Species:

Mesalina sp.  SINDACO et al., 2018

Synonyms:

Mesalina guttulata   SINDACO & JEREMCENKO, 2008

Taxonomic notes:

Although still undescribed, we list lineage 4 from SINDACO et al. (2018) as Mesalina sp. because otherwise this part of the former M. guttulata species complex would not be represented.

Relevant taxonomic literature:

• Sindaco, R. & Simó-Riudalbas, M. & Sacchi, R. & Carranza, S. (2018) -  Systematics of the Mesalina guttulata species complex (Squamata: Lacertidae) from Arabia with the description of two new species. -  Zootaxa, 4429 (3): 513-547.    

  ×

  Mesalina are small diurnal lacertid lizards inhabiting arid areas from North Africa to northwestern India. Previous phylo- genetic studies have shown the existence of several species complexes within the genus, some of them with high levels of undiscovered diversity. In the present study, we carry out an integrative systematic revision of the Mesalina guttulata spe- cies complex using both molecular and morphological data from across its entire distribution range in North Africa, the Middle East and Arabia. The results of the genetic analyses indicate that M. guttulata and M. bahaeldini are two allopatric sister taxa separated by the Suez Canal and that the species complex includes a further three unnamed deep phylogenetic lineages, two of them restricted to southern and southwestern Arabia and described herein as Mesalina austroarabica sp. nov. and Mesalina arnoldi sp. nov., respectively. As a result of the lack of enough material, the third deep lineage, distrib- uted across Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, is provisionally left undescribed. The two newly described species are char- acterized by their size, scale counts and tail coloration, as well as differences at the three mitochondrial and one nuclear gene analyzed in the present study.