Species:

Iberolacerta horvathi  (MÉHELY, 1904)

Synonyms:

Lacerta horvathi  MÉHELY, 1904

Iberolacerta (Iberolacerta) horvathi  ARRIBAS, 1997

Iberolacerta horvathi  CROCHET et al, 2004

Common names:

Horvath’s Rock Lizard (English)
Kroatische Gebirgseidechse (German)

Types:

Syntypes: NMW 16025:1,2; BMNH 1946.9.1.24, ZISP

Terra Typica:

Type locality: Jasenak, Croatia

Relevant taxonomic literature:

• Méhely, L. (1904) -  Eine neue Lacerta aus Ungarn. -  Annales historico-naturales Musei nationalis hungarici, Budapest, 2: 362-377.  

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• Knauer, F. (1905) -  Lacerta horvathi Mehely, eine neue europäische Eidechse. -  Blätter für Aquarien- und Terrarienkunde, 16 (4): 33-36.  

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• Mayer, W. & Arribas, O. (2003) -  Phylogenetic relationships of the European lacertid genera Archaeolacerta and Iberolacerta and their relartionships to some other ´Archaeolacertae´ (sensu lato) from Near East, derived from mitochondrial DNA sequences. -  Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research, Berlin, 41 (3): 157-161.    

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  Parts of the mitochondrial genes coding for 12SrRNA and 16SrRNA (together about 960 bp) were sequenced for all Mediterranean species of `Mountain lizards` of the genera Archaeolacerta (sensu lato) and Iberolacerta. All subspecies of the Iberian species Iberolacerta cyreni and I. monticola were included in this study. In addition, samples of Apathya cappadocica and Darevskia rudis were analysed to elucidate the relationships of the European `Mountain lizards` to their possible relatives in the Near East. Maximum parsimony and neighbour joining analyses lead to the following major conclusions: (i) the monophyly of the genus Iberolacerta is very well supported; (ii) Archaeolacerta bedriagae (the type species of the genus) is most basal with respect to the ingroup taxa. If we accept Iberolacerta as a genus, Archaeolacerta becames paraphyletic. Therefore, we propose to restrict Archaeolacerta to the type species and to treat A. mosorensis and A. oxycephala provisionally as members of the collective genus Lacerta; (iii) within the genus Iberolacerta three groups were found: a Pyrenean group, an Iberian group and I. horvathi. The relationships among these groups remain unresolved; and (iv) the Peña de Francia lizards, described originally as a subspecies of I. cyreni, are in fact more closely related to I. monticola.