The lizard fauna of Arasbaran protected area, East Azerbaijan, Iran

The Arasbaran Protected Area is a forested and mountainous area, which is located in northern part of East Azerbaijan province and bordered to the north by Armenia and Azerbaijan and southern Aras River of the Iranian Plateau confined to 38°40' to 39°08'N and 46°39' to 47°02'E. A study on the status of Sauria in this area was carried out from June to September 2011 and 2013. A total of 141 specimens were collected and identified, which represented four families, 11genera, and 12 species and subspecies, including collected Agamidae: Paralaudakia caucasia, Phrynocephalus persicus, Trapelus lessonae, Anguidae: Pseudopus apodus, Lacertidae: Darevskia raddeii, Iranolacerta brandtii, Eremias strauchi, Lacerta media, Lacerta strigata, Ophisops elegans and Scincidae: Eumeces schneideri Ablepharus bivittatus. The Lacertidae with six species, showed the highest diversity among the families represented here. In this study a new locality was found for Lacerta strigata 30 km north of kalibar, in the Arasbaran.