Diversification and geological history of the Liolaemus ornatus group (Squamata: Iguania) of Argentina including the recognition of a new species

RUIZ, S.; M. QUIPILDOR; RUIZ MONACHESI, MARIO; ESCALANTE, LEONEL; S. VALDECANTOS; F. LOBO

ZOOLOGISCHER ANZEIGER

ELSEVIER GMBH

Año: 2021 vol. 292 p. 126 - 138

0044-5231

Andean orogeny is one of the main factors that promoted the diversification of many groups of animals.Among them are the lizards of the Liolaemidae family andwithin this, Liolaemus is the genus with the most described species up to date, with approximately 277species. One of the groups within the genus is the Liolaemus ornatus group, distributed in the south ofCentral Andes mountain chain. In this work, we describe a new species belonging to the L. ornatus group,using an integrative approach, analyzing both morphological (lepidosis, morphometric, coloration andhemipenes characters) and molecular evidence. We made a divergence analysis of the representatives ofthe L. ornatus group. Furthermore, we correlated the ages of the geological events with the distributionareas for the L. ornatus group. This newly described species shows character states (morphological andmolecular) that allow its clear distinction from the other members of the L. ornatus group, as well as fromthe rest of Liolaemus. The divergence analysis places the new species in the L. ornatus group and allows usto infer the successive geological events that served as physical barriers for the diversification of thegroup, besides explaining the current distribution of the group.