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Geographic origin of a population is the population of rapperswil, of the Italian Wall (47.2274374°n, 8.8223648°e), where the first observation of P. siculus was close to siculus (raFIneSqUe -S CHmaLTZ , the zoo in the vicinity of the local railway 1810), introduced north of the alps station and dates back to the 1980s ( BIL- LInG , pers. obs. in KLöTZLI & rOSenmaYr The Italian Wall Lizard Podarcis sicu - 2000). In 1996, the latter authors assessed lus (raFIneSqUe -S CHmaLTZ , 1810), natural - the population and estimated its size at ly occurs in the appennine Peninsula, about 70 individuals. The center of expan - Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica, and along the sion of this population was the ruderal northeast adriatic coast. The lizard, howev - embankment of the south-exposed railway. er, was introduced to numerous locations in although it was impossible to closely exam - the mediterranean region, where it estab - ine the railway embankment due to a fence, lished self-sustaining populations (Iberian the second author counted at least 28 indi - Peninsula, Balearic Islands, , monte - viduals at the end of march 2011. Whether negro, , Libya, Tunisia.- PODnar et this population stems from an accidental al. 2005; ZaWaDZKI & S eeman 2009). introduction by cargo or an intentional, additionally, introduced and established P. human-mediated introduction remains just siculus populations are known from north as unknown as its ecological impact on the american locations situated at about the native communities of the Sand Lizard same parallel of latitude as their medi - Lacerta agilis LInnaeUS , 1758. Based on terranean conspecifics (Topeka, Kansas; morphological criteria, KLöTZLI & rOSen- Long Island, new York; mt. Laurel, new maYr (2000) suggested the specimens to Jersey; Los angeles county, California.- belong to the subspecies Podarcis siculus BUrKe & D eICHSeL 2010; D eICHSeL et al. campestris De BeTTa , 1857. 2010). The most thriving population ex - In the present study, the origin of the tended its range around Long Island, new population was identified by means of a York, along power lines, railroads and by roadkill (DOr) specimen that was collected human-facilitated jump dispersal, over 30 there accidentally at a roadside ditch and miles, since its introduction in 1966, now preserved in 70% ethanol. Dna was ex- reaching manhattan and the Bronx (B UrKe tracted from muscle tissue of the tongue 2005) . Contrary to its congener, the Com - using the qiagen ® Dneasy ® Blood & mon Wall Lizard Podarcis muralis (L aU- Tissue Kit (qiagen ®, Hilden) following the renTI , 1768) , P. siculus generally failed to manufacturers’ protocol. We sequenced a successfully colonize european regions out - 656 bp fragment using the primers LGlulk side its mediterranean native range e.g., (5’-aaCCGCCTGTTGTCTTCaaCTa-3’) north of the alps ( SCHULTe et al. 2011). In and HPod (3’-GGTGGaaTGGGaTTTTG Germany, the species was introduced TCTG-5’) ( PODnar et al. 2007; see SCHUL - around 1913 at the Schlossberg (castle hill) Te et al. 2011). Sequencing was performed and river Dreisam in the town of Freiburg. with the DYenamic™ eT Terminator Cycle However, the population became extinct Sequencing Premixkit (Ge Healthcare, here as a consequence of habitat destruction munich) for sequencing reactions run on a after roadwork or unfavourable climate con - megaBaCe 1000 automated sequencer. ditions over a period of time in the early The Dna sequence was corrected and 1960s ( TraUTmann 1924 in HenLe & F rITZ aligned by eye. For lineage assignment, the 2007) . also a population introduced to sequence was aligned to sequences from Offenburg must be considered extinct after individuals sampled within the entire native a harsh winter in 1928/1929 ( HenLe & range of P. siculus provided by PODnar et FrITZ 2007 ). There are reports of intro - al. (2005). The analyzed specimen clearly duced P. siculus of unknown fate from belonged to the “Po plain group” within the Basel, remigen and Chiasso in Switzerland campestris -siculus haploclade ( PODnar et (HOHL 1985; Kra mer & S TemmLer 1988). al. 2005) and differed in only two substitu - at present, the largest introduced pop - tions from this haplotype. This subclade ulation of P. siculus living north of the alps can be found in the Po plain () and the Beitrag_10_(Seiten89-103_ShortNotes)_SHORT_NOTE.qxd 01.08.2011 11:51 Seite 9

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Fig. 1: Podarcis siculus campestris De BeTTa , 1857, male from rapperswil, Switzerland.

