Iranolacerta brandtii (DE FILIPPI, 1863)
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Iranolacerta brandtii
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| Higher Taxa | Lacertidae, Lacertinae, Sauria, Lacertoidea, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | Iranolacerta brandtii brandtii (DE FILIPPI 1863) Iranolacerta brandtii esfahanica (NILSON, RASTEGAR-POUYANI, RASTEGAR-POUYANI & ANDRÉN 2003) |
| Common Names | E: Brandt's Persian lizard |
| Synonym | Lacerta brandtii DE FILIPPI 1863: 387 Lacerta brandtii — BOULENGER 1920: 299 Lacerta brandti — ENGELMANN et al 1993 Darevskia brandtii — ARRIBAS Lacerta brandtii — IN DEN BOSCH 1996 Lacerta brandtii — ANDERSON 1999: 231 Lacerta brandtii brandtii — NILSON et al. 2003 Iranolacerta brandtii — ARNOLD et al. 2007 Iranolacerta brandtii — NASRABADI et al. 2017 Iranolacerta brandtii esfahanica (NILSON et al. 2003) Lacerta brandtii esfahanica NILSON, RASTEGAR-POUYANI, RASTEGAR-POUYANI & ANDRÉN 2003 Lacerta (Iranolacerta) brandtii — SINDACO & JEREMČENKO 2008 Iranolacerta brandtii esfahanica — AHMADZADEH et al. 2013 |
| Distribution | NW Iran, S Azerbaijan (only one find was registered in 1880), Turkey (Anatolia) brandtii: NW Iran: E Azerbaijan Province at Maragheh, Silvand Village, 4 Km SE Chalivan, Arabil Province; neighboring Azerbaijan Republic; Type locality: NW Iran esfahanica: Iran (Estafan Province); Type locality: main Zagros mountain Range (3000-3200 m elevation), at Fereydun [= Feredun] Shahr, W of Daran (32°56'N, 50°05'E), (this is just a few kilometers north of terra typica for Lacerta zagrosica) |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Type: MRSN (= MSNTO) R2702 Holotype: GNM Re.ex. 5609, adult male; (Göteborg Natural History Museum; field No. GN 560) collected by the authors on the 11 of June 2000; paratypes: GNM, KUZC [esfahanica] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (genus): Iranolacerta brandtii and I. zagrosica occur in the same geographical area and are placed in the same genus on the basis of their strongly supported sister-relationship in DNA phylogenies (Fig. 2). Morphologically they are very different and share few distinctive features. This is probably functionally associated with their divergent life modes, I. brandtii being ground dwelling while I. zagrosica is found on rock surfaces and in crevices in these. Iranolacerta brandtii is distinctive among Lacertini in having a pair of double-armed macrochromosomes among the usual lacertid diploid complement of 38 chromosomes, but the karyotype of I. zagrosica has not yet been investigated. Among features found only in a minority of other Lacertini, the two members of Iranolacerta share just the following: outer edge of parietal scale not reaching lateral border of parietal table, five upper labial scales in front of subocular, at least eight longitudinal rows of ventral scales, ocelli often present on flanks at least of males. Other more widely distributed shared features include: usual number of presacral vertebrae 26 in males and hemipenial microornamentation of crownshaped tubercles (from Arnold et al. 2007: 47). |
| Comment | Engelmann et al. (1993) give the year of description as “1865”. There are different citations for the original description. Type species: Lacerta brandtii De Filippi, 1863 is the type species of the genus Iranolacerta ARNOLD et al. 2007. Distribution: See map in SMID et al. 2014 for distribution in Iran. |
| Etymology | Named after Johann Friedrich (Fedor Fedorovich) von Brandt (1802-1879), a German zoologist, surgeon, pharmacologist and botanist who emigrated to Russia (1831). He explored Siberia and was founding Director of the Zoological Museum, Academy of Science, St Petersburg. He wrote on many subjects including being co-author of Medical Zoology (2-volume, 1829-1833). Many taxa are named after him, including three birds and five mammals. The genus was named after its occurrence in Iran and Latin “lacerta” = lizard. |
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