Cutting the Gordian Knot: Phylogenetic and ecological diversification of the Mesalina brevirostris species complex (Squamata, Lacertidae) Author Jiří Šmíd Author Jiří Moravec Author Václav Gvoždík Author Jan Štundl Author Daniel Frynta Author Petros Lymberakis Author Paschalia Kapli Author Thomas Wilms Author Andreas Schmitz Author Mohammed Shobrak Author Saeed Hosseinian Yousefkhani Author Eskandar Rastegar-Pouyani Author Aurora M. Castilla Author Johannes Els Author Werner Mayer text Zoologica Scripta 2017 2017-10-31 46 6 1 30 journal article 10.1111/zsc.12254 44b12099-59c0-4c00-b34c-c4f14d37ec56 1037920 Mesalina microlepis (Angel, 1936) stat. nov. Eremias brevirostris – Boulenger (1921) Eremias brevirostris microlepis – Angel (1936) Mesalina brevirostris microlepis – Szczerbak (1989) Holotype . MNHN 1935.285 . Type locality: ‘Haouarine’ [‘à 55 kilomètres au S.­ E. de Homs’ ], ( Syria ). MorphoBank pictures: M407268–M407305. Distribution. Lebanon , Syria , northern Jordan and southern Turkey ( Fig. 1 ). Notes. Mesalina microlepis is morphologically very similar to M. bernoullii and, contrary to what Angel (1936) suggested it cannot be distinguished from it by the numbers of dorsal and gular scales, and subdigital lamellae. The only morphological character that discriminates the species is the structure of the lower eyelid window. All specimens of M. microlepis (including the holotype ) possess a window consisting of more than three roughly equal semitransparent scales whereas the window of M. bernoullii , M. brevirostris s. s. and the new Saudi species consists of 1–3 larger semitransparent scales (see Fig. 3 in Mayer et al . 2006). Mesalina microlepis and M . bernoullii have been confirmed to occur syntopically in western Syria (Mayer et al. 2006). The presence of M . microlepis in Jordan and Turkey is confirmed based on specimens with similar eyelid window structure (Haas & Werner 1969; Kumlutaş et al. 2002).