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Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 6(2): 35–39.
New country record and range extension of Eremias suphani
Başoğlu & Hellmich, 1968 from Iran
1,5
Eskandar Rastegar-Pouyani, 2Aziz Avci, 3Yusuf Kumlutaş, 3Çetin Ilgaz,
and 4Seyyed Saeed Hosseinian Yousefkhani
1
Department of Biology, Faculty of science, Hakim Sabzevari University, Sabzevar, IRAN 2Adnan Menderes University Faculty of Science and
Arts, Department of Biology, Aydın-TURKEY 3Dokuz Eylül University, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Buca, İzmir-TURKEY 4Young
Researchers and Elite Club, Shirvan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shirvan, IRAN
Abstract.—Iran is located in an area that is bordered by several mountains and contains herpetofaunal constituents from adjacent countries such as Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Turkey. We
surveyed several border provinces of Iran to more completely understand the Iranian herpetofauna.
During one survey in the northwestern part of Iran we found a species of the genus Eremias that can
be added to Iran’s herpetofauna. Previously, the distribution of Eremias suphani was limited to the
Van Lake in Turkey (type locality). We compared Iranian samples with E. suphani from Turkey using
a molecular marker (Cytochrome b) and conirmed that this species is also present in Iran. The new
record of this species is located on the road from Firoragh to Chaldoran in the west of the province
of Azarbaijan, Iran.
Key words. Eremias suphani, Iran, Turkey, new record, molecular marker
Citation: Rastegar-Pouyani E, Avci A, Kumlutaş Y, Ilgaz C, Hosseinian Yousefkhani SS. 2013. New country record and range extension of Eremias
suphani Başoğlu & Hellmich, 1968 from Iran. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 6(2): 35–39 (e73).
Introduction
E. suphani), and the presence of a ventrolateral row of
well-deined, large, round, white spots, that may be fused
to form a longitudinal band (diffuse small longitudinal
spots or a diffuse thin line in E. strauchi).
The distribution of these two sister species meet in
the Dogubayazit Depression in NE Turkey (Bischof and
Böhme 1980). In Iran, E. suphani is found on compacted, loamy soil at the Iran-Turkey border. In Turkey, E.
suphani also lives on pebbly/sand substrates with sparse
vegetation (Franzen and Hecks 1999; Baran et al. 2012).
Amphibian and reptile species that have a sympatric
distribution with E. suphani include: Bufotes variabilis, Pelophylax ridibundus, Rana macrocnemis, Testudo
graeca, Trapelus lessonae, Ophisops elegans, and Lacerta media. Eremias suphani is listed as Least Concern
because, although its extent of occurrence is less than
20,000 km2, it is common with large population sizes,
no major threats, and it is unlikely to be declining fast
enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category (Kaska et al. 2013).
Herein we report a new Iranian country record for
E. suphani, conirmed using a molecular marker (Cytochrome b).
The herpetofauna of Iran remains poorly documented
and in some isolated areas completely unknown (Anderson 1999). Historically, the Iranian herpetofauna has
been studied by several foreign herpetologists (Mertens
1957; Anderson 1966, 1999; Leviton et al. 1992; Tuck
1971, 1974) who visited Iran, as well as by Iranian herpetologists (Latii 1991; Balouch and Kami 1995; Kami
and Vakilipoure 1996a, 1996b; Firouz 2000; RastegarPouyani et al. 2007). Nonetheless, herein we report the
presence of a previously undocumented species from
the country. According to the recent published data, 15
species of the genus Eremias exist in Iran (Hosseinian
Yousefkhani et al. 2013), to which we add another.
Eremias suphani (Suphan Racerunner) was considered to be conined to Turkey, where it was described
from Van Lake (Başoğlu and Hellmich 1968), with some
additional populations of this species having been recorded from western Turkey (Bischof and Böhme 1980).
The species is morphologically similar to Eremias strauchi, its putative sister species, but there are differences in
scalation (Bischof and Böhme 1980).
