eskandar rastegar pouyani

The genus Lytorhynchus, spanning from the Sahara’s western fringes to the Middle East, eastern Pakistan, and northwestern India, has seen numerous species and subspecies classifications over the years. Many of these have been deemed synonymous due to overlapping morphological traits, a problem compounded by the absence of a comprehensive phylogenetic study. The taxa residing in Iran exhibit morphological variations attributable to their broad distribution and disjunct populations. Of the seven recognized species, three have been confirmed in Iran, although some populations display pholidosis distinct from initial descriptions. Species identification has also been fraught with ambiguities. This study aims to elucidate the diagnostic characteristics of taxa and furnish an updated identification key by revisiting past studies and examining new voucher specimens. The biogeography of Iranian taxa is also explored.

Saw scaled vipers of the genus Echis belong to the family Viperidae and subfamily Viperinae. These vipers are widely distributed from East Africa to Southwest and Central Asia. Echis bite is one of the major causes of mortality in the world. Different populations of these medically important snakes have different venom composition, and the relevant antivenom is highly species-specific. Echis has a complex taxonomic history. For many years, only two species were recognized (i.e., Echis coloratus and E. carinatus). Over the past 50 years, the number of species have been raised to 12, of which six species reside in the Middle East. Phylogenetic studies show that the genus Echis fall into four species groups: the E. carinatus, E. coloratus, E. ocellatus and E. pyramidum groups. Until recently, only E. carinatus in Southwest Asia and India and E. coloratus in Arabia were assigned to the Middle East. Several morphological and phylogenetic studies raised the number of Echis species in the Middle East from two to six. These Middle Eastern vipers belong to three different species groups. An Asian, an Arabian and an African group. Distribution and basal split of the genus Echis, likely have been shaped by vicariance and tectonic events, which have separated or connected the land masses. In this study, a brief review on biogeography, taxonomy and distribution of the genus especially in the Middle East is presented.

Climate change is an important growing threat to biodiversity and ecosystems. Previous studies have shown that climate change will negatively influence on Iran’s biodiversity. Reptiles are among the most vulnerable group to climate change. Until now, more than 80 snake species have been recorded in Iran in which 16 are terrestrial venomous. In the present study, we predicted the impacts of climate change on distribution of the genus Macrovipera in Iran. We applied an ensemble approach, using five distribution modeling methods (Generalized Linear Models, Generalized Additive Models, Generalized Boosted Models, Maximum Entropy Modelling and Random Forest) to predict the impacts of climate change on distribution pattern of the genus. We also estimated protected areas coverage for the suitable habitat of the genus under current and future climatic conditions. We found that the genus will lose 11% of its suitable habitat under the worst-case scenario (2071-2100SSP585). Results also showed that only around 8% of the genus suitable habitat is covered by protected areas under current and future climatic conditions. Stable suitable but not protected habitats have high priority for conservation of the genus in Iran.

Many studies conducted on range of animals showed that morphology is related to habitat. In the present study, we aimed to examine the morphological characteristics of species assigned to the genus Ophiomorus in Iran. Seventy-one specimens from throughout the range of distribution in the central plateau of Iran were investigated. Eleven morphometric and four meristic variables were analyzed independently. Multivariate analyses were performed using canonical variate analysis (CVA) and principal component analysis (PCA). The results showed that there is significant morphological differentiation between three species groups brevipes, tridactylus, and punctatissimus in this genus in relation to habitat choice. ANOVA results showed that 14 morphological characters (SVL, HL, HW, HH, SL, LF, LA, LFL, LFH, LHF, NSL, NDSB, NMC, and NIL; 10 metric and four Meristic) were significantly different among all Ophiomorus species, which based on this, TL did not show a significant difference among species. Finally, we assigned three species groups based on limb reduction (especially fingers), and habitat surface (comparison based on habitat observations) for all Ophiomorus species in Iran. In addition, using newly applied morphological characteristics we proposed an updated identification key for the genus.

