Westernmost record of Zootoca vivipara (liCHTENSTEiN, 1823), in the Rhodope Massif, Serbia Approximately 40 % of the overall distribution area of the Common lizard, Zoo-toca vivipara (liCHTENSTEiN, 1823), belongs to an area extending from the very north to the south of the European continent (BöHME 1997). This species, which is adapted to temperate and cool climates, has a scattered distribution in the Balkans, as suitable habitats become restricted to higher elevations towards the south of the peninsula. At the southeastern edge of the species' European range, i. e., on the central and eastern Bal-kans, population groups are isolated by low-lands and river valleys that divide the mas-sifs of the Dinarid, Hel lenid, Balkan and Rhodope mountain belts. There, the Common lizard is found up to 2900 m altitude in Bulgaria (AgASyAN et al. 2010), preferably in humid mountain grasslands and meadows, peat bogs and wood edges. in the central/eastern Balkans, the populations form three groups paralleling the existing mountain belts, the lizards of: (i) the Balkan Massif in Serbia and Bulgaria, (ii) the Suva Mountain in Serbia, and (iii) the Rhodope Massif extending from southeastern Serbia and eastern Macedonia, across western, central and southern Bulgaria to northeastern greece. Some authors term those parts of the Rhodope Massif west of the Struma valley (south Serbia, southwest Bulgaria and Macedonia) " Serbo-Macedonian Massif " , arguing that these mountains did not experience the severe Alpine methamorphic over-print (SCHMiD et al. 2008, and references therein). However, both Serbo-Macedonian and Rhodope sensu stricto Massifs share similarities in metamorphic type, age, etc. (reviewed in WüTHRiCH 2009); the definition and autonomy of the Serbo-Macedonian Massif is still a matter of debates. Published records of Z. vivipara in the southeasternmost part of the species' range referred to both Serbian and Bulgarian portions of