Liolaemus balagueri VILLEGAS-PAREDES, HUAMANÍ-VALDERRAMA, LUQUE-FERNÁNDEZ, GUTIÉRREZ, QUIRÓZ & ABDALA, 2020

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Higher Taxa	Liolaemidae, Iguania, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies
Common Names
Synonym	Liolaemus balagueri VILLEGAS-PAREDES, HUAMANÍ-VALDERRAMA, LUQUE-FERNÁNDEZ, GUTIÉRREZ, QUIRÓZ & ABDALA 2020
Distribution	Peru (Arequipa) Type locality: “3.17 km, al oeste de la carretera Majes – Camaná antes de llegar a la quebrada del Toro (16°34’23.94” S & 72°33’43.02” W) a 1 058 m de altitud, Distrito de Quilca, Provincia Camaná, Departamento de Arequipa, Perú.”
Reproduction
Types	Holotype: MUSA 5575, adult male. Fue almacenado por Luis Villegas, Ling Huamaní y César Luque el 23 de julio 2017. Paratypes: Se emplearon tres machos (MUBI 13206, MUSA 1772 - 1773) y cuatro hembras (MUSA 1774, MUBI 13207-13209), recolectados en la misma localidad del holotipo en las coordenadas 16°34’23” S & 72°33’43” W por Roberto Gutiérrez, Aarón Quiroz y Luis Villegas el 11 de agosto de 2010. Un macho (MUSM 39195) fue recolectado en la misma localidad que el holotipo, particularmente las coordenadas 16°34’11.96” S & 72°34’00.53” W por César Luque, Luis Villegas y Anthony Pauca el 02 de abril del 2017. Asimismo, otro macho (MUBI 16483) fue recolectado en la misma localidad que el holotipo en las coorde- nadas 16°34’19.21” S & 72°33’53.95” W por Luis Villegas, Ling Huamaní y Cesar Luque el 02 de abril de 2017. De la misma manera, cinco machos (MUSA 5576-5577, MUBI 16484, MUSM 39193-39194) fueron recolectados en la misma localidad que el holotipo por Luis Villegas, Ling Huamaní y César Luque el 23 de julio de 2017, así como una hembra (MUSA 5578) recolectada por Luis Villegas, Ling Huamaní y César Luque el 08 de septiembre de 2017. En las lomas de La Chira, Distrito de Camaná, Provincia de Camaná en el departamento de Arequipa, se recolectaron dos machos (MUSA 5579 y MUSM 39192) por Luis Villegas, César Luque, Raquel Ruiz y Anthony Pauca, el 16 de diciembre de 2017.
Diagnosis	Diagnosis: This species is assigned to the group or series called L. montanus (Etheridge, 1995; Schulte, Macey, Espinoza, & Larson, 2000) because it presents a posterior distal process in the tibia (in the form of a knife) associated with the hypertrophy of the tibialis anticus muscle anticus (Etheridge, 1995; Abdala, Abdala, & Tulli, 2006). Within this group, it differs from the species L. boulengeri (Abdala, 2007; Schulte et al., 2000) for having scales of the same size on the back of the thigh. Within the overall group, it differs in size (they are larger) from L. annectens, L. aymararum, L. cazianiae, L. chlorostictus, L. dorbignyi, L. fabiani, L. filiorum, L. forsteri, L. foxi, L. gracielae, L. huayra, L. huacahuasicus, L. igneus, L. inti, L. jamesi, L. juanortizi, L. melanogaster, L. montanus, L. multicolor, L. nigriceps, L. orientalis, L. pantherinus, L. pachecoi, L. patriciaiturrae, L. pleopholis, L. polystictus, L. puritamensis, L. robustus, L. scrocchii, L. signifer, L. tacora, L. thomasi, L. vulcanus, L. vallecurensis and L. williamsi. For example, the LHC of L. balagueri sp. nov. ranges from 66.50 to 75 mm. On the other hand, it differs from L. andinus, L. audituvelatus, L. cazianiae, L. chlorostictus, L. eleodori, L. erguetae, L. fabiani, L. forsteri, L. foxi, L. gracielae, L. halonastes, L. insolitus, L. islugensis, L. jamesi, L. molinai, L. manueli, L. nigriceps, L. omorfi, L. patriciaiturrae, L. pleopholis, L. poconchilensis, L. poecilochromus, L. porosus, L. reichei, L. robertoi, L. rosenmanni, L. ruibali, L. schmidti, L. scrocchii, L. tacora, L. torresi, L. vallecurensis and L. vulcanus in their dorsal scales of the body, which are juxtaposed and without keel; their scales with sub-imbricated arrangement and the presence of a slight keel in the new species. These particular traits also separate it from