Alpine Rock Lizard
Darevskia alpina
A high-mountain rock lizard of the western Greater Caucasus. Candidate on the Georgian checklist; colour does not separate Darevskia species.
Overview
What is Alpine Rock Lizard
The alpine rock lizard (Darevskia alpina) is a harmless high-mountain rock lizard of the western Greater Caucasus and a candidate on Georgia’s 2026 checklist. Darevsky described it in 1967, first as a subspecies of the Caucasian rock lizard. The type locality is Terskol in Kabardino-Balkaria, at about 2,200 m, in Russia, not in Georgia. The Georgian common name points to Abkhazia; the English and Russian names refer to high elevation. Tarkhnishvili et al. 2026 keep the taxon on the list, but the account is short: it may be a hybrid between the caucasica and saxicola complexes (Murphy 2000; Tarkhnishvili 2012). That paper lists no Georgian records, barcodes, or named locality, so this atlas does not colour a regional map. International literature places the species in the western Greater Caucasus, including Abkhazia and western Georgia — that is range from other sources, not a locality list from the 2026 account. It is not venomous and is not dangerous to people.
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Identification
How to identify Alpine Rock Lizard
A small rock lizard in the genus Darevskia. Colour does not separate species. Field identification needs scalation, range, and often genetics. The 2026 checklist gives no separate diagnostic field marks for this taxon.
Body and head are typical of a rock lizard: a flattened trunk, a long tail, and well-developed limbs. A measured Georgian size series is not on this page. Do not name the species from colour in a photograph alone.
Tarkhnishvili et al. 2016 describe it as morphologically intermediate between Brauner’s rock lizard (D. brauneri, saxicola complex) and the Caucasian rock lizard (D. caucasica). Other species in the saxicola complex also lack easy morphological diagnoses.
D. caucasica is biologically confirmed on the checklist; named Georgian points include Truso (Zakagori), Tbatana, and Lebarde. D. brauneri is a candidate; named points include Mestia (Manshura), Martvili, and Lake Ertso. Either can look like the same coloured rock lizard.
D. daghestanica is in the caucasica complex; ranges are continuous in the upper Terek. D. adjarica is named from south-western Georgia and is a different geographic context. Colour does not separate these pairs either.
It is not venomous. Risk to people is negligible if the animal is not handled. Watch it in the field; do not pick it up.
Quiz
Next: which lizard is it?
Alpine Rock Lizard is in the Georgia lizard quiz. Ten field photos, four names — eye practice, not field ID.
Biology
Habitat, diet, behavior, and conservation
Diet
Rock lizards of the genus Darevskia typically take small invertebrates — insects, spiders, and similar prey on rock, scree, and meadow edges. A Georgian stomach or faecal study of this species is not cited on this page.
Behavior
It is a day-active lizard: in warm weather it is seen on rock and in subalpine ground. The Reptile Database lists it as oviparous. A separate Georgian seasonal calendar, overwintering site, or laying date is not published here. At high elevation the active season is short, but that is a general expectation, not measured Georgian phenology. Do not handle wild lizards.
Conservation
Tarkhnishvili et al. 2026 treat it as a candidate: a possible hybrid origin leaves species rank in need of further evidence. On the IUCN Red List, Tuniyev and co-authors assess it as Vulnerable (2009; assessment e.T11120A114549788). Tuniyev 2024 cites the same VU category with criterion B1ab(i, iii, v). Georgia’s 2014 Red List (Decree No. 190) includes Darevskia clarkorum, D. dahli, and D. mixta; D. alpina is not on that list. It is not read here as a CITES-listed species. Doronin 2013 notes habitat decline from human pressure and climate change — a Caucasus-level remark, not a measured national trend for Georgia. This atlas does not estimate a Georgian population size.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the most important questions about Alpine Rock Lizard.
The 2026 Georgian checklist keeps it as a candidate. The account lists no Georgian locality, barcode, or records. Tuniyev 2024 and The Reptile Database include Abkhazia and western Georgia / the north-western Caucasus in the range. That is literature range, not a coloured map on this atlas.
The realistic setting is the high belt of the western Greater Caucasus — subalpine rock and meadow, at species level often above about 1,650 m. The checklist names no village. The Georgian common name points to Abkhazia, but the 2026 remark does not confirm that.
Not by colour. Field identification among Darevskia uses scalation and range. This taxon is morphologically intermediate between D. brauneri and D. caucasica. A single photograph is not enough.
No. It has no venom and is not dangerous to people. It may bite if handled. Do not pick it up.
This page has no measured Georgian series. It is a small rock lizard in Darevskia. Size is not a basis for naming the species.
At genus level it takes small invertebrates. It is active by day in the warm high-mountain season. Species-specific Georgian diet and calendar are not measured here. It lays eggs.
The checklist treats it as a candidate. The account allows a hybrid origin between the caucasica and saxicola complexes and does not show isolation. mtDNA often places it with the saxicola group; morphology is also linked to caucasica.
Globally it is Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List (2009). It is not on Georgia’s 2014 Red List. It is a candidate on the checklist. Do not take wild animals.
References
Sources
References
Sources
- Tarkhnishvili et al. 2026 — Annotated checklist of Georgia's amphibians and reptiles
- Iankoshvili & Tarkhnishvili 2021 — Georgian herpetofauna records cited in Tarkhnishvili et al. 2026
- Tarkhnishvili et al. 2016 — Mitochondrial phylogeny of the Darevskia saxicola complex
- Murphy et al. 2000 — Phylogenetic constraints on parthenogenesis in lacertid lizards
- Tarkhnishvili 2012 — Evolutionary history, habitats, diversification, and speciation in Caucasian rock lizards
- Darevsky 1967 — Rock lizards of the Caucasus
- Tuniyev 2024 — High herpetological diversity in the Caucasian Ecoregion
- Doronin 2013 — New records of Darevskia in the Caucasus
- Doronin et al. 2021 — Phylogeography of the Darevskia (caucasica) complex
- Tuniyev et al. 2009 — IUCN Red List, Darevskia alpina
- The Reptile Database — Darevskia alpina
- საქართველოს მთავრობის დადგენილება №190 (2014) — წითელი ნუსხა
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
Related guides
Continue with related pages
Lizard species
Every lizard in the index — Darevskia in its own block. An empty cell is a missing source.
IndexQuizWhich lizard is it?
A photo, four names, instant feedback — Georgia’s lizard catalog. This is not the field guide.
Start the quizRock lizardsDarevskia one by one
Colour is not identification. Each species opens its own profile.
Darevskia guideIDWhat lizard is this?
Photo, size, colour, range. For Darevskia, colour is not enough.
ID guide
Darevskia adjarica
Ajarian Rock Lizard
Adjara (Shuakhevi) and Abastumani
Darevskia armeniaca
Armenian Rock Lizard
Southern Georgia — Ninotsminda (Saghamo), Akhalkalaki
Darevskia clarkorum
Clark's Rock Lizard
Adjara — Charnali Gorge (Khelvachauri)
Darevskia daghestanica
Daghestanian Rock Lizard
Tusheti; Akhmeta (Tbatana)