The genus Trapelus Cuvier, 1817, belonging to the subfamily Agaminae, is described with 13 species. There are absolutely four species in Iran: T. agilis, T. ruderatus, T.sanguinolentus and T. persicus. Within the vast distribution range of Trapelus, current and past climate and vicariance events have significantly influenced their diversification patterns and distributions. Recently, the first and the most comprehensive assessment based on molecular genetic analyses within T. ruderatus in western Asia including Iran, Turkey, Syria, and Iraq, has shown that Iranian populations have slight divergence whereas are undoubtedly isolated from Turkey's population. Also, this study introduced the populations of southern Iraq as belonging to T. persicus. In this review, we have tried to have a complete examination and comparison based on all of the available relevant literature about the taxonomy, phylogeny, evolutionary history, and biogeography of the genus Trapelus in the Iranian plateau and neighboring regions, as well as we examined the controversial nomenclature changes and their reasons in some species and subspecies of this genus. We will also give a brief overview of our unpublished dissertation on comparative morphology and dimorphism in the genus T. ruderatus. In the end, we present an identification key based on the latest changes in the classification and taxonomy of the genus.

Geographical diversity appears in the phenotype of different populations of a given species and specific geographical factors are directly or indirectly involved in this variation. Due to their wide distribution range, snakes of the genus Platyceps Blyth, 1860 are wonderful case studies for morphological evaluation. In this study, 49 specimens of the Platyceps rhodorachis-ventromaculatus species complex in four different geographic areas from Iran were examined using morphological characters. The results of statistical analysis did not show any sexual dimorphism except in the character of Gular scales (P value = 0.038), but did show significant variation in the number of scales and in other morphological characters among populations in this group. Generally, four morphological clusters were distinguished with Sistan and Baluchistan population being the most distinct from the others. Additionally, there was a visible slope of changes in some morphological characters associated with latitude, so that body size of the specimens increases with increasing latitude.

Snakebite is a global health problem and important conservation challenge. Knowing where snakebite risk is highest can help snakebite management. But climate change is altering snakebite risk pattern making its management more difficult and complicated.
In this study we used Echis carinatus’ habitat suitability as an indicator of snakebite risk, under current and future climatic conditions. We applied an ensemble of five distribution modelling methods (Generalized linear models (GLMs), Generalized additive models (GAMs), Generalized boosted models (GBMs), Maximum entropy modelling (Maxent) and Random Forest (RF)) to model the species habitat suitability. In addition, we identified villages that are at risk of envenoming form the species under current and future climate.
Results showed that the species suitable habitat will increase under climate change as consequence number of villages at risk will increase from 70247 to 82881 putting more human population at risk of envenoming.
High snakebite risk areas identified in this study are high priority target areas for awareness raising program and antivenom distribution. This study demonstrates usefulness of habitat suitability modeling in identifying high snakebite risk area in Iran.

A review of the known Middle East species of the genus Asaccus Dixon and Anderson, 1973 is presented. The genus Asaccus is a vicariance group that is distributed in southern Anatolia, eastern Iraq, western and southwestern Iran, Syria, northern Oman and the United Arab Emirates. This genus belongs to one of the least known families of geckos Phyllodactylidae that encompasses 10 genera, 158 species and 46 subspecies.The genus Asaccus is divided into two distinct geographical lineages. The first group is endemic to the Mesopotamian region (western Iran, eastern Iraq, Turkey and Syria), which includes Asaccus andersoni, A. elisae, A. griseonotus, A. granularis, A. iranicus, A. kermanshahensis, A. kurdistanensis, A. nasrullahi, A. tangestanensis, A. zagrosicus, A. saffinae, and A. barani all restricted to the Zagros mountains and neighboring regions. The second group, occurring in the northern Oman Mountains as well as some areas in the United Arab Emirates includes A. arnoldi, A.caudivolvulus, A. gallagheri, A. gardneri, A. margaritae, A. montanus and A. platyrhynchus. Historical and biogeographical events in the Middle East have had a major impact on the distribution and subsequent evolution of Asaccus.

In the present study, it was hypothesized that micromorphology undergoes a specific evolutionary path at the time of species derivation. Many authors have suggested that the microstructure of the superficial surface of scales hasundergone important adaptations and hasfunctional value in snakes. For testing,this hypothesis, theskin micro-ornamentation of the snakes’genera PseudocerastesandEristicophiswasstudied usinga dino-lite digitalmicroscope and scanning electron microscopy.Skin samples from the dorsalpart of the head in these related vipers were photographed and compared with each other in terms of divergence time.This study demonstrates that microstructures show a progressionfrom an uneven honeycomb(a plesiomorphy)toa smoother and network-free(an autapomorphy) surface structure.

