The Study of the Fauna of Turtles and Lizards in the Protected ‎Area of Talo and Shirband in Semnan Province

The protected area of Talo and Shirband, which was one of the prohibited hunting areas of Semnan province until 2019, is located in the northeast of Damghan city. This region has rich and varied biodiversity, cold and dry weather in winter, and hot and dry in summer. Since there is a wide variety of reptiles in the mentioned area, this study was conducted with the aim of investigating the fauna of lizards and turtles in the protected area of Talo and Shirband. The samples were collected from April to the end of September 2016 from early morning to late night in different stations of the region. The samples were identified based on valid identification keys and subjected to morphometric and meristic analysis. Pictures, identification key and species distribution map of the region were prepared. In total, 87 lizard samples and 6 turtle samples were collected and 15 species from 12 genera and belonging to 6 families were identified, which were: Paralaudakia caucasia, Phrynocephalus maculatus, Phrynocephalus scutellatus, Trapelus agilis, Bunopus tuberculatus, Cyrtopodion scabrum, Mediodactylus spinicaud, Tenuidactylus caspius, Eremias fasciata, Eremias persica, Eremias velox, Mesalina watsonana, Ablepharus pannonicus, Teratoscincus bedriagai and Testudo horsfieldii. The highest frequency of lizards belongs to Tenuidactylus caspius species and the lowest frequency belongs to Mesalina watsonana species