Werner, F. (1902) - Die Reptilien und Amphibienfauna von Kleinasien. - Sitzungsberichte der Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Classe. Wien, Abteilung 1: 1057-1121.  Bird, C.G. (1936) - The distribution of Reptiles and Amphibians in Asiatic Turkey, with notes on a Collection from the Vilayets of Adana, Gaziantep and Malatya. - The Annals and magazine of natural history, (10) 18: 257-281. Eiselt, J. (1979) - Ergebnisse zoologischer Sammelreisen in der Türkei Lacerta cappadocica Werner, 1902 (Lacertidae, Reptilia), - Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien, 82: 387-421.  × Eine ausführliche Revision von Lacerta cappadodca WERNER, 1902, an Hand von
366 Exemplaren aus der Türkei, dem Irak und dem Iran ergibt ihre Neugliederung in
5 Unterarten: L. c. cappadodca WERNER, 1902 (Taurus, knapp westlich der Kilikischen
Pforte bis westlich von Malatya); L. c. wolteri (BIRD, 1936) (vom Amanus-Gebirge bis
zum Euphrat) ; L. c. muhtari ssp. nov. (von Malatya und östlich des Euphrat bis südlich
des Van-Sees und in den nordöstlichsten Irak) ; L. c. schmidtlerorum ssp. nov. (in der
weiteren Umgebung von Diyarbakir und westlich von Viransehir) ; L. c. urmiana (LANTZ &
STTCHOW, 1934) (Südöstlichste Türkei, nordöstlicher Irak, nordwestlicher Iran). Kafimola, S. & Azimi, M. & Saberi-Pirooz, R. & Ilgaz, C. & Kashani, G.M. & Kapli, P. & Ahmadzadeh, F. (2023) - Diversification in the mountains: Evolutionary history and molecular phylogeny of Anatolian rock lizards. - Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 180 (2023) 107675 (early view) 9 pp. × Mountains play a key role in forming biodiversity by acting both as barriers to gene flow among populations and as corridors for the migration of populations adapted to the conditions prevailing at high elevations. The Anatolian and the Zagros Mountains are located in the Alpine-Himalayan belt. The formation of these mountains has influenced the distribution and isolation of the animal population since the late Cenozoic. Apathya is a genus of lacertid lizards distributed along these mountains with two species, i.e., Apathya cappadocica and Apathya yassujica. The taxonomy status of lineages within the genus is complicated. In this study, we tried to collect extensive samples from throughout the distribution range, especially within the Zagros Mountains. Also, we used five genetic markers, two mitochondrial (COI and Cyt b) and three nuclear (C-mos, NKTR, and MCIR), to resolve the phylogenetic relationships within the genus and explain several possible scenarios that shaped multiple genetic structures. The combination of results in the current study indicated eight well-support monophyletic lineages that separated to two main groups; group 1 including A. c. cappadocica, A. c. muhtari and A. c. wolteri, group 2 contains four regional clades Turkey, Urmia, Baneh and Ilam, and finally a single clade belonging to the species A. yassujica. In contrast to previous studies, Apathya cappadocica urmiana was divided into four clades and three clades were recognized within Iranian boundaries. The clades have dispersed from Anatolia to adjacent regions in the south of Anatolia and the western Zagros Mountains. According to the evidence generated in this study this clade is paraphyletic. Based on our assumption, orogeny activities and also climate fluctuations in Middle Miocene and Pleistocene have influenced to formation of lineages. In this study we revisit the taxonomy of the genus and demonstrate that the species diversity was substantially underestimated. Our findings suggest that each of the eight clades corresponding to subspecies and distinct geographic regions deserve to be promoted to species level.
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