There are numerous published datarelated to the taxonomic structureand distributionofone of the most diverse and taxonomically confusingIranianlizards,the genus Phrynocephalus.The genus Phrynocephalus has a close relationship with genera Stellagama, Paralaudakia,and Laudakia. There are about 10-12species of this monophyletic genus in desert regions of Iran.This study aimsto provide a review and a brief comparison of taxonomic changesas well as the distributionof the Iranian PlateauPhrynocephalusspecies.

As the only remnants of diverse and wide spread marine turtles from ancient time, modern marine turtles play important ecological, economical and cultural roles in our oceans and related human communities. Green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas, referred as the most valuable reptile of the world, and have its popularity and famousness owing the name of the order Chelonian and one of the remaining sea turtle families, Cheloniidae. Totally 139 turtles in different life stages, from different sites and using the mentioned methods, captures and the collected data analyzed. Of all samples, the smallest and largest ones had a juvenile 26 cm and a male mature 96 cm length, respectively, the minimum and maximum weight also were 2.3 and 97 kg respectively. Considering the quality, totally 70 sequences with 694 bps were included in the final genetic analyses. Based on the phylogenetic trees, two main clades with 37 and 33 individuals were detected. In both clades, individuals from all sampling sites were present, indicating geographic distinction, convincing to suppose the all individuals as a one group. Total FST for two clades calculated 0.77 (p>0.05) which indicates high level of differentiation. As a whole population or as one group, 17 haplotypes were recognized with haplotype diversity (h) of 0.8977 and nucleotide diversity (π) of 0.0149. 13 haplotypes recorded as the new detected ones. Of all the 17 haplotypes, only four haplotypes have already been reported, sharing with six haplotypes including: two from Australia (KJ502589.1 and KJ502588.1), two haplotypes from Saudi Arabia (KP027611.1, KP027608.1), and one from Indonesia (KM357652.1) and one from south East Asia (KX057743.1). Haplotypes of 1 and 9 with 14 individuals had the highest frequency. Haplotype network was drawn to represent the relationship between the all haplotypes of data set which the results and contribution of each locality in the groups. The network shows that the haplotypes form two main groups have 16 mutation steps which indicate their genetic distance and divergence.

A review of the Snake-eyed Skink Ablepharus Fitzinger, 1823 is presented. The specific character of Ablepharus involves a lack of movable eyelids, with the lower eyelid fused to the upper one, forming a transparent spectacle covering the eye. The genus Ablepharus occurs in southeastern Europe, southwest Asia, and Central Asian Republics (from the Mediterranean Sea coasts to northwest India), including 11 valid species: A. anatolicus Schmidtler, 1997, A. bivittatus (Ménétries, 1832), A. budaki Göçmen, Kumlutas & Tosunoglu, 1996, A. chernovi Darevsky, 1953, A. darvazi Eremchenko & Panfilov, 1990, A. deserti Strauch, 1868, A. grayanus (Stoliczka, 1872), A. kitaibelii Bibron & Bory St-Vincent, 1833, A. lindbergi Wettstein, 1960, A. pannonicus (Lichtenstein, 1823), and A. rueppellii (Gray, 1839). For identification of species of Ablepharus, we used additional scalation and molecular features, used anatomical survey (e.g. osteological and hemipenial characters), and species distribution models. Of the genus Ablepharus, A. bivittatus, A. chernovi, A. grayanus, and A. pannonicus occur in Iran.

Platyceps rhodorachis (JAN, 1863) and P. karelini (BRANDT, 1838) are both members of the P. rhodorachis complex species, which is widely distributed in Iran and includes many local populations in the country. These two species are molecularly and to some extent morphologically valid. However, hybrids between P. karelini and P. rhodorachis have been described, but so far their ecological differentiation have not been evaluated. In this study, the ecological niche models was predicted for these two members of the P. rhodorachis complex using bioclimatic layers and geographical coordinates. Possible habitat models show the distribution density of these two species in the southern (including some islands in the Persian Gulf) regions, and some areas in northeastern Iran. The results of niche similarity tests (identity and niche overlap tests) based on the criteria of environmental species, in order to assess the degree of species differentiation, indicate the degree of differentiation between these two sister species and raises the possibility of a hybrid belt in southern Iran.

