Lepidoblepharis victormartinezi BATISTA, PONCE, VESELY, MEBERT, HERTZ, KÖHLER, CARRIZO & LOTZKAT, 2015
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Lepidoblepharis victormartinezi
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| Higher Taxa | Sphaerodactylidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | Lepidoblepharis victormartinezi BATISTA, PONCE, VESELY, MEBERT, HERTZ, KÖHLER, CARRIZO & LOTZKAT 2015 Lepidoblepharis sp. — MARTÍNEZ & RODRIGUEZ 1994 (possibly) Lepidoblepharis sp. — MARTÍNEZ et al. 1995 (possibly) Lepidoblepharis xanthostigma — CARRIZO 2010: SMF 89963 Lepidoblepharis xanthostigma — LOTZKAT et al. 2010: SMF 89963 |
| Distribution | Panama (Colón) Type locality: leaf-litter 500 m east of the village Chicheme (8.865278°N, 80.643829°W, 100 m elev.), San José del General, Donoso district, Colón province, Panama |
| Reproduction | oviparous (manual imputation, fide Zimin et al. 2022) |
| Types | Holotype: SMF 50951, Adult female, original field number AB 1241 (Fig. 12), collected on 25 January 2013 at 11:40 hrs by Abel Batista, Lester Vásquez, and Leysi Díaz. Paratypes. Four adult males, all from Panama: SMF 89963 from Cerro Negro, Veraguas, on 28 July 2008; SMF 50950 (collected on 20 July 2011), 50952, and MHCH 2954 from Petaquilla, Coclé del Norte, Donoso, Colón; see Appendix I for locality details. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Lepidoblepharis victormartinezi (our sp. nov. 3) is characterized by the following combination of characters: (1) dorsal scales small, granular, and juxtaposed, ventral scales large, cycloid, flat, and imbricate; (2) scales on head small and granular; (3) 3–5 (4.4 ± 0.89) postrostrals; (4) two paramedian clefts demarcate the slightly convex median portion of the posterior mental border, rendering the latter vaguely M-shaped in its totality; (5) 5–7 (6.0 ± 0.71) postmentals; (6) lamellae under fourth toe 6–8 (6.6 ± 0.89), lamellae under fourth finger 4–5 (4.8 ± 0.45), the subdigital lamellae under each digit showing a peculiar morphology that is unique within the genus, with 1–3 proximal one(s) longitudinally greatly enlarged, each about 3–4 times longer than any of the remaining lamellae; (7) median subcaudals only slightly larger than the neighboring scales, about as long as wide, with rounded posterior margins, arranged in a regular tail sequence of 1'1'' (Fig. 3 D); (8) ventral escutcheon consisting of 61–68 (63.3 ± 3.30) scales, 6–8 (6.8 ± 0.96) scales long and 12–15 (13.8 ± 1.26) wide; (9) lack of a discernible subfemoral escutcheon; (10) ventral scales at midbody 15–19 (17.4 ± 1.52); (11) dorsal scales at midbody 53–67 (59.8 ± 5.36); (12) bilobate hemipenis, with a third lobule rising from the pedicel; (13) SVL 25–27 (25.6 ± 0.89) mm. |
| Comment | Synonymy: most of the synonyms referred to certain populations of Lepidoblepharis xanthostigma in Colón and Veraguas. Habitat. Lepidoblepharis victormartinezi is an endemic species of the Isthmian-Atlantic moist forests in west-central Panama (Fund 2011), known from around 100 m elev. in the province of Colón and 700 m elev. in Veraguas province. Most probably, L. victormartinezi lives in the leaf-litter and feeds on small invertebrates like other Lepidoblepharis (Vitt et al. 2005). Most specimens have been found on top of small hills, giving the impression that this species prefers drier environments on the hills rather than the more wet flat areas around the same locality. However, the specimen SMF 89963 was found in a wet flat area [BATISTA et al. 2015]. |
| Etymology | “The specific epithet victormartinezi is a patronym for Victor Martínez Cortés, who has pioneered Panamanian herpetology among native researchers, and was the first Panamanian herpetologist ever to publish his results in scientific journals. Since the 1980s, he has conducted herpetological inventory work at biogeographically significant localities throughout western Panama. The now unfortunately lost (V. Martínez, personal communication) specimens of "Lepidoblepharis sp." mentioned in his species lists of the region around Santa Fé de Veraguas (Martínez et al. 1995, Martínez & Rodriguez 1994), which includes Cerro Negro as the provenance of one of our paratypes, might have been the first specimens of this new species that were ever collected. We dedicate this species to our friend and colleague Victor Martínez in due recognition of his passionate dedication to, and great achievements for, Panamanian herpetology.” [BATISTA et al. 2015]. |
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