Liolaemus yatel ABDALA, PROCOPIO, STELLATELLI, TRAVAINI, RODRÍGUEZ, RUIZ & MONACHESI, 2014
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Liolaemus yatel
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| Higher Taxa | Liolaemidae, Iguania, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | Liolaemus yatel ABDALA, PROCOPIO, STELLATELLI, TRAVAINI, RODRÍGUEZ, RUIZ & MONACHESI 2014 Liolaemus lineomaculatus — CEI 1986 (partim) Liolaemus lineomaculatus — BREITMAN et al. 2011 (partim) Liolaemus lineomaculatus — BREITMAN et al. 2014 (partim) |
| Distribution | Argentina (Santa Cruz) Type locality: Monumento Natural Bosques Petrificados, Puerto Deseado department, Santa Cruz province, 47° 41’ 21’’ S; 68° 01’ 03’’ W. |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype: FML 24646 (CIPD 628). Adult female |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Liolaemus yatel sp. nov. belongs to the L. lineomaculatus section (Breitman et al., 2011b; 2013) and, within this section, it belongs to the L. lineomaculatus group (Etheridge, 1995; Abdala & Lobo, 2006), along with the L. kingii and L. magellanicus groups (Breitman et al., 2013). The most striking differences between Liolaemus yatel sp. nov. and species of the L. kingii group (L. archeforus, L. baguali, L. chacabucoense, L. escarchadosi, L. gallardoi, L. kingii, L. sarmientoi, L. scolaroi, L. somuncurae, L. tari, L. tristis, L. uptoni, and L. zullyi) are the absence of precloacal pores in males, a shorter snout-vent length (max SVL 61.1 mm vs. range between 67 and 112 mm, respectively; an exception is L. scolaroi: max SVL: 61 mm), and clearly contrasting dorsal and ventral coloration patterns. Further, L. yatel sp. nov. and the species of the L. kingii group also differ in scalation patterns and morphometry (Breitman et al., 2013). Among other diagnostic traits Liolaemus yatel sp. nov. differs from L. magellanicus and L. caparensis, that belong to the L. magellanicus group (Breitman et al., 2013), by the absence of precloacal pores in males. Morphology showed differences between the new species and the other taxa of the L. lineomaculatus group (Tables 1, 2). Within this group, the absence of trifid scales distinguish the new taxon from all members of the L. lineomaculatus group and L. magellanicus (trifid scales present in: 58 % of the examined specimens of L. magellanicus (Fig. 4), 67 % of L. lineomaculatus, and 100% in L. avilae, L. hatcheri, L. kolengh L. morandae, and L. silvanae) (Table 1). Liolaemus yatel sp. nov. also differs from L. hatcheri, L. kolengh and L. silvanae (L. silvanae group) for lacking either keeled nuchal scales or imbricate and subimbricated postfemorals (Table 1). In addition, body dorsal scales are subimbricated, slightly keeled and without mucron in L. yatel sp. nov., in contrast to L. magellanicus (Fig. 4), L. caparensis, and species of the L. lineomaculatus group whose scales are imbricated, strongly keeled and mucronated. Table 1 shows further differences in scalation and color patterns of body spots with other species of that group. Morphological tests showed significant differences between the new species and the other taxa of the L. lineomaculatus group. Means and ranks for meristic and qualitative characters are summarized in Table 1. Univariate tests showed that the number of scales around midbody could be used to tell between L. yatel sp. nov. and all other species but L. silvanae, whereas the number of dorsal scales differed significantly between L. yatel sp. nov. and L. silvanae (Table 2). The DFA indicated that the first two discriminant functions were statistically significant (Table 3). The first discriminant function accounted for 63.70 % of the total variance; this function was significantly correlated with the number of scales around midbody, as well as the number of dorsal and ventral scales (Table 3; Fig. 5). The second discriminant function was significantly correlated with the number of nuchal scales (Table 3; Fig. 5). Based on both discriminant functions, the number of scales around midbody, and the number of dorsal, ventral and nuchal scales contributed significantly to separate the centroids of most species (Table 3; Fig. 5). Our analysis allowed the identification of L. yatel sp. nov. based on meristic traits. Table 4 indicates that the nine species (i.e. L. avilae, L. caparensis, L. hatcheri, L. kolengh, L. lineomaculatus, L. magellanicus, L. morandae, L. silvanae, and L. yatel sp. nov.) were each correctly classified with 95.86 % accuracy. All specimens of L. yatel sp. nov. were correctly classified (Table 4). These results indicate that this species possesses morphological characteristics which distinguish it from the other known species of the L. lineomaculatus group. |
| Comment | Abundance: only known from its original description (Meiri et al. 2017). |
| Etymology | The species name refers to the term that the native Tehuelche people uses to name the rocky ground that surrounds the sites where the specimens were collected. |
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