An integrative taxonomic analysis of newly discovered populations of Hemiphyllodactylus from Indochina recovered a new species from Peninsular Thailand and two others from Laos. The new Thai species, Hemiphyllodactylus pardalis sp. nov. described herein, is the sister species to all other species in the newly designated Indochina clade and has a unique spotted contrasting dorsal pattern not seen in any other species of Hemiphyllodactylus. This, along with its elongate and gracile body morphology, renders it remarkably convergent on the Philippine gecko Pseudogekko smaragdinus despite the fact it is deeply nested within Hemiphyllodactylus. The description of this new species underscores the depauperate nature of Hemiphyllodactylus diversity throughout Indochina in general and Thailand in particular compared to neighboring upland areas of Myanmar and Peninsular Malaysia. This especially underscores the need for continued herpetofaunal field surveys in montane areas of western Thailand.

The Kokshaal racerunner, Eremias kokshaaliensis Eremchenko et Panfilov, 1999, together with other central Asian racerunner species, is included in the Eremias multiocellata complex. In the present work, for the first time, the results of the analysis of historical mitochondrial DNA (barcode) are presented and the taxonomic status and preliminary phylogenetic relationships within the complex are specified. We present, for the first time, the results of the molecular analysis using historical DNA recovered from specimens of several species of this complex (paratypes of the Kokshaal racerunner and historical collections of the Kashgar racerunner E. buechneri from Kashgaria) using DNA barcoding.

The purpose of this application under Articles 78.1 and 81 of the Code is to request the Commission to use its plenary power to choose among two alternatives in order to preserve the genus name Darevskia and nomenclatural stability. In Alternative A, the Commission is asked to accept the microfiche publication (Arribas, 1997) as a published work in the sense of the Code and made available the names included therein, placing Iberolacerta Arribas, 1997 and Darevskia Arribas, 1997 on the Official List of Generic Names in Zoology, their type species on the Official List of Specific Names in Zoology, and the microfiche edition of Arribas (1997) on the Official List of Works Approved as Available for Zoological Nomenclature. This action will promote stability, as both names are widely accepted and, if the 1997 publication in microfiche is considered unavailable, then Darevskia Arribas, 1997 could potentially be threatened by Caucasilacerta Harris et al., 1998 (by authors who would not consider this name a nomen nudum), which would clearly disrupt stability. Not only would this alternative be the best way to preserve nomenclatural stability as stressed in the ICZN Preamble and repeated in several Articles of the Code, but it would also be the only way to ensure that these names (available at the time of their publication) remain available after the retroactive changes that have been introduced between the third and fourth editions of the Code. If Alternative A is chosen, both Iberolacerta and Darevskia become available from Arribas (1997). In Alternative B, the microfiche publication (Arribas, 1997) is considered invalid and placed on the Official Index of Rejected and Invalid Works in Zoological Nomenclature. Both Iberolacerta and Darevskia would be considered published in Arribas (1999). Also, the Commission is asked to place on the Official Index of Rejected Generic Names in Zoology the name Caucasilacerta Harris et al., 1998 (as a nomen nudum due to the lack of a valid diagnosis) and to place on the Official List of Generic Names in Zoology the names Iberolacerta Arribas, 1999 and Darevskia Arribas, 1999.

We provide a diversity assessment of Iranian species of the genus Eremias based on the cytochrome oxidase I mtDNA gene fragment. We analyzed 93 genetic samples from the entire distribution of the Eremias fasciata species complex in Iran and surrounding regions, along with morphological data to support the description of two new species from Central Iran. We hypothesize that the diversification of the Eremias fasciata species complex was largely influenced by the fragmentation of sand massifs in the region. This same hypothesis has been used to explain the high level of endemism among the sand-dwelling species of reptiles along the Iranian Plateau in the same area. The two new species described herein can be distinguished from other congeneric species by their phylogenetic position and a combination of morphological characters. We use these data to discuss the taxonomy of Eremias based on morphology, habitat choice, and genetic data.

The distribution of smooth snake in the Caspian lowland of Russia and Kazakhstan is analyzed according to the collections of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University and published works. The map with smooth snake finds includes 36 localities of the species (Volgograd Region, Stavropol Territory, Kalmykia, Chechen Republic, Dagestan, and Kazakhstan).