First record of Anatololacerta pelasgiana (Mertens, 1959) in mainland Greece: another new species in Athens

By

Christopoulos, Apostolos
Pantagaki, Charikleia-Foteini
Poulakakis, Nikos
Pafilis, Panayiotis

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2022-12-14

Original Publication

Herpetozoa

Volume

35

Pages

239--244

Subjects

introduction , lizard , Mediterranean , phylogenetic analysis , Urban ecology

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/herpetozoa.35.e97649

 

Abstract

Urban habitats receive an increasing number of species due to anthropogenic activities, mainly transportations. Here, we report a new addition to the herpetofauna of Athens (Greece): a small population of the Pelasgian wall lizard (Anatololacerta pelasgiana) was found in a suburb of the Athenian metropolitan area. The species normally occurs in southwestern Anatolia and southeastern Aegean islands and this is the first record in the Greek mainland. Allochthonous species that successfully colonize cities raise new challenges to urban ecology.