Abstract
Most Liolaemus lizard species are characterized by the presence of precloacal glands in males. Only a few taxa lack these sexual signal emitter structures. Phylogenetic evidence suggests that those species are restricted to the clades chiliensis and lineomaculatus. Within the first lineage, L. coeruleus, L. cristiani, L. flavipiceus, L. neuquensis and L. thermarum lack precloacal glands, which have been considered as members of the neuquensis group. Whereas, in the second one, L. periglacialis (= L. hatcheri), L. kolengh, L. lineomaculatus, and L. silvanae exhibit this characteristic. In the present study we provide the description of Liolaemus tregenzai, an additional new species lacking precloacal glands in both sexes. This new taxon, member of the chiliensis clade, is so far known from the Copahue Volcano, Neuquén Province of Argentina, in boreal Patagonia. Liolaemus tregenzai differs from the remaining species of this clade in having a unique combination of morphologic and chromatic traits, such as a large body size, olive or chest-nut dorsal ground colour, with dark brown or blackish pigment on the flanks, green-bluish with intense black pigment on the ventral surface, and evident sexual dichromatism. The ecology of this new lizard is also remarkably, occurring in Andean antarctandic forests, and being common near thawing snows. Phylogenetic relationships of this species with other members of the chiliensis clade and with the taxa recognized as members of the neuquensis group are still unknown.
References
Abdala, C.S. & Lobo, F. (2006) Description of a new patagonian lizard species of the Liolaemus silvanae group (Iguania: Liolaemidae). South American Journal of Herpetology, 1, 1–8.
Alroy, J. (2003) Taxonomic inflation and body mass distributions in North American fossil mammals. Journal of Mammalogy, 84, 431–443.
Cei, J.M. (1986) Reptiles del centro, centro-oeste y sur de la Argentina. Herpetofauna de las zonas áridas y semiáridas, Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali, Torino, 527 pp.
Cei, J.M. (1993) Reptiles del noroeste, nordeste y este de la Argentina. Herpetofauna de las selvas subtropicales, puna y pampas. Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali, Torino, 947 pp.
Cei, J.M. & Videla, F. (2002) Singulares hallazgos evolutivos y taxonómicos en géneros de iguánidos relevantes de la herpetofauna andina y de zonas limítrofes. Multequina, Latin American Journal of Natural Resources, 11, 65–73.
Cei, J.M. & Videla, F. (2003) A new species of Liolaemus lacking precloacal pores in males from the Andean south-eastern mountains of Mendoza Province, Argentina (Liolaemidae, Iguania, Lacertilia, Reptilia). Bollettino del Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali di Torino, 20, 275–290.
Donoso-Barros, R. (1966) Reptiles de Chile. Ediciones Universidad de Chile, Santiago, 458 pp.
Donoso-Barros, R. (1970) Catálogo herpetológico chileno. Boletín del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Chile, 31, 49–124.
Donoso-Barros, R. & Cei, J.M. (1971) New lizards from the volcanic Patagonian plateau of Argentina. Journal of Herpetology, 5, 89–95.
Escobar, C.A., Labra, A. & Niemeyer, H.M. (2001) Chemical composition of precloacal secretions of Liolaemus lizards. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 27, 1677–1690.
Espinoza, R.E., Wiens, J.J. & Tracy, C.R. (2004) Recurrent evolution of herbivory in small, cold-climate lizards: Breaking the ecophysiological rules of reptilian herbivory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 101, 16819–16824.
Etheridge, R. (1995) Redescription of Ctenoblepharys adspersa Tschudi, 1845, and the taxonomy of Liolaeminae (Reptilia: Squamata: Tropiduridae). American Museum Novitates, 3142, 1–34.
Etheridge, R. (2000) A review of lizards of the Liolaemus wiegmannii group (Squamata, Iguania, Tropiduridae), and a history of morphological change in the sand-dwelling species. Herpetological Monographs, 14, 293–352.
Etheridge, R. & Christie, M.I. (2003) Two new species of the lizard genus Liolaemus (Squamata: Liolaemidae) from northern Patagonia, with comments on Liolaemus rothi. Journal of Herpetology, 37, 325–341.
Etheridge, R & Espinoza, R.E. (2000) Taxonomy of the Liolaeminae (Squamata: Iguania: Tropiduridae) and a semi-annotated bibliography. Smithsonian Herpetological Information Service, 126, 1–64.
Field, A. (2006) Discovering statistics using SPSS. Second Edition. Sage, London, 832 pp.
Isaac, N.J.B., Mallet, J. & Mace G.M. (2004) Taxonomic inflation: Its influence on macroecology and conservation. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 19, 464–469.
Laurent, R.F. (1992) On some overlooked species of the genus Liolaemus Wiegmann (Reptilia Tropiduridae) from Perú. Breviora, 494, 1–33.
Lobo, F. (2001) A Phylogenetic analysis of lizards of the Liolaemus chiliensis group (Iguania: Tropiduridae). Herpetological Journal, 11, 137–150.
Losos, J. B. (2004) Adaptation and speciation in Greater Antillean anoles. In: Dieckmann, U., Doebeli, M., Metz, J.A.J. & Tautz, D. (Ed.), Adaptive Speciation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 335–343.
Losos, J.B., Creer, D.A., Glossip, D., Goellner, R., Hampton, A., Roberts, G., Haskell, N., Taylor, P. & Ettling, J. (2000) Evolutionary implications of phenotypic plasticity in the hindlimb of the lizard Anolis sagrei. Evolution, 54, 301–305.
May, R.M. (1988) How many species are there on earth? Science, 241, 1441–1449.
Núñez, H., & Pincheira-Donoso, D. (2006) Liolaemus confusus, una nueva especie de lagartija para la cordillera de la Costa de Chile central (Sauria, Liolaeminae): Evidencia fenética y citogenética. Boletín del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Chile, 55, 75–86.
Núñez, H., Navarro, J., Garín, C., Pincheira-Donoso, D. & Meriggio, D. (2003) Phrynosaura manueli y Phrynosaura torresi, nuevas especies de lagartijas para el norte de Chile (Squamata: Sauria). Boletín del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Chile, 52, 67–88.
Núñez, H., Navarro, J. & Loyola, J. (1991) Liolaemus maldonadae y Liolaemus cristiani, dos especies nuevas de lagartijas para Chile (Reptilia, Squamata). Boletín del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Chile, 42, 79–88.
Núñez, H., Pincheira-Donoso, D. & Garín, C. (2004) Liolaemus hajeki, nueva especie de lagartija de Chile (Squamata, Sauria). Boletín del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Chile, 53, 85–97.
Pincheira-Donoso, D. (2003) Primer registro para Chile de Liolaemus coeruleus Cei y Ortiz, 1983 (Iguania: Tropiduridae: Liolaeminae), con comentarios adicionales sobre sus relaciones sistemáticas. Multequina, Latin American Journal of Natural Resources, 12, 16–22.
Pincheira-Donoso, D. & Núñez, H. (2005) Las especies chilenas del género Liolaemus (Iguania, Tropiduridae, Liolaeminae). Taxonomía, sistemática y evolución. Publicación Ocasional del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Chile, Santiago, 486 pp.
Pincheira-Donoso, D. & Ramírez, G.M. (2005). Desplazamiento de caracteres como evidencias de un posible caso de especiación simpátrica entre dos Liolaemus del grupo jamesi en la Provincia de El Loa, con la descripción de una nueva especie. In: Ramirez, G.M. & Pincheira-Donoso, D. (Ed.), Fauna del Altiplano y Desierto de Atacama. Vertebrados de la Provincia de El Loa. Phrynosaura Ediciones, Chile, 350–365.
Schulte, J.A., Macey, J.R., Espinoza, R.E. & Larson, A. (2000) Phylogenetic relationships in the iguanid lizard genus Liolaemus: multiple origins of viviparous reproduction and evidence for recurring Andean vicariance and dispersal. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 69, 75–102.
Schulte, J.A., Losos, J.B., Cruz, F.B. & Núñez, H. (2004) The relationship between morphology, escape behaviour and microhabitat occupation in the lizard clade Liolaemus (Iguanidae: Tropidurinae: Liolaemini). Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 17, 408–420.
Videla, F. & Cei, J.M. (1996) A new peculiar Liolaemus species of the “chiliensis” phyletic group from the volcanic Cordilleran landscapes of southern Mendoza Province, Argentina (Iguania, Lacertilia, Reptilia). Bollettino del Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali di Torino, 14, 505–516.