Rykena, S. & Nettmann, H.-K. & Mayer, W. (2002) - Lacerta viridis guentherpetersi ssp. nov., eine neue Unterart der Smaragdeidechse aus Griechenland. - Mertensiella, Rheinbach, 13: 89-97.   × From the Dirfis mountains at the island of Evvia (Euboea) the new subspecies, Lacerta viridis guentherpetersi ssp. nov., is described. It is a large growing, robust, Green Lizard, lacking any bright blue colour but with green coloration at the throat and headsides in both sexes. It can be distinguished from the L. v. meridionalis by its coloration and proportions and by the lack of a marked massetericum and from the nominate subspecies by the head coloration. Differences based on molecular characters and on hybridisation results have been published already (AMANN et al.
1997, MAYER & BEYERLEIN 2001), while the nominal description is presented here. Two different morphs of subadults pattern are described, which may also occur in other populations. This Green Lizard lives at about 1000 m above sea level in open places around forest. Similar Green Lizard populations occur in mountains of mainland Greece (Olympus, Pilion, Ossa), which presumably will belong also to this new subspecies, but further studies are necessary to analyse the Variation
pattern of different character levels and the evolutionary history of Green Lizards of mainland Greece. Marzahn, E., Mayer, W., Joger, U., Ilgaz, Ç, Jablonski, D., Kindler, C., Kumlutaş, Y., Nistri, A., Schneeweiss, N., Vamberger, M., Žagar, A. & Fritz, U. (2016) - Phylogeography of the Lacerta viridis complex: mitochondrial and nuclear markers provide taxonomic insights. - Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research, Berlin, 54 (2): 85-105. × Based on broad, nearly rangewide sampling, we reanalysed the phylogeography of the Lacerta viridis complex using the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and the intron 7 of the nuclear b-fibrinogen gene. Using the mitochondrial marker, we identified in phylogenetic analyses 10 terminal clades clustering in four deeply divergent main lineages whose relationships are weakly resolved. These lineages correspond to Lacerta bilineata, L. viridis, the previously identified Adriatic or West Balkan lineage and a newly discovered fourth lineage from the Anatolian Black Sea coast and the south-eastern Balkan Peninsula. Except for the latter lineage, there is considerable phylogeographic structuring in each lineage, with higher diversity in the south of the distribution ranges. This pattern indicates the existence of two distinct microrefugia in the Italian Peninsula and Sicily and of up to seven microrefugia in the Balkan Peninsula, but of only one refugium along the Black Sea coast of Anatolia. We identified secondary contact zones of the main lineages and of terminal clades within these lineages. However, most of the formerly described putative contact zone of L. bilineata and L. viridis turned out to be a contact zone between the Adriatic lineage and L. viridis, but L. bilineata seems to be involved only marginally. Our nuclear marker could not unambiguously resolve whether there is gene flow in contact zones. Thus, further research is necessary to decide whether the four main lineages are conspecific or whether they represent distinct biological species. We restrict the name L. v. meridionalis to the newly identified genetic lineage from Turkey and south-eastern Europe, synonymize some previously recognized taxa and suggest a tentative nomenclature for the L. viridis complex.
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