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A new species of Eremias has been described from the Cholistan Desert of Pakistan. It constitutes the first record of the genus Eremias from the Oriental (Indian) region. The species has been named Eremias cholistanica, after the Cholistan Desert of Pakistan. This striped desert lacerta is not only different from all its congeners in several morphological characteristics but has been collected from an area distant from the previous known range of Eremias.

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In the herpetological collection of ZFMK 528 scientific species group names are represented by type materi- al. Of these, 304 names are documented by primary type specimens (onomatophores) while for 224 further names sec- ondary type specimens (typoids) are available, ranging chronologically from 1801 to 2010. The list is a shortened pred- ecessor of a comprehensive type catalogue in progress. It lists name bearing types with their catalogue numbers includ- ing information on further type series members also in other institutions, while secondary types are listed only by pres- ence, both in ZFMK and other collections including holotype repositories. Geographic origin and currently valid names are also provided.

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By the PAAG electrophoretic spectra of Coomassi-stained 61-73 bands from 4 “tissues” (heart, skeletal muscle, kidney, liver proteins) for each of 17 specimens representing at least 3 or 4 species, (Eremias vermiculata Blanf., E. przewalskii Str., E. sp. and E. multiocellata Gunther) were compared.Most of the specimens were collected in Mongolia. Their tree, based on several measures of genetic distances, showed the order of the species listed above, with E. sp., the closest to the point of divergency, and situated between E. przewalskii and the specimen of E. multiocellata from several localities and biotypes. The genetic similarity of the biotypes of the last species is discussed in regard with other data on the body size and proportion, pholidosis, coloration.

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By the PAAG electrophoretic spectra of Coomassi-stained 61-73 bands from 4 “tissues” (heart, skeletal muscle, kidney, liver proteins) for each of 17 specimens representing at least 3 or 4 species, (Eremias vermiculite Blanf., E. przewalskii Str., E. sp. and E. multiocellata Gunther) were compared. Most of the specimens were collected in Mongolia. Their tree, based on several measures of genetic distances, showed the order of the species listed above, with E. sp., the closest to the point of divergency, and situated between E. przewalskii and the specimen of E. multiocellata from several localities and biotypes. The genetic similarity of the biotypes of the last species is discussed in regard with other data on the body size and proportion, pholidosis, coloration.

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Aim Body size is instrumental in influencing animal physiology, morphology, ecology and evolution, as well as extinction risk. I examine several hypotheses regarding the influence of body size on lizard evolution and extinction risk, assessing whether body size influences, or is influenced by, species richness, herbivory, island dwelling and extinction risk. Location World-wide. Methods I used literature data and measurements of museum and live specimens to estimate lizard body size distributions. Results I obtained body size data for 99% of the world`s lizard species. The body size–frequency distribution is highly modal and right skewed and similar distributions characterize most lizard families and lizard assemblages across biogeographical realms. There is a strong negative correlation between mean body size within families and species richness. Herbivorous lizards are larger than omnivorous and carnivorous ones, and aquatic lizards are larger than non-aquatic species. Diurnal activity is associated with small body size. Insular lizards tend towards both extremes of the size spectrum. Extinction risk increases with body size of species for which risk has been assessed. Main conclusions Small size seems to promote fast diversification of disparate body plans. The absence of mammalian predators allows insular lizards to attain larger body sizes by means of release from predation and allows them to evolve into the top predator niche. Island living also promotes a high frequency of herbivory, which is also associated with large size. Aquatic and nocturnal lizards probably evolve large size because of thermal constraints. The association between large size and high extinction risk, however, probably reflects a bias in the species in which risk has been studied.

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A new species of the lacertid genus and subgenus Eremias is described based on material collected by the senior author from 150 km northeast of Shiraz, Fars province, south-central Iran at about 1800 m elevation. It differs from all other Iranian species of the typical subgenus (E. persica, E strauchi, E velox and E. lalezharica) in that it has a very distinctive and unique color pattern, unmistakable in this character the wide dorsolateral stripe is uniformly black without light spots and there is no ocelli on the upper surface of limbs; the third pair of submaxillary shields are separated by 4 granular scales; and the tympanic shield is rudimentary and almost absent. The new species is sympatric with Eremias persica and apparently restricted in distribution to the steppes and open plains in the northern regions of Fars province south-central Iran.

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This book shows a comprehensive picture of the reptiles, excluding snakes, living in Europe, North Africa, Middle and Near East and Central Asia. The bulk of the book is an annotated checklist and a distributional atlas of approx 500 species of lizards, crocodiles, turtles and terrapins, and amphisbaenians, living in the Western Palearctic. Information on distribution, subspecies, chorotype and main references are provided for each species, as well as 226 colour maps showing the global distribution of the species on a grid of one degree. For each species map the bibliographic and original sources (more than 850 sources are listed) are indicated. A further 83 maps show the distribution of all genera and main species groups of Palearctic reptiles. Beside the checklist and the atlas, in some additional chapters the following arguments are treated: Materials and methods; status of knowledge on the Palearctic fauna; composition of the Western Palearctic reptile fauna (including a statement on biodiversity and species richness); descriptive biogeography (including a discussion on the Palearctic region boundaries based on reptile distribution and the herpeto-geographic sectors of the Western Palearctic); conservation status. A list of more than 730 references quoted in the text and high quality colour plates including photos of the most of the supraspecific taxa living in the study area completes the book.

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The composition and distribution of the vertebrate fauna of Afghanistan remain poorly documented and in recent decades little new data have become available due to a series of wars and the resulting unstable security conditions. As Afghanistan returns to some semblance of normalcy, baseline faunistic data will be particularly important for establishing national conservation priorities as well as for placing Afghan taxa into their broader phylogenetic and zoogeographic contexts. We here provide an updated checklist of the herpetofauna of Afghanistan based in part upon biodiversity archives of specimen records from several museum and private collec- tions as well as literature references and field research. The herpetofauna of Afghanistan consists of 118 species and subspecies belonging to 58 genera and 21 families. Seven species are endemic to the country, whereas 18 taxa have to be delet- ed from previous lists of the Afghan herpetofauna. Afghanistan’s primary zoogeo- graphic relationship to the Palearctic Region is reaffirmed but with secondary influ- ence from the Oriental Region. Immediately following the checklist, two sections provide information about species probably occurring in Afghanistan and previous- ly mentioned species that are now recognized as absent.