Species:

Iberolacerta aurelioi  (ARRIBAS, 1994)

Synonyms:

Iberolacerta aurelioi  CROCHET et al, 2004

Lacerta aurelioi  ARRIBAS, 1994

Iberolacerta (Pyrenesaura) aurelioi  ARRIBAS, 1997

Common names:

Aurelio’s Rock Lizard (English)
Aurelio’s Gebirgseidechse (German)
Lézard d’Aurelio (French)
Lagartija Pallaresa (Spanish)

Types:

Holotype: private collection, given as CA 91070110 (apparently meaning “collection Arribas”; paratypes: MRSN

Terra Typica:

Pica d’Estats, Pyrenees (2400 m elevation).

Relevant taxonomic literature:

• Arribas, O.J. (1994) -  Una nueva especie de lagartija de los Pirineos Orientales: Lacerta (Archaeolacerta) aurelioi sp. nov. (Reptilia: Lacertidae). -  Bollettino del Museo regionale di Scienze naturali, Torino, 12 (1): 327-351.  

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• Mayer, W. & Arribas, O.J. (1996) -  Allozyme differentiation and relationship among the Iberian-Pyrenean Mountain lizards (Squamata: Sauria: Lacertidae). -  Herpetozoa, Wien, 9 (1/2): 57-61.    

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  Six nominal taxa (`Lacerta` monticola cantabrica, `L. ` monücola monticola, `L. ` aranica, `L. ` aurelioi, `L. ` bonnali, `L. ` cyreni) of the Iberian-Pyrenean Mountain Lizards were investigated by allozyme electropho- resis with regard to IS enzymatic loci. `L. ` horvathi was used as an outgroup for phylogenetic analysis. On the basts of our results - which are in perfect agreement with karyological data (ODIERNA & al. in press a, b) - five taxa can be distinguished (`£.`. monticola, `L`. aranica, `L`. aurelioi, `L`. bonnali, %`. cyreni) which we consider to be species.

• 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.