Podarcis peloponnesiacus
—
Peloponnese Wall Lizard
Many references use the feminized name P. peloponnesiaca Thanks to Mario Schweiger of fieldherping.eu for clarifying that P. peloponnesiacus is the correct name, per these two journal articles.
I was happy to discover that the crumbling ruins of Ancient Olympia are not devoid of lizards. They were nervous lizards, never holding a position for more than a few seconds, similar in behavior (and appearance) to whiptails in the New World. Males (first two pictures) have reddish throats and blue shoulder patches. Females (third picture) are more stripey.
Printed references:
- Arnold, E. N. and Ovenden, D. W. 2002. Reptiles and Amphibians of Europe