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The distribution of herpetofauna on the Arabian Peninsula is generally poorly known, particularly in Saudi Arabia. The King Abdulaziz Royal Nature Reserve (KARNR) in east-central Saudi Arabia is in an area predicted to have high reptile species richness, yet there is no baseline reptile checklist for the reserve. Knowing which species occur within a protected area is vital for ensuring that conservation strategies and long-term monitoring are effective. Here, we provide the first detailed list of reptile fauna occurring in the KARNR. This study recorded a total of 31 species from 1,551 observations, including 25 lizards and six snakes. A desktop study identified three additional species, bringing the total number of herpetofaunal species known in the KARNR to 34. Two of the species found in the reserve are of conservation concern: Uromastyx aegyptia (VU) and Tropiocolotes wolfgangboehmei (DD). Through species accumulation curves we were able to determine that the sampling methods implemented during the survey were adequate, and we predicted that the species richness of the reserve is likely as much as 38 species. Prior to this study, only 82 reptile records (30 species) were known from the study area, so we add a significant number of new records to the reserve and an additional four species that were previously unknown from the region.

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Advances in genomics have greatly enhanced our understanding of mountain biodiversity, providing new insights into the complex and dynamic mechanisms that drive the formation of mountain biotas. These span from broad biogeographic patterns to population dynamics and adaptations to these environments. However, significant challenges remain in integrating large-scale and fine-scale findings to develop a comprehensive understanding of mountain biodiversity. One significant challenge is the lack of genomic data, especially in historically understudied arid regions where reptiles are a particularly diverse vertebrate group. In the present study, we assembled a de novo genome-wide SNP dataset for the complete endemic reptile fauna of a mountain range (19 described species with more than 600 specimens sequenced), and integrated state-of-the-art biogeographic analyses at the population, species, and community level. Thus, we provide a holistic integration of how a whole endemic reptile community has originated, diversified and dispersed through a mountain system. Our results show that reptiles independently colonized the Hajar Mountains of southeastern Arabia 11 times. After colonization, species delimitation methods suggest high levels of within-mountain diversification, supporting up to 49 deep lineages. This diversity is strongly structured following local topography, with the highest peaks acting as a broad barrier to gene flow among the entire community. Interestingly, orogenic events do not seem key drivers of the biogeographic history of reptiles in this system. Instead, past climatic events seem to have had a major role in this community assemblage. We observe an increase of vicariant events from Late Pliocene onwards, coinciding with an unstable climatic period of rapid shifts between hyper-arid and semiarid conditions that led to the ongoing desertification of Arabia. We conclude that paleoclimate, and particularly extreme aridification, acted as a main driver of diversification in arid mountain systems which is tangled with the generation of highly adapted endemicity. Overall, our study does not only provide a valuable contribution to understanding the evolution of mountain biodiversity, but also offers a flexible and scalable approach that can be reproduced into any taxonomic group and at any discrete environment.

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1. Squamate reptiles are central for studying phenotypic correlates of evolutionary transitions from oviparity to viviparity because these transitions are numerous, with many of them being recent. Several models of life-history theory predict thatviviparity is associated with increased female size, and thus more female-biased sexual size dimorphism

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Patterns of morphological and genetic diversity within the fringe-toed lizards of the genus Acanthodactylus have puzzled systematists since the first assessments, and none more so than the Acanthodactylus erythrurus complex. A recent study combining multi-locus sequence data and morphological characters partially resolved the situation, identifying two new species in the southern part of the range in Morocco, but leaving an unresolved “Ibero-Moroccan” clade containing much of the genetic and morphological diversity. Here we sequenced a mitochondrial marker for new samples from across much of the distribution. Our data notably increase the known ranges of various species and lineages found in Morocco, and indicate a divergent genetic lineage within one of the newly described species. While far greater numbers of genetic markers will be needed to resolve taxonomic questions, greater geographic sampling is also still needed both to delimit the species, and to identify regions where potential genetic admixture may occur.

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This study used skeletochronology to assess the relationships of age and body length of the individuals in a population of the Levant green lizard (Lacerta media), located in the Harmancik Village, Torul District, Gümüshane Province. The mean age and SVL in the adult individuals of the Harmancik population were 101.57 ± 4.04 mm and 5.31 ± 1.34 years for all individuals (101.10 ± 3.61 mm and 5.31 ± 1.03 years in adult females and 102.09 ± 4.57 mm and 5.33 ± 1.67 years in adult males). The age range varied was 4-8 years in adult males and 4-7 years in adult females. The age of the subadult males and subadult females was at 3 years, while the age of the two juveniles was 2 years. A positive correlation was found between body size (SVL) and age in adult female and male individuals of the species. A male-biased sexual size dimorphism (SSD = -0.097) was observed.

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The reproductive strategies of reptiles vary according to many factors. In lizards, intraspecific and interspecific competition, and environmental and seasonal factors affect their reproductive biology. This study aimed to conduct a comparative analysis of testis sizes in the sympatrically coexisting species, Podarcis muralis and Podarcis tauricus, located in Kofçaz, Kirklareli, Turkey, considering both intra-species and interspecies variations. Changes in body sizes and testis sizes according to months were monitored. As a result, it was determined that in both species, there was a positive correlation between body size and testis size, and that in P. tauricus, both body and testis sizes were higher compared to P. muralis, showing a significant difference. It was also observed that in the P. muralis species, the testis size reached its peak value in April (mean daily temperature 9.9°C), while in the P. tauricus species, it reached the highest value in May (mean daily temperature 15.5°C). It was found that the testis size in P. muralis reached its lowest value in August (mean daily temperature 23.8°C), while in P. tauricus, it was lowest in September (mean daily temperature 20.2°C). The fact that testis size is high in different months in these two sympatric species suggests that their active breeding periods differ.

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Parthenogenesis has been discovered in a great number of reptiles, indicating that parthenogens can outcompete bisexual species and hybridize with them. This raises intriguing questions: how do parthenogenetic species coexist with gonochoristic relatives, and what outcome does this coexistence produce? To answer these two questions, we studied relationships between male rock lizards, Darevskia valentini, and parthenogenetic Darevskia armeniaca. We compared social and sexual reactions of males to females of their own species and parthenogenetic D. armeniaca and vice versa. We found that females of both species basked together with males and demonstrated mostly submissive behaviour. Females of D. valentini were less aggressive towards males in the mixed-species population than in the single-species population, suggesting female competition for males. The proportion of successful and unsuccessful mating attempts with females of bisexual and unisexual species was equal, and we found no significant differences in male reactions to bisexual and unisexual females in sympatry. The proportion of females bearing mating scars on their venters and the number of these scars per female were greater in the bisexual species. This indicates that females of the bisexual species were more attractive than parthenogenetic females as mating partners to males. We found no triploid hybrids among the offspring of parthenogenetic females that mated with males in the mixed population. Our findings suggest that parthenogenetic species might outcompete bisexual species by mating with males and integrating into the social system.

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A total of 302 specimens of amphibians and reptiles were sampled from Al-Arish town and four stations around it during 12 months period of study from January to December, 1988. 21 Species belonging to 11 famillies were occurred in the area comprising; one toad: Bufo viridis., 2 marine turtles; Caretta caretta and Chelonia mydas and other 18 terrestrial reptilian species. Acanthodactylus scutellatus was the most dominant cursorial species found in all sand dunes of the mean area in all the year seasons constituting about 30% of the total capture. Mabuya vittata was firstly recorded in Sinai. Six reptilian species were appended to the fauna of Al-Arish area, they are Agama stellio vulgaris, Ptyodactylus hasselquistii guttatus; Lytorhynchus diadema; Psammophìs schokari; Caretta caretta and Chelonia mydas. The highest catch number of individuals occurred in station 1 (82 specimens) while the lowest number was in station 5 (15 specimens). Seasonal distribution indicated that the highest catch number occurred during spring (87 specimens) while the lowest crop occurredin winter (47 specimens).

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A list of reptiles and amphibians occurring on the Dodecanese Archipelago is provided with the latest taxonomic updates. Notes relating to animals’ ecology and to critical habitats are also given. Observations are also made regarding the subspecies Dolichophis jugularis zinneri Cattaneo, 2012 endemic to Rhodes and its Archipelago, and a survey on the Amphibians and Reptiles species known from the southwestern Turkey, whose presence in the Dodecanese Islands has not yet been detected, is discussed.

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The 84 lizards of the Franchini Collection in the Museum of Natural History and Scientific Instrumentation of Moderni has been re-evaluated. A deal of incorrectly determined and unidentified material has now been identified, and the nomenclature of correctly identified specimens has been updated to conform to modern usage. The collection now includes- 34 species, almost all from Somalia or Libia.

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Phenological advances are a widespread response to global warming and can contribute to determine the climate vulnerability of organisms, particularly in ectothermic species, which are highly dependent on ambient temperatures to complete their life cycle. Yet, the relative contribution of breeding dates and temperature conditions during gestation on fitness of females and their offspring is poorly documented in reptiles. Here, we exposed females of the common lizard Zootoca vivipara to contrasting thermal scenarios (cold vs. hot treatment) during gestation and quantified effects of parturition dates and thermal treatment on life-history traits of females and their offspring for 1 year. Overall, our results suggest that parturition date has a greater impact than thermal conditions during gestation on life history strategies. In particular, we found positive effects of an earlier parturition date on juvenile survival, growth, and recruitment suggesting that environmental-dependent selection and/or differences in parental quality between early and late breeders underlie seasonal changes in offspring fitness. Yet, an earlier parturition date compromised the energetic condition of gravid females, which suggests the existence of a mother–offspring conflict regarding the optimization of parturition dates. While numerous studies focused on the direct effects of alterations in incubation temperatures on reptile life-history traits, our results highlight the importance of considering the role of breeding phenology in assessing the short- and long-term effects of thermal developmental plasticity.

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Pregnancy is a physiological cost of reproduction for animals that rely on fleeing to avoid predators. Costs of reproduction are predicted to differ between alternative reproductive strategies or modes, such as egg-laying (oviparity) or live-bearing (viviparity). However, disentangling the factors that comprise this cost and how it differs for oviparous or viviparous females is challenging due to myriad environmental, biological, and evolutionary confounds. Here, we tested the hypothesis that costs of pregnancy differ between oviparous and viviparous common lizards (Zootoca vivipara). We predicted that the degree of locomotor impairment during pregnancy and therefore the cost of reproduction would be higher in viviparous females. We conducted our experiment in a hybrid zone containing oviparous and viviparous common lizards. Due to the common environment and inclusion of hybrid individuals, we could infer whether differences were inherent to parity mode. We found that the average and maximum running speed of pregnant females was slower than after they had given birth or laid eggs. Viviparous females experienced an additional pregnancy weight burden and for a longer time period, but were not slower at running than pregnant oviparous females. In addition, we found a parity mode-specific effect of reproductive investment; producing larger clutches was costlier for the locomotor performance of viviparous females for reasons other than the mass increase. Locomotor costs were found to be intermediate in hybrid females, indicating that they are specific to each reproductive mode. Our study shows that viviparous females experience an additional physical and physiological cost of pregnancy and reproductive investment. This two-fold cost implies that viviparous females modulate resource allocation decisions and/or adjust their behavioural responses that result from locomotor impairment.