This list of the reptiles of Greece is primarily based on the Atlas of the Amphibians and Reptiles of Greece (2020), published under the auspices of the Societas Hellenica Herpetologica, supplemented by the IUCN Red List. [1] [2] Of the 66 (IUCN) or 76 (Atlas) species recognized, 11 are endemic, while 4 are assessed as endangered. [1] : 11–13 [2]
In the Atlas, 9 species are currently not recognized on the IUCN Red List ("NR" below), 4 species are recognized on the Red List but with no record of their occurrence in Greece (Italian wall lizard, Podarcis siculus; Andalusian wall lizard, Podarcis vaucheri; blotched snake, Elaphe sauromates; green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas), while 3 species for which there is an IUCN Red List assessment are not included in the Atlas (Rock lizard, Anatololacerta oertzeni LC IUCN ; spotted whip snake, Hemorrhois ravergieri LC IUCN ; meadow viper, Vipera ursinii VU IUCN ). [1] [2]
In the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, Carl Linnaeus described the Amphibia as:
Animals that are distinguished by a body cold and generally naked; stern and expressive countenance; harsh voice; mostly lurid color; filthy odor; a few are furnished with a horrid poison; all have cartilaginous bones, slow circulation, exquisite sight and hearing, large pulmonary vessels, lobate liver, oblong thick stomach, and cystic, hepatic, and pancreatic ducts: they are deficient in diaphragm, do not transpire (sweat), can live a long time without food, are tenatious of life, and have the power of reproducing parts which have been destroyed or lost; some undergo a metamorphosis; some cast (shed) their skin; some appear to live promiscuously on land or in the water, and some are torpid during the winter.