| Santo Stefano Lizard | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Lacertidae |
| Genus: | Podarcis |
| Species: | P. sicula (Italian Wall Lizard) |
| Subspecies: | P. s. sanctistephani |
| Trinomial name | |
| Podarcis sicula sanctistephani (Mertens, 1926) |
|
The Santo Stefano lizard (Podarcis sicula sanctistephani) lived on Santo Stefano Island a small island near Ventotene in the Tyrrhenian sea off the west coast of Italy, and part of the Pontine Islands. It became extinct in 1965, probably caused by feral cats and a snake species. These animals destroyed almost the whole population and any survivors seem to have interbred with an introduced subspecies. An epidemic of an unknown pathogen that followed wiped out the majority of the population and contributed to this subspecies' extinction.