Zoologičeskij žurnal, Vol 103, No 11 (2024)

Seventy-six sequences of the cytb gene region of mitochondrial DNA (1143 bp) and 27 sequences of i7 β-fib nuclear DNA (483 bp) of Lacerta strigata from 57 localities in Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Iran, and Russia were analyzed. A large number of new samples were included in analysis with special focus to the species’ range at the Caucasus Isthmus. An identical topology and four supported clades (lineages) resulted for both mtDNA and sequences combined with nucleDNA (Bayesian and Maximum Likelihood). Four haplogroups (clusters) have been identified in the median cytb haplotype network. The lizards of clade A (haplogroup I) are widespread throughout the species range, while lizards of clade D (haplogroup IV) show the most limited distrubytion. No genetically unique populations of L. strigata were detected in the Caucasian xerophilous refugia. Also, no genetically distinct populations of the species were recorded in the Hyrcanian climatic refugium (Southern Caspian region). An exception is the East Hyrcanian refugium, that is characterized by the most distant clade D (IV). The territory of Ciscaucasia and the Transcaucasian depression are occupied by a single clade each: A (I) and B (II), respectively. We detected several clades distributed in the four geographic areas (contact zones): in the Greater Caucasus, Alborz, Armenian Highland, and West Turkmenian Lowland. We associate the divergence of the L. strigata phylogenetic lineage with the Turkmen-Khorasan and, in particular, the Kopet Dag orogeny, as well as with the Late Miocene fluctuations in the level of the Eastern Paratethys, while the leading factor of intraspecific differentiation is the Pleistocene regressions and transgressions of the Caspian Sea. According to the current distribution pattern and species evolutionary history, L. strigata should be assigned to the Hyrcano-Caucasian zoogeographic group.