Lacerta (genus)

Lacerta is a genus of lizards of the family Lacertidae.

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Lacerta Temporal range: Miocene—Present, 15–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N

Sand lizard (Lacerta agilis)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	Lacertidae
Tribe:	Lacertini
Genus:	Lacerta Linnaeus, 1758
Type species
Lacerta agilis Linnaeus, 1758
Species
Ten, see text.

Modern range of Lacerta species: L. agilis L. bilineata L. citrovittata L. diplochondrodes L. media L. pamphylica L. schreiberi L. strigata L. trilineata L. viridis

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Taxonomy

Lacerta was a fairly diverse genus containing around 40 species, until it was split into nine genera in 2007 by Arnold, Arribas & Carranza.^[1]

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.^[2] Some fossil species from the ice-age mediterranean, such as Lacerta siculimelitensis, reached especially large sizes.^[3]

Species

The genus Lacerta contains the following species.^[4]

More information Image, Name ...


Image	Name	Distribution
	Lacerta agilis – sand lizard
	Lacerta bilineata – western green lizard
	Lacerta citrovittata – Tinos green lizard	Greece
	Lacerta diplochondrodes – Rhodos green lizard	Greece
	Lacerta media	Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Russia
	Lacerta pamphylica	Turkey
	Lacerta schreiberi – Iberian emerald lizard
	Lacerta strigata – Caucasus emerald lizard	Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Turkey and Iran
	Lacerta trilineata – Balkan green lizard
	Lacerta viridis – European green lizard