northern adriatic region () and forms (1985): Versuch einer systematischen Bestandesauf- the species’ northern range border. The sub - nahme der eidechsenpopulatio nen in der region Basel (Schweiz).- Salamandra, Frankfurt am main, 22: 55- clade does not trespass the alps, which act 62. KLöTZLI , P. & r OSen maYr , m. (2000): Feldstudie as a natural topographical and possibly also an einer Lokalpopulation der ruineneidechse Podarcis a climatic barrier. The climate conditions sicula (raFIneSqUe -S CHmaLTZ , 1810) in rapperswil prevailing in this subclade’s range area and (SG).- Vierteljahrsschrift der naturforschenden Ge- sellschaft Zürich, Zürich; 145 (4): 129-142. Kramer , at the novel locality in Switzerland seem to e. & S TemmLer , O. (1988): Unsere reptilien.- Basel overlap. Hence, it is likely that this clade (naturhistorisches museum), 88 pp. PODnar , m. & might have been pre-adapted to the environ - maYer , W. & T VrTKOVI Ć, n. (2005): Phylogeography mental conditions in Switzerland, like it is of the Italian wall lizard, Podarcis sicula , as revealed by mitochondrial Dna sequences.- molecular ecolo- the case with its congener P. muralis , where gy, Oxford; 14 (2): 575-588. PODnar , m. & P InSKer , those clades that most frequently colonized W. & H arInG , e. & m aYer , W. (2007): Un usual origin Central europe are the northernmost clades of a nuclear pseudogene in the Italian wall lizard: (Southern alps and eastern France Clades.- intergenomic and interspecific transfer of a large sec - tion of the mitochondrial genome in the genus Podarcis SCHULTe et al. 2011). ().- Journal of molecular evol ution, Heidel- aCKnOWLeDGmenTS: We thank Dr. Wer - berg; 64: 308-320. SCHULTe , U. & H OCH KIrCH , a. & ner maYer (natural History museum Vienna) for com - LöTTerS , S. & r öDDer , D. & S CHWeIGer , S. & W eI - ments on pictures of individuals and providing litera - mann , T. & V eITH , m. (2011): Cryptic niche conser - ture. vatism among evolutionary lineages of an in vasive reFerenCeS: BUrKe , r. L. (2005): “ Italian lizard.- Global ecology and Biogeography: a Journal of immigrants” flourish on Long Island.- Hofstra macroecology, WWW online edition < dx.doi.org/ Horizons, Hempstead, nY; Fall 2005: 14-18. BUrKe , 10.1111/j.1466-8238.2011.00665.x >. ZaWaDZKI , m. r. L. & D eICHSeL , G . (2008): Lacertid intro - & S ee mann , J. (2009): erstnachweis von Podarcis duced into north america: history and future, pp. siculus campestris auf mallorca.- Die eidechse, Bonn; 347–353. In: mITCHeLL , J. C. & J UnG BrOWn , r. e. & 20 (1): 25-28. BarTHOL OmeW , B. (eds.): Urban herpetology. Salt KeY WOrDS : reptilia: : Lacertidae: Lake City, Utah (Society for the Study of amphibians Podarcis siculus , introduction, chorology, Switzerland, and ). DeICHSeL , G. & n aFIS , G. & H aKIm , J. cytochrome b sequence (2010): Podarcis siculus (siculus ) – U.S.a, California, Los angeles.- Herpetological review, Salt Lake City; SUBmITTeD : april 14, 2011 41 (4): 513-514. HenLe , K. & F rITZ , K. (2007): rui - aUTHOrS: Ulrich SCHULTe (corresponding neneidechse Podarcis siculus (raFIneSqUe -S CHmaLTZ , author), Department of Biogeography, Trier University, 1810); pp. 597-602. In: LaUFer , H. & F rITZ , K. & 54286 Trier, Germany, < [email protected] >; SOWIG , P. ( eds. ): Die amphibien und reptilien Baden- Jürgen GeBHarT , Welfenstraße 13, 86879 Wiedergel- Württembergs. Stuttgart (Ulmer-Verlag). HOHL , C. H. tingen, Germany, < [email protected] >