Added 5 September 2006.

Podarcis muralis

Subspecies


A large number of subspecies have been attributed to Podarcis muralis in the past, although the numbers have recently been whittled down. The EMBL reptile database recognises just ten, including the nominate muralis: albanica, breviceps, brogniardi, brueggmanni, colosii, maculiventris, merremia, nigriventris and sammichelii. Nevertheless the others turn up both old in older literature and in recent articles such as that of Grano and Grano (see Bibliography).

Scientific Name Common Name Distribution Size Notes
Podarcis
P. m. muralis   Pyrenees, Ligurian Apennines, Alps, Balkans as far as Taygetos Mtns, NW Asia Minor, Rhine valley as far as Holland, S Germany from Upper Bavaria to Dobrudja   Nominate subspecies.
P. m. albanica   S Yugoslavia, Albania, Macedonia, Peloponnesian Greece   In the Mount Parnussus area found up to heights of 1000-1800m (Hellmich) .
P. m. baldasseronii   Italy (Palmaiola island in Tuscan archipelago)   Listed by Grano and Grano, but not by the EMBL database entry.
P. m. breviceps   Calabria, Italy   Found up to heights of 700m (Hellmich) .
P. m. brogniardi   Eifel Region of Holland, Belgium and Germany   Considered a threatened subspecies: see Red List of Endangered Reptiles and Amphibians in Nordrhein-Westfalen by Schlüpman and Geiger.
P. m. bruggemani   Tuscany, Italy: Passau, Germany   Distinguished by olive to grass green dorsum, spots or a reticulum and bright blue lateral markings that are brighter than those of many other subspecies (Hellmich).
P. m. caporiaccoi   Italy (islands of Capraia and Peraiola in the Tuscan archipelago)   Listed by Grano and Grano, but not by the EMBL database entry.
P. m. cerbolensis   Italy (island of Cerboli in the Tuscan archipelago)    
P. m. colosii   Italy (inc. Elba)   No other information available.
P. m. insulanica   Elba and surrounding islands   This subspecies is not listed in the EMBL database entry but is found elsewhere. It is also recorded by Hellmich as being present on Mount Masoncello and Mount Argentario in Tuscany, and Grano & Grano write that a population was also recorded in 1912 from the Tuscan island of La Scarpa but is now extinct there.
P. m. maculiventris   N Italy (from Istrian coast down E coast to Zengg and SE edges of Velebit range)   Distinguished by dark patches on the ventral surface (Hellmich) .
P. m. merremia   Rhine Valley in the region of Bonn (Germany)   No data available.
P. m. muellerlorenzi   Tuscany, Italy: Passau, Germany   Listed by Grano and Grano, but not by the EMBL database entry.
P. m. nigriventris   Rome, Italy   The Roman populations have brightly coloured males with bright green, black-mottled blacks.
P. m. parkeri   Island of San Stefano near Ventotene   Listed by Hellmich, but not by the EMBL database entry.
P. m. paulinii   ?   Quoted by the EMBL database entry as listed in Lurche und Kriechtiere Europas by W E Engelmann et al, 1993. However, I have been unable to find any other references to it.
P. m. rasquinetti   Island(s) of La Deva near Arnao, NW Spain   Listed by Hellmich, but not by the EMBL database entry. The habitat of this subspecies is small, barren, scarcely populated islands off the Cantabrian coast (Castro de Poo, Herbosa, La Deva and Cabo Peñas). See the Spanish site http://mfrbio.topcities.com/animales/reptilia.htm
P. m. roberti   Italy (Formica Grande di Grosseto in the Tuscan archipelago)   Listed by Grano and Grano, but not by the EMBL database entry.
P. m. tyrrhenica   Italy inc. islands of Giglio and Giannutri   Listed by Grano and Grano, but not by the EMBL database entry. Grano and Grano claim it is abundant on Giannutri.
P. m. vinciguerrai   Italy (Gorgona island in Tuscan archipelago)   Listed by Grano and Grano, but not by the EMBL database entry.

Bibliography

Collins Field Guide to Reptiles & Amphibians of Britain & Europe, E N Arnold, J A Burton and D W Ovenden, HarperCollins, London 1978. An invaluable guide, although a few of the taxonomic details are in need of revision.

Echsen [Lizards] 2, Manfred Rogner, Ulmer, Stuttgart 1994. Does not list all Podarcis species but gives useful details on those selected, including husbandry of captives.

Reptiles and Amphibians of Europe, Walter Hellmich, Blandford Press, London 1962. Taxonomy is rather outdated but useful on details of appearance, habitat and subspecies.

Lurche und Kriechtiere Europas, Engelmann, Fritzsche, Günther and Obst, Enke, Leipzig 1986.

Guia de campo de los anfibios y reptiles de la peninsula iberica, islas baleares y canarias [Field Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of the Iberian Peninsula, Balearic and Canary Islands], Alfredo Salvador, Madrid. ISBN: 84-86238-07-2. Excellent book covering all reptiles and amphibians in the aforementioned areas with a section on each species. The one drawback for English speakers is that the text is Spanish. This book is unfortunately now out of print, but well worth purchasing if you can get a second hand copy.

"Surrounded by Water: Reptiles of the Tuscan Archipelago", Mauro & Priscilla Grano, Reptilia 47.

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