Psammophis schokari (FORSSKAL, 1775), as one of the euryoecious semi-venomous snakes of the Psammophiidae family, has a wide distribution range and many local populations in the Iranian plateau. This study aimed to evaluate the demographic and morphological diversity of P. schokari in Iran. We measured twenty-one metric, meristic and relative characters of 22 specimens (11 ♀ and 11 ♂) to analyze sexual size dimorphism and compare demographic morphological variation between three different populations in Iran. Except for a significant difference in trunk length, no sexual dimorphism was recorded in our analysis. We observed a significant difference in morphological characters among different populations. Because P. schokari is often distributed at low altitudes and tropical and desert areas; We believe the main cause for the separation of populations is the heights on the Iranian plateau, which acts as a natural barriers for gene flow between populations therefore. These populations are isolated due to the separation effect of the orogenic process.

The southern crested newt, Triturus karelinii (Strauch, 1870), is a newt endemic to the Ponto-Caspian region. We evaluate the potential distribution of this species and identify the most important environmental factors that determine the distribution of this species in Iran. Forty-four presence points and seven environmental variables were used to model the distribution range. Species distribution modeling was performed using the Maximum Entropy algorithm (MaxEnt). Precipitation of the warmest quarter, with 68.60% contribution, and altitude, with 13.70% contribution, were the most important factors determining the distribution of the species. According to our habitat suitability map, the Golestan, Mazandaran, Guilan, and Ardabil provinces are determined as possessing suitable habitat for the species, while the central and southern regions of Iran do not possess suitable habitats, associated with insufficient rainfall.

The Maranjab desert is located in the south and southwest region of the Salt Lake in Central Plateau of Iran. This region has a diverse topography and many sand dunes and sabulous are observed in its landscape. Common vegetation of this desert includes halophyte plants like Artiplex, Haloxilon and Zygophyllum. In the present study, most part of the Maranjab Desert was investigated. As a result of this investigation 15 species of lizards belonging to 11 genera and six families were identified and recorded. Among the families of lizards recorded in the area, the Lacertidae with six species is the most diverse family in the region. The Agamidae, Gekkonidae, Scincidae and Varanidae, and Spharodactylidae with 3, 2, 2, 1 and 1 species respectively also occur in this region. Phrynocephalus maculatus is a widespread species and can be found in all parts of the area, but Eremias kavirensis and Ophiomorous maranjabensis have colonized in some restricted regions in the area.

The Bedraiga's skink gecko, Teratoscincus bedriagai, is among the fairly known lizards of Iran. Phylogenetic relationships among five distant populations of Teratoscincus bedriagai were estimated based on the mitochondrial COI sequences. This study highlights very low genetic divergences among examined populations despite the noticeable geographic distance between them. We assumed that the current distribution pattern of haplotypes is shaped as a consequence of climate changes and glaciations in the Quaternary.

The Alburnus chalcoides is of the species of teleost fish of the Caspian Sea. Sampling was done randomly on days 1 to 5 and days 7, 8, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 75, 90 after hatching, pre-puberty and puberty. The digestive enzymes studied in this fish include pancreatic enzymes (trypsin, chtotripsin, lipase, amylase) and intestinal enzymes (alkaline phosphatase and N-aminopeptidase). During the growth of fish, trypsin, kumotrypsin and N-aminopeptidase enzymes had an increasing trend which is caused by a high-protein diet. The phosphatase enzyme also has a rising trend up to one month of age and is then fixed under the effect of the pH of the environment. Amylase and lipase enzymes have an incremental reduction peak which shows that the fish diet has low sugar and fat compounds. Significant differences were observed for all enzymes (P≤0.05) which has been the start of a significant difference for the trypsin and chomitripsin from the third day, lipase enzyme from the second day, amylase enzyme from the seventh day and the alkaline phosphatase and N-aminopeptidase from day five. All the digestive tract enzymes studied in this fish on the day of onset of active feeding has had incremental peak.

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the molecule encoding the genetic instructions used in the growth and functioning of all living organisms and is very appropriate for biological information storage. Todays, the DNA sequences are regarded as sources for detecting the species and their phylogenetic relationships. Despite the modern technologies including the next generation sequencing and DNA barcoding, there is still a need for a fast, cheap, and reliable method for identifying species particularly in ambiguous morphologically-defined organisms. This study evaluated to see if some biophysical chemistry properties of PCR products like melting point can be used before sequencing to identify the samples of interest. Determining the melting temperature of PCR products is available in most available measurements in molecular biology labs. The present study focused on the potential use of melting temperature related to PCR products of 16S and Cyt b (highly used genes in phylogenetic studies) using a real-time PCR machine to identify different species of snakes from Iran. The preliminary results of these two genes are promising although extra steps are required to improve its sensitivity. The development of this method can be used in a rapid evaluation of species.

