Darevsky, I.S. & Eiselt, J. (1980) - Neue Felseneidechsen (Reptilia: Lacertidae) aus dem Kaukasus und aus der Türkei. - Amphibia-Reptilia, 1 (1): 29-40.   × Präsentation von Lacerta rudis svanetica ssp. nov. vom Südabfall der zentralen Kaukasus-Hauptkette in Nordwest-Grusinien einschließlich einer isolierten Population in Nordwest-Abchasien und von Lacerta parvula adjarica ssp. nov. von der türkischen Schwarzmeerküste samt ihrem Hinterland zwischen Trabzon und Batumi sowie im (Çoruh- (Tschoroch-)tal ab Borçka, in Adjarien und in den angrenzenden Gebieten Grusiniens zwischen Meria (SE Poti) und Borzomi; bei Bakuriani existiert ein isoliertes Vorkommen. Arribas, O.J. & Ilgaz, C. & Kumlutaş, Y. (2018) - Reevaluation of the intraspecific variability in Darevskia parvula (Lantz & Cyren, 1913): an integrated approach using morphology, osteology and genetics (Squamata: Lacertidae) - Zootaxa 4472 (1): 071–099 × The intraspecific variability of Darevskia parvula (which has two classical subspecies easily identifiable by external characteristics, D. p. parvula and D. p. adjarica), was studied using various approaches including morphology (scalation and biometry), multivariate analyses (PCA, CDA, ANOSIM, UPGMA and MST), osteology, and molecular techniques. High mitochondrial distance, differences at the nuclear level and morphological distinctiveness warrant the specific status of
both taxa, Darevskia parvula (Lantz & Cyrén, 1913) and Darevskia adjarica (Darevsky & Eiselt, 1980) stat. nov. A lectotype for D. parvula, originally described with syntypes of both species -D. parvula and D. adjarica- is designated. The uncorrected genetic distance between D. parvula and D. adjarica in the cytochrome b mitochondrial gene is 14.4% ± 1.9%. Intraspecific variability within D. parvula is very small (1.5% ± 0.5%), and was not detected in our samples of D. adjarica. The two species further differ by two mutations in the nuclear melano-cortin 1 receptor (mc1r) gene. Interestingly, past introgression of D. parvula mitochondrial haplotypes (5% ± 1% different to those currently known) into some D. adjarica has been detected in one locality; all the studied specimens of D. adjarica with mtDNA of D. parvula are unmistakably D. adjarica at the morphological and nuclear levels. Morphologically, there is almost no overlap between D. parvula and D. adjarica. These results are corroborated by CDA, MST and UPGMA trees. Specimens of the inland high mountain population of Ardahan (clearly D. adjarica in
CDA, MST and UPGMA trees) occupy a somewhat intermediate position between both taxa in the PCA (when specimens and not populations as a whole are considered), but this morphological closeness may be attributed to the influence of climatic factors (continental conditions) on scalation of the specimens. Males appear to be more differentiated than females. Overlap among samples within each species is very marked; none can be separated clearly from its conspecifics. This is even more marked in D. parvula, which has a fairly small area compared to D. adjarica.
