Brauner's Rock Lizard

Darevskia brauneri

A candidate rock lizard in the D. saxicola complex; the Ertso population is a subspecies, not a separate species — colour is not enough.

Western and central Greater Caucasus — Mestia (Manshura), Martvili, Ertso LakeRisk to humansHarmless

At a glance

Key facts in one look

Habitat

W–central Greater Caucasus

Venom

None

Status

Candidate

Family

Lacertidae

Overview

What is Brauner's Rock Lizard

Brauner’s rock lizard (Darevskia brauneri) is a candidate species in Tarkhnishvili et al. 2026, in the Darevskia (saxicola) complex. Species status is widely accepted, but it is unclear how far stepped genetic and phenotypic clines separate it from D. saxicola or D. szczerbaki. Mitochondrial haplogroups from some Georgian populations of nominal D. brauneri are closer to North Caucasian D. saxicola than to formally conspecific populations. Distribution is restricted to the western and central Greater Caucasus. D. arribasi from near Ertso Lake is treated here as D. b. arribasi: diagnostic scalation and morphometrics fall within variation of western Caucasian brauneri and of Enguri and Tekhuri basin populations, and mtDNA divergence is on a ≈2% scale. Subspecies D. b. myusserica occurs locally in northwestern Georgia.

Last updated 24 August 2026

Gallery

Brauner's Rock Lizard in photos

Distribution

Where Brauner's Rock Lizard lives in Georgia

Highlighted regions show where this species has been recorded.

Identification

How to identify Brauner's Rock Lizard

Colour is not enough. Field ID among Darevskia needs scalation and range, not colour. Scalation reported for “arribasi” at Ertso falls within brauneri variation in the paper.

01
Colour does not separate Darevskia species.
02
saxicola complex; scalation clines versus D. saxicola / D. szczerbaki are unclear.
03
D. arribasi (Ertso) is a subspecies here: diagnostic scalation is within brauneri variation.
04
Checklist figures show head scalation and preanal plates (Mestia, Manshura).

Biology

Habitat, diet, behavior, and conservation

Habitat and range

Western and central Greater Caucasus. Named places: Mestia, Manshura River (figure and barcodes); Martvili; Ertso Lake; Enguri and Tekhuri basins; Lebarde (closest sequence).

Diet

The paper does not specify diet for this species.

Conservation

Candidate species in the checklist. Contact zones and isolation in the saxicola complex remain insufficiently tested.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Short answers to the most important questions about Brauner's Rock Lizard.

The paper keeps the Ertso population as D. b. arribasi, not a separate species. D. saxicola is North Caucasian; some Georgian brauneri mtDNA is closer to it. Colour will not tell them apart.

Contact zones in the saxicola complex are insufficiently tested; species rank is widely accepted but gene flow is not ruled out.

Western and central Greater Caucasus. Figure: Mestia, Manshura; barcodes: Martvili and Manshura; also Ertso Lake, Enguri, Tekhuri. Abkhazia is not named in the remark; D. b. myusserica is listed from northwestern Georgia.

Site classification Harmless. No venom.

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
The Reptile Database

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