Redescription of Liolaemus elongatus Koslowsky, 1896 (Reptilia: Squamata: Iguania: Liolaemini) and determination of its type locality.

AVILA, L.J.; MEDINA, C.; MINOLI, I.; FERRARO, D.; WILLIAMS, J.; MORANDO, M.

Curitiba

Congreso; IX Congreso Latinoamericano de Herpetología; 2011

Sociedad Brasilera de Herpetologia-Instituto Neotropical-Museo de Historia Natural

According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, the geographical location of capture of the namebearing type of a nominal species is the type locality of the taxon in question. Frequently, when attempting to resolve taxonomic problems, it is of vital importance to collect additional specimens at a particular type locality. Thus, the value of knowing the exact location of collection of what later turned into type specimens, is considerably for people interested in taxonomy. Unfortunately, several Argentinean type localities are difficult or impossible to locate. This situation, which evidently hampers several taxonomic studies, is due to a large array of problems ranging from an original definition involving vast or ambiguously defined areas, to the use of names never recorded in maps. Liolaemus, the most species rich genus of Southern South America lizards have several species with this kind of problems. Liolaemus elongatus is a  saxicolous lizard which inhabits central Patagonia. It was described by Julio Koslowsky in late XIX century from a very general type locality: “territorio del Chubut, cerca de las cordilleras”.At that time it was very difficult to use geographic landmarks as reference because this early trips were among the first travels of white people in an almost unknown region. Over the years, other authors added populations to this species expanding its geographic distribution. Based on studiescarried out in the last years, we are able to restrict its geographic distribution to a region in Patagonia. We analyzed Koslowsky’s narrative about his trip to Patagonia and studied the typespecimens deposited in the La Plata museum. We combined this information with genetic studies and new data about geographic distribution, allowing us to determine the most probable region for the type locality of L. elongatus. The geographic distribution of the nominal species is restricted based on the present evidence. Original description did not designate any holotype or paratype; more than a century later some surviving individuals of the original series were designated as syntypes. Analyzing morphology of the surviving individuals deposited in MLP collection and combining genetic and morphological evidence from lizards of the area were the probably type locality is located we redescribe here the species.