Eremias argus (Korean: 표범장지뱀, Chinese: 丽斑麻蜥, Russian: Монгольская ящурка), also known commonly as the Mongolia racerunner, is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is endemic to Asia. There are two recognized subspecies.
Etymology The specific name, argus, refers to Argus, the many-eyed giant in Greek mythology, an allusion to the ocelli (eye spots) of this species.Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Eremias argus, p. 11).
Geographic range E. argus is found in China, Korea, Mongolia, and Russia.
Habitat E. argus is found in a wide variety of habitats, including desert, rocky areas, grassland, shrubland, forest, and freshwater wetlands. Similarly, the species has been found at a wide range of altitudes, .
Reproduction E. argus is oviparous.
Subspecies Two subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies. Eremias argus argus Eremias argus barbouri
References
Further reading Peters W (1869). "Eine Mittheilung über neue Gattungen und Arten von Eidechsen ". Monatsberichte der Königlich Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 1869: 57–66 + one unnumbered plate. (Eremias argus, new species, pp. 61–62 + plate, figure 3). (in German). Schmidt KP (1925). "New Chinese Amphibians and Reptiles". American Museum Novitates (175): 1–3. (Eremias barbouri, new species, p. 2). Zhao E, Adler K (1993). Herpetology of China. Oxford, Ohio: Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAR). 522 pp.