnold, Arribas and Carranza, 2007 (Squamata: Lacertidae) and re-evaluation of its current taxonomy. - Amphibia-Reptilia (2021) DOI:10.1163/15685381-bja10045 × Genetic diversity is not always congruent with phenotypic heterogeneity, resulting in cryptic species complexes which cause a great struggle for scientists trying to define ‘species’ and describe relationships among taxa. Anatololacerta is a lizard genus distributed in southern and western Anatolia and some neighboring Aegean islands. Three morphospecies were recognized in Anatololacerta but a recent molecular study revealed the presence of cryptic diversity within the genus which led to the raise of a subspecies to species level. Currently the genus includes the species A. anatolica, A. danfordi, A. budaki and A. pelasgiana. Using a comprehensive sampling concerning both the number of specimens (218 specimens) and the genetic markers (3 nuclear and 3 mitochondrial), we performed phylogenetic analyses including tree reconstruction, species delimitation and divergence times estimation. The results revealed the occurrence of one more cryptic lineage which should be regarded as a separate species for which the name A. ibrahimi stat. nov. has priority. The existence of five well differentiated species with parapatric distributions in Anatololacerta is strongly supported. There is also evidence of recent and rapid radiation of the genus which probably causes phylogenetic relationships between these species to remain largely unresolved. At last, we proceeded to some nomenclatorial changes: The current name A. budaki was synonymized with A. pelasgiana because specimens of the type-locality of A. budaki are assigned genetically to A. pelasgiana. The genetic lineage including specimens currently assigned to A. budaki was named A. finikensis stat. nov., raising the subspecies A. b. finikensis to species level.
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