Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription or Fee Access

Desert Monitor Lizards (Squamata: Varanidae: Varanus: Psammosaurus) from the Middle East: Further Records of Nesterov’s Desert Monitor, Varanus (P.) nesterovi Böhme, Ehrlich, Milto, Orlov et Scholz, 2015, from Iraq, and Adjacent Localities of Varanus (P.) g. griseus (Daudin, 1803) and Varanus (P.) g. caspius (Eichwald, 1831), with Comments on Biogeography and Taxonomy

Wolfgang Böhme, Soran H. Ahmed, Omar F. Al-Sheikhly, Korsh Ararat, Markus Auer, Farhad A. Khudur, Christian Langner

Abstract


We report on numerous additional records and observations of Varanus nesterovi Böhme et al., 2015, and its chorological relationships (parapatry vs. sympatry) to its close relatives, viz. V. griseus griseus and V. g. caspius. The new distributional data and locality records do not only hint on various threats for V. nesterovi, but document also its parapatry with griseus along a line from east of Mosul to east of Kirkuk, and with caspius near Shiraz. This chorological pattern of V. nesterovi‘s distribution range wedged between the ranges of the taxa griseus and caspius argues, next to morphological and molecular genetic grounds, strongly for full species status of the three taxa involved. We discuss a theoretically possible but questionable occurrence of V. caspius in Europe (south of Baku, Azerbajdzhan) in the framework of fossil varanids from European sites and we comment on the type locality of Psammosaurus caspius Eichwald, 1831.

Keywords


Varanus griseus group; Middle East and Central Asian distribution; biogeography; elevation of taxonomic rank; conservation

Full Text:

PDF

References


Alekperov A. M. (1978), Zemnovodnye i Presmykayushchiesya Azerbaidzhana (Amphibians and Reptiles of Azerbaijan) [in Russian], Elm, Baku.

Ananjeva N. B., Orlov N. L., Khalikov R. G., Darevsky I. S., Ryabov S. A., and Barabanov A. V. (2006), The Reptiles of Northern Eurasia, Pensoft Publishers, Sofia.

Bannikov A. G., Darevsky I. S., Ishchenko W. G., Rustamov A. K., and Shcherbak N. N. (1977), Opredelityel zemnovodnych i presmykayushchiesya fauny SSSR (Guide to the amphibian and reptile fauna of the USSR) [in Russian], Prosveshchenie, Moscow.

Böhme W. (ed.) (1981), Handbuch der Reptilien und Amphibien Europas. Vol. 1. Echsen (Sauria) I, Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft, Wiesbaden.

Böhme W. (2003), “Checklist of the living monitor lizards of the world,” Zool. Verh., 341, 3 – 43.

Böhme W. (2017) “Wiederfund von Nesterovs Wüstenwaran Varanus nesterovi Böhme, Ehrlich, Milto, Orlov & Scholz, 2015 (Squamata: Varanidae) im Irak,” Sauria, 39(3), 57 – 62.

Böhme W., Ehrlich K., Milto K., Orlov N. L., and Scholz S. (2015), “A new species of desert monitor lizard (Varanidae: Varanus: Psammosaurus) from the western Zagros Region (Iraq, Iran),” Russ. J. Herpetol., 22(1), 41 – 52.

Brennan I. G., Lemmon A. R., Moriarty Lemmon E., Portik D. M., Weijola V., Welton L., Donnellan S. C., and Keogh J. S. (2021), “Phylogenomics of monitor lizards and the role of competition in dictating body size disparity,” Syst. Biol., 70(1), 120 – 132.

Černanský A., Syromyatnikova E. V., and Jablonski D. (2020), “The first record of amphisbaenian and anguimorph lizards (Reptilia, Squamata) from the Upper Miocene Solnechnodolsk locality in Russia,” Hist. Biol., 32(7), 869 – 879.

Chirikova M., Zima Yu. A., Pestov M. V., Gubin B. M., and Kovalenko A. V. (2019), “Investigations on distribution, occurrence and threats of Varanus griseus caspius (Eichwald, 1831) at the north-eastern periphery of its geographical range (Kazakhstan),” Russ. J. Herpetol., 26(4), 185 – 200.

De Lisle H. F. (2009), “Catalog of the genus Varanus (Reptilia: Squamata: Varanidae) with new designations of a neotype and a lectotype,” ZooNova, 1(2), 8 – 32.

Doronin I. V., Ananjeva N. B., Barabanov A. V., Milto K. L., and Chayrutnikov I. Z. (2017), “On the type specimens of amphibians and reptiles from the collections of Eduard Eichwald,” in: Proc. of the Anniversary Scientific Session dedicated to the 185th anniversary of the Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia, ZISP, 2017, pp. 77 – 80.

Ehrlich K. (2013), Morphologische Variation, Systematik und Biogeographie des Wüstenwarans, Varanus griseus (Daudin, 1803). MSc Thesis, University of Bonn.

Estes R. (1983), “Sauria terrestria, Amphisbaenia,” in: Handbuch der Paläontologie. Part 10A, G. Fischer Publishing House, Stuttgart – New York.

Georgalis G. L., Villa A., and Delfino M. (2017), “The last European varanid: Demise and extinction of monitor lizards (Squamata: Varanidae) from Europe,” J. Vert. Paleontol., 37(2), Art. e1301946. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2017.1301946.

Ilgaz C., Kumlutas Y., Avci A., Baran I., and Özdemir A. (2008), “The morpholopgy and distribution of Varanus griseus (Daudin, 1803) (Reptilia: Sauria: Varanidae) in southeastern Anatolia,” Russ. J. Herpetol., 15(3), 173 – 178.

Khalaf K. T. (1959), Reptiles of Iraq, with Some Notes on the Amphibians, Ar-Rabitta Press, Baghdad.

Levshakova I. Yu. (1986), “New species of monitor lizard from the Lower Pliocene of Tadzhikistan,” Tr. Zool. Inst. AN SSSR, 157, 101 – 106.

Malakhov D. V. and Chirikova M. A. (2018), “Species distribution model of Varanus griseus caspius (Eichwald, 1831) in Central Asia. An insight to the species’ biology,” Russ. J. Herpetol., 25(3), 195 – 206.

Mertens R. (1942), “Die Familie der Warane (Varanidae). Dritter Teil: Taxonomie,” Abh. Senckenberg. Naturf. Ges., 466, 235 – 391.

Mertens R. (1954), “Über die Rassen des Wüstenwarans (Varanus griseus),” Senckenberg. Biol., 35(5/6), 363 – 357.

Mertens R. (1957), “Liste der Warane Asiens und der Indo-australischen Inselwelt mit systematischen Bemerkungen,” Senckenberg. Biol., 40(5/6), 221 – 240.

Mertens R. (1963), “Liste der rezenten Amphibien und Reptilien. Helodermatidae, Varanidae, Lanthanotidae,” Das Tierreich, 79, iix + 1 – 26.

Mertens R. and Wermuth H. (1960), Die Amphibien und Reptilien Europas. Dritte Liste, nach dem Stand vom 1. Januar 1960, G. Kramer, Frankfurt am Main.

Molnar R. E. (2004), “The long and honorable history of monitors and their kin,” in: E. R. Pianka et al. (eds.), Varanoid Lizards of the World, Indiana Univ. Press, Bloomington, pp. 10 – 67

Pianka E. R., King D. R., and King R. A. (eds.) (2004), Varanoid Lizards of the World, Indiana Univ. Press, Bloomington.

Portik D. M. and Papenfuss T. J. (2012), “Monitors cross the Red Sea: The biogeographic history of Varanus yemenensis,” Mol. Phylogen. Evol., 62, 561 – 565.

Scobel A. (1901), Andrees Allgemeiner Handatlas in 126 Haupt- und 139 Nebenkarten, nebst vollständigem alphabetischem Namensverzeichnis, Velhagen & Klasing, Bielefeld and Leipzig.

Sindaco R. and Jerjomchenko V. K. (2008), The Reptiles of the Western Palearctic. I. Annotated Checklist and Distributional Atlas for Turtles, Crocodiles, Amphisbaenians and Lizards of Europe, North Africa, Middle East and Central Asia, Edizione Belvedere, Latina.

Stanner M. (2004), “Varanus griseus,” in: E. R. Pianka et al. (eds.), Varanoid Lizards of the World, Indiana Univ. Press, Bloomington, pp. 104 – 132

Tiedemann F. and Grillitsch H. (1988), “In memoriam Erich Sochurek (1923 – 1987),” Herpetozoa, 1(2/2), 55 – 64.

Vasilyan D. and Bukhsianidze M. (2020), “The fossil record of the genus Varanus from the southern Caucasus (Armenia, Georgia),” PeerJ, https://peerj.com/articles/8322

Villa A., Abelia J., Alba D. M., Almécija S., Bolet A., Koufos G. D., Knoll F., Luján A. H., Morales J., Robles J. M., Sánchez I. M., and Delfino M. (2018), “Revision of Varanus marathonensis (Squamata, Varanidae) based on historical and new material; morphology, systematics, and paleobiogeography of the European monitor lizards,” PLoS ONE, 13(12), e0207719.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.30906/1026-2296-2023-30-6-518-528

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


You can subscribe to the print or electronic version of the journal on the site of EastView Company. If you have any questions, please write to the email sales@ivis.ru