Systematics and distribution of the genus Ablepharus Fitzinger, ۱۸۲۳ (Sauria, Scincidae): A review

A review of the Snake-eyed Skink Ablepharus Fitzinger, ۱۸۲۳ is presented. The specific character of Ablepharus involves a lack of movable eyelids, with the lower eyelid fused to the upper one, forming a transparent spectacle covering the eye. The genus Ablepharus occurs in southeastern Europe, southwest Asia, and Central Asian Republics (from the Mediterranean Sea coasts to northwest India), including ۱۱ valid species: A. anatolicus Schmidtler, ۱۹۹۷, A. bivittatus (Ménétries, ۱۸۳۲), A. budaki Göçmen, Kumlutas & Tosunoglu, ۱۹۹۶, A. chernovi Darevsky, ۱۹۵۳, A. darvazi Eremchenko & Panfilov, ۱۹۹۰, A. deserti Strauch, ۱۸۶۸, A. grayanus (Stoliczka, ۱۸۷۲), A. kitaibelii Bibron & Bory St-Vincent, ۱۸۳۳, A. lindbergi Wettstein, ۱۹۶۰, A. pannonicus (Lichtenstein, ۱۸۲۳), and A. rueppellii (Gray, ۱۸۳۹). For identification of species of Ablepharus, we used additional scalation and molecular features, used anatomical survey (e.g. osteological and hemipenial characters), and species distribution models. Of the genus Ablepharus, A. bivittatus, A. chernovi, A. grayanus, and A. pannonicus occur in Iran.

Keywords:

Ablepharus , Scincidae , systematics , distribution , Iran