OGH Herpetozoa Austrian Herpetological Society Herpetozoa 35: 239-244 (2022) DOI 10.3897/herpetozoa.35.e97649 First record of Anatololacerta pelasgiana (Mertens, 1959) in mainland Greece: another new species in Athens Apostolos Christopoulos', Charikleia-Foteini Pantagaki*?, Nikos Poulakakis??*, Panayiotis Pafilis'® 1. Section of Zoology and Marine Biology, Department of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupolis, 15784 Athens, Greece a FF WN https://zoobank. org/DC996BE 2-22C 2-43 D6-8050-26E9C 28 1BDF 2 Corresponding author: Apostolos Christopoulos (lJaniusapo@yahoo.gr) Department of Biology, School of Sciences and Engineering, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece Natural History Museum of Crete, School of Sciences and Engineering, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB), Foundation for Research and Technology — Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, Greece Zoological Museum, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, Panepistimioupolis, 15784 Athens, Greece Academic editor: Peter Mikuli¢ek # Received 16 November 2022 # Accepted 2 December 2022 Published 14 December 2022 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. Key Words introduction, lizard, Mediterranean, phylogenetic analysis, urban ecology The lacertid genus Anatololacerta comprises five species according to the latest phylogenetic review of the taxon (Karakasi et al. 2021). Three of them occur both in Tur- key and in some southeastern Greek islands: A. anatolica (Werner, 1900) in Samos and Ikaria, A. finikensis (Eiselt & Schmidtler, 1986) in Psomi islet and A. pelasgiana (Mertens, 1959) in Kastelorizo, Rhodes, Symi and sur- rounding islets (Fig. 1; Karakasi et al. 2021; Uetz et al. 2021). The Pelasgian rock lizard is a small bodied (SVL up to 65 mm) diurnal species that feeds on invertebrates, mainly insects (Valakos et al. 2008). The species prefers rocky areas, cultivated lands with dry-stone walls, and light deciduous forests, while it also frequents small hu- man settlements and ruins where it can be seen climbing on the walls (Lymberakis et al. 2018). On 27 November 2020, we visited the western outskirts of Athens for a herpetological survey. The broader area, known collectively as Elaionas (EAaim@vac, literally ol- ive grove), the historical part of Athens where olive trees were cultivated since the antiquity 1s nowadays a degraded district hosting small industries and logistics companies together with abandoned buildings and uncultivated lands (Metaxas et al. 2007). At approximately 14:15 (air tem- perature around 18 °C), we observed a single lacertid liz- ard running and hiding under some garbage at the side of a stream (37.974649°N, 23.688932°E; 18 m a.s.l.). After a while, the lizard emerged from its hiding place and was photographed. We did not encounter any other individuals and thus we returned to the spot a week later (6 December 2020). This time we found eight lizards and captured one Copyright Apostolos Christopoulos et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribu- } PENSUFT. tion License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. 240 Apostolos Christopoulos et al.: First record of Anatololacerta pelasgiana in Athens (Greece) Bulgaria Greece . 20.0 22.5 25.0 Turkey ZED 30.0 Figure 1. Known distribution of Anatololacerta pelasgiana (species range in gray). An arrow points to the new record in western Athens. adult female (Fig. 2; SVL: 62 mm, tail length: 149 mm, body weight: 4.9 g). One month later (6 January 2021) we visited the spot again and counted 23 individuals (10 males, eight females, five juveniles) within a distance of about 300 meters along the stream. The presence of juve- niles indicates that lizards do reproduce in this locality. Based on the morphological characters and the color- ation pattern of the captured individual and the ones we observed in the spot, we concluded that the lizards be- longed to the genus Anatololacerta. To identify the spe- cles, we removed a tail tip (10 mm) from the captured female and sent it to the Molecular Systematics Lab of the Natural History Museum of Crete (NHMC) of the University of Crete. The captured specimen was depos- ited in the Herpetological Collection of the Zoological Museum of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (ZMUA 8624). Total genomic DNA was extracted from the above specimen using a standard ammonium acetate protocol (Bruford et al. 1998). A fragment (~ 430 bp) of the mi- tochondrial gene (mtDNA) encoding for cytochrome b (cyt 5), which is one of the most commonly amplified gene markers in the Lacertidae, was amplified through PCR using the primers GLUDG and CB2 (Palumbi 1996), following the conditions described in Karakasi et al. (2021). Double stranded sequencing was carried out using the Big-Dye Terminator v.3.1 Cycle Sequencing kit herpetozoa.pensoft.net on an ABI3730 automated sequencer (CEMIA, Larissa, Greece), following the manufacturer’s protocol and us- ing the same primers as in PCR. Sequences were edited using CodonCode Aligner v.9.0.1 (CodonCode Corpora- tion). The identity and authenticity of the produced se- quence was evaluated with a BLAST search in the NCBI genetic database (http://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Blast.cgi). This search revealed that the produced cyt b sequence had high similarity with other available cyt b sequences of Anatololacerta pelasgiana in GenBank (E-value = 0). To confirm the above results, we carried out a phyloge- netic analysis using the data from Karakasi et al. (2021), which is the most recent and complete dataset including all species of Anatololacerta from the eastern Mediter- ranean region (for more details see Table 1). The align- ment of the sequences was performed using the ClustalW implemented in MEGAX v.10.2.2 (Kumar et al. 2018), whereas the best model of nucleotide substitution was se- lected using the PartitionFinder (PF) v.2.1 (Guindon et al. 2010; Lanfear et al. 2012; Lanfear et al. 2016). The pair- wise distances (p-distances) were estimated in MEGAX. Bayesian Inference (BI) was performed in MrBayes v.3.2.7 (Ronquist et al. 2012), with four runs and eight chains for each run. Each chain ran for 10’ generations sampling every 10° generations. Several MCMC conver- gence diagnostics were used to check for convergence and stationarity following the manual’s instructions. The Herpetozoa 35: 239-244 (2022) 241 first 25% trees were discarded as burn-in, as a measure to sample from the stationary distribution and avoid the pos- sibility of including random, sub-optimal trees. A major- ity rule consensus tree was then produced from the pos- terior distribution of trees, and the posterior probabilities were calculated as the percentage of samples recovering any particular clade. Posterior probabilities >0.95 indi- cate statistically significant support (Huelsenbeck and Ronquist 2001). In total, 408 base pairs (bp) of cyt b sequence were obtained from the examined specimen collected in Ath- ens (Accession number in GenBank: OP831897). Pair- wise genetic distances (p-distance) between the speci- men from Athens and all the others varied from 0 (from A. pelasgiana from the island of Rhodes) to 9.8% (from A. ibrahimi from Turkey), but were above 14.6% when compared with the outgroup taxa (Phoenicolacerta, Iberolacerta, Lacerta, Parvilacerta, and Hellenolacerta). The best-fit nucleotide substitution model selected by PF was HKY+I+G. In BI (harmonic mean -/nl= -4844.13), the MCMC convergence diagnostics did not provide any clues of non-convergence and indicated stationarity. Considering the Anatololacerta specimen is from Ath- ens, it forms a highly supported clade [posterior proba- bility (p.p.) = 1.00] with A. pelasgiana from Dodekanisa (Rhodes, Symi) and Turkey, showing closer proximity with the specimens of A. pelasgiana from Rhodes (Fig. 3). The new Athenian home suits the Pelasgian lizard well. The stream along the banks of which we found the small population is a degraded torrent stream’s bed bounded between two stone-built walls, approximately 2.5 me- ters high, comprising plenty of shelters and basking sites (Fig. 4). The stream is flowing most of the year, attracting insects and thus providing invertebrate food to the lizards. The vegetation is relatively sparse, with dominant species the Jerusalem thorn (Parkinsonia aculeata), black poplar (Populus nigra), castor bean (Ricinus communis), tree of heaven (Ai/anthus altissima) and fig tree (Ficus carica). Though A. pelasgiana has been reported twice in the past to expand its range on other islands such as Kasos (Kor- nilios and Thanou 2016) and Kastelorizo (Kalaentzis et al. 2018), this is the first time it has settled in a mainland site within a large city. Though we don’t know the exact origin of the new population (based on the Bayesian Inference tree we hy- pothesize that it comes from Rhodes), we presume that the Pelasgian lizards arrived in Athens through one of the many transport and logistics companies that are located in the area, receiving and shipping goods to and from des- tinations all over the country. Reptilian unintentional hu- man-mediated transportation is a well-known avenue of new introductions (Krysko and MacKenzie-Krysko 2016; Santos et al. 2018; Medina et al. 2019; Bisbal-Chinesta et al. 2020; Oskyrko et al. 2020), a case particularly com- mon in large metropolitan centers (Tiatragul et al. 2020; Vaughn et al. 2021). Settling in Athens makes A. pelasgi- ana the eighth lizard species reported to have established population in the Greek capital city during the last seven years (Podarcis siculus —-Adamopoulou 2015; Chamaeleo chamaeleon — Dimaki et al. 2015; Podarcis muralis — Karameta and Pafilis 2017; Podarcis peloponnesiacus — Hedman et al. 2017; Podarcis vaucheri — Spilani et al. 2018; Yarentola mauritanica — Strachinis and Pafilis 2018; Algyroides nigropunctatus — Deimezis-Tsikoutas et al. 2020). The adaptations in urban life that these new populations will adopt and their possible future interac- tions is a fascinating topic inviting further research (Sol et al. 2013; Johnson and Munshi-South 2017). herpetozoa.pensoft.net 242 Apostolos Christopoulos et al.: First record of Anatololacerta pelasgiana in Athens (Greece) Iberolacerta aranica Iberolacerta horvathi Athens Ape76 MW087480 | Ape75 Mw087489 AR978/2 LN611220 | Island of Ape74 MWO087487__| R978/4. Ln611222 Rhodes R978/3 LN611221 CN-5 GQ142137 Ape95 MWO087649 Ape94 MW087648 Turkey Ape91 MWO087609 Ape83 MW087533 R977-1 LN611224 Ape67 MW087493 Ape66 MW087492 Ape68 MW087494 A, pelasgiana Island of Symi 1.00 ° ° e A. ibrahimi A. finikensis 0.86 A, danfordi 0.27 0.65 A. anatolica 1.00 Hellenolacerta graeca | Hellenolacerta_graeca 2 Phoenicolacerta_troodica 1 Phoenicolacerta_troodica 2 Parvilacerta parva 0.9 0.61 Lacerta agilis 0.03 Figure 3. Bayesian Inference tree based on cyt b sequences. The posterior probabilities are given above the branches. Figure 4. The habitat where the Pelasgian wall lizards were found in Profitis Daniil Stream. herpetozoa.pensoft.net Herpetozoa 35: 239-244 (2022) 243 Table 1. List of specimens examined in the present study with their corresponding taxon names, voucher numbers, country/region/ locality names (detailed only where available), reference of the study in which they were previously used (if any), coordinates given in decimal degrees and accession numbers in GenBank. Clade assignment based on Karakasi et al. (2021). Code Clade 1 Clade B 2 Clade A 3 Clade A 4 Clade A 5 Clade A 6 Clade A 7 Clade A 8 Clade A 9 Clade A 10 Clade A 11 Clade A 12 Clade B 13 Clade B 14 Clade B 15 Clade B 16 Clade B 17 Clade B 18 Clade B 19 Clade B 20 Clade B 21 Clade B 22 Clade B 23 Clade B 24 Clade B 25 Clade B 26 Clade B De: Clade C 28 Clade C 29 Clade C 30 Clade C 31 Clade D 32 Clade D 33 Clade D 34 Clade D 35 Clade D 36 Clade D 37 Clade D 38 Clade D 39 Clade E 40 Clade E 41 Clade E 42 Clade E 43 Clade E 44 Clade E 45 Clade E 46 Outgroup 47 Outgroup 48 Outgroup 49 Outgroup 50 Outgroup 51 Outgroup 52 Outgroup 53 Outgroup References Adamopoulou C (2015) First Species A. pelasgiana . anatolica . anatolica . anatolica anatolica anatolica . anatolica . anatolica . anatolica Ret Bis Fah Gate Rt . anatolica A. anatolica A. pelasgiana A. pelasgiana A. pelasgiana A. pelasgiana A, pelasgiana A. pelasgiana A. pelasgiana A, pelasgiana A. pelasgiana A. pelasgiana A, pelasgiana A. pelasgiana A. pelasgiana A. pelasgiana A. pelasgiana A. finikensis A. finikensis A. finikensis A. finikensis A. ibrahimi . ibrahimi . ibrahimi . ibrahimi . ibrahimi . ibrahimi . ibrahimi Ba >A wR A A a Aw? . ibrahimi A. danfordi A. danfordi A. danfordi A. danfordi A. danfordi A. danfordi A. danfordi Iberolacerta aranica Iberolacerta horvathi Hellenolacerta graeca | Hellenolacerta graeca 2 Phoenicolacerta troodica | Phoenicolacerta troodica 2 Lacerta agilis Parvilacerta parva record Locality Athens, Greece Turkey: Kaz Dag: Gure Turkey: Kaz Dag: Gure Turkey: Izmir: Karagol Turkey: Aydin: Pasayaylasi Turkey: Aydin: Pasayaylasi Turkey: Aydin: Pasayaylasi Greece: Samos Greece: Samos Greece: Ikaria isl. Greece: Ikaria isl. Greece: Sym1 isl. Greece: Sym1 isl. Greece: Sym1 isl. Greece: Sym1 isl. Greece: Rodos isl. Greece: Rodos isl. Greece: Rodos isl. Greece: Rodos isl. Greece: Rodos isl. Greece: Rodos isl. Greece: Rodos isl. Turkey: Antalya: Elmali Turkey: Antalya: Korkuteli Turkey: Denizli: Tavas Turkey: Denizli: Tavas Greece: Kastellorizo: Psomi Turkey: Antalya: near Sarilar Turkey: Antalya: Altinyaka Turkey: Antalya: Karaman Turkey: Burdur: Yakakoy Turkey: Antalya: Manavgat Turkey: Antalya: Manavgat Turkey: Antalya: Gazipasa Turkey: Mersin: Anamur Turkey: Icel: Abanoz Turkey: Mersin: Gulnar Turkey: Mersin: Gulnar Turkey: Icel: Kavaklipinar Turkey: Mersin: Camliyayla Turkey: Mersin: Camliyayla Turkey: Adana: Kozan Turkey: Adana: Feke Turkey: Adana: Feke Turkey: Adana: Saimbeyli France: Serre de Ventaillou Croatia: Northwest Greece: Mystras Greece: Serveika Cyprus: Kakopetria Cyprus: Kakopetria Greece: Makedonia: Florina Turkey: Sivas: Osmandede of Podarcis siculus (Rafinesque-Schmaltz, 1810) from Greece. Herpetozoa 27(3/4): 187-188. Bellati A, Carranza S, Garcia-Porta J, Fasola M, Sindaco R (2015) Cryp- tic diversity within the Anatololacerta species complex (Squamata: Lacertidae) in the Anatolian Peninsula: evidence from a multi-lo- cus approach. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 82: 219-233. https://do1.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2014.10.003 26.88096, 39.62310 LN611204 Bellati et al. (2015) 27.21653, 38.55811 MW087597 Karakasi et al. (2021) 27.88985, 37.93787 LN611207 Bellati et al. (2015) 27.89219, 37.94394 MW087630 Karakasi et al. (2021) 27.89219, 37.94394 MW087631 Karakasi et al. (2021) 26.89663, 37.73897 LN611212 Bellati et al. (2015) 26.66754, 37.78866 LN611210 Bellati et al. (2015) 26.06290, 37.61707 LN611214 Bellati et al. (2015) 26.05140, 37.56600 MW087496 Karakasi et al. (2021) 27.84900, 36.60460 MW087492 Karakasi et al. (2021) 27.84900, 36.60460 MW087493 Karakasi et al. (2021) 27.84900, 36.60460 MW087494 Karakasi et al. (2021) 27.83000, 36.62000 LN611224 Bellati et al. (2015) 27.94270, 36.28960 MW087487 Karakasi et al. (2021) 28.22115, 36.44388 MW087489 Karakasi et al. (2021) 28.22115, 36.44388 MW087490 Karakasi et al. (2021) 28.21767, 36.43549 GQ142137 Pavlicev and Mayer (2009) 28.21000, 36.33000 LN611220 Bellati et al. (2015) 28.21000, 36.33000 LN611221 Bellati et al. (2015) 28.21000, 36.33000 LN611222 Bellati et al. (2015) 29.80464, 36.52431 MW087533 Karakasi et al. (2021) 30.02850, 37.13719 MW087609 Karakasi et al. (2021) 29.11686, 37.59461 MW087648 Karakasi et al. (2021) 29.11686, 37.59461 MW087649 Karakasi et al. (2021) 29.63720, 36.11530 MW087500 Karakasi et al. (2021) 29.76800, 36.22376 LN611230 Bellati et al. (2015) 30.40508, 36.68172 MW087646 Karakasi et al. (2021) 30.16038, 36.94415 LN611228 Bellati et al. (2015) 30.34522, 37.69956 MW087524 Karakasi et al. (2021) 31.54650, 36.88653 MW087586 Karakasi et al. (2021) 31.55906, 36.86689 MW087624 Karakasi et al. (2021) 32.45828, 36.49711 MW087572 Karakasi et al. 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