Podarcis

Podarcis is a genus of lizards, known colloquially as wall lizards, in the family Lacertidae. Its members look very similar to lizards of the genus Lacerta, to which they were considered to belong until the 1970s. While similar externally and ecologically, Podarcis form a distinct group differing from Lacerta by the construction of the skull and the hemipenis, and by the processes of the caudal vertebrae.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Wall lizards are native to Europe and northern Africa, and most species are restricted to the Mediterranean region. Wall lizards diversified and hybridized during the Messinian salinity crisis.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Italian wall lizard and the common wall lizard have been introduced to North America, where they have become intermediate hosts for some Acuariidae larvae.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Species and subspecies

The genus Podarcis contains the following 27 species which are recognized as being valid.<ref name=RDB/> A few of the many recognized subspecies are also listed here.

• Bocage's wall lizard, Podarcis bocagei Template:Small
• Carbonell's wall lizard, Podarcis carbonelli Template:Small
• Cretan wall lizard, Podarcis cretensis Template:Small
• Erhard's wall lizard, Podarcis erhardii Template:Small
• Maltese wall lizard, Podarcis filfolensis Template:Small
• Skyros wall lizard, Podarcis gaigeae Template:Small
• Podarcis galerai Template:Small
• Podarcis guadarramae Template:Small
• Iberian wall lizard, Podarcis hispanicus Template:Small
• Crimean wall lizard, Podarcis ionicus Template:Small
• Pontian wall lizard, Podarcis latastei Template:Small
• Podarcis levendis Template:Small
• Lilford's wall lizard, Podarcis lilfordi Template:Small
  • Ratas Island lizard, Podarcis lilfordi rodriquezi Template:Small, extinct, 1950
• Catalan wall lizard, Podarcis liolepis Template:Small
• Podarcis lusitanicus Template:Small
• Dalmatian wall lizard, Podarcis melisellensis Template:Small
• Milos wall lizard, Podarcis milensis Template:Small
• Common or European wall lizard, Podarcis muralis Template:Small
• Peloponnese wall lizard, Podarcis peloponnesiacus Template:Small
• Ibiza wall lizard, Podarcis pityusensis Template:Small
• Aeolian wall lizard, Podarcis raffonei Template:Small
• Italian wall lizard, Podarcis siculus Template:Small
  • Santo Stefano lizard, Podarcis siculus sanctistephani Template:Small, extinct, 1965
• Balkan wall lizard, Podarcis tauricus Template:Small
• Tyrrhenian wall lizard, Podarcis tiliguerta Template:Small
• Andalusian wall lizard, Podarcis vaucheri Template:Small
• Podarcis virescens Template:Small
• Sicilian wall lizard, Podarcis waglerianus Template:Small

Nota bene: A binomial authority or trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species or subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Podarcis.

Further reading

• Wagler J (1830). Natürliches System der AMPHIBIEN, mit vorangehender Classification der SÄUGTHIERE und VÖGEL. Ein Beitrag zur vergleichenden Zoologie. Munich, Stuttgart and Tübingen: J.G. Cotta. vi + 354 pp. + one plate. (Podarcis, new genus, p. 155). (in German and Latin).