INVESTIGADORES
MORANDO Mariana
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
A new species of Liolaemus (Reptilia, Squamata: Iguana: Liolaemini) of the rothi complex from a volvanic mountain of northern Neuquén Province, Patagonia, Argentina.
Autor/es:
MORANDO, M.; PEREZ, C.H.F.; OLAVE, M.; PEREZ, D.; SITES, JR. J. W.; AVILA, L.J.
Lugar:
Curitiba
Reunión:
Congreso; IX Congreso Latinoamericano de Herpetología.; 2011
Resumen:
The genus Liolaemus predominates in the lizard fauna in the austral part of South America, and ranges from central Perú southward through Bolivia, Paraguay, Chile, and Argentina, and up to the Atlantic coast of Uruguay and southeastern Brazil. Within this large geographic area, the genus occupies habitats extending from sea level to over 4500 m, and they range in body size from 45 to > 100 mm snout-vent length, with body masses from three to nearly 200 g. Liolaemus may be insectivorous or herbivorous, but the majority of species appear to be omnivore; half of the species are oviparous, whereas the remaining species deposit eggs in varying stages of embryonic development. About 230 species are known, and new species descriptions are published at a rate of four or five per year. The lizard fauna of northwestern Patagonia and adjacent areas is poorly known despite extensive field work over the last four decades. In the 1970s and 1980s several new species were described, all with restricted distributions or locally endemic to this region. In the last ten years new field surveys in southern Mendoza and northern Neuquén provinces revealed additional new species of Liolaemus and Phymaturus. Further, other species of lizards were re-validated, and new surveys in poorly known areas, coupled with the application of molecular techniques, revealed that several additional species of Liolaemus remain undescribed. One detailed study of a single species complex suggested that the total number of actual species might be approximately double the number now recognized in the genus. Two main clades are recognized for all these species, Liolaemus sensu stricto and Eulaemus. Eulaemus encompasses several clades including a group known as the boulengeri group. Here we describe a new species of Liolaemus from northern Neuquén Province that shows morphological, chromatic, and genetic differences from all other described species of Liolaemus, belongs to the boulengeri species group and it is closely related to the rothi complex. The new species inhabits sandy areas found in volcanic flows from an ancient volcanic mountain.