First record of Horvath's rock lizard (Iberolacerta horvathi) in the Karavanke Mts., Slovenia
PRVA NAJDBA HORVATOVE KUŠČARICE (IBEROLACERTA HORVATHI) V KARAVANKAH, SLOVENIJA
Vesna CAFUTA, Societas herpetologica slovenica -društvo za preučevanje dvoživk in plazilcev, Večna pot 111, SI-1001 Ljubljana, Slovenia; škofjeloška 25, SI-1215 Medvode, Slovenia E-mail: vesna.cafuta@gmail.com
According to Krofel et al. (2009), the known distribution of Horvath's rock lizard (Iberolacerta horvathi) in Slovenia is limited to the Julian Alps, Trnovski gozd, Mt. Snežnik and Dinaric mountains. On June 13th, 2009, one female Horvath's rock lizard (Fig. 1) was found in the Dovžan Gorge (Dovžanova soteska) in Slovenian part of the Karavanke Mts. (UTM square VM43) at approximately 650 meters a. s. l. On that sunny day, the individual under consideration was observed at 15:30 on a poorly vegetated and steep road bank with a western exposition. The bank is situated on the edge of a mixed forest near a rock wall. The Dovžan Gorge was created by the river Tržiška Bistrica and has a northeast-southwest orientation.
This find is not surprising, since there are records of Horvath's rock lizard known from Austrian part of the Karavanke Mts. (Cabela et al. 2001). In Slovenia, new finds can be expected at additional localities in the Karavanke Mts. as well as in the Kamniško-Savinjske Alps, which are situated in the vicinity of the Dovžan Gorge. According to the habitat requirements by this species (Arnold 2002), a special attention should be given to the investigation of the deep wooded canyons at lower altitudes, to the open beech or conifer forests at higher altitudes, and to the areas above the tree-line.
Literature
Arnold E.N. (2002): A Field Guide to the Reptiles and Amphibians of Britain and Europe, 2nd edition. Harper Collins Publishers, London, 288 pp.
Cabela A., Grillitsch H., Tiedemann F. (2001): Atlas zur Verbreitung und Ökologie der Amphibien und Reptilien in Österreich: Auswertung der herpetofaunistischen Datenbank der herpetologischen Sammlung des naturhistorischen Museums in Wien. Umweltbundesamt, Wien, 880 pp.
Krofel M., Cafuta V., Planinc G., Sopotnik M., Šalamun A., Tome S., Vamberger M., Žagar A. (2009): Razširjenost plazilcev v Sloveniji: pregled podatkov, zbranih do leta 2009. Distribution of reptiles in Slovenia: a review of data collected until 2009. Natura Sloveniae 11(2): 61-99.
Figure 1. A female Horvath's Rock Lizard (Iberolacerta horvath!) from Dovžan Gorge, Karavanke Mts., Slovenia (photo: Vesna Cafuta).
Slika 1. Samica horvatove kuščarice (Iberolacerta horvath!) iz Dovžanove soteske, Karavanke, Slovenija (foto: Vesna Cafuta).