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Timon tangitanus (BOULENGER, 1887)

IUCN Red List - Timon tangitanus - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaLacertidae, Lacertinae, Sauria, Lacertoidea, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesG: Marokko-Perleidechse, Westliche Berbereidechse 
SynonymLacerta ocellata var. tangitana BOULENGER 1887: 13
Lacerta ocellata var. tangitana — BOULENGER 1889: 303
Lacerta ocellata pater var. tangitana — FEJERVARY 1927
Timon tangitanus — SCHLÜTER 2003
Timon tangitanus — SCHLÜTER 2004: 44
Timon tangitanus — MATEO et al. 2005
Lacerta (Timon) tangitana — MONTORI et al. 2005
Timon tangitanus — ARNOLD et al. 2007
Lacerta (Timon) pater tangitanus — SINDACO & JEREMČENKO 2008
Timon tangitanus — AHMADZADEH et al. 2016 
DistributionMorocco (mediteranian regions), mountains of NW part of Algeria, isolatated populations higher altitudes in Saharian Atlas (Ibel Ksel), and Seguiat et Hamra; Spain

Type locality: "Tangiers"(=Tanger)  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesSyntypes: unlocated; assumed to be in BMNH, but not in BMNH fide P. Campbell, pers. comm., 9 July 2014. 
DiagnosisUnfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 596 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentDistribution: Now extinct in Western Sahara according to Geniez et al. 2004, although Mateo et al. 2004 found isolated populations there. See AHMADZADEH et al. 2016: Fig. 1 for a map.

Boulenger 1889 does not provide a description but he does provide a list of scale counts for 11 specimens (scales across midbody, transverse rows of ventrals, gular scales, femoral pores), whether they are diagnostic or not. 
EtymologyApparently named after the type locality, Tangiers. 
References
  • Abreu, J. M. Salvi, D., Perera, A. and Harris, D. J. 2020. Mitochondrial lineages or discrete species? Assessing diversity within Timon tangitanus (Lacertidae) using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences. Amphibia-Reptilia 41: 123-132. - get paper here
  • Ahmadzadeh, Faraham; Morris Flecks, Miguel A. Carretero, Wolfgang Böhme, Flora Ihlow, Paschalia Kapli, Andreia Miraldo and Dennis Rödder 2016. Separate histories in both sides of the Mediterranean: phylogeny and niche evolution of ocellated lizards. Journal of Biogeography; DOI: 10.1111/jbi.12703 - get paper here
  • Boudajbir, C., Martínez-Freiría, F., Brahim, C., Fahd, S., & Brito, J. C. 2025. Atlas of amphibians and reptiles in the Moroccan section of the Mediterranean Intercontinental Biosphere Reserve: distribution patterns and habitat use. Basic and Applied Herpetology - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G. A. 1887. Catalogue of the lizards in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) III. Lacertidae, Gerrhosauridae, Scincidae, Anelytropsidae, Dibamidae, Chamaeleontidae. London: 575 pp. - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G. A. 1889. On the reptiles and batrachians obtained in Morocco by M. Henry Vaucher. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (6) 3: 303-307 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, George A. 1891. Catalogue of the reptiles and batrachians of Barbary (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia), based chiefly upon the notes and collections made in 1880-1884 by M. Fernand Lataste. Tr. Zool. Soc. 13: 93-164
  • FEJERVARY De, G.J. 1927. On a small collection of Reptiles from Morocco. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (9) 20: 512-518 - get paper here
  • Geniez, P.; Mateo, J.A.; Geniez, M. & Pether, J. 2004. The amphibians and reptiles of the Western Sahara (former Spanish Sahara) and adjacent regions. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, 228 pp. [reviewed in Reptilia GB 44: 81]
  • GROSSMANN, W. 2019. Observations on a lizard community in the High Atlas, Morocco Sauria 41 (1): 30 - 38 - get paper here
  • Martínez del Mármol, Gabriel; D. James Harris, Philippe Geniez, Philip de Pous, and Daniele Salvi 2019. Amphibians and Reptiles of Morocco. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 478 pp - get paper here
  • Mateo, J. A., A. Santana & P. Geniez 2004. Moroccan ocellated lizard in Western Sahara; answer to an old enigma. Herpetozoa 17 (3/4): 187-189 [2004] - get paper here
  • Mediani, Mohamed; José Carlos Brito, Soumia Fahd 2015. Atlas of the amphibians and reptiles of northern Morocco: updated distribution and patterns of habitat selection. Basic and Applied Herpetology 29: - get paper here
  • Montori, Albert; Gustavo A. Llorente, Miguel Ángel Alonso-Zarazaga, Óscar Arribas, Enrique Ayllón, Jaime Bosch, Salvador Carranza, Miguel Ángel Carretero, Pedro Galán, Mario García-París, David James Harris, Javier Lluch, Rafael Márquez, José Antonio 2005. Lista patrón actualizada de la herpetofauna española. Asociación Herpetológica Española, 45 pp.
  • Pérez I de Lanuza G, Font E 2016. The evolution of colour pattern complexity: selection for conspicuousness favours contrasting within-body colour combinations in lizards. J Evol Biol. doi: 10.1111/jeb.12835 - get paper here
  • Rouag R, Ziane N, De Sousa M 2024. A tentative list of reptilian fauna of Algeria and their conservation status. Biodiversity Data Journal 12: e120471 - get paper here
  • Rovatsos, Michail; Jasna Vukić, Marie Altmanová, Martina Johnson Pokorná, Jiří Moravec and Lukáš Kratochvíl 2016. Conservation of sex chromosomes in lacertid lizards. Molecular Ecology, DOI: 10.1111/mec.13635 - get paper here
  • Schlüter, U. 2003. Lacertiden aus dem Reraïa-Hochtal und Toubkal-Nationalpark im Hohen Atlas von Marokko. Die Eidechse 14 (3): 94-104 - get paper here
  • Schlüter, U. 2004. Die Herpetofauna des Mittleren Atlas von Marokko. Reptilia (Münster) 9 (45): 42-49 - get paper here
  • Sindaco, R. & Jeremcenko, V.K. 2008. The reptiles of the Western Palearctic. Edizioni Belvedere, Latina (Italy), 579 pp. - get paper here
 
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