Ameivula abalosi (CABRERA, 2012)
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Ameivula abalosi
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| Higher Taxa | Teiidae, Teiinae, Gymnophthalmoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | Cnemidophorus abalosi CABRERA 2012 Cnemidophorus ocellifer — KOSLOWSKY 1898: 185 Cnemidophorus ocellifer — TIO VALLEJO & MIRANDA 1984: 81 (in part) Cnemidophorus ocellifer — GALLARDO et al., 1985: 99 Cnemidophorus ocellifer — CABRERA 1993: 23 Cnemidophorus ocellifer — CEI 1993: 378 Cnemidophorus ocellifer — ALVAREZ et al. 2002: 48 Cnemidophorus ocellifer — CHÉBEZ et al. 2005: 40 Cnemidophorus abalosi — PEÑARANDA-BARRIOS 2012: 49 Ameivula abalosi — HARVEY et al. 2012 (by implication) Ameivula aff. abalosi — ZARACHO et al. 2014 |
| Distribution | Argentina (Formosa, Corrientes, El Chaco, jujuy, Salta, Santiago des Estero, Córdoba, San Juan), Paraguay Type locality: Argentina: Provincia de Formosa: Departamento Bermejo: La Libertad (23° 59’ S; 60° 41’ W). |
| Reproduction | oviparous (manual imputation, fide Zimin et al. 2022) |
| Types | Holotype: UNNE (= UNNEC) 05676. Adult male. December 9, 1997.Collected by M. L. Lyons, E. Shaefer and R. Aguirre. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (n=23): A small (67 mm maximum SVL) bisexual teiid lizard, distinguished from all other species of the genus Cnemidophorus by the following combination of character states: 75−98 granular dorsal scales around midbody; 184−212 dorsal scales along body; 8 longitudinal rows of quadrangular ventral scales; 24−31 transverse rows of ventral scales; 15−19 femoral pores in total; 15−17 subdigital lamellae under fourth finger in males, 14−16 in females; 25−31 lamellae under fourth toe; two rows of scales along the inferoposterior half of the calf of males bearing erect, thorn-like borders; preanal spurs absent; 23−26 scales around the tail on the fifth complete postcloacal ring; 4, rarely 5, supraocular scales on each side of the head; 5 superciliaries; frontonasal scale undivided, subrhombical, wider than long; tail twice as long as body and autotomic, and pattern lacking a vertebral stripe. The new species is easily distinguished from taxa in the longicauda species group [C. longicauda (Bell) and C. tergolaevigatus Cabrera] because these bear an opercule-like projection of skin over the anterodorsal margin of each ear opening and a different colour pattern. Cnemidophorus abalosi may be distinguished from species in the lacertoides species group (C. charrua Cabrera & Carreira; C. lacertoides Duméril & Bibron; C. leachei Peracca; C. serranus Cei & Martori, and C. vacariensis Feltrim & Lema) because they lack a semicircle of supraorbital granules separating the frontal scale from second supraocular scale. The new species is distinguished from taxa of the lemniscatus group [C. arenivagus Markezich, Cole & Dessauer; C. arubensis Van Lidth de Jeude; C. cryptus Cole & Dessauer; C. flavissimus Ugueto, Harvey & Rivas; C. gramivagus McCrystal & Dixon; C. l. lemniscatus (Linnaeus); C. l. splendidus Markezich, Cole & Dessauer; C. m. murinus (Laurenti); C. m. ruthveni Burt; C. nigricolor Peters; C. pseudolemniscatus Cole & Dessauer; C. senectus Ugueto, Harvey & Rivas, and C. vanzoi (Baskin & Williams)] by having preanal spurs in males and high number of femoral pores (usually more than 40 in total) in the lemniscatus group. Cnemidophorus abalosi belongs to the ocellifer species group along with C. abaetensis Dias, Rocha & Vrcibradic; C. confusionibus Arias, Carvalho, Rodrigues & Zaher; C. jalapensis Colli, Giugliano, Mesquita & França; C. littoralis Rocha, Araújo, Vrcibradic & Costa; C. mumbuca Colli, Caldwell, Costa, Gainsbury, Garda, Mesquita, Filho, Soares, Silva, Valdujo, Vieira, Vitt, Werneck, Wiederhecker & Zatz; C. nativo Rocha, Bergallo & Peccinini-Seale; C. ocellifer (Spix) and C. venetacaudus Arias, Carvalho, Rodrigues & Zaher. It is distinguished from other species in the ocellifer group as follows: C. abaetensis has more transverse rows of ventrals (29−35, mean 32), 6 superciliaries, normally 3 supraoculars and vertebral stripe present; C. confusionibus has more lamellae under the fourth toe (29−35), more rows of enlarged prebrachial plates (3), a different colour pattern and lacks thorn-like scales on the calf of males; C. jalapensis is smaller (SVL up to 56 mm), has more dorsal scales along body (200−250, mean 225.9) and across midbody (91−122, mean 104), fewer femoral pores (11−16 in total, mean 13.3) and a pattern without spots on flanks; C. littoralis has 9−11 (mean 10) longitudinal rows of ventrals, more femoral pores (16−17 on each leg), more superciliaries (7−8) and a vertebral stripe; C. mumbuca is smaller (SVL under 60 mm in adults), has more dorsal scales along body (194−271, mean 229.6) and across midbody (91−117, mean 101); C. nativo is a unisexual diploid parthenogenetic clone (Rocha et al., 1997; Ugueto et al., 2009), it bears the nostril completely pierced in the anterior nasal scale without contact to postnasal and a pattern lacking light spots on flanks; C. venetacaudus has more dorsal scales across midbody (114−129, mean 119.5), more superciliaries (6−7), more longitudinal rows of ventrals (10), more femoral pores (34−35 in total) and an unstriped pattern. The new species is distinguished from Cnemidophorus sp. (ocellifer group) from the Paraíba State because the latter has more dorsal scales along body (205−234) and across midbody (100−116), more femoral pores (19−21) and more scales around the tail (26−28). Cnemidophorus abalosi has been long confused with C. ocellifer, largely because of a similar colour pattern. The new species differs from C. ocellifer in having more dorsal scales along body (184−212, mean 198.8; versus 172−188, mean 181 in C. ocellifer), fewer scales across midbody (75−98, mean 85; versus 92−100, mean 94.6), and fewer rows of large prebrachial plates (2, with the anteriormost clearly wider, versus 3 rows in C. ocellifer). Cnemidophorus abalosi also consistently differs from C. ocellifer by having, in males, two rows of scales bearing erected borders along the inferoposterior half of calves (scales flat in C. ocellifer); a persistence of white stripes in adults (frequently faded or lost in C. ocellifer) and by having frontonasal scale subrhombic, wider than long in both sexes, preventing contact (or limiting it to a point) between postnasal and prefrontal scales, while in C. ocellifer the frontonasal is normally hexagonal to octagonal, as wide as long, with postnasal and prefrontal in full contact. (CABRERA 2012: 125) 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 10500 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
| Comment | |
| Etymology | named after Jorge W. Abalos, a “gifted novelist and university professor, who specialized in venomous animals, but mainly (as he proudly liked to remark), was a Chacoan rural teacher who identified with the people, idiosyncrasies and problems of this region.” [CABRERA 2012]. |
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