Russian Journal of Herpetology Vol. 10, No. 1, 2003, pp. 11 – 24 LACERTAS OF SOUTH AND CENTRAL ZAGROS MOUNTAINS, IRAN, WITH DESCRIPTION OF TWO NEW TAXA G. Nilson,1,2,3 N. Rastegar-Pouyani,4 E. Rastegar-Pouyani,5 and C. Andrén2,3 Submitted ?????????????? During our long-term fieldwork on the Iranian plateau in 2000 and 2002, we collected and examined a se- ries of lacertid lizards, belonging to the genus Lacerta from various parts of the Zagros Mountains of west- ern and southwestern Iran, from a morphological point of view. Based on the collected material, two new taxa are described: Lacerta yassujica sp.n. and Lacerta brandtii esfahanica ssp.n. Based on all the avail- able evidence, L. yassujica is closely related to Lacerta (Apathya) cappadocica. A short account on taxon- omy and biogeography of the studied taxa is given. Key words: Lacertidae, Lacerta, L. yassujica, L. brandtii, L. cappadocica, L. zagrosica, Iranian Plateau, Zagros Mountains, Taxonomy, New taxa. INTRODUCTION with Lacerta brandtii. In the humid habitats of north- ern Elburz and Talysh Mountains Lacerta chlorogas- Comparatively little is known about the distribu- ter and Lacerta praticola praticola are present. In tion and taxonomy of the small lacertids of Iran, Ar- 1976, Baloutch described Lacerta mostoufii from the nold’s Lacerta Part II (Arnold, 1973). There have dry desert of Lut in the southeast of Iran. The validity been rather few collecting trips made to the wide area of this species is debated. According to Eiselt (1995), of the Zagros Mountains, and comparatively few and Darevsky (cited in Arribas, 1999) it is a synonym specimens of the concerned taxa are currently avail- of L. chlorogaster. According to in den Bosch (1999) able in Museum collections. The Zagros Mountain a specimen of Lacerta praticola praticola has been chain is completely out of the range for Arnold’s listed in the type series (as paratype in Muséum natio- Lacerta Part II, as stated in his first comprehensive nale d’Histoire naturelle, Paris), a matter that is ques- study in 1973 (Fig. 13, p. 355). Before 1968, when tioned by Ananjeva and Darevsky (2000), who claim the Street Expedition extended the known distribu- all types of mostoufii to be chlorogaster. tion of Lacerta brandtii to Esfahan province, only Furthermore, Lacerta valentini valentini occurs Lacerta Part I (large green lacertas) where known to in northwestern Iran (Anderson, 1999), and in 1995, occur in central and southern Zagros (Anderson, Eiselt described Lacerta steineri from east Elburz. 1999). Most of these taxa belong to the saxicola complex, In northern Iran, and approaching the northern and are in recent literature referred to the genus Da- Zagros, Lacerta raddei raddei, Lacerta raddei va- revskia (Arribas, 1999). Exceptions are brandtii, nensis, and Lacerta defilippi are distributed, together which in many investigations is considered as a basic taxon in phylogenetic reconstructions (Boulenger, 1 Göteborg Natural History Museum, Box 7283, S-402 35 1920; Arnold, 1989), and cappadocica, which is re- Göteborg, Sweden. ferred to subgenus (genus) Apathya. According to 2 Universeum Science Center, Box 14365, S-400 20 Göteborg, Arnold (1989) and Arribas (1999), the latter has some Sweden. affinities with the Arabian Omanosaura, although 3 Department of Zoology, Göteborg University, Box 463, S-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden. this is not universally agreed upon (e.g., Mayer and 4 Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Razi University, Benyr, 1994; Mayer and Bischoff, 1996). 67149 Kermanshah, Iran. In recent years, a number of studies have focused 5 Department of Biology, Sabsevar University, Sabsevar, Iran. on Archaeolacertas and other small Lacertas in north- 1026-2296/2003/1001-0011 © 2003 Folium Publishing Company 12 G. Nilson et al. ern Iran and adjacent territories (e.g., Eiselt et al., The collection numbers of the examined material 1992, 1993; Schmidtler et al., 1994; Eiselt, 1995; An- are as follows: derson, 1999). Increased travel and studies in differ- Lacerta brandtii brandtii: GNM Re.ex. 2873 – 2874; ent parts of the Iranian Plateau clearly indicate a RUZC/GNM field number 180 – 183; MMTT 1352 number of new populations and unresolved questions – 1354, 1392 – 1394. about the systematics and evolution of these lizards. L. brandtii esfahanica: GNM Re.ex. 5609 – 5611; In our current study on taxonomy and biogeography KUZC: field number GN 562 – 563. of the herpetofauna of Iran, we have collected addi- L. cappadocica urmiana: MMTT 1340 – 1341; tional material of lacertas. In 1998, we described La- TUZM1–7,137. certa zagrosica (Rastegar-Pouyani and Nilson, 1998), L. zagrosica: GNM Re.ex. 5149 – 5150, 5614 – 5617; and during our last expedition (in 2000) to the south RUZC: field