Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.20302/NC.2025.34.22
Carniolan lizard Zootoca carniolica (Reptilia: Squamata: Lacertidae) in Croatia: implication on species conservation
Irena Grbac
; Croatian Natural History Museum, Demetrova 1, Zagreb, Croatia
*
Martina Podnar
; Croatian Natural History Museum, Demetrova 1, Zagreb, Croatia
Boris Lauš
; Association Hyla, Lipovac 7, Zagreb, Croatia
Bruno Schmidt
; Association Hyla, Lipovac 7, Zagreb, Croatia
* Corresponding author.
Supplements: Appendix Fig A2 Grbac et al.pdf Appendix Tab A1 Grbac et al.pdf
Abstract
Accurate species distribution data are essential for effective conservation planning, which requires taxonomic identification. We conducted molecular and morphological analyses, which revealed that the Carniolan lizard Zootoca carniolica Mayer, Böhme, Tiedemann and Bischoff, 2000 has been largely overlooked in Croatia as records had previously been attributed to the Viviparous lizard Z. vivipara (Lichtenstein, 1823) or the Pannonian viviparous lizard Z. v. pannonica (Lac & Kluch 1968). Z. vivipara has been listed in the national fauna of Croatia, and Z. v. pannonica was listed as species monitored and reported by Croatia under Article 17 of the European Habitat Directive. We analysed genetic (mitochondrial COI and cytb genes), morphological (differences in the ratio of mean ventral scale rows and number of femoral pores) and distributional data of the Croatian population. Our findings indicate that Z. carniolica, not Z. vivipara, is the species present in Croatia. However, given the limited sample size, we can not exclude that Z. vivipara may also occur in Croatia. Consequently, the occurrence of Z. carniolica entails conservation and management implications that differ from earlier assumption. We emphasize the need for further studies involving a significantly larger number of samples to confirm these findings.
Keywords
Lacertidae; mt DNA; morphology; distribution; conservation
Hrčak ID:
335944
URI
Publication date:
31.12.2025.
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