Records of this species from Pakistan, reported at least as recently as Khan (1999), refer to Eremias persica, previously a subspecies of E. velox (Baig and Masroor 2006). This is a recognised species complex, and while the group as a whole is monophyletic Liu et al. (2014) proposed that three lineages from Iran should be formally described as distinct species.

Liu et al. (2018) proposed recognition of an undescribed subspecies from the north of the Caspian Sea, although they did not name this lineage and did not examine available names. I. Doronin (pers. comm. 2022) notes that this area corresponds to the type locality of E. velox, and so the lineage from this area corresponds to the nominate subspecies. This research nevertheless demonstrated that further research is required to clarify the intraspecific taxonomy of this species.

European regional assessment: Vulnerable (VU)
EU 27 regional assessment: Not Recorded

This species is assessed as Vulnerable under Criterion A2c in Europe on the basis that it is believed to have undergone declines of at least 30% over the past 10 years, inferred from evidence of subpopulation declines and extinctions, and a corresponding decline in area of occupancy and habitat quality. The causes of this decline are known, they have not ceased, and are unlikely to be easily reversible.

In the European region, this species is restricted to South European Russia, where it is sporadically distributed from the northern coast of the Caspian Sea north to the Volga Basin (encompassing the Lower Volga region). The northern range boundary in Europe follows the northern administrative boundaries of Astrakhan and the Republic of Kalmykia (Tabachishin et al. 2008). Although it has a wide range in this region, the area of its habitat in Russia - including non-European portions - is below 2,000 km². (Ananjeva and Mazanaeva 2021).

Elsewhere, this widely distributed lizard ranges from the Caucasus region in the west (including Azerbaijan, Georgia and the North Caucasus region of Russia), through Iran, Middle Asia and Central Asia, as far east as western China. Within Iran, this species occurs on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, valleys of the Kopet Dagh and scattered localities on the northern and western margins of the Central Plateau (Anderson 1999). It can occur up to around 2,300 m asl, and as low as 30 m below sea level.

In general, it is a common and often locally abundant species (up to 80-200 animals per hectare). Until the end of the 20th Century this was one of the most common species of lizard in desert and semi-desert landscapes of the northern Caspian region. In many areas of European Russia subpopulations have become extinct, and animals have not been recorded in many previously known localities (I. Doronin pers. comm. 2022). The European Russian population is believed to have declined by more than 30% over the last 10 years (Ananjeva and Mazanaeva 2021) as a result of habitat loss and degradation.

This diurnal species has been recorded in Iran from silty alluvium flats, among sparse scrub, steppe and grassland vegetation. It is also found in irrigated areas and dry stream beds (Anderson 1999). Animals generally live in burrows at the base of shrubs (Minton 1966), typically among vegetation or on the semi-fixed tops of sandy ridges. This species is a strict psammophile in the Lower Volga region and Eastern Ciscaucasia, where it is associated with weakly-fixed sands with herbaceous to shrubby vegetation. It occurs along the edge of semi-overgrown dunes, or on areas of exposed sand, and avoids heavily vegetated areas. In the foothills of Dagestan, it lives in clayey semi-deserts with wormwood-ephemeral communities. It is occasionally found on pebbles in river valleys (Ananjeva et al. 1998, Tabachishin et al. 2008, Ananjeva and Mazanaeva 2021). Animals are sexually mature at one year of age (Bannikov et al. 1977), and probably do not live more than five years (I. Doronin pers. comm. 2022).

Females lay two or three clutches (up to four in some areas, and lower at the range margins) of between 2 - 10 eggs annually, although the number of clutches and the timing of reproduction vary across its range (I. Doronin pers, comm. 2022). In European Russia, mating takes place from late April to early June and juveniles emerge from the second half of July.

In Middle Asia and Transcaucasia, subpopulations are often associated with stabilised and semi-stable sandy soils, rocky steppes and foothills with sparse herbaceous and shrub vegetation.

In some areas the species is threatened by habitat conversion due to expansion of intensive agriculture and overgrazing of its habitat. Conversely in Russia it is experiencing a decline in the extent and quality of natural habitat, and fragmentation of the range, resulting from the rapid replacement of sandy areas with steppe habitat (Ananjeva and Mazanaeva 2021). This has been driven by a combination of increased precipitation and a reduction in grazing resulting from a sharp decline in the number of sheep (Ananjeva and Mazanaeva 2021). In the Primorskaya lowland of Dagestan, the reduction in habitat area is associated with the development of urban agglomerations, the operation of sand pits, and the recreational development of the coast. The most vulnerable subpopulations are in the central and southern parts of the Dagestan coast of the Caspian Sea, which may disappear in the coming years (Ananjeva and Mazanaeva 2021).

There is no significant use of or trade in this species.

In Russia this species occurs in at least 13 reserves and sanctuaries. It is included in the Red Data Book of Russia in category 2 (Vulnerable) (Ananjeva and Mazanaeva 2021).