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Morphology and subspecies of Eremias arguta (PALLAS, 1773), in Kazakhstan. The external morphology of Eremias arguta in Kazakhstan was examined. Three metric and ten meristic characters as well as the dorsal pattern of 206 individuals from 13 populations of southern, south-eastern and eastern Kazakhstan were analyzed. Sexual dimorphism was found to occur in relative tail length (fem. > males), number of longitudinal gular scales (fem. < males), and number of femoral pores (fem. < males). Clinal variation exists in the number of dorsals, gulars, femoral pores, and scales between femoral pores. Most of populations studied revealed a pattern of large white spots and transverse dark strips. Some specimens from eastern Kazakhstan are characterized by small white spots and interrupted, somewhat fused dark strips. Most southern populations show elongated white spots and irregular black spots scattered along the dorsum. Subspecies status of the steppe-runners from eastern Kazakhstan is still unclear and needs future clarification. Populations from south-eastern Kazakhstan are closer to E. arguta potanini. Southernmost populations belong to E. a. uzbekistanica.

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The Cadastre of the Genetical Fund is the of cial directory on biodiversity – the annotated check-list of living creatures registered on the territory of the country, re ecting the current state of the biotic inventory. The present volume IV is devoted to the chordates and contains general distributional data about representatives of ve classes of vertebrate animals: ray- nned shes (Actinopterygii), amphibians (Amphibia), reptiles (Reptilia), birds (Aves), and mammals (Mammalia). This volume completes the national faunal inventory (the check-list of all invertebrate animals is presented in volumes II and III). In total, there are listed 602 species (with all local subspecies) represents 325 genera belongs to 119 families. There are also included 14 species doubtfully recorded in Kyrgyzstan, and 36 species names are expunged from faunal list. Each taxon name is supplied with the main synonymy, most accepted Russian, Kyrgyz, and English names. Data on current distribution within Kyrgyzstan and endemicity level are provided for each species (subspecies), as well as main references. The guide book also contains 74 color photographs in the annex. It is destined for experts in ecology, zoologists, specialists and employers of the institutions for the management of the natural resources, nature conservation and biological education.

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The lacertid genus Eremias Fitzinger in Wiegmann,1834,consists of approximately 36 species of racerunners,distributed throughout the desert and semi-desert regions from northern China,Mongolia,Korea,central and southwest Asia to southeastern Europe.This short review represents the history of taxonomic studies in the genus Eremias,including affirmation of the genus and its species,distribution characteristics,phylogenetic relationships and historical biogeography.Traditional taxonomic methods,as well as new approaches(mtDNA analysis) are discussed.Future potential research projects on Eremias are outlined,such as phylogeny,phylogeography and speciation process.

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Steppe racerunner, Eremias (Eremias) arguta, is one of the most widespread species of the Asian racerunners (genus Er-emias). Several subspecies were traditionally recognized however, morphological variability is so high that delimitation of these subspecies was always problematic. Here we present a phylogenetic hypothesis for this species based on cyto-chrome b sequences (55 samples from 35 populations, 900 bp partial sequences), infer it biogeography and the revise its subspecific structure. Six major phylogenetic lineages were revealed. The southernmost populations (E. a. uzbekistanica) from Uzbekistan form a clade together with the Issyk-Kul Lake subspecies (E. a. darevskii) based on both molecular and morphological evidence. Within more northern populations, there is a split between populations from Northern Caucasus, Europe and Western Kazakhstan (E. a. deserti) and Central and Eastern Kazakhstan populations (E. a. arguta). Transcau-casian (E. a. transcaucasica) steppe racerunners are grouped with Middle Asian populations. Finally, the easternmost samples, assigned to “E. a. potanini” are nested within the E. a. arguta clade. Populations from the Ili River Valley form a separate lineage sister to the clade joining all other E. arguta lineages and might represent a yet undescribed taxon. Spe-cies distribution in relation to historical biogeography of Middle Asia is discussed.

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Elements of the herpetofauna are in the author`s opinion of great importance for the zoogeographical division of the Palaearctic region. It is suggested that this region be divided into the following four subregions: 1/ arctic, 2/ boreal Euro-Siberian, 3/ bo- real Himalayan-Manchurian and 4/ Mediterranean-Central-Asiatic.