''Iberolacerta'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of lizards in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Lacertidae. The genus contains at least eight described

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

, which are mainly found in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. ''Iberolacerta horvathi'' (Horvath's rock lizard) has a wider geographic

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

, being distributed in

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...

Distribution

The species of ''Iberolacerta'' are distinct and mainly found in the western Europe mountain ranges.13. Arnold, E. N., O. Arribas, and S. Carranza (March 2007). “Systematics of the Palaearctic and Oriental lizard tribe Lacertini (Squamata: Lacertidae: Lacertinae), with descriptions of eight new genera”. ''Zootaxa'' 1430: 44-66. (paperback). ''Iberolacerta'' species found in Germany could have possibly been caused by human introduction, and are thus controversial. For example, ''I. horvathi'' had been encountered in southern Germany, but has not been encountered thereafter.

Morphological features

This group of lizards contains certain features in common, including: a depressed head and body; 7–9 premaxillary teeth; ~26 presacral vertebrae (for males); inscriptional ribs; tail brightly colored in hatchlings. Some of the lizards in this genus contains specific features such as: rostral and frontonasal scales; one postanal scale; supranasal and anterior loreal scales; 36 or less macro chromosomes; egg-laid embryos somewhat developed. Small species are up to ~85 mm long, but all species have shown to have females are larger than the male.

Skull

The skull contains 7-9 premaxillary teeth, no pterygoid teeth, and slender nasal process. In addition there is a separation between the frontal bone and postorbital bone.

Post-cranial skeleton

''Iberolacerta'' contains presacral vertebrae that differ upon sex. Males presacral vertebrae can range from 25-26, white the larger females presacral vertebrae can range from 26-29. Both sex also contain an average of 6 posterior presacral vertebrae with relatively short ribs. The tail vertebrae can contain the common A-type pattern or less common B-type pattern.

Coloring

The coloring on the dorsal side contains stripes, bands, and spots near or on where the vertebral column is located. The coloring on the ventral side are white, light yellow, deep orange, or green. The tails of juveniles are often bright green or blue.

Chromosome counts

Contains a diploid (2n) number of autosomes ranging from 36 and below. The sex chromosomes come in two different types depending on number of Z chromosomes that are species specific: ZW-type or Z1Z2W-type. The chromosomes also can contain nucleolar organizer in large macrochromosomes, termed L-type, or in a medium macrochromosome, termed M-type.

Ecology

These lizards tend to be found as solid surface rock dwellers but can be found associated with small loose stones.

Species

* ''Iberolacerta aranica'' (

Aran rock lizard The Aran rock lizard (''Iberolacerta aranica'') is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. Geographic range ''I. aranica'' is found in a small area of the central Pyrenees on the Spanish-French border. It lives only in Mauberme massif, inc ...

) :''I. aranica'' is located in the central Pyrenean Mountains of France and Spain.Valentin Pérez-Mellado, Marc Cheylan, Patrick Haffner. 2009. ''Iberolacerta aranica''. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. . Downloaded on 23 November 2014 The populations of this species are due to the rocky alpine habitats. The population trend of this species is decreasing.Image.
* ''Iberolacerta aurelioi'' (

Aurelio's rock lizard Aurelio's rock lizard (''Iberolacerta aurelioi'') is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is endemic to the Iberian peninsula. Etymology The specific name, ''aurelioi'', is in honor of Aurelio Arribas, the father of the ori ...

) :''I. aurelioi'' is located in the Pyrenees Mountains on the border of Andorra, France, and Spain.Valentin Pérez-Mellado, Marc Cheylan, Iñigo Martínez-Solano. 2009. ''Iberolacerta aurelioi''. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. . Downloaded on 23 November 2014 This species has a population size that ranges from approximately 10-200 individuals. The population trend for this species is decreasing.Image.
* ''Iberolacerta bonnali'' (

Pyrenean rock lizard The Pyrenean rock lizard (''Iberolacerta bonnali'') is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is endemic to the Pyrenees, where it occurs at high altitudes and is only active in summer. Etymology and taxonomy The specific name ...

) :''I. bonnali'' is located in the central Pyrenean Mountains of France and Spain.Valentin Pérez-Mellado, Marc Cheylan, Iñigo Martínez-Solano. 2009. ''Iberolacerta bonnali''. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. . Downloaded on 23 November 2014. Populations are present in suitable habitats and fragmented in unsuitable habitats. The population trend of this species is stable.Image.
* ''

Iberolacerta cyreni ''Iberolacerta cyreni'', commonly known as the Cyren's rock lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is endemic to central Spain and is currently listed as endangered by the IUCN due to global warming. ''I. cyreni'' ...

