''Eremias andersoni'', also known
commonly as Anderson's racerunner, is a
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of
lizard
Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...
in the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Lacertidae
The Lacertidae are the family of the wall lizards, true lizards, or sometimes simply lacertas, which are native to Afro-Eurasia. It is a diverse family with at about 360 species in 39 genera. They represent the dominant group of reptiles found ...
. The species is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
.
Etymology
The
specific name Specific name may refer to:
* in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database
In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules:
* Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...
, ''andersoni'', is in honor of
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, p ...
herpetologist
Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...
Steven Clement Anderson (born 1936).
Geographic range
''E. andersoni'' is found in northern Iran, in
Kavir National Park
Kavir National Park is a national park in northern Iran with an area of located on the western end of the Dasht-e Kavir desert. It encompasses desert and steppe landscapes harbouring native goats (''Capra aegagrus''), sheep (''Ovis orientalis''), ...
.
Habitat
The preferred natural
habitat
In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...
of ''E. andersoni'' is
desert
A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...
.
Reproduction
''E. andersoni'' is
oviparous
Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...
.
[ www.reptile-database.org.]
References
Further reading
*
Darevsky IS,
Shcherbak NN (1978). "''Eremias andersoni'' a New Lizard (Reptilia, Lacertilia, Lacertidae) from Iran". ''Journal of Herpetology'' 12 (1): 13–15.
*
Nasrabadi R,
Rastegar-Pouyani N,
Rastegar-Pouyani E,
Gharzi A (2017). "A revised key to the lizards of Iran (Reptilia: Squamata: Lacertilia)". ''Zootaxa'' 4227 (3): 431–443.
*
Nilson G,
Andrén C (1981). "''Die Herpetofauna des Kavir-Schutzgebietes, Kavir-Wüste, Iran'' ". ''Salamandra'' 17 (3/4): 130–146. (''Eremias andersoni'', p. 138). (in German).
*
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. .
Eremias
Reptiles described in 1978
Taxa named by Ilya Darevsky
Taxa named by Mykola Szczerbak
{{Lacertidae-stub