Solving the Liolaemus bibronii puzzle, an integrative taxonomy approach: redescription of L. bibronii and description of three new species (Iguania: Liolaemidae).

QUINTEROS, ANDRÉS SEBASTIÁN ; RUIZ MONACHESI, MARIO RICARDO; ABDALA, CRISTIAN SIMÓN

ZOOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2020 vol. 189 p. 315 - 348

0024-4082

We redescribe Liolaemus bibronii and describe three new species ofLiolaemus, a genus of lizards which are distributed in South America.Inside the genus, the species belong to the L. alticolor-bibronii group,included in the Liolaemus sensu stricto subgenus. Liolaemus bibronii waspreviously proposed as a species complex. Along the years, manypopulations initially assigned to it were described as valid species. Thethree new species described here were populations denominated underL. bibronii. In order to describe the new species, we apply an integrativeapproach including molecular and morphological evidence. Also, weperform phylogenetic analyses applying Parsimony and BayesianInference. The three new species described show a set of characterstates which allow us to distinguish them from L. bibronii, each other,and from all other species of Liolaemus. Our phylogenies show that thenew species are more related to other species than to L. bibronii. Withthis study, we are closer to solve the taxonomic puzzle which L. bibroniirepresents.