Darevskia portschinskii

Darevskia portschinskii is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is endemic to the South Caucasus region of Eurasia. There are two recognized subspecies.

Darevskia portschinskii
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	Lacertidae
Genus:	Darevskia
Species:	D. portschinskii
Binomial name
Darevskia portschinskii (Kessler, 1878)
Synonyms[2]
Lacerta portschinskii Kessler, 1878 Lacerta muralis var. portschinskii — Boulenger, 1904 Lacerta saxicola var. portchinskii — Nikolsky, 1913 Lacerta (Zootoca) portschinskii — Bischoff, 1978 Darevskia portschinskii — Arribas, 1997

Etymology

The specific name, portschinskii, is in honor of Russian entomologist Josef Aloizievitsch Portschinski (1848–1916).[3]

Geographic range

D. portschinskii is found in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia.[2]

Habitat

The natural habitats of D. portschinskii are rocky areas and shrubland at altitudes of 300–1,700 m (980–5,580 ft).[1]

Reproduction

D. portschinskii is oviparous.[2]

Subspecies

The following two subspecies, including the nominotypical subspecies, are recognized as being valid.[2]

• Darevskia portschinskii nigrita (Bakradze, 1976)
• Darevskia portschinskii portschinskii (Kessler, 1878)

References

1. Tuniyev B, Ananjeva NB, Agasyan A, Orlov NL, Tuniyev S (2009). "Darevskia portschinskii (errata version published in 2017)". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2009: e.T164654A114556728. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009.RLTS.T164654A5915799.en. Downloaded on 25 May 2019.
2. Darevskia portschinskii at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 25 May 2019.
3. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Darevskia portschinskii, p. 210).

Further reading

• Bakradze MA (1976), "New subspecies, Lacerta portschinskii nigrita ssp. n., from the eastern Transcaucasia". [Vestnik Zoologii ] 1976 (4): 54–57. (in Russian, with an abstract in English).
• Bischoff, Wolfgang (1978). "Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Echsen des Kaukasus ". Salamandra 14 (4): 178–202. (in German).
• Kessler K (1878). "[A zoological expedition to the Transcaucasian Territory in 1875]". [Transactions of the St. Petersburg Society of Naturalists] 8: 1–200. (Lacerta portschinskii, new species, pp. 160-163). (in Russian and Latin).
• Sindaco R, Jeremčenko VK (2008). The Reptiles of the Western Palearctic. 1. Annotated Checklist and Distributional Atlas of the Turtles, Crocodiles, Amphisbaenians and Lizards of Europe, North Africa, Middle East and Central Asia. (Monographs of the Societas Herpetologica Italica). Latina, Italy: Edizioni Belvedere. 580 pp. ISBN 978-88-89504-14-7.
• Szczerbak, Nikolai (2003). Guide to the Reptiles of the Eastern Palearctic. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing. 350 pp. ISBN 978-1575240046.