Lacertidae Oppel, 1811

Kurnaz, Muammer, Şahin, Mehmet Kürşat & Eroğlu, Ali İhsan, 2022, Fig. 3 in Fig. 6 in Parascorpaena poseidon Chou and Liao 2022, Zoological Studies (Zool. Stud.) 61 (44), pp. 1-14 : 5-11

Family: Lacertidae Oppel, 1811 Genus: Darevskia Arribas, 1999

Darevskia salihae sp. nov. Kurnaz, Şahin and Eroğlu, 2022 ( Figs. 4, 5) urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:7FD67D31-1B02-4E82-8FE6-242E57AFD94E

Holotype: An adult female specimen (GUK 1/2021-1), collected from north of Yusufeli, Altıparmak Mountains in Barhal valley, Artvin Province in Eastern Black Sea (Lat: 40.957°N –Long: 41.325°E and about 1531 m a.s.l.) during a field study on 21 July 2021, by Muammer Kurnaz and Mehmet Kürşat Şahin ( Fig. 6).

Paratypes: A female (GUK 1/2021-2), one subadult male (GUK 1/2021-3), one subadult female (GUK 1/2021-4) and unpreserved and unnumbered adult male specimens ( Figs. 7–9).

Diagnosis: Darevskia salihae sp. nov. is small sized (SVL: 51.79–58.98 mm) ( Fig. 4a, b). Rostral and internasal is rarely in contact. Suboculars on both sides reach the mouth, four supralabials in anterior of suboculars. The first supratemporal plates are bigger than the others on each side of the head. All individuals have 4 supraocular plates on each side of the head. The supranasal plate is separated from anterior loreal plates above nostrils in all specimens. The postnasal plate is single on each side in all specimens. Massetericum is large and present in each side of temporal region. The row of supraciliar granules for all individuals is complete. 23–25 gularia between the third inframaxillary and collars. Generally, 6 longitudinal rows of ventral plates, and 24–30 ventral series in a longitudinal row along the belly between collar and preanal; 39–43 (mean 41) smooth dorsal midbody scales. 17–19 femoral pores exist on the right side. 22–25 lamellae exist beneath the 4th toe. The dorsal body scales in the midbody are tiny and flat. Subdigital lamellae in the 4th toe is smooth. The anal plate is singular in all specimens. Tibial scales are not carinated.

Description of Holotype: An adult female having the following morphological features: Head length (12.81 mm) and head width (7.71 mm); the length-width ratio of the head is 1.66. The SVL is 58.98 mm. The tail is regenerated. The ratio of the pileus length (12.14 mm) to width (5.64 mm) is twice higher. Limbs are relatively slender: forelimbs 17.60 mm, about 30% of snout-vent length; hind limbs 25.93 mm, about 1.5 times of forelimbs and 44% of snout-vent length. The head shields are relatively flat. Rostral and frontonasal are not in contact; supranasals block the connection between them with a deep suture. Nasal region is not swollen. Nostril is bordered by postnasal, supranasal, rostral and first supralabial. There are four intact supraoculars. There is a large tympanicum and massetericum. Seven supratemporals, the anterior big and the posteriors smaller and granular-shaped; postorbital present; 6–6 supraciliaries on each side, the anterior-most is the largest, separated from supraoculars by a complete rows of 10–11; 8–8 supralabials on right and left side, respectively, 4–4 anterior to subocular, respectively; 5 infralabials; five pairs of submaxillary shields, the first three pairs in contact; the last two pairs broadly separated; 24 gular scales in a straight median line between the union of the submaxillaries and the central scale of the collar; collar consist of 11 plates with large scales; 43 dorsal scales at midbody, dorsal scales smooth and unkeeled); enlarged ventrals in 6 strait longitudinal series (at the level of the widest transversal row) and 30 transverse rows; anal plate present, the ratio of width (4.74 mm) to length (1.48 mm) is 3.2; seven enlarged circumanal plates in a longitudinal row between anterior cloacal margin and the gap between the two series of femoral pores, one preanal developed with one strongly enlarged plates; 18–18 femoral pores; 23–23 lamellae beneath 4th toe.

Color and Pattern: The coloration of dorsum is generally grayish and light brownish with dark spots (occasionally spotting is reduced). Ventral coloration is white-cream color in adults and not spotted, with a little yellow in subadults with dark spotted margins of ventrales. There are no blue spots in the lateral of ventral in all specimens. The upper head coloration is light brown and dark spotted. The temporal region is dark brown with less maculation.

Variation: The paratypes do not differ substantially from the holotype in the mensural (adult paratypes) or meristic characters (both paratypes), varying slightly in size related measurements ( Table 3).

Geographic Distribution and Habitat: The species is currently known only from the type locality of Yusufeli, Altıparmak Mountains in Barhal valley, Artvin Province in Eastern Black Sea, Turkey. This locality is approximately 40 km north from the known localities of Yusufeli. Darevskia salihae sp. nov. lives in a narrow area in the Barhal valley. The habitat consists of a coniferous forest area ( Fig. 10). The lizards were kept on a big stone near the forest road. The dominant species in the area is Picea orientalis . The specimens were observed between 11:00–15:00 in all field surveys, and no specimens were encountered before or after this time. One possible reason for this might be that the area starts to receive sunlight around 11:00 a.m. and remains in the shade after 3.00 p.m. as the position of the sun changes in these deep valleys. Since the area is at a high altitude above the sea, the thermal capacity of the shaded areas is not sufficient for lizard populations to inhabit, therefore, lizards cannot be observed. The air temperature during this time fluctuated between 23–25°C in all field surveys. The specimens have been distributed in an area of approximately 150 m width. It is observed that Darevskia parvula (Lantz and Cyrén, 1913) populations are present in both edges of the area. However, these two species do not live together in the same rocky zone. Darevskia salihae sp. nov. lives in syntopy with the following reptile species: Zamenis hohenackeri (Strauch, 1873) and Platyceps najadum (Eichwald, 1831) .

Comparisons: The highlighted differences from other close lizard species within this group are as follows: Firstly, while the number of dorsal scales in the middle of the body in D. salihae sp. nov. varies between 39–43, the closest species have at least 50 dorsal scales. Secondly, SVL of D. salihae sp. nov. is smaller than D. rudis and D. valentini . Finally, the coloration patterns of D. salihae sp. nov. are different than the closest species as: i) while blue spots in the margin of ventrale are present in D. rudis , D. valentini and D. portschinskii , D. salihae sp.nov. does not have these blue spots, ii) while the greenish coloration in the dorsum is present in D. rudis , D. valentini and D. portschinskii , D. salihae sp. nov. does not have this greenish coloration, iii) while ventral coloration of adult specimens of D. rudis , D. valentini and D. portschinskii is yellow-cream, D. salihae sp. nov. has white-cream coloration in its ventralia.

Etymology: The name of the new taxon was given in honor of Saliha Şahin, who is the mother of one of the authors, Mehmet Kürşat Şahin, who passed away recently.