REPTILES OF THE VOLGA BASIN IN THE WORKS OF P. S. PALLAS 

Bakiev Andrey Gennad'evich, Candidate of biological sciences, associate professor, senior researcher, laboratory of herpetology and toxinology, Institute of Ecology of the Volga River Basin of the Russian Academy of Science (10 Komzina street, Togliatti, Russia), E-mail: herpetology@list.ru 

598.1+001.891.32(470.4) 

DOI

10.21685/2307-9150-2018-4-2 

Background. The purpose of the work is to clarify the species of turtles, lizards and snakes that P. S. Pallas noted in the Volga river basin and the Volga-Ural interfluve. Pallas’s data on the reptile fauna of the region are compared with current data.
Materials and methods. The basis of the study was the analysis of Pallas’s publications. The names of reptiles used by Pallas with their modern names are identified.
Results. From the Volga region, Pallas described two species of reptiles that are new to science: “Coluber melanis” (black forest-steppe form of the Vipera berus) and “Lacerta pipiens” (Alsophylax pipiens). From the interfluve of the Volga and the Ural Pallas described two species yet: “Lacerta apoda” (Pseudopus apodus) and “Lacerta mystacea” (Phrynocephalus mystaceus). The great naturalist noted in the Volga region also reptiles, whose modern names are: Emys orbicularis, Phrynocephalus helioscopus, Phrynocephalus guttatus, Phrynocephalus mystaceus, Eremias velox, Lacerta agilis, Natrix natrix, Natrix tessellata, Hierophis caspius, Gloydius halys, Vipera berus, Vipera renardi. At the beginning of the XXI century, one species of turtles, 11 species of lizards and 10 species of snakes reliably inhabit the region.
Conclusions. The species of reptiles noted by Pallas, except for the Pseudopus apodus and the Gloydius halys, reliably inhabit the region at present. The data of the Pallas serve as a basis for studying the dynamics of species composition, distribution, abundance and phenology of reptiles in the Volga basin. 

Key words

Peter Simon Pallas, turtles, lizards, snakes, the Volga region, the interfluve of the Volga and the Ural 

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