Editorial Type:
Article Category: Research Article
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Online Publication Date: 27 Sept 2021

A New Species of Microtegu Lizard (Gymnophthalmidae: Cercosaurinae) from Amazonian Ecuador

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Page Range: 385 – 395
DOI: 10.1670/20-142
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ABSTRACT

We describe a new species of Microtegu lizard (Selvasaura) from the Amazonian slopes of the Andes in Ecuador. Among other characters, the new species differs from the only other known species of Selvasaura, namely, Selvasaura brava from Peru, in having more femoral pores in males and a unilobed hemipenis. We present the first description of the skull of Selvasaura, along with a molecular phylogeny of Cercosaurinae and genetic distances as additional evidence supporting delimitation of the new species.

Resumen

Describimos una especie nueva de lagartija microtegu (Selvasaura) de las estribaciones amazónicas de los Andes del Ecuador. Aparte de otras características, la especie nueva difiere de la única otra especie conocida de Selvasaura, Selvasaura brava del Perú, por poseer más poros femorales en los machos y un hemipene unilobado. Presentamos por primera vez la descripción del cráneo de Selvasaura, junto con una filogenia molecular de Cercosaurinae y distancias genéticas como evidencia adicional para la delimitación de la especie nueva.

Copyright: Copyright 2021 Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles 2021
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Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.

Holotype (QCAZ 12798; SVL = 39.54 mm) of Selvasaura almendarizae sp. nov. in dorsal (top) and ventral (bottom) views. Photographs by J. Carrión.

Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.

Head of the holotype (QCAZ 12798) of Selvasaura almendarizae sp. nov. in dorsal (top), lateral (middle), and ventral (bottom) views. Individual scales were traced for clarity. Photographs by J. Carrión.

Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.

Skull of the holotype of Selvasaura almendarizae sp. nov. (QCAZ 12798) in (A) dorsal, (B) lateral, (C) ventral, (D) anterior, and (E) posterior views. Abbreviations: boc, basioccipital; ecp, ectopterygoid; epp, epipterygoid; f, frontal; j, jugal; m, maxilla; n, nasal; os, orbitosphenoid; otoc, otoccipital; pa, parietal; pbas, parabasisphenoid; pal, palatine; pm, premaxilla; po, prootic; porb, postorbital; posf, postfrontal; pref, prefrontal; pt, pterygoid; q, quadrate; sm, septomaxilla; soc, supraoccipital; sq, squamosal; sta, stapes; sut, supratemporal; v, vomer. Images by C. Koch. Scale bars correspond to left and right images, respectively.

Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.

Skull of the holotype of Selvasaura almendarizae sp. nov. (QCAZ 12798) in ventral view after sequential removal of (A) maxillae, pterygoids, quadrates, parabasisphenoid, and basioccipital; and (B) vomers, palatines, jugals, ectopterygoids, orbitosphenoids, epipterygoids, otoccipitals, prootics, and stapes. Abbreviations are the same as those in Fig. 3. Images by C. Koch.

Fig. 5.
Fig. 5.

Mandible of the holotype of Selvasaura almendarizae sp. nov. (QCAZ 12798) in (A) dorsal, (B) ventral, (C) lateral, and (D) medial views. Abbreviations: an, angular; arpre, articular/prearticular complex (fused with surangular); co, coronoid; d, dentary; rp, retroarticular process; san, surangular; sp, splenial. Images by C. Koch.

Fig. 6.
Fig. 6.

Specimens of Selvasaura almendarizae sp. nov. in life. (A, B) paratype QCAZ 9140, SVL = 39.73 mm; (C, D) uncollected specimens from Bigal River Biological Reserve, Napo Province (see map in Fig. 9). Photographs by S. R. Ron (A, B), A. Anker (C), and T. Garcia (D).

Fig. 7.
Fig. 7.

Hemipenis of Selvasaura almendarizae sp. nov. (QCAZ 5073, paratype) in sulcate (left), lateral (middle), and asulcate (right) views. Photographs by P. M. S. Nunes.

Fig. 8.
Fig. 8.

Phylogeny of Cercosaurinae. Maximum likelihood tree obtained under a RAxML analysis of 147 taxa and 1,949 aligned base pairs of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA. Bootstrap support values/posterior probabilities are indicated next to branches. Except for Selvasaura, clades ranked as genera were collapsed into triangles if two or more species were included. Outgroup taxa are not shown. Bayesian and RAxML tree files are provided as Supplementary Tree Files 1, 2.

Fig. 9.
Fig. 9.

Distribution of Selvasaura almendarizae sp. nov. in Ecuador. Arrow points at type locality. The northernmost locality is based on the photographs presented in Fig. 6C,D.

Fig. 10.
Fig. 10.

Habitat of the type locality of Selvasaura almendarizae sp. nov. at Wildsumaco Wildlife Sanctuary, Napo Province, Ecuador. Photograph by J. D. Camper.

Contributor Notes

4 Corresponding author. E-mail: omartorcar@gmail.com
Accepted: 14 Apr 2021
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