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Cercosaura phelpsorum (LANCINI, 1968)

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Higher TaxaGymnophthalmidae (Cercosaurinae), Sauria, Gymnophthalmoidea, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common Names 
SynonymEuspondylus phelpsi LANCINI 1968
Euspondylus phelpsorum — MYERS & CONNELLY 1996: 30
Euspondylus goeleti MYERS & DONNELLY 1996
Prionodactylus phelpsorum — GORZULA & SEÑARIS 1999
Prionodactylus phelpsorum — MIJARES-URRUTIA 2001
Prionodactylus goeleti — MYERS & DONNELLY 2001
Cercosaura phelpsorum — DOAN 2003
Cercosaura goeleti — PYRON & BURBRINK 2013 
DistributionVenezuela (Bolivar)

Type locality: Venezuela, Bolivar, Cerro de Kaua, Alto Caura; Cerro Jaua (fide RIVAS et al. 2012, corrected to Cerro Sarisariñama by Steyermark & Brewer-Carías 1976)

goeleti: Venezuela (Amazonas); Type locality: summit of Cerro Yaví, 2150 m elevation, Amazonas, Venezuela.

Elevation: 1800–2150 m (DOAN & LAMAR 2012).  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: lost (fide Mijares-Urrutia 2001, cited in Rivas et al. 2012)
Holotype: EBRG 3112 [goeleti] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: “Euspondylus phelpsi difiere de las restantes especies del
genero por la combination de sus caracteres. Posee escamas dorsales debilmente aquilladas, hexagonales y en número dc 38, alrededor del medio del cuerpo; siete supra y siete infralabiales; 40 escamas desde el occipucio hasta la base de la cola y ventrales dispuestas en 8 series longitudinales. Hay 23 escamas desde el borde del collar hasta las preanales.” (Lancini 1968)


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CommentSynonymy: C. goeleti is closely related to E. phelpsi but differs from it by having a pale vertebral stripe distinctly broadening posteriorly (vs maintaining the same width), greenish white ventral colouration (vs slate gray with black speckling), and distinctly keeled dorsal scales (vs weakly keeled). Gorzula and Señaris (1999) proposed to synonymise P. goeleti with P. phelpsorum based on (1) the fact that all the scale counts given by Lancini fall within the variation given by Myers and Donnelly (1996), (2) the subjectivity of the difference between the weakly keeled scales of P. phelpsorum and the distinctly keeled scales of P. goeleti, and (3) the likely misinterpretation of the ventral colouration and shape of the middorsal stripe. Doan (2003) considered C. goeleti a junior synonym of C. phelpsorum. RIVAS et al. 2012 confirm this synonymization. 
EtymologyNamed after William H. Phelps and his distinguished guiding wife Mrs. Kathleen Phelps, who with their extraordinary enthusiasm and spirit of organization made possible the first ascent to the summit of the Jaua massif by helicopter.

Euspondylus goeleti was named after Mr. Robert G. Goelet, “who believes in the importance of natural history collections and expeditionary work”. Listed as synonym of P. phelpsorum by DOAN 2003 (who was not able to examine any specimens). 
References
  • Barrio-Amorós, César L. & Brewer-Carias, Charles 2008. Herpetological results of the 2002 expedition to Sarisari–ama, a tepui in Venezuelan Guayana, with the description of five new species. Zootaxa 1942: 1-68 - get paper here
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Doan, T.M. 2003. A new phylogenetic classification for the gymnophthalmid genera Cercosaura, Pantodactylus and Prionodactylus (Reptilia: Squamata). Zool. J. Linnean Soc. 137 (1): 101-115 - get paper here
  • Gorzula, Stefan & Senaris, J. Celsa 1999. In: Contribution to the herpetofauna of the Venezuelan Guayana. I: a data base. Scientia Guaianae, Caracas, No. 8 [1998], 269+ pp.; ISBN 980-6020-48-0
  • Lancini V, A.R. 1968. El genero Euspondylus (Sauria: Teiidae) en Venezuela. Publ. Ocas. Mus. Cienc. Nat. Caracas 12: 1-8
  • Mijares-Urrutia, A. 2001. TaxonomÌa de algunos microtéidos de Venezuela (Squamata), II: Situación nomenclatural de Prionodactylus ampuedai y Prionodactylus phelpsorum. Revista de BiologÌa Tropical, 48 (2/3): 681-688 (2000) - get paper here
  • Myers, C. W. & M. A. DONNELLY 1996. A New Herpetofauna from Cerro Yaví, Venezuela: First results of the Robert G. Goelet American-Terramar Expedition to the Northwestern Tepuis. American Museum Novitates 3172: 1-56. - get paper here
  • Myers, C. W. & M. A. DONNELLY 2001. Herpetofauna of the Yutajé-Corocoro Massif, Venezuela: second report from the Robert G. Goelet American Museum - Terramar Expedition to the Northwestern Tepuis. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. (261): 1-85 - get paper here
  • Pyron, R. Alexander; Frank T. Burbrink 2013. Early origin of viviparity and multiple reversions to oviparity in squamate reptiles. Ecology Letters 17 (1): 13–21 (published online 2013, in print 2014), DOI: 10.1111/ele.12168 - get paper here
  • RIVAS, GILSON A.; CÉSAR R. MOLINA, GABRIEL N. UGUETO, TITO R. BARROS, CÉSAR L. BAR- RIO-AMORÓS & PHILIPPE J. R. KOK 2012. Reptiles of Venezuela: an updated and commented checklist. Zootaxa 3211: 1–64 - get paper here
 
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