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Dalmatolacerta oxycephala (SCHLEGEL, 1839)

IUCN Red List - Dalmatolacerta oxycephala - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaLacertidae, Lacertinae, Sauria, Lacertoidea, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Sharp-snouted Rock Lizard
G: Dalmatinische Spitzkopfeidechse
Croatian: oštroglava gušterica 
SynonymLacerta oxycephala SCHLEGEL in DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1839: 235
Lacerta oxycephala — BEDRIAGA 1886: 276
Lacerta oxycephala var. tomasinii SCHREIBER 1891
Lacerta oxycephala — MEHELY 1909: 468
Lacerta oxycephala — BOULENGER 1920: 319
Lacerta oxycephala — MERTENS & MÜLLER 1940
Lacerta oxycephala oxycephala — TADDEI 1950
Lacerta oxycephala dalmatica — TADDEI 1950 (?)
Lacerta oxycephala tomasinii — TADDEI 1950
Lacerta oxycephala — ENGELMANN et al 1993
Lacerta oxycephala — BEJAKOVIC et al. 1996
Archaeolacerta oxycephala — ARRIBAS 1999
Archaeolacerta oxycephala — BISCHOFF 2005
Dalmatolacerta oxycephala — ARNOLD et al. 2007
Lacerta (Dalmatolacerta) oxycephala — SINDACO & JEREMČENKO 2008
Dalmatolacerta oxycephala — GEBHART 2020 
DistributionS Croatia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Montenegro (especially in coastal regions of the Adriatic Sea), Albania

tomasinii: South Dalmatia, Hercegovina

Type locality: Dalmatia  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesSyntypes: MNHN-RA 2738, MNHN-RA 2738A, MNHN-RA 2739 and MNHN-RA 2739A (4 syntypes) 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): Unique among Lacertini in having a particularly sharply pointed snout, the two medial longitudinal scale rows under the tail much more laterally expanded than neighbouring ones, and a pattern of alternating blue-green and blackish bands on the tail (except in melanic animals). Also possessing the following features found only in a minority of other Lacertini: head and body very strongly depressed, usual number of presacral vertebrae 25 in males, medial loop of clavicle always interrupted posteriorly, five upper labial scales in front of subocular, dorsal colouring without longitudinal stripes or series of spots and more or less reticulate even in young, no obvious blue spots on outer ventral scales. Other more widely distributed features include: supraocular osteoderms fenestrated in mature animals, seven premaxillary teeth in adults, inscriptional ribs usually absent, brightly coloured tail in hatchlings, hemipenial microornamentation of crown-shaped tubercles (from Arnold et al. 2007: 39). 
CommentType Species: Lacerta oxycephala Duméril & Bibron, 1839 is the type species of the genus Dalmatolacerta ARNOLD et al. 2007.

Synonymy: Lacerta reticulata BEDRIAGA 1881 may be a synonym of L. oxycephala or related to Apathya cappadocica. See Mehely 1909: 476 for a discussion.

Synonymy: partly fide TIEDEMANN et al. 1994

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
EtymologyNamed after Greek oxys = sharp, quick, acute, keen and Greek kephale = head, apparently for the quick movement or pointed shape of its head.

The genus was named after Dalmatia, one of the four historical regions of Croatia, and Latin lacerta = lizard. 
References
  • Aleksic, I.;Tucic, N. 1994. Changes in the components of phenotypic variance and covariance among traits during ontogeny in the sharp-snouted rock lizard (Lacerta oxycephala). Amphibia-Reptilia 15 (1): 47-61 - get paper here
  • Andrea Villa, Massimo Delfino 2019. A comparative atlas of the skull osteology of European lizards (Reptilia: Squamata). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 187 (3): 829–928 - get paper here
  • ANDRIJCZUK, C. 2009. Bemerkungen zur Reproduktion von Lacerta agilis LINNAEUS, 1758 in einer Falkenzuchtanlage in Niedersachsen. Die Eidechse 20 (3): 81-86. - get paper here
  • Arnold, E.N.; Arribas, O. & Carranza, S. 2007. Systematics of the Palaearctic and Oriental lizard tribe Lacertini (Squamata: Lacertidae: Lacertinae), with descriptions of eight new genera. Zootaxa 1430: 1-86 - get paper here
  • Arribas, O. J. 1999. Phylogeny and relationships of the mountain lizards of Europe and Near East (Archaeolacerta MERTENS, 1921, sensu lato) and their relationships among the eurasian lacertid radiation. Russ. J. Herpetol. 6 (1): 1-22 - get paper here
  • Bejakovic, D.; I. Aleksic , A. Tarasjev , J. Crnobrnja-isailovic, G. Dzukic, M. L. Kalezic 1996. Life history variation in a community of lacertid lizards from the Lake Skadar region (Montenegro). The Herpetological Journal 6 (4): 125-132
  • Bischoff, W. 1984. Lacerta oxycephala - Spitzkopfeidechse. In: Böhme,W. (ed.), Handbuch der Reptilien und Amphibien Europas, Band 2/I., Echsen II (Lacerta). Aula-Verlag Wiesbaden, pp. 301-317
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  • Böhme, Wolfgang; Hendrik Hinkel & Harald Hinkel 2023. Aposematische Schwanzfärbung beim Jungtier von Adolfus africanus (boulenger, 1906) (Squamata: Lacertidae), mit Anmerkungen zur biologischen Bedeutung caudaler Signalfarben. Sauria 45 (1): 43-50
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