Lacerta sp.

Sindaco, Roberto & Razzetti, Edoardo, 2021, An updated check-list of Italian amphibians and reptiles, Natural History Sciences 8 (2), pp. 35-46 : 41

45 Lacerta sp. - Based on genetic evidence, Marzhan et al. (2016) assigned three specimens from Pordenone and Udine provinces to the ‘Adriatic’ (or ‘Western Balkan’) lineage. Joss et al. (2021) included in this lineage also an enigmatic specimen from Calambrone (Pisa, Tuscany). According to Jauss et al. (2021) “the lineages [of the L. viridis complex] have reached the level of distinct taxa, but to determine whether they have become fully independent lineages on the species level requires further research”. In both the mentioned studies the Adriatic clade seems closer to L. bilineata than to L. viridis . Therefore L. viridis s.s. is not a member of the Italian fauna, and at present the status of Italian populations formerly assigned to L. viridis is uncertain. The possible available name for the Adriatic lineage are L. v. istriensis Werner 1897 or L. v. intermedia Méhelÿ 1905 (Marzhan et al., 2016).