Rana macrocnemis, the Caucasian brown frog, is found in northwest and west Iran. Despite their vast distribution range, the Iranian populations of the brown frogs, with the exception of a limited number, have not been considered in studies. In this study, we used a broad sampling of these frogs across their distribution range to assess their morphological variation and structure of populations. In order to investigate the morphological variation in Caucasian brown frog, 13 morphological characters in more than 85 specimens from various regions of Iran were studied. Statistical significance for a hypothesis of sexual dimorphism of the frogs was tested using ANOVA to compare difference of means of each character between sexes and applying a multivariate analysis of variances (MANOVA) to compare vectors of means of the two sexes. Patterns of phenetic relationships between local populations were investigated by One-way ANOVA, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA) and clustering analyses with UPGMA algorithm. Results of ANOVA between sexes in R. macrocnemis showed statistical significance for six characters and Multivariate analysis of variances indicated difference between mean vectors of the males and females (P≤ 0.05). In the intraspecific level, based on morphometric characters, there are at least two main populations of R. macrocnemis in the northern Iran: a northern group (Tabriz, Ardebil) and a southern group (Lorestan, Kermanshah, Arak, Hamadan, Urmia, Kordestan and Esfahan).

The county of Mehran is located in one of the main plains of Ilam Province and possesses a semi-saharan, dry and relatively hot environment. In order to study the lizard fauna and assess symbiotic species and biologic adaptations of these retiles this research was conducted through an extensive field and laboratory works during April 2010 to August 2011. In this assay we collected and identified 11 species of lizards belonging to 11 genera and six families from this region. The family Gekkonidae with four taxa including Cyrtopodion scabrum, Mediodactylus heteropholis, Bunopus tuberculatus and Microgecko helena was represented as the most frequent family in this area whereas the families Eublepharidae, Scincidae, Phyllodactylidae were introduced each with only one species of Eublepharis angramainu, Trachylepis septentaeniataand Asaccus elisa, respectively. The family Lacertidae with two species Ophisops elegans and Acanthodactylus boskianus and the family Agamidae also with two taxa Laudakia nupta and Trapelus lessonae occur here. The most common lizard in this region is the snake-eyed lizard, Ophisops elegans.

Several specimens of the lesser white-toothed shrew, Crocidura suaveolens, (Pallas, 1811) were investigated using mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (cytb) and morphometric from different localities of Iranian Plateau. Phylogenetic tree reconstruction using the Bayesian Inference analysis (BI) revealed high genetic diversity into four well-supported clades including two main clades: the first clade included northern populations of Iran and the second one included the populations from central and northwest of Iran. The Central population forms an isolated subclade. Basal status of the central subclade in phylogenetic tree, high genetic diversity, fairly high amount of K2P genetic distance (greater than 4 percent) in comparison with other clades as well as lack of shared haplotypes supports the presence of differentiated lineage in the central Iran. It seems that, the recent central population has been originated from an ancestral relict population and the Pleistocene climatic oscillations have resulted in its isolation from other populations and subsequent divergence into the new lineage.

Quaternary climatic oscillations have influenced the species and forced them to habit in safe localities called refugees. Long time isolation has been resulted in genetic divergence that could be distinguished by phylogeographic studies. Geographic distributional patterns compared in six species using mtDNA markers in different localities mainly the Central Iran. Barrier software applied to revealing genetic barriers and probable corridors. In this case, sequences have been applied as an input data. At first, FST value for each clad was estimated and was visualized by Barrier Software. In addition, geographic coordinate data set was also imported in it. Then, Euclidean distances among each individual calculated and used to Principle component Analysis using statistical software. Comparison of geographic distributional patterns indicates incongruent models in these species that is one of features of refuge localities. It seems that each species has responded to climatic fluctuations in different ways. At the end, genetic barriers and probable corridors have investigated in the Central Iran.

The reptile's fauna of Sabzevar was investigated during 10 years (2003-2013). In total 43 species belonging to 29 genera, 13families and two orders (Squamata and Testudines) were collected and identified. The most diverse group in the area is lizards with 23 species, followed by snakes with 18 species and the testudines with one species. The most diverse families are Colubridae , Lacertidae with 8 and Gekkonidae with 5 species respectively, followed by Agamidae with 4 species, Viperidae, Boidae and Scincidae with 3 species each, Lamrophiidae and Spherodactylidae with 2 species and 4 families Elapidae, Thyphlopidae, Varanidae and Testudonidae with only one species each