'' (Cyren's rock lizard) :''I. cyreni'' is located in the central mountains of Spain in the Sierra de Bejar, Sierra de Gredos, La Serrota and Sierra del Guadarrama.Valentin Pérez-Mellado, Marc Cheylan, Iñigo Martínez-Solano. 2009. ''Iberolacerta cyreni''. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. . Downloaded on 23 November 2014. Populations of this species are common in particular areas. The population trend for this species is decreasing.Image.
* ''Iberolacerta galani'' (

Leonese rock lizard The Leonese rock lizard (''Iberolacerta galani''), also known as Galan's rock lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is indigenous to Spain. Geographic range The species ''I. galani'' is endemic to the Montes de Le� ...

) :''I. galani'' is located in the Spain regions of Sierra Segundera, Sierra de la Cabrera, Sierra del Eje or Peña Trevinca and Sierra del TelenoOscar.Arribas. 2009. ''Iberolacerta galani''. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. . Downloaded on 23 November 2014. The populations of these species are copious. The population trend of this species is unknown.Image.
* ''Iberolacerta horvathi'' (

Horvath's rock lizard Horvath's rock lizard (''Iberolacerta horvathi'') is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is endemic to Europe. Until recently, this species was assigned to the same genus as the morphologically similar sand lizard (''Lacerta ...

) :''I. horvathi'' is located in the mountain ranges of southern Austria, northeastern Italy, western Slovenia, and western Croatia.Milan Vogrin, Wolfgang Böhme, Pierre-André Crochet, Hans Konrad Nettmann, Roberto Sindaco, Antonio Romano. 2009. ''Iberolacerta horvathi''. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. . Downloaded on 23 November 2014. Populations of this species are locally copious. The population trend for this species is stable.Image.
* ''

Iberolacerta martinezricai ''Iberolacerta martinezricai'', Martinez-Rica's rock lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. Etymology The specific name, ''martinezricai'', is in honor of Spanish herpetologist Juan Pablo Martinez-Rica.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Mi ...

'' (Martinez-Rica's rock lizard) :''I. martinezricai'' is located in the Spain region of Sierra Segundera, Salamanca.Valentin Pérez-Mellado, Marc Cheylan, Iñigo Martínez-Solano. 2009. ''Iberolacerta martinezricai''. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. . Downloaded on 23 November 2014. The populations of these species are very rare since most populations are located at the peak of the mountain. The population trend of this species is decreasing.Image.
* ''Iberolacerta monticola'' (

Iberian rock lizard The Iberian rock lizard (''Iberolacerta monticola'') is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is endemic to Portugal and Spain. Its natural habitats are mountain forests, shrubland, rivers and rocky areas. It is threatened by h ...

) :''I. monticola'' is located in the Spain region of the Cantabrian Mountains and Galicia, also located in the central Portugal region of Serra de Estrela.Valentin Pérez-Mellado, Marc Cheylan, Iñigo Martínez-Solano. 2009. ''Iberolacerta monticola''. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. . Downloaded on 23 November 2014. The populations of these species occur when habitats are suitable, although they are very localized. The population trend of this species is decreasing.Image.

Evolution

Speciation theory caused by mountain ranges and Pleistocene glacial cycles: It is believed that many of the Iberolacerta genus had led to many speciation seen today because of the Pleistocene glacial cycles and Holocene habitat fragmentation.Crochet PA, Chaline O, Surget-Groba Y, Debain C, Cheylan M (2004) "Speciation in mountains: phylogeography and phylogeny of the rock lizards genus Iberolacerta (Reptilia: Lacertidae)". Mol Phylogenet Evol 30: 860–866 For example, ''I. monticola'' has been studied to determine its cause of speciation. There was an analysis of 17 ''I. monticola'' population's mitochondrial DNA sequences, at a control region and cytochrome b loci, throughout the northwestern quadrant of the Iberian Peninsula.Remon, N., P. Galan, M. Villa, O. Arribas and H. Naveira (June 2013). “Causes and evolutionary consequences of population subdivision of an Iberian mountain lizard, Iberolacerta monticola”. PLoS One 8 (6): 1-15. . . The results these researchers data gathered lead to the conclusion that correlated to a “refugia within refugia” model since the comparative phylogeographic analyses had shown consistent genetic subdivisions patterns. This suggested that the mountain ranges could potentially be the cause of the descending species of ''Iberolacerta''. It was also hypothesized that the Holocene epoch then represented a long-term survival inflexion point for the derived species not to survive the preceding glacial cycle.

Reproduction

During copulation the male bites and latches to the flanks of the females, allowing the fertilization of ~3–10 eggs. In newly laid eggs the embryos are somewhat developed, and range depending on species from ~23 to 36 days until hatching.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q137706 Lizard genera Taxa named by Oscar J. Arribas Taxonomy articles created by Polbot