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

RUIZ, SOLEDAD; QUIPILDOR, ANGEL MATIAS; RUIZ MONACHESI, MARIO RICARDO; ESCALANTE, LEONARDO; VALDECANTOS, SOLEDAD; LOBO, FERNANDO

ZOOLOGISCHER ANZEIGER

ELSEVIER GMBH

Año: 2021 vol. 295 p. 126 - 138

0044-5231

Andean orogeny is one of the main factors that promoted the diversification of manygroups 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, withapproximately 277 species. One of the groups within the genus is the Liolaemus ornatusgroup, distributed in the south of Central Andes mountain chain. In this work, wedescribe a new species belonging to the L. ornatus group, using an integrative approach,analyzing both morphological (lepidosis, morphometric, coloration and hemipenescharacters) and molecular evidence. We made a divergence analysis of therepresentatives of the L. ornatus group. Furthermore, we correlated the ages of thegeological events with the distribution areas for the L. ornatus group. This newlydescribed species shows character states (morphological and molecular) that allow itsclear distinction from the other members of the L. ornatus group, as well as from therest of Liolaemus. The divergence analysis places the new species in the L. ornatusgroup and allows us to infer the successive geological events that served as physicalbarriers for the diversification of the group, besides explaining the current distributionof the group.