| Lacerta laevis GRAY, 1838 Lacerta judaica CAMERANO, 1877 Phoenicolacerta laevis ARNOLD et al, 2007 |
Gray, J.E. (1838) - Catalogue of the slender-tongued saurians, with descriptions of many new genera and species. Part 1. - Annals of natural history, (1) 1: 274-283.  Bischoff, W. & Schmidtler, J.F. (1999) - New data on the distribution, morphology and habitat choice of the Lacerta laevis – kulzeri complex. - Natura Croatica, Zagreb, 8: 211-222.   × Presently, within the lizard populations included in the Lacerta laevis-kulzeri complex, two main groups appear to be well distinguished in terms of morphology, distribution and ecology: Lacerta laevis Gray, 1838 (sensu lato) which is generally distributed in the Mediterranean region to the west of the Rift valley between Central Israel/Palestine and southern Turkey. The species prefers humid habitats in oak forests, gardens and valleys. Despite considerable morphological variation, only one subspecies (troodica from Cyprus) has been acknowledged to date. During our research in the northern mountains to the east of the rift valley (Syria/Turkey), a quite distinct rock lizard was detected living in hills with sparse vegetation; our classification of it under L. laevis s.l. is highly provisional. The second group comprises the often misunderstood rock-lizard Lacerta kulzeri Müller & Wettstein, 1932, described from Bcharré/Lebanon. It is mainly distributed in the continental mountains and hill lands to the east of the Rift valley, from the Anti-Lebanon to Petra/Jordan in the south. Morphologically different and isolated populations occur here and at the eastern side of the Lebanon Mts. and the volcanic Djebel Druz/South Syria. Near Bloudan/Anti-Lebanon and at Djebel Barouk/Lebanon Mts. both groups were found sympatrically. Bosch, H.A.J. in den & Odierna, G. & Aprea, G. & Barucca, M. & Canapa, A. & Capriglione, T. & Olmo, E. (2003) - Karyological and genetic variation in the Middle Eastern lacertid lizards Lacerta laevis and Lacerta kulzeri-complex: a case of chromosomal allopatric speciation. - Chromosome Research, Dordrecht, 11 (2): 165-178. × Karyological (standard and C, Ag-NOR and Alu-I banding methods) and mtDNA analyses (cytochrome b and 12S rRNA) were conducted on specimens from eight allopatric populations of the Lacerta kulzeri complex. Parallel analyses were performed for comparison on Lacerta laevis specimens. Karyological and molecular studies support the morphological and ethological evidence indicating the specific separation between Lacerta laevis and Lacerta kulzeri
In the Lacerta kulzeri complex, chromosomal analysis substantiated an interpopulation differentiation roughly along a north–south trend, mainly regarding the sex chromosome morphology and heterochromatin.The cytochrome b and 12S rRNA gene analyses showed minor genetic differences that were considerably smaller than those commonly found in genetically isolated populations. The L. kulzeri populations from Barouk, Druze and Hermon show a mean genetic distance that, in other saurians, characterises subspecies.
The conditions found in L. laevis and L. kulzeri are reminiscent of King`s model of chromosomal primary allopatry and support the hypothesis that in these lacertid lizards chromosome variations can become fixed before the accumulation of the genetic mutations.
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