Lacerta (genus) explained
Lacerta is a genus of lizards of the family Lacertidae.
Taxonomy
Lacerta was a fairly diverse genus containing around 40 species, until it was split into nine genera in 2007 by Arnold, Arribas & Carranza.[1]
Fossil record
The earliest known members of the genus Lacerta are known from early Miocene epoch fossils indistinguishable in anatomy from the modern green lizards such as Lacerta viridis.[2] Some fossil species from the ice-age mediterranean, such as Lacerta siculimelitensis, reached especially large sizes.[3]
Species
The genus Lacerta contains the following species.[4]
Some species formerly in Lacerta
Arranged alphabetically by specific name:
Further reading
- Arnold EN, Arribas OJ, Carranza S. 2007. "Systematics of the Palaearctic and Oriental lizard tribe Lacertini (Squamata: Lacertidae: Lacertinae), with descriptions of eight new genera". Zootaxa 1430: 1-86.
- Linnaeus C. 1758. Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio Decima, Reformata. Stockholm: L. Salvius. 824 pp. (Lacerta, new genus, p. 200). (in Latin).
Notes and References
- Arnold. E. Nicholas. Arribas. Oscar. Carranza. Salvador. Systematics of the Palaearctic and Oriental lizard tribe Lacertini (Squamata: Lacertidae: Lacertinae), with descriptions of eight new genera. Zootaxa. 2007. 1430. 1–86. 12 July 2017. Magnolia Press. Auckland, New Zealand. 978-1-86977-097-6. 10.11646/zootaxa.1430.1.1. 6 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210506094241/http://molevol.cmima.csic.es/carranza/pdf/Lacertini2007.pdf. dead.
- Čerňanský A. 2010. "Earliest world record of green lizards (Lacertilia, Lacertidae) from the Lower Miocene of Central Europe". Biologia 65 (4): 737-741.
- Böhme . Wolfgang . Zammit-Maempel . George . Lacerta siculimelitensis sp. n. (Sauria: Lacertidae), a giant lizard from the Late Pleistocene of Malta . Amphibia-Reptilia . 1982 . 3 . 2 . 257–268 . 10.1163/156853882X00473 . 4 November 2023.
- "Lacerta ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
- Tuniyev, B. . Ananjeva, N.B. . Agasyan, A. . Orlov, N.L. . Tuniyev, S. . Anderson, S. . 2009 . Darevskia chlorogaster . 2017 . 2009 . e.T164702A114559582 . 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009.RLTS.T164702A5919117.en . 16 January 2020.
- Wolfgang Böhme . Petros Lymberakis . Varol Tok . Ismail H. Ugurtas . Murat Sevinç . Pierre-André Crochet . Yakup Kaska . Yusuf Kumlutaş . Uğur Kaya . Aziz Avci . Nazan Üzüm . Can Yeniyurt . Ferdi Akarsu . Petros Lymberakis . 2009 . Anatololacerta oertzeni . 2009 . e.T61527A12504829 . 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009.RLTS.T61527A12504829.en . 16 January 2020.
- Varol Tok . Ishmail Ugurtas . Murat Sevinç . Wolfgang Böhme . Pierre-André Crochet . Ferdi Akarsu . 2009 . Parvilacerta parva . 2009 . e.T164674A5917051 . 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009.RLTS.T164674A5917051.en . 16 January 2020.