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Euspondylus maculatus TSCHUDI, 1845

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Higher TaxaGymnophthalmidae (Cercosaurinae), Sauria, Gymnophthalmoidea, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Spotted Sun Tegus 
SynonymEuspondylus maculatus TSCHUDI 1845: 161
Ecpleopus (Euspondylus) maculatus — PETERS 1862: 206
Ecpleopus (Proctoporus) Fraseri O’SHAUGHNESSY 1879: 296
Euspondylus maculatus — PETERS & DONOSO-BARROS 1970: 121
Euspondylus maculatus — KÖHLER 2003 
DistributionPeru (Puno, Madre de Dios), S Ecuador

Type locality: Peru; specified as vicinity of Moyobamba, Peru, by TSCHUDI (1846: 43).  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesSyntypes: unlocated (fide TORRES-CARVAJAL 2001) 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (97 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy that of PETERS & DONOSO-BARROS 1970 (who cite O’SHAUGHNESSY 1897, which seems to be a typo).

Type species: Euspondylus maculatus TSCHUDI 1845 is the type species of the genus Euspondylus TSCHUDI 1845.

Taxonomy (genus): The taxonomy of Euspondylus is problematic due to the unclear generic diagnosis and species assignations with members of the genus Proctoporus. According to the traditional generic diagnosis by Peters and Donoso-Barros (1970), Euspondylus is characterized by the presence of anterior nasal scales separated by rostral and frontonasal scales, and prefrontal and dorsal scales that are not granular, whereas Proctoporus lacks prefrontal scales and has either keeled or striated dorsal scales. Köhler and Lehr (2004) recognized much variation in the presence of prefrontal scales in Euspondylus spinalis from Peru, and suggested that the presence versus absence of prefrontal scales is not a determining character for the separation of Proctoporus and Euspondylus, questioning the separation of the two genera. Doan and Castoe (2005) separated two genera from Proctoporus: Riama and Petracola;
The definition of Euspondylus has always been vague (Uzzell 1973), but was generally considered to be similar to Proctoporus but possessing prefrontal scales (Doan 2003; Köhler & Lehr 2004), which Proctoporus species, until the recent new combinations, did not (Goicoechea et al. 2012). Now that this distinction between the two genera has been removed, unique diagnostic characters for Euspondylus do not exist and it is possible that all Euspondylus species may belong within Proctoporus (Goicoechea et al. 2012) or that some species are more closely allied to Anadia Gray (Kok & Rivas 2011, Doan & Adams 2015).

Distribution: Probably also in Bolivia (fide LANGSTROTH 2005). Note that Chavez et al. 2017 restricted the range of E. maculatus to the area around the type locality in Puno; other populations were assigned to Euspondylus sp. 1 and Euspondylus sp. 2. However, these have not been named yet and their ranges not defined, hence we leave the range of maculatus as is for the time being. 
EtymologyNamed after Latin maculatus, spotted. [“...supra fuscus, maculis regularibus quadrangulis...”]. (from Esteban Lavilla, pers. comm., May 2024)

The genus was named after Greek eu- (ἐΰ-), duly, rightly, well, in accordance with usage + Greek spondylion (σφονδύλιον), neck vertebra. ["... Jugulum collari distincto…"]. 
References
  • CHÁVEZ, GERMÁN; ALESSANDRO CATENAZZI, PABLO J. VENEGAS 2017. A new species of arboreal microteiid lizard of the genus Euspondylus (Gymnophtalmidae: Cercosaurinae) from the Andean slopes of central Peru with comments on Peruvian Euspondylus. Zootaxa 4350 (2): 301–316 - get paper here
  • Köhler, G. 2003. Two new species of Euspondylus (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae) from Peru. Salamandra 39 (1): 5-20 - get paper here
  • Köhler, G. and E. Lehr 2004. Comments on Euspondylus and Proctoporus (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae) from Peru, with the description of three new species and a key to the Peruvian species. Herpetologica 60 (4):501-518 - get paper here
  • Langstroth, R.P. 2005. Adiciones probables y confirmadas para la saurofauna boliviana. Kempffiana 1 (1): 101-128
  • O’Shaughnessy,A.W.E. 1879. Description of new species of lizards in the collection of the British Museum. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (5) 4: 295-303 - get paper here
  • Peters, James A. & Donoso-Barros, Roberto 1970. Catalogue of the Neotropical Squamata: Part II. Lizards and Amphisbaenians. Bull. US Natl. Mus. 297: 293 pp. - get paper here
  • Peters, W. 1862. Über Cercosaura und die mit dieser Gattung verwandten Eidechsen aus Südamerika. Abh. Berlin Akad. 1862: 165-225
  • Torres-Carvajal O, Pazmiño-Otamendi G, Salazar-Valenzuela D. 2019. Reptiles of Ecuador: a resource-rich portal, with a dynamic checklist and photographic guides. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 13 (1): [General Section]: 209–229 (e178) - get paper here
  • Torres-Carvajal, O. 2001. Lizards of Ecuador: Checklist, Distribution, and Systematic References. Smithsonian Herp. Inf. Serv. (131): 1-35 - get paper here
  • Tschudi,J. J. von 1845. Reptilium conspectum quae in republica Peruana reperiuntur er pleraque observata vel collecta sunt in itenere. Archiv für Naturgeschichte 11 (1): 150-170 [reprint 1968, SSAR; sometimes cited as being published in 1846]. - get paper here
  • Uzzell, T.M. 1961. Status of the Teiid Lizards Euspondylus strangulatus Cope and Euspondylus festae Peracca. Copeia 1961 (2): 139-144 - get paper here
 
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