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During our vacation on the Greek islands Paros and Antiparos in May 2019 (10.5-20.5. on Paros and 21.5.-25.5. on Antiparos) we were able to photograph the Aegean Wall Lizard (Podarcis erhardii) at several places of which some of them are new records for this lizard. Our photographs illustrate the high variability of the subspecies Podarcis erhardii naxensis, which is widespread on these islands. Despite intense search we were unfortunately not able to find any Cyclades Giant Green Lizard (Lacerta citrovittata). Surprisingly, we found a population of the Yellow bellied Toad (Bombina variegata) near Lefkes. This is the first record for Paros.

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On October 16, 2019 an image of Ichnotropis bivittata, taken on May 12, 2018 in Cassongue county, Cuanza Sul province, Angola, was uploaded on iNaturalist by Rogério Ferreira for determination. This specimen may have some features of Ichnotropis microlepidota, in which case it would be the first time that this species has been observed since the species description by Marx (1956).

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The Ibiza wall lizard, Podarcis pityusensis is the only endemic land vertebrate of the Pityusic Islands. It inhabits the two main islands Ibiza and Formentera as well as the vast majority of the offshore small islands. When humans first arrived at the islands, they brought with them a handful of foreign predators, such as genets, beech martens, rats, and feral cats – all lizard predators. Podarcis pityusensis is fully protected by national and international legislation and listed in Annex II of the Bern Convention and in Appendix II of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). It is declared as “Near Threatened” by the IUCN (2009). However, some of the populations are very much reduced, endangered or on the verge of extinction as they are threatened by illegal collection, disturbance by visitors, introduction of cats and rats to the islands, and accidental poisoning with bait left for seagulls. The recent introductions of three snake species on Ibiza and Formentera are of particular concern. The Montpellier snake (Malpolon monspessulanus) has not been caught on the islands since 2010. The horseshoe whip snake (Hemorrhois hippocrepis) has shifted its diet towards lizards, with the native Ibiza wall lizard, representing 55.4 % of the observed prey. A similar dietary shift is probably occurring with the ladder snake (Rhinechis scalaris) in Formentera, as a preliminary study shows that more than half of its prey is constituted by Podarcis pityusensis (HINCKLEY et al. 2017). The effect of predation may seriously threaten the lizards in the main islands and the arrival of snakes in the surrounding islands may produce a catastrophic and irrecoverable event for lizard populations as they would be the only available prey.

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A short note on an allochthonous population of Podarcis siculus campestris living on the railway area of the train station Rapperswil in the Swiss Canton of St. Gallen.