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The presented paper reports on the first record of Eremias kakari Masroor, Khisroon, Khan, Jablonski, 2020 for Afghanistan based on morphological data obtained from one specimen stored for 49 years in the Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany. Up to now, the species was known only from the type locality in Pakistani Balochistan.

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Eremias Fitzinger, 1834 is a speciose Eurasian genus of true lizards with approximately 40 species. Eremias species occurring in Pakistan have never been examined before using molecular genetics. In the present study, six out of seven morphologically defined taxa distributed in Pakistan (E. acutirostris, E. aporosceles, E. cholistanica, E. kakari, E. persica, and E. scripta) were studied using mitochondrial (16S rRNA, cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, cytochrome b) and nuclear (Rag1) genes. Data of 29 individuals were included in phylogenies using ENA/GenBank sequences. With a maximum of 20 species per analyzed data set, this study represents the most complete phylogeny of the genus to date. Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian analyses were run for concatenated (3,528 bp) and single-locus data sets and supported by uncorrected p distance calculations to evaluate the phylogenetic placement and divergence of Pakistani taxa. Among the Pakistani taxa, we detected six mostly well-supported and deeply divergent clades (A-F) differing by uncorrected p distances of up to 23.8% for mtDNA (cytb) and 3.3% for the nuclear Rag1 locus. Despite morphological differences between E. aporosceles and E. acutirostris (both clade A), no unambiguous genetic support was found for these two taxa. Therefore, we regard E. aporosceles as a synonym of E. acutirostris. On the other hand, E. persica was found to represent a species complex with deeply diverged clades (E and F) in Pakistan. Eremias cholistanica (clade D) and E. kakari (clade B), two morphologically defined endemic taxa of Pakistan, were revealed as phylogenetically clearly distinct. Eremias scripta (clade C) from Pakistan was found to be genetically deeply divergent compared to sequences of this taxon from Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. Our study provides evidence that the current taxonomy of Eremias does neither reflect the genetic diversity nor the evolutionary history of the genus, necessitating a comprehensive integrative taxonomic revision of the whole genus.

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A new, morphologically distinctive lacertid lizard of the genus Eremias (Rhabderemias) is described from the arid mountains of northwestern Balochistan Province in Pakistan. Eremias kakari sp. nov. has an isolated distribution and can be easily distinguished from all other species of mainly desert subgenus Rhabderemias (E. andersoni, E. cholistanica, E. fasciata, E. lineolata, E. pleskei, E. scripta, E. vermiculata). Apart from other differences, E. kakari sp. nov. can be distinguished from geographically close members of the subgenus Rhabderemias (E. cholistanica, E. fasciata, and E. scripta) by having a single row of subdigital lamellae and a complete row of lateral scales and hence three scales around the penultimate phalanx of 4th toe. The new species is morphologically (dorsal pattern) very similar to E. fasciata but can be distinguished from this species for having 22–26 subdigital lamellae under 4th toe, 48–55 dorsal scales across midbody, ventrals in 11–14 oblique longitudinal series across the belly, 17–21 femoral pores and 17–21 scales in the 9th–10th annulus posterior to the postcloacal granules. The new species is currently known only from the type locality situated in the Toba Kakar Range, near to Tanishpa village. However, we expect that Eremias kakari sp. nov. would have a broader range in northwestern Pakistan and southeastern Afghanistan. An identification key for the Pakistani Eremias, together with other remarks to the new species, is presented.