Northern Italy, Southern Switzerland (Ticino) and Slovenia (Istria), northwestern Croatia and Germany (Oberaudorf). Introduced to: Austria (Linz and Klosterneuburg, Vorarlberg), Germany, United Kingdom (central and southern UK and the Isle of Wight), Canada (Vancouver Iceland), USA (Cincinnati and adjacent parts of Kentucky, Indiana: Clarksville, Falls of the Ohio State Park).

Subspecies:

Podarcis muralis maculiventris  (WERNER, 1891)

Types:

NMW 16098 (male)

Terra Typica:

Triest.


Taxonomic notes:

On the northern foothills of the Apennines (such as in Emilia Romagna), wall lizards very often show the morphological characteristics of the ssp. nigriventris, but based on the mtDNA they belong to the ssp. of maculiventris. In SCHULTE et al. (2008), this phenomenon is explained as post-glacial immigration by the ssp. nigriventris (especially males) from southern regions. Along the Adriatic coast there is also a hybridization zone to the border region of the Marche region that is not precisely defined.


Relevant taxonomic literature:

  • Werner, F. (1891) -  Description Podarcis melisellensis lissana; P. m. fiumana.  -  In “Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Repilien und Amphibien von Istrien und Dalmatien”. - Verhandlungen der kaiserlich-königlichen zoologisch-botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien 41 : 751-765.