Plica lumaria DONNELLY & MYERS, 1991
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Plica lumaria
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| Higher Taxa | Tropiduridae, Iguania, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | Plica lumaria DONNELLY & MYERS 1991: 24 Plica nigra MÄGDEFRAU 1991 Tropidurus nigra — FROST 1992 Tropidurus lumarius — MYERS & DONNELLY 2001 Plica lumaria — GORZULA & SEÑARIS 1999 Plica lumaria — FROST et al. 2001 |
| Distribution | S Venezuela (found only on the top of the Guaiquinima Tepui) Type locality: approximately 1090 m elevation, Cerro Guaiquinima, Bolivar, Venezuela. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: AMNH 136176 (field no.CWM 18976), an adult male collected by C.W. Myers and M.A.Donnelly on February 24, 1990. |
| Diagnosis | DIAGNOSIS: A Plica (fig. 16) having a complete antegular fold overlapping or slightly anterior to a complete gular fold; a deep ventral mite pocket (ventral to antegular fold) at lateral extent of gular fold that is continuous with deep pocket in the antehumeral fold; a well-developed middorsal crest on body and tail; small, slightly imbricate, acutely pointed, thornlike scales covering dorsal and dorsolateral surfaces of body and limbs; differentiated dorsolateral and ventrolateral rows of enlarged acutely pointed scales; distinctive tufts of spines on sides of neck; reduced preauricular fringe with enlarged scales pointed laterally; 3-4 rows of scales between suboculars and supralabials. Plica lumaria differs from both of its congeners in being black with small yellowish spots (dorsal ground color basically green in P. plica and P. umbra). Plica umbra differs from the larger P. lumaria and P. plica in lacking spiny tufts on the neck, in a less depressed body, and in having larger head shields and body scales. Plica lumaria most resembles P. plica in general habitus but differs in many aspects of scalation, including laterally directed superciliary scales (dorsally directed in P. plica) and in body scales mostly acutely pointed or thornlike (slightly pointed or keeled in P. plica). See Comparisons with Spiny-Necked Tropidurines for additional discussion. Unfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 11387 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
| Comment | This species is closely related to Plica plica and characterized by a complete black upside with only small light spots. The new species differs also from Plica plica in smaller size and specific behaviour. The superciliaries are directed laterally, it lacks clusters of spines on the fold below the auditory meatus, and it has 141–156 rows of scales around mid-body and 27–33 lamellae under the fourth toe (Donnelly and Myers 1991). Abundance: only known from its original description (Meiri et al. 2017). Diet: a large percentage of the diet of this species (10-30%) consists of ants (Lucas et al. 2023). |
| Etymology | Named after Latin lumarius, oforfor thorns: falces,for cutting down thorns [“...The species name is a Latin adjective (ofthorns) referring to the thornlike scales that cover the body...”]. (from Esteban Lavilla, pers. comm., May 2024) |
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