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Apathya is a lacertid genus occurring mainly in south-east Turkey and its adjacent regions (part of Iran and Iraq). So far two morphological species have been attributed to the genus, i.e. A. cappadocica (with five subspecies, A. c. cappadocica, A. c. muhtari, A. c. schmidtlerorum, A. c. urmiana and A. c. wolteri) and A. yassujica. The first of them occupies most of the genus’ distribution while A. yassujica is endemic of the Zagros Mountains. The topology and the genetic distances retrieved from this study, reveal that Apathya is a highly variable genus, which comes in agreement with the high morphological variation found in previous studies. Such levels of morphological differentiation and genetic divergence often exceed those between species of other Lacertini genera that are already treated as full species, justifying our view that the genus requires taxonomical revision. The phylogeographical scenario proposed reveals that dispersal and vicariant events in Anatolia and Southwest Asia throughout the Miocene, Pliocene, and Pleistocene resulted in the present distribution of the genus under study. Key geological event for the understanding of the phylogeography of the genus is the movement of the Arabian plate that led to the configuration of Middle East specifically the formation of the mountain ranges of Turkey and Iran.

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A revisionary study of 366 specimens of Lacerta cappadodca WERNER, from Turkey, Iraq, and Iranhas revealed the existence of 5 subspecies: L. c. cappadodca WERNER (Kilikian Taurus to west of Malatya) ; L. c. wolteri (BIRD, 1936) (Amanus-Mountains to the Euphrates) ; L. c. muhtari ssp. nov. (east of Malatya and the Euphrates to the south of Lake Van, Turkey and to Sersang, Northeastern Iraq); L. c. schmidtlerorum ssp. nov. (around Diyarbakir and Viransehir); L. c. urmiana (LANTZ & STJCHOW, 1934) (South- eastern Turkey, Northeastern Iraq, Northwestern Iran).

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Mountains play a key role in forming biodiversity by acting both as barriers to gene flow among populations and as corridors for the migration of populations adapted to the conditions prevailing at high elevations. The Anatolian and the Zagros Mountains are located in the Alpine-Himalayan belt. The formation of these mountains has influenced the distribution and isolation of the animal population since the late Cenozoic. Apathya is a genus of lacertid lizards distributed along these mountains with two species, i.e., Apathya cappadocica and Apathya yassujica. The taxonomy status of lineages within the genus is complicated. In this study, we tried to collect extensive samples from throughout the distribution range, especially within the Zagros Mountains. Also, we used five genetic markers, two mitochondrial (COI and Cyt b) and three nuclear (C-mos, NKTR, and MCIR), to resolve the phylogenetic relationships within the genus and explain several possible scenarios that shaped multiple genetic structures. The combination of results in the current study indicated eight well-support monophyletic lineages that separated to two main groups; group 1 including A. c. cappadocica, A. c. muhtari and A. c. wolteri, group 2 contains four regional clades Turkey, Urmia, Baneh and Ilam, and finally a single clade belonging to the species A. yassujica. In contrast to previous studies, Apathya cappadocica urmiana was divided into four clades and three clades were recognized within Iranian boundaries. The clades have dispersed from Anatolia to adjacent regions in the south of Anatolia and the western Zagros Mountains. According to the evidence generated in this study this clade is paraphyletic. Based on our assumption, orogeny activities and also climate fluctuations in Middle Miocene and Pleistocene have influenced to formation of lineages. In this study we revisit the taxonomy of the genus and demonstrate that the species diversity was substantially underestimated. Our findings suggest that each of the eight clades corresponding to subspecies and distinct geographic regions deserve to be promoted to species level.

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Apathya is a lacertid genus occurring mainly in south-east Turkey and its adjacent regions (part of Iran and Iraq). So far two morphological species have been attributed to the genus; A. cappadocica (with five subspecies, A. c.cappadocica, A. c.muhtari, A. c.schmidtlerorum, A. c. urmiana and A. c.wolteri) and A.yassujica. The first species occupies most of the genus’ distribution range, while A. yassujica is endemic of the Zagros Mountains. Here, we explored Apathya’s taxonomy and investigated the evolutionary history of the species by employing phylogenetic and phylogeographic approaches and using both mitochondrial (mtDNA) and nuclear markers. The phylogenetic relationships and the genetic distances retrieved, revealed that Apathya is a highly variable genus, which parallels its high morphological variation. Such levels of morphological and genetic differentiation often exceed those between species of other Lacertini genera that are already treated as full species, suggesting the necessity for a taxonomic revision of Apathya. The phylogeographical scenario emerging from the genetic data suggests that the present distribution of the genus was determined by a combination of dispersal and vicariance events between Anatolia and Southwest Asia dating back to the Miocene and continuing up to the Pleistocene. Key geological events for the understanding of the phylogeography of the genus are the movement of the Arabian plate that led to the configuration of Middle East (orogenesis of the mountain ranges of Turkey and Iran) and the formation of Anatolian Diagonal.