Caucasian Rock Lizard
Darevskia caucasica
Overview
Caucasian Rock Lizard in Georgia
The Caucasian rock lizard (Darevskia caucasica) is associated in Georgia with rocky habitats of the Greater Caucasus. The 2026 Georgian checklist treatment lists records and DNA barcodes from Zakagori Fortress, Mount Tbatana, and Lebarde; this atlas keeps the taxon as candidate because limits inside the caucasica complex and the genetic distinctness of Georgian populations remain active research topics. It has no venom and is not a medical danger to people. Field identification should use locality, rocky microhabitat, and scalation details, not green or brown colour alone.
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Identification
How to identify Caucasian Rock Lizard
The Caucasian rock lizard is a small, fast Darevskia of rocky places. Colour varies and does not separate close species; locality, rock habitat, and, when visible, head and precloacal scalation are more reliable.
The body is slim and adapted to rock; the tail is long and may look short or regenerated after injury. A damaged tail does not change the species ID.
Colour can be greenish, yellow-brown, grey, or brown, often with pale lateral stripes and dark marks. These are useful descriptive notes, but not diagnostic because several Darevskia species look similar.
The 2026 figures for the Zakagori/Truso material show head scales and precloacal plates. Those details matter when a photo has to be checked against similar rock lizards.
Daghestanian rock lizard is the hardest comparison around the upper Tergi and Tbatana: colour does not separate them, and the literature mentions possible hybridization. In that zone, one photo is often not enough.
Colchian rock lizard is linked to humid western Georgian valleys and has a narrow Greater Caucasus contact with caucasica. Alpine rock lizard is also a candidate taxon in this atlas; colour is not a reliable separator.
Quiz
Next: which lizard is it?
Caucasian Rock Lizard is in the Georgia lizard quiz. Ten field photos, four names — eye practice, not field ID.
Biology
Habitat, diet, behavior, and conservation
Habitat and range
Named Georgian points are Truso Valley and Zakagori Fortress (figure/barcode), Mount Tbatana, and Lebarde. The closest comparative NCBI sequence is also from Truso. This page therefore does not claim a countrywide range. The map layer is conservative and fills administrative regions only when the source gives an administrative unit or a reliably placeable locality. Look for sunny rock, stony slopes, road-cut rock, and rocky parts of mountain valleys where the lizard can escape into crevices.
Diet
The Georgian records used here do not summarize stomach contents or a measured diet for this species. Small invertebrates are expected for a small rock lizard, but that is not presented here as measured Georgian evidence for D. caucasica.
Behavior
This is a day-active rock lizard: it basks on stone or rock and retreats into crevices when disturbed. The Georgian sources used on this profile do not give a separate hourly calendar, exact emergence from winter shelters, or breeding months. For a useful observation, photograph the locality, elevation, back, side, and head scalation; catching the lizard is unnecessary.
Conservation
Globally, the IUCN Red List assesses the species as Least Concern, but that older assessment covers the whole range, not Georgia alone. The 2026 checklist stresses that Georgian D. caucasica differ strongly from northern Caucasus populations, and the 2025 genomic study also supports several distant units inside the species. A separate Georgian population trend, abundance estimate, and verified national Red List status are not given on this profile.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the most important questions about Caucasian Rock Lizard.
Yes. Sources name Georgian records, including Zakagori, Tbatana, and Lebarde. This atlas still marks the taxon as candidate because species limits and genetic units in the caucasica complex are not simple.
Named places are Truso Valley/Zakagori Fortress, Mount Tbatana, and Lebarde. In practice, look on sunny rocks, stony slopes, and rocky valley sections, not across every Georgian forest or lowland.
No. It has no venom and is not a medical danger to people.
It is not dangerous to people, but handling is not useful: it can be stressed, bite, or drop its tail. Photograph it and leave it in place.
Do not rely on colour alone. Use locality, rocky habitat, and, in a good photo, head and precloacal scalation.
It is a small rock lizard. This profile does not add exact centimetres because a separate verified Georgian measurement series is not summarized in the sources used here.
The Georgian sources used here do not specify a measured diet. Small invertebrates are expected for small rock lizards, but that still needs verification for Georgian D. caucasica.
Globally, IUCN lists it as Least Concern. That does not replace careful writing about Georgian range, population trend, or taxonomy.
References
Sources
References
Sources
- Tarkhnishvili et al. 2026 — Annotated checklist of Georgia's amphibians and reptiles
- Tarkhnishvili et al. 2026 — Zenodo treatment for Darevskia caucasica
- Doronin et al. 2021 — Phylogeography of the Darevskia caucasica complex
- Tarkhnishvili & Iankoshvili 2023 — Geographic proximity and niche overlap in Caucasian rock lizards
- Tarkhnishvili et al. 2025 — Introgression and adaptive diversity in Caucasian rock lizards
- Tuniyev et al. 2009 — IUCN Red List account for Darevskia caucasica
- 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
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 derjugini
Derjugin's Lizard
Western Georgia and the forest belt of eastern Georgia
Darevskia praticola
Meadow Lizard
Eastern and central Georgia — Sioni, Tushurebi
Darevskia adjarica
Ajarian Rock Lizard
Adjara (Shuakhevi) and Abastumani
Darevskia armeniaca
Armenian Rock Lizard
Southern Georgia — Ninotsminda (Saghamo), Akhalkalaki