Unterart:

Apathya cappadocica cappadocica  (WERNER, 1902)

Synonyme:

Lacerta cappadocica   WERNER, 1902

Typen:

Holotype: Verschollen (EISELT 1979).

Terra Typica:

Erciyes-Gebirge (Erciyes Dağı) in Zentral-Anatolien, in der Nähe von Kayseri. “Auf dem bithynischen Olymp bei Brussa”.

Relevante taxonomische Literatur:

• Werner, F. (1902) -  Die Reptilien und Amphibienfauna von Kleinasien. -  Sitzungsberichte der Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Classe. Wien, Abteilung 1: 1057-1121.  

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• Bird, C.G. (1936) -  The distribution of Reptiles and Amphibians in Asiatic Turkey, with notes on a Collection from the Vilayets of Adana, Gaziantep and Malatya. -  The Annals and magazine of natural history, (10) 18: 257-281.  

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• Eiselt, J. (1979) -  Ergebnisse zoologischer Sammelreisen in der TüŸrkei Lacerta cappadocica Werner, 1902 (Lacertidae, Reptilia), -  Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien, 82: 387-421.    

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  Eine ausführliche Revision von Lacerta cappadodca WERNER, 1902, an Hand von 366 Exemplaren aus der Türkei, dem Irak und dem Iran ergibt ihre Neugliederung in 5 Unterarten: L. c. cappadodca WERNER, 1902 (Taurus, knapp westlich der Kilikischen Pforte bis westlich von Malatya); L. c. wolteri (BIRD, 1936) (vom Amanus-Gebirge bis zum Euphrat) ; L. c. muhtari ssp. nov. (von Malatya und östlich des Euphrat bis südlich des Van-Sees und in den nordöstlichsten Irak) ; L. c. schmidtlerorum ssp. nov. (in der weiteren Umgebung von Diyarbakir und westlich von Viransehir) ; L. c. urmiana (LANTZ & STTCHOW, 1934) (Südöstlichste Türkei, nordöstlicher Irak, nordwestlicher Iran).

• Kapli, P. & Botoni, D. & Ilgaz, Ç. & Kumlutaş, Y. & Avcı, A. & Rastegar-Pouyani, N. & Fathinia, B. & Lymberakis, P. & Ahmadzadeh, F. & Poulakakis, N. (2013) -  Molecular phylogeny and historical biogeogtraphy of the Anatolian lizard Apathya (Squamata, Lacertidae). -  Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 66 (3): 992-1001.    

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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.