Eremias pleskei

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	REPTILIA	SQUAMATA	LACERTIDAE

Scientific Name:

Eremias pleskei

Species Authority:

Nikolsky, 1905

Common Name/s:

English

–

Pleske's Racerunner, Transcaucasian Racerunner

Synonym/s:

Eremias fasciata pleskei Nikolsky, 1915

Eremias pleskei Bedriaga, 1907

Eremias (Rhabderemias) pleskei Szcsebak, 1974

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:	Critically Endangered A2c ver 3.1
Year Published:	2009
Assessor/s:	Boris Tuniyev, Natalia Ananjeva, Aram Agasyan, Nikolai Orlov, and Sako Tuniyev
Reviewer/s:	Neil Cox and Helen Temple
Justification: Listed as Critically Endangered because of a drastic population decline, estimated to be more than 80% over the last 10 years due to the loss of its narrowly distributed habitat, observed shrinkage in distribution due to habitat loss (sandy enclaves) and anecdotal information on remaining populations.

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species is restricted to the Armenian Plateau of Armenia, Azerbaijan (including the disputed territory of Nakhichevan), northwestern Iran and Turkey (vicinity of Igdir in eastern Anatolia) (Baran and Atatür, 1998; Anderson, 1999). The distribution is highly restricted to areas of suitable sandy semi-desert habitat over a very wide area, and therefore occupies a small fraction of its estimated extent of occurrence. In Turkey it occurs between 500 and 1,700m asl.
Countries:	Native: Armenia; Azerbaijan; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Turkey
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	It is found at low densities.
Population Trend:	Decreasing

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	This species is generally associated with sandy semi-desert enclaves. In Iran, it has been recorded from semi desert sandy or stony soils of Artemisia steppes (Anderson, 1999). In Turkey, it is found in semi-desert sandy and partly rocky areas (Baran and Atatur, 1998). Animals generally hide under stones when disturbed. The female lays between two and four eggs, laying two clutches each season.
Systems:	Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	This species has almost no remaining suitable habitat remaining within its range (sandy areas) due to human disturbance of its restricted distribution. Threats include salinification and the placement of trash dumps on suitable habitat.

Major Threat(s):

This species has almost no remaining suitable habitat remaining within its range (sandy areas) due to human disturbance of its restricted distribution. Threats include salinification and the placement of trash dumps on suitable habitat.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	This species does not occur in any protected areas. Urgent actions are needed to conserve any remaining areas of habitat for this species.

Conservation Actions:

This species does not occur in any protected areas. Urgent actions are needed to conserve any remaining areas of habitat for this species.

Citation:	Boris Tuniyev, Natalia Ananjeva, Aram Agasyan, Nikolai Orlov, and Sako Tuniyev 2009. Eremias pleskei. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 24 May 2012.
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