numbers GN 539, 542, 544, 552, 554. central Zagros, we found another new species, as L. yassujica: GNM Re.ex. 5612 – 5613; RUZC: well as an additional population of Lacerta brandtii. field number GN 586 – 587. In this paper, we intend to clarify the taxonomy and relationships of these south central Zagros re- presentatives of Lacerta Part II. We also discuss a RESULTS hypothesis of the role of the Zagros as a spreading corridor. Taxonomic discussion. Most Iranian taxa of the Arnold Lacerta part II have, until now, been recorded from the northern mountains, and almost none, with a MATERIAL few exceptions, has been encountered from southern or west-central Iran. However, in our recent works, The examined material (fresh, as well as pre- several taxa have been registered from the south-cen- served specimens) originated from the following Mu- tral regions of the Zagros (Table 1). seum collections: Lacerta brandtii is a ground-dwelling species — Göteborg Natural History Museum, Sweden while the remaining lacertas are all rock-dwellers. (GNM); Lacerta zagrosica is a robust lacertid with frag- — Razi University Zoological Collection, Ker- mented scalation (high number of temporals, ven- manshah, Iran (RUZC); trals, etc.), but otherwise a typical rock lacertid. The — Iran National Natural History Museum, Iran two remaining species tare both characterized by (MMTT); having keeled subdigital lamellae and lower eyelid — Tehran University Zoological Museum, Iran with transparent shields. The new species has a blue (TUZM); tail, and is otherwise unicolored except for a lateral TABLE 1. Species of Lacerta Part II Occurring in Iran Taxon Author Zagros N. Iran Lacerta valentini valentini Boettger, 1892 ´ Lacerta raddei raddei Boettger, 1892 ´ Lacerta raddei vanensis Eiselt, Schmidtler, and Darevsky, 1993 ´ Lacerta chlorogaster Boulenger, 1909 ´ Lacerta praticola praticola Eversmann, 1834 ´ Lacerta mostoufii Baloutch 1976 ´* Lacerta steineri Eiselt, 1995 ´ Lacerta defilippi (Camerano, 1877) ´´ Lacerta cappadocica urmiana (Lantz and Suchow, 1934) ´´ Lacerta brandtii brandtii De Filippi, 1863 n. comb. ´´ Lacerta brandtii esfahanica ssp. nov. ´ Lacerta zagrosica Rastegar-Pouyani and Nilson, 1998 ´ Lacerta yassujica sp. nov. ´ * Lut desert, but see text for more explanation. Lacertas of South and Central Zagros Mountains, Iran 13 black band with blue spots. Lacerta cappadocica has SPECIES ACCOUNT — a marbled and longitudinally spotted pattern. ZAGROS Lacerta PART II Lacerta brandtii has a discontinuous distribution. The main distribution is in northwestern Iran (East Lacerta cappadocica urmiana Azerbaijan Province) and in neighboring Azerbai- (Lantz and Suchow, 1934) dzhan Republic. The material collected by the Street Morphology. For scalation characters, see expedition in 1968 from the vicinity of Kuh Rang in Table 2. In the females, the dorsal scales are granular, Esfahan Province and by us in 2000 at Fereydun juxtaposed and smooth but denser than in Lacerta Shahr in the same province represents the more brandtii. The caudal scales are elongated and dis- southern occurrence. Anderson (1999) pointed out tinctly keeled. The dorsal pattern in the W. Azerbai- the necessity to compare populations from the two re- jan females is brownish with a broad vertebral band gions. He obviously suspected that different taxa containing numerous bluish spots, which form a re- could be involved. With our new material at hand, it ticulated pattern. Dorsal ground color in the three is obvious to us that these two populations represent Kermanshah females is olivish brown with less dark two taxa, albeit related. markings, the dorsolateral dark stripe narrower, and The taxonomy of Lacerta cappadocica was stud- containing large blue ocelli. The ventral color pattern ied by Eiselt (1979), including the Iranian subspecies is uniformly bluish cream in the W. Azerbaijan fe- urmiana. His study was focusing on Turkish popula- males, and blue in the Kermanshah females. Lateral tions, and Eiselt had only a small series from Iran. It pattern consists of two wide dorsolateral stripes (blu- seems obvious to us that a thorough study need to be ish) from nape to proximal half of tail in the W. Azer- baijan females. In the Kermanshah females, the ven- done based on Iranian material. Our small material trolateral region is dark with bluish tinges and 1 – 2 indicates unresolved taxonomic problems. outer rows of ventrals have dark markings. The throat Lacerta defilippi was found in the Zanjan valley, is uniformly bluish cream in the W. Azerbaijan fe- in the Kûh-e Sendan Dag Mountains, which males. It is uniformly light blue in the Kermanshah extends its distribution southwesterly, approaching females. The tail is light brown in the W. Azerbaijan the Zagros. females, greenish blue in the Kermanshah