New species of lizars previously confused with Liolaemus elongatus Kaslowsky, 1896 (Reptilia: Squamata: Iguania: Liolaemini) from Neuquén province, northern Patagonia, Argentina

LUCIANO AVILA; CINTIA MEDINA; CRISTIAN PÉREZ; DANIEL PÉREZ; JACK W. SITES; MARIANA MORANDO

Curitiba

Congreso; IX Congreso Latinoamericano; 2011

Sociedade Brasileira de Herpetologia

Lizards of the Liolaemus genus are extremely diverse in Patagonia. Evidence suggests that this lineage dates at least from mid Miocene, and species diversity most probably was influenced by the uplift of the Andes Mountains, intense volcanic activity, and frequent glacial periods that modelled an intricate system of isolated mountains, deep valleys, volcanic plateaus, and flat steppes. Liolaemus elongatus is a saxicolous lizard, viviparous and insectivorous, previously cited for a very large geographic realm from Catamarca to Santa Cruz provinces in western Argentina. A genetic study carried out by Morando et al. (2003) suggested a restricted distribution for the nominal species and discovered several potential new species that were formally described later by other authors. Recent additional evidence allows us to restrict the Geographic distribution of Liolaemus elongatus to an area across Neuquén, Río Negro and Chubut Provinces in central and northern Patagonia, while eeveral populations from northern Neuquén are potential new species. We combined genetic evidence obtained from molecular studies using mitochondrial and nuclear genes with morphological characteristics to diagnose two populations of Liolaemus elongatus from two volcanic areas of northern Neuquén province, as new species. Here we provide their description and discuss their relationships with other species of the complex.