Adults of Eremias suphani can be distinguished from
E. strauchi by the presence of a double or single row
of gular scales separating the scales of the third pair of
chin shields (third pair of chin shields in contact in E.
strauchi), the presence of enlarged gular scales bordering the third pair of chin shields (no enlarged gulars in
Materials and Methods
The Iranian samples were collected during ield trips to
the northwest of the country in June 2005 on the road
Correspondence. 5rastegarpouyani45@gmail.com
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Figure 1. Habitat of Eremias suphani in NW Iran on the road from Firoragh to Chaldoran in Ali Sheykh village (Photo by Eskandar
Rastegar-Pouyani, 2005).
three specimens of E. strauchi and ive specimens of E.
suphani from Turkey where compared with the Iranian
samples using MEGA 5.0 software (Table 1). The sequences have been deposited in the GeneBank with accession numbers from KF797802 to KF797813.
from Firoragh to Chaldoran, at the village of Alishekh
(Fig. 1) (E 44° 34ʹ 78.4ʺ, N 38° 49ʹ 22.1ʺ, elevation:
1934 m). Four specimens were collected (SUHC 310313) (Fig. 2) and deposited in the Sabzevar University
Herpetological Collection (SUHC), Iran. The sites of the
new records near the border of Iran-Turkey are provided
in Figure 3. Turkish specimens were collected from three
different localities in 2010 and 2012 (Aydınlar Village,
Adilcevaz, Bitlis—between Tatvan and Bitlis km 4, Bitlis—Hoşap, Güzelsu, Van). They were deposited in the
Biology Laboratories of Dokuz Eylül University, İzmir,
Turkey.
DNA was obtained from tissue samples (muscle or
liver) that were preserved in 96% ethanol (RastegarPouyani et al. 2010). DNA was extracted using a high salt
method (Kabir et al. 2006). Fragments of Cytochrome b
were ampliied (PCR) using the primers Mtanew (5ʹ-CTC
CCA GCC CCA TCC AAC ATC TCA GGA TGA TGA
AAC-3ʹ) and Mtfsh (5ʹ-TAG TTG GCC AAT GAT GAT
GAA TGG GTG TTC TAC TGG-3ʹ). Sequences from
Results
Genetic distance (Table 2) indicates that the Iranian samples are very close to Eremias suphani of Turkey with
only about 2% of genetic distance. Distances between
Eremias strauchi population and both Eremias suphani
and Eremias sp. samples from Iran, are 16%. Eremias sp.
samples from Iran now conirmed as Eremias suphani.
In addition to previous studies on the Iranian herpetofauna, our initial research in the NW corner of Iran
revealed the presence of Eremias suphani in Iran. We focused our search in NW Iran to the border of Turkey for
other localities, but in the other locations Eremias strauchi has been recorded.
Table 1. Examined samples in this study along with their locality and coordinates.
Code
Species name
N
E
Elevation
Str-1
Eremias strauchi
39° 51′ 57.1′′
42° 29′ 03.3′′
864 m
Locality
Between Aralık and Gündoğdu, Iğdır
Str-2
Eremias strauchi
39° 51′ 57.1′′
42° 29′ 03.3′′
864 m
Between Aralık and Gündoğdu, Iğdır
Str-3
Eremias strauchi
39° 51′ 57.1′′
42° 29′ 03.3′′
864 m
SÜ2-A
Eremias suphani
38° 18′ 18.2′′
43° 48′ 46.4′′
1,997 m
Between Aralık and Gündoğdu, Iğdır
Hoşap, Güzelsu, Van
SÜ2-B
Eremias suphani
38° 18′ 18.2′′
43° 48′ 46.4′′
1,997 m
Hoşap, Güzelsu, Van
SÜ2-C
Eremias suphani
38° 18′ 18.2′′
43° 48′ 46.4′′
1,997 m
Hoşap, Güzelsu, Van
SÜ1-B
Eremias suphani
38° 53′ 55.2′′
42° 55′ 38.8′′
2,000 m
Aydınlar village, Adilcevaz, Bitlis
SÜ1-C
Eremias suphani
38° 53′ 55.2′′
42° 55′ 38.8′′
2,000 m
Aydınlar village, Adilcevaz, Bitlis
SUHC 724
Eremias sp.
38° 49′ 22.1′′
44° 34′ 78.4′′
1,934 m
on the road from Firoragh to Chaldoran
SUHC 725
Eremias sp.
38° 49′ 22.1′′
44° 34′ 78.4′′
1,934 m
on the road from Firoragh to Chaldoran
SUHC 726
Eremias sp.
38° 49′ 22.1′′
44° 34′ 78.4′′
1,934 m
on the road from Firoragh to Chaldoran
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New country record and range extension of Eremias suphani
Figure 2. General view of Eremias suphani from Iran. The color pattern of this species is different from Eremias strauchi strauchi
(Photo by EskandarRastegar-Pouyani, 2005).
genus Eremias were collected that were not compatible
with diagnostic key of the Iranian species of Eremias, but
were comparable to E. strauchi. Considering these observations we assumed that these specimens represented
a new species of Eremias, and decided to compare the
specimens with individuals of other species of the genus
that were described and previously recorded from the region, speciically Eremias strauchi and Eremias suphani.
Genetic analysis revealed that the Iranian samples clustered (with 2% distance) with E. suphani and not with E.
strauchi (16% distance). This new country record demonstrates how the border regions of Iran have not been
carefully investigated, and that additional effort must be
made to document reptile diversity in these areas.
These results strongly suggest that the Iranian samples
are conspeciic with Eremias suphani. Consequently, we
conclude that Eremias suphani is recorded for the irst
time in Iran near the border with Turkey on the road from
Firoragh to Chaldoran in Ali Sheykh village.
Discussion
Specimens of Eremias collected from Ahlat, Bitlis, in
eastern Turkey were considered to be Eremias velox ssp.
by Başoğlu and Hellmich (1959). In 1968, these authors
examined specimens from Ahlat, Süphan Dağı, Mukus,
and Van and described a new subspecies, Eremias velox
suphani. Peters (1964) considered E. velox strauchi to be
a full species (E. strauchi), whereas specimens collected
from Doğubayazıt, Iğdır, and Kağızman were considered
as E. velox by Clark and Clark (1973). Başoğlu and Baran (1977) stated that E. suphani and E. strauchi are subspecies of E. velox whereas Bischoff (1978) suggested
that E. suphani is a subspecies of E. strauchi. Finally,
E. velox suphani was regarded as a distinct species by
Bishoff and Böhme (1980).
Eremias suphani is considered to be endemic to eastern Turkey, where it is known from the vicinity of Lake
Van (Mulder 1995; Franzen and Heckes 1999; Baran et
al. 2012).
According to the previous studies on the Iranian herpetofauna (Leviton et al. 1992; Anderson 1999; Rastegar-Pouyani et al. 2007, 2008), E. suphani has not been
recorded from Iran. During ield trips to northwest Iran in
2005, four specimens from a population belonging to the
Acknowledgments.—We thank Hamzeh Oraei and
Azar Khosravani for their efforts in providing the molecular data and Dr. Jim Bogart for his generous help in
improving the English of an earlier version of this manuscript.
Table 2. Estimates of evolutionary divergence (p–distance) over sequence pairs between samples of Eremias in this study.
Eremias suphani Turkey
Eremias sp. Iran Firoragh
Eremias suphani Turkey
—
0.022
0.193
Eremias sp. Iran Firoragh
0.022
—
0.166
Eremias strauchi strauchi
0.193
0.166
—
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Eremias strauchi strauchi
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Rastegar-Pouyani et al.
Figure 3. Iran-Turkey map and localities of new records in Iran and the type locality of Eremias suphani around the Van Lake in
Turkey. Red circles relate to new country records in Iran and the blue circles are type localities of the Turkish samples.
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Received: 03 November 2013
Accepted: 08 November 2013
Published: 14 December 2013
Appendix I. List of the material examined in this study and their accession numbers.
Species name
Country
Accession Number
Eremias suphani
Turkey
KF797802
Eremias suphani
Turkey
KF797803
Eremias suphani
Turkey
KF797804
Eremias suphani
Turkey
KF797805
Eremias suphani
Iran
KF797806
Eremias suphani
Iran
KF797807
Eremias suphani
Iran
KF797808
Eremias suphani
Iran
KF797809
Eremias strauchi strauchi
Iran
KF797810
Eremias strauchi strauchi
Iran
KF797811
Eremias strauchi strauchi
Iran
KF797812
Eremias strauchi strauchi
Iran
KF797813
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