Phymaturus yachanana AVILA, PÉREZ, MINOLI & MORANDO, 2014
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Phymaturus yachanana
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| Higher Taxa | Liolaemidae, Iguania, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | Phymaturus yachanana AVILA, