Species:

Podarcis lusitanicus  GENIEZ et al., 2014

Population (1):

Podarcis lusitanicus Picos/Liébana Population 

Synonyms:

Lacerta oxycephala var. hispanica  STEINDACHNER, 1870

Podarcis hispanica lusitanica  GENIEZ, 2001

Podarcis hispanica type 1A  PINHO et al, 2008

Podarcis guadarramae lusitanicus  GENIEZ et al., 2014

Types:

Holotype: MNHN 2012.0263 (Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, formerly BEV.3987), holotype by present designation; an adult male collected in May 1985 by C.P. Guillaume, P. Geniez, U. Mathis and J. Magraner (Fig. 7). Paratypes: RMNH RENA 35253, 35297, 35317, males from a quarry in Coto de Caza San Martin near Ardia (Spain, province of Pontevedra) [42.4553°N / 8.8744°W]; EBD.16033, female from Hío, near Cangas (Spain, province of Pontevedra) [42.271°N / 8°.830°W]; EBD.9247, 9252, males, EBD.9249- 9251, females, from Pouso da Serra, Donón (province of Pontevedra) [42.275°N / 8.847°W]; BEV.6299-6307, males, BEV.6308, female, from Vila Real (Portugal, district of Vila Real) [41.310°N / 7.839°W]

Terra Typica:

Póvoa de Varzim, Viana do Castelo, Portugal.

Taxonomic notes:

An unknown subspecies is observed by GENIEZ et al, 2014.

Relevant taxonomic literature:

• Boscá, E. (1916) -  Dos observaciónes a propósito de la Lacerta muralis en España. -  Boletín de la Real Sociedad Española de Historia Natural, 16: 327-330.  

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• Geniez, P. & Sá-Sousa, P. & Guillaume, C.P. & Cluchier, A. & Crochet, P.-A. (2014) -  Systematics of the Podarcis hispanicus complex (Sauria, Lacertidae) III: valid nomina of the western and central Iberian forms. -  Zootaxa, 3794 (1): 1–51.    

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  Recent genetic works have suggested that the Iberian wall lizard Podarcis hispanicus (STEINDACHNER, 1870) sensu lato is a species complex. Several forms have already been elevated to species rank and linked to available nomina, but at least three still have to be formally named, including the western Iberian forms currently designated as Podarcis hispanicus“type 1A”, “type 1B” and “type 2”. The aim of the present work is to assign a valid nomen to these taxa. Using multivariate analyses, we first checked that the morphological differences reported in Portugal between type 1 and type 2 are main-tained over their distribution range. We then investigated phenotypic differentiation between type 1A and type 1B, which were found to be so similar that identification based on phenotype is currently not advisable. We propose to treat type 1 and type 2 as distinct species because of their level of genetic and phenotypic divergence, large area of distribution and ample evidence for reduced or absent introgression in contact zones. We maintain type 1A and 1B as subspecies for the time being, pending further analyses of their contact zone. The valid nomen for “Podarcis hispanica type 1 (sensu lato)” is Lacerta muralis guadarramae BOSCÁ, 1916 which becomes Podarcis guadarramae (BOSCÁ, 1916). Lineage type 1A is here described as a new taxon: P. guadarramae lusitanicus ssp. nov., inhabiting northern Portugal and northwestern Spain. The type 1B lineage corresponds to the nominotypical subspecies that inhabits Spain, mostly the Central Iberian Mountains. We were unable to locate an available nomen for “Podarcis hispanica type 2”, which is here described as Podarcis virescens sp. nov. This species is widely distributed in the plains and plateaus of central and parts of south-western Spain as well as central and southern Portugal.

• Caeiro-Dias, G. & Rocha, S. & Couto, A. & Pereira, C. & Brelsford, A. & Crochet, P.-A. & Pinho, C. (2021) -  Nuclear phylogenies and genomics of a contact zone establish the species rank of Podarcis lusitanicus (Squamata, Lacertidae) -  Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 164 (2021) 107270    

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  Unravelling when divergent lineages constitute distinct species can be challenging, particularly in complex scenarios combining cryptic diversity and phylogenetic discordances between different types of molecular markers. Combining a phylogenetic approach with the study of contact zones can help to overcome such difficulties. The Podarcis hispanicus species complex has proven to be prosperous in independent evolutionary units, sometimes associated with cryptic diversity. Previous studies have revealed that one of the species of this complex, P. guadarramae, comprises two deeply divergent yet morphologically indistinguishable evolutionary units, currently regarded as subspecies (P. g. guadarramae and P. g. lusitanicus). In this study we used molecular data to address the systematics of the two lineages of Podarcis guadarramae and the closely related P. bocagei. Firstly, we reconstructed the species tree of these three and two additional taxa based on 30 nuclear loci using the multispecies coalescent with and without gene flow. Secondly, we used SNPs obtained from RADseq data to analyze the population structure across the distribution limits P. g. lusitanicus and P. g. guadarramae, and for comparison, a contact zone between P. bocagei and P. g. lusitanicus. Nuclear phylogenetic relationships between these three taxa are clearly difficult to determine due to the influence of gene flow, but our results give little support to the monophyly of P. guadarramae, potentially due to a nearly simultaneous divergence between them. Genetic structure and geographic cline analysis revealed that the two lineages of P. guadarramae replace each other abruptly across the sampled region and that gene flow is geographically restricted, implying the existence of strong reproductive isolation. Podarcis bocagei and P. g. lusitanicus show a similar degree of genetic differentiation and reproductive isolation, with very low levels of admixture in syntopy. These results support that all three forms are equally differentiated and reproductively isolated. In consequence, we conclude that the two former subspecies of Podarcis guadarramae constitute valid, yet cryptic species, that should be referred to as P. lusitanicus and P. guadarramae.