L. aymararum, L. disjunctus, L. etheridgei, L. fittkaui, L. griseus, L. huacahuasicus, L. montanus, L. orko, L. ortizi, L. pulcherrimus, L. signifer, L. thomasi and L. williamsi, which have imbricated scales and an evident keel. The number of scales around the body in Liolaemus balagueri sp. nov. varies between 52 and 56 ( = 54.3). This trait differentiates the species from the group that has more than 60 scales, which includes L. andinus, L. audituvelatus, L. cazianiae, L. chlorostictus; L. duellmani, L. eleodori, L. erguetae, L. forsteri, L. foxi, L. gracielae, L. griseus, L. halonastes, L. inti, L. islugensis, L. manueli, L. molinai, L. multicolor, L. nigriceps, L. orientalis, L. orko, L. ortizi, L. patriciaiturrae, L. pleopholis, L. poconchilensis, L. poecilochromus, L. polystictus, L. porosus, L. pulcherrimus, L. robustus, L. robertoi, L. rosenmanni, L. ruibali, L. signifer, L. torresi, L. schmidti, L. vallecurensis and L. reichei. All of them have less than 50 scales around the body. The number of ventral scales between the mental and the edge of the cloaca in varies between 65 and 79 ( = 72.4), higher than L. ortizi (53-65, = 61.1). Additionally, this number of scales is lower than in species that have more than 80 ventral scales such as L. andinus, L. annectens, L. audituvelatus, L. cazianiae, L. chlorostictus, L. eleodori, L. erguetae, L. foxi, L. gracielae, L. hajeki, L. halonastes, L. huayra, L. inti, L. islugensis, L. multicolor, L. nigriceps, L. pachecoi, L. patriciaiturrae, L. pleopholis, L. poecilochromus, L. porosus, L. robertoi, L. rosenmanni, L. signifer, L. torresi and L. vallecurensis. The combination of characteristics observed in the dorsal and ventral coloring pattern clearly differentiate it from all the species of the L. montanus group. Particularly, the dorsal coloring pattern, large paravertebral and lateral spots of circular or ocelli shape, with border dark evident and light or green center stand out. These traits are unique in the whole genus (Fig. 2A, Fig. 2B, Fig. 3A, Fig. 3B).
Comment	See Aguilar-Puntriano & Salazar 2021 for a more detailed discussion of the status and differences between L. balagueri and L. nazca, with Table 2 summarizing diagnostic characters (which do broadly overlap though).
Etymology	Named after Dr. Luis Balaguer Núñez (1964-2014), principal professor and tireless researcher of the Chair of Ecology at the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain. In particular, in recognition of his valuable contributions to the knowledge of the ecosystems of the Atiquipa hills. Núñez left a great school of future researchers, both in Peru and in Spain.
References	Aguilar-Puntriano, César; Esther B. Salazar 2021. Comentarios y adiciones sobre especies recientemente descritas del grupo Liolaemus montanus procedentes de Perú. Cuadernos de Herpetología 35 (S1): 91-100 Chaparro JC, Quiroz AJ, Mamani L, Gutiérrez RC, Condori P, De la Riva I, Herrera-Juárez G, Cerdeña J, Arapa LP, Abdala CS. 2020. An endemic new species of Andean lizard of the genus Liolaemus from southern Peru (Iguania: Liolaemidae) and its phylogenetic position. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 14(2) [General Section]: 47–63 (e238) Huamaní-Valderrama L, Quiroz AJ, Gutiérrez RC, Aguilar-Kirigin A, Huanca-Mamani W, Valladares-Faúndez P, Cerdeña J, Chaparro JC, Santa Cruz R, Abdala CS. 2020. Some color in the desert: description of a new species of Liolaemus (Iguania: Liolaemidae) from southern Peru, and its conservation status. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 14(3) [Taxonomy Section]: 1–30 (e250) - get paper here Villegas Paredes, L., Huamaní-Valderrama, L., Luque-Fernández, C., Gutiérrez, R.C., Quiróz, A.J., & Abdala, C. S. 2020. Una nueva especie de Liolaemus (Iguania: Liolaemidae) perteneciente al grupo L. montanus en las lomas costeras del sur de Perú. Revista de Biología Tropical, 68(1): 69-86 - get paper here
External links	National Center for Biotechnology Information Google images

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