Darevskia parvula and D. adjarica samples appear to be homogeneously clustered within species and well separated between the two species in the UPGMA trees. In males and females all the D. parvula samples are very similar and moderately differentiated. In males of D. adjarica, the most differentiated seems to be adjBorçka, the others all being clustered together, with adjÇaykara showing slightly more differentiation from the rest (adjOrtacalar, adjArdahan, adjIkizdere and adjÇermik). Darevskia adjarica females are also similarly distributed into two subgroups, one including Borçka, Çermik and Ardahan and the other including Ortacalar, Ikizdere and Çaykara. In both sexes, the inland Ardahan sample clearly belongs to D. adjarica. From the most connected MST samples, speculations can be made about areas of origin and expansion of the different taxa. Ortacalar (D. adjarica) and Hatila (D. parvula) are the most connected (morphologically more “central” in both taxa); in fact, both populations are relatively close, living on the northern (Black Sea) and southern (Anatolian) facing slopes, respectively of the Doğu Karadeniz Mountains (Kaçkar Mountains). This highlights these mountains, which rise from sea level up to nearly 4000 m asl. and have wide buffering possibilities against climate changes, as a zone of refuge and posterior dispersion of this species, and even of the original splitting into two taxa adapted to these different conditions, D. adjarica on the coast and D. parvula on the continental slope. Osteologically D. parvula and D. adjarica are very similar, although Georgian specimens from an isolated population (Atskuri) have closed clavicles not found in Turkish D. adjarica. Also, inland Ardahan D. adjarica have an extra vertebra in both males and females, compared to the other studied specimens from both species. ARRIBAS ET AL. 72 · Zootaxa 4472 (1) © 2018 Magnolia Press The present study indicates that the situation in Turkey is that D. parvula is well differentiated and lives around the
Çoruh River Valley, contoured by D. adjarica populations on the coastal-facing slopes of the Doğu Karadeniz Mountains
on one side, and the Yalnızçam Mountains on the other side, where D. adjarica enters from Georgia as the opposite extreme of a geographic distribution. The attribution of more inland ranges to D. parvula or D. adjarica, as well as the detailed genetic structure of both taxa may be confirmed with more specific studies. Kurnaz, M. & Kutrup, B. & Hosseinian Yousefkhani, S.S. & Koç, H. & Bülbül, U. & Eroğlu, İ. (2019) - Phylogeography of the red-bellied lizard, Darevskia parvula in Turkey. - Mitochondrial DNA Part A, 30 (3): 556-566. × The groups of red-bellied lizards had a small distribution area in the Pontic zone. The several studies performed on these lizard groups are based on taxonomy and systematics. Although there were several taxonomic or systematic researches on some species of this group, the phylogeographical pattern and species disturbing boundaries of this group is still not clear. In the present study, we aimed to resolve the taxonomic and phylogenetic relationships of the red-bellied lizards in Turkey, based on two combined mitochondrial gene fragments and one protein-coding nuclear gene (rag1). Also, we evaluated ecological niches differentiations among red-bellied lizard groups. The mitochondrial DNA genes were found to be highly polymorphic in this group. One hundred and one variable nucleotide sites were detected on the combined gene sequences. According to phylogenetic trees based on the maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI), the red-bellied lizards group have three species groups; Darevskia parvula, D. adjarica and unnamed Darevskia sp. (candidate species for Darevskia genus). This situation was supported by high bootstrap and posterior probability values in the trees of mitochondrial DNA gene fragments. However, no genetic variation was detected according to nuclear DNA (rag1) sequence. Because the species groups have no overlaps in terms of their ecological niches, ecological niche modelling (ENM) results revealed differences among the groups of D. parvula, D. adjarica, and unnamed Darevskia sp. Besides, we detected no geographical overlaps among three species groups, since there were geographical isolation zones among the species groups of red-bellied lizard.
Arribas, O. & Candan, K. & Kurnaz, M. & Kumlutas, Y. & Caynak, E-Y. & Ilgaz, Ç. (2022) - A new cryptic species of the Darevskia parvula group from NE Anatolia (Squamata, Lacertidae) - Organisms Diversity & Evolution https://doi.org/10.1007/s13127-022-00540-4 × In this study, we re-examine the Darevskia parvula group comprehensively using morphology, osteology and mitochondrial phylogeny, and describe a new endemic species from Turkey: Darevskia tuniyevi sp. nov. A total of 257 adult specimens were evaluated for external morphology (scalation and biometry) with univariate (descriptive statistics and ANOVA with post-hoc tests) and multivariate (Discriminant Analysis and ANOSIM) analyses. In parallel, osteological data and molecular analyses using three DNA markers (mitochondrial 16S rRNA and Cyt-b, nuclear Rag-1) were used to complete the description of the new taxon. The molecular phylogenetic analyses indicated that the D. parvula group is composed of three taxa as D. parvula, D. adjarica and D. tuniyevi sp. nov., and showed that D. adjarica and D. tuniyevi sp. nov. are reciprocal sister taxa. On the other hand, D. adjarica is morphologically very different from other two forms, while D. parvula is hardly distinguishable externally from D. tuniyevi sp. nov. Therefore, we can consider that D. parvula and D. tuniyevi sp. nov. are cryptic species. These two cryptic species retain their primitive morphology within the group, while D. adjarica has changed, perhaps due to different bioclimatic conditions in its Pleistocene refuge and current area.
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