| Lacerta velox PALLAS, 1771 Lacerta cruenta PALLAS, 1771 Lacerta deserti GEORGI, 1800 Scincus cruentatus DAUDIN, 1802 Lacerta leucosticta LICHTENSTEIN, 1823 Lacerta gracilis EICHWALD, 1831 Lacerta argulus EICHWALD, 1831 Eremias coeruleo-ocellata DUMERIL & BIBRON, 1839 Aspidorhinus gracilis EICHWALD, 1841 Eremias gracilis EICHWALD, 1851 Eremias variabilis DE FILIPPI, 1865 Eremias scripta ZARUDNY, 1895 Eremias (Aspidorhinus) velox BARABANOV, 2009 Lacerta coccinea MERREM, 1820 Lacerta tigrina KUHL, 1820 Podarcis velox WAGLER, 1830 Lacerta vittata EVERSMANN, 1834 Eremias velox WIEGMANN, 1834 Eremias velox var. roborowskii BEDRIAGA, 1906 |
| velox: Neotype: ZISP (ZIL) 16233 (designated by Szczerbak 1974: 84)
borkini: Holotype: IBKB (= Zoological Museum of the National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyzstan) R 002662, Kyrgyzstan, Tien Shan, southern shore of Issyk-Kul lake, area between the Ak-Terek and Ak-Sai, 6.06.1986, Coll. V.K. Eremchenko, paratypes: as holotype: ZISP
caucasia: Syntypes: FMNH, personal collection of Cyrén
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Pallas, P.S. (1771) - Description of Eremis velox velox. - In: “Reise durch verschiedene Provinzen des Russischen Reiches. Vol. 1`. - Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, St. Petersburg. 504 pp.  Szczerbak, N.N. (1981) - Eremias velox (Pallas 1771) - Schneller Wüstenrenner. - Böhme, W. (Hrsg.): Handbuch der Reptilien und Amphibien Europas. Band 1 Echsen I. 447-460. Bischoff, W. (2003) - Die Eidechsenfauna Georgiens. Teil I. Allgemeine Bemerkungen sowie die Gattungen Eremias, Ophisops und Lacerta. - Die Eidechse, 14 (2): 44 - 60.  × General remarks on Georgia as nature area and on ist herpetofauna, with discussion about ist population density. Short presentation and hints on distribution and habitats of Eremias arguta transcaucasica, E. velox caucasica, Ophisops elegans elegans, Lacerta agilis brevicaudata, L. agilis ioriensis, L. agilis grusinica, L. media media and L. strigata. Liu, J. & Ananjeva, N.A. & Chirikova, M.A. & Milto, K.D. & Guo, X. (2014) - Molecular Assessment and taxonomic status of the Rapid Racerunner (Eremias velox complex) with particular attention to the populations in Northwestern China. - Asian Herpetological Research, 5 (1): 12-25. × The rapid racerunner, Eremias velox, is a widely distributed lizard from the northern Caucasus across entire Central Asia eastward to China. It is increasingly common to accept E. velox as a species complex in its entire range. To date, published morphological and molecular systematic hypotheses of this complex are only partially congruent, and its taxonomic status and evolutionary history are still far from clear. The mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and 12S rRNA sequences were used to evaluate the taxonomy of this complex, with particular attention to the phylogenetic placement of populations in northwestern China. Examination of the phylogenetic analyses recovers seven distinct, biogeographically discrete, and well-supported clades, revealing genetically identifiable populations corresponding to some previously morphology-defined subspecies. Chinese E. v. roborowskii appears to have split from other Central Asian rapid racerunner lizards well before differentiation occurred among the latter taxa. Specifically, we corroborate that there are two subspecies occurring in China, i.e., E. v. velox and £. v. roborowskii. We recommend a novel subspecific status for the phenotypically and genetically distinct populations in southern Aral Sea region of Uzbekistan previously assigned to E. v. velox. Finally, each of the three independently evolving lineages from Iranian Plateau should be recognized as three species new to science under the general lineage concept. Liu, J. & Guo, X. & Chen, D. & Li, J., & Yue, B. & Zeng, X. (2018) - Diversification and historical demography of the rapid racerunner (Eremias velox) in relation to geological history and Pleistocene climatic oscillations in arid Central Asia. - Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 130: 244-258. × Late Cenozoic stepwise aridification has transformed Central Asia into an arid environment, and the Pleistocene climatic oscillations exerted further ecological impact. Therefore, both aridification and glaciation would have considerably influenced the evolution of many midlatitude species in arid Central Asia (ACA). However, strong biotic evidence supporting this role is still lacking. Here, we test this perspective using a phylogeographic study of Eremias velox, which is an arid-adapted lizard, across ACA using sequences from mitochondrial cytochrome b and 12S rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analyses of the concatenated data, including 595 specimens from 107 localities, revealed ten geographically correlated lineages that diverged by 1.1–15.4% for the cytochrome b gene and 1.0–10.3% for the 12S rRNA gene, which were estimated to have coalesced ∼6.23 million years ago. Ancestral area estimations suggested that E. velox originated from the Iranian Plateau and then dispersed into Central Asia. The intensification of aridification across Central Asia during the Late Pliocene may have facilitated the rapid radiation of this arid-adapted lizard throughout this vast territory. Subsequently, the geological events (e.g., uplift of the Kopet-Dagh, Tianshan and Greater Caucasus Mountains) and glacial oscillations during the Pleistocene triggered the progressive diversification of E. velox. The most recent common ancestor of the Caucasus-Central Asia clade was dated to approximately 2.05 Ma. Specifically, the diversification between the Caucasus clade (VI, VII) and the Central Asia clade (VIII, IX, X), and within the Central Asia clade may have been established and partially maintained by repeated transgressions of the Caspian Sea during the Pleistocene and Holocene. In contrast to demographic and/or range contractions in response to climatic changes during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) of the populations (Clades VI and X) from the Caucasus-Central Asia clade, mitochondrial evidence and ecological niche modeling support the signature of demographic and range expansions during the LGM for the Clade V populations (E. v. roborowskii, being endemic to the Turpan Depression). The effect of Pleistocene climatic changes on the historical demography of this arid-adapted species may be lineagespecific, depending predominantly on animal physiology and geography. Finally, we discuss the taxonomic implications, such as the appearance of the Turkmenistan populations as a distinct species, and E. v. roborowskii deserving a full species status.
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