Meet the new ‘rock star’ of Cyprus
THE lizard commonly found in the lowlands of Cyprus, often on garden walls or in the cracks of walls, is actually three different species, according to a new genetic study undertaken by scientists.
The “starred agama” as it is known, in fact consists of three different species, one of which is endemic to Cyprus and has been named the “laudakia cypriaca”.
The findings, publicised by the TRNC-based Society for the Protection of Birds and Nature (Kuşkor), were revealed in an article published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
The article was titled The story of a rock-star: multilocus phylogeny and species delimitation in the starred or roughtail rock agama, Laudakiastellio (Reptilia: Agamidae).
The scientists estimate that the laudakia cypria arrived on the island of Cyprus across the sea during the last ice age, approximately 2.4 million years ago.
It is believed that the animal that arrived in Cyprus at that time may have been the common ancestor of the three different types of starred agama that exist today, and that they subsequently evolved separately.
The laudakia cypriaca which is also known as the “Cyprus starred agama”, is larger than its evolutionary siblings, and has a “distinctive tail segmentation”, a Kuşkor statement said.
Of the two other species of the starred agama, one comprises the “Greek and Turkish populations”, and the other comprises “all of the other Near East populations of the animal”. The scientists believe that their results indicate a role of humans in shaping the present distribution patterns, and highlight the importance of the Aegean, Anatolia, and the Levant as diversity hotspots.