Lacerta is a genus of lizards of the family Lacertidae.
Taxonomy
Lacerta was a fairly diverse genus containing around 40 species, until it was split into nine genera in 2007 by Arnold, Arribas & Carranza.
Fossil record
The earliest known members of the genus Lacerta are known from early Miocene epoch fossils indistinguishable in anatomy from the modern green lizards such as Lacerta viridis.
Species
The genus Lacerta contains the following species.
Some species formerly in Lacerta
Arranged alphabetically by specific name: Anatololacerta anatolica – Anatolian rock lizard Atlantolacerta andreanskyi – Atlas dwarf lizard, Andreansky's lizard Iberolacerta aranica – Aran rock lizard Iberolacerta aurelioi – Aurelio's rock lizard Archaeolacerta bedriagae – Bedriaga's rock lizard Iberolacerta bonnali – Pyrenean rock lizard Apathya cappadocica – Anatolian lizard Darevskia chlorogaster – Green-bellied lizard Phoenicolacerta cyanisparsa Omanosaura cyanura – blue-tailed Oman lizard Anatololacerta danfordi – Danford's lizard Darevskia defilippii – Elburs lizard Darevskia dryada Teira dugesii – Madeiran wall lizard Geosaurus giganteus Hellenolacerta graeca – Greek rock lizard Iberolacerta horvathi – Horvath's rock lizard Omanosaura jayakari – Jayakar's lizard Phoenicolacerta kulzeri Phoenicolacerta laevis – Lebanon lizard Timon lepidus – ocellated lizard, foot lizard Iberolacerta monticola – Iberian rock lizard Dinarolacerta mosorensis - Mosor rock lizard Podarcis muralis – common wall lizard Anatololacerta oertzeni Dalmatolacerta oxycephala – sharp-snouted rock lizard Parvilacerta parva – dwarf lizard Darevskia steineri Zootoca vivipara – viviparous lizard Iranolacerta zagrosica
References
Further reading
Arnold EN, Arribas OJ, Carranza S. 2007. "Systematics of the Palaearctic and Oriental lizard tribe Lacertini (Squamata: Lacertidae: Lacertinae), with descriptions of eight new genera". Zootaxa 1430: 1-86. Linnaeus C. 1758. Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio Decima, Reformata. Stockholm: L. Salvius. 824 pp. (Lacerta, new genus, p. 200). (in Latin).