Two new species of the Liolaemuselongatus-kriegi complex (Iguania, Liolaemidae) from Andean highlands of southern Chile.

ABSTRACT: The elongatus-kriegi complex is one of the most diverse clades of the Liolaemus (sensu stricto) subgenus of lizards. There are currently 29 species recognized in this group distributed between Chile and Argentina. Based on molecular evidence, there seem to be five main clades nested within this complex: the elongatus, leopardinus, kriegi, petrophilus and punmahuida clades. Liolaemusbuergeri and Liolaemuskriegi, both of the kriegi clade, were believed to inhabit the surroundings of the Laja Lagoon, in the Biobío Region of Chile. Moreover, this Chilean population of Liolaemuskriegi was recently recognized as an undescribed taxon called "Liolaemus sp. A" based on molecular phylogenetics. In this work, we studied these two populations of the Laja Lagoon and provided the morphological diagnosis to describe them as two new species: Liolaemusscorialis sp. n. and Liolaemuszabalai sp. n., previously considered Liolaemusbuergeri and "Liolaemuskriegi/Liolaemus sp. A" respectively. Additionally, we identified another population of Liolaemusscorialis in the vicinity of La Mula Lagoon in the Araucanía Region of Chile. Liolaemusscorialis differs from almost all of the species of the elongatus-kriegi complex by its considerably smaller size. Nevertheless, without molecular data we cannot assign it to any particular subclade. Liolaemuszabalai belongs to the kriegi clade based on published molecular phylogenies. Finally, we provide some natural history data on both species and we document for the first time the presence of Liolaemusneuquensis in Chile from a museum specimen from La Mula Lagoon.

SUBMITTER: Troncoso-Palacios J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4432242 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature