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| Podarcis Temporal range: Pleistocene – Recent [1] | |
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| Male phenotypes of six wall lizard species: P. siculus (top left), P. filfolensis (top right), P. erhardii (middle left), P. tauricus (middle right), P. waglerianus (bottom left) and P. muralis (bottom right). | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Lacertidae |
| Genus: | Podarcis Wagler, 1830 [2] [3] [4] |
Podarcis is a genus of lizards, known colloquially as wall lizards, in the family Lacertidae. Its members look very similar to lizards of the genus Lacerta , to which they were considered to belong until the 1970s. While similar externally and ecologically, Podarcis form a distinct group differing from Lacerta by the construction of the skull and the hemipenis, and by the processes of the caudal vertebrae. [5] Wall lizards are native to Europe and northern Africa, and most species are restricted to the Mediterranean region. Wall lizards diversified and hybridized during the Messinian salinity crisis. [6] The Italian wall lizard and the common wall lizard have been introduced to North America, where they have become intermediate hosts for some Acuariidae larvae. [7]
