Podarcis is a genus of , 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.
Species and subspecies
The genus
Podarcis contains the following 27 species which are recognized as being valid.
[ A few of the many recognized subspecies are also listed here.
]
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Bocage's wall lizard, Podarcis bocagei
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Carbonell's wall lizard, Podarcis carbonelli
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Cretan wall lizard, Podarcis cretensis
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Erhard's wall lizard, Podarcis erhardii
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Maltese wall lizard, Podarcis filfolensis
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Skyros wall lizard, Podarcis gaigeae
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Podarcis galerai
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Podarcis guadarramae
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Iberian wall lizard, Podarcis hispanicus
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Crimean wall lizard, Podarcis ionicus
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Pontian wall lizard, Podarcis latastei
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Podarcis levendis
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Lilford's wall lizard, Podarcis lilfordi
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Ratas Island lizard, Podarcis lilfordi rodriquezi , extinct, 1950
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Catalan wall lizard, Podarcis liolepis
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Podarcis lusitanicus
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Dalmatian wall lizard, Podarcis melisellensis
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Milos wall lizard, Podarcis milensis
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Podarcis muralis, Podarcis muralis
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Peloponnese wall lizard, Podarcis peloponnesiacus
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Ibiza wall lizard, Podarcis pityusensis
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Aeolian wall lizard, Podarcis raffonei
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Italian wall lizard, Podarcis siculus
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Santo Stefano lizard, Podarcis siculus sanctistephani , extinct, 1965
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Balkan wall lizard, Podarcis tauricus
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Tyrrhenian wall lizard, Podarcis tiliguerta
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Andalusian wall lizard, Podarcis vaucheri
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Podarcis virescens
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Sicilian wall lizard, Podarcis waglerianus
Nota bene: A binomial authority or Trinomen in parentheses indicates that the species or subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Podarcis.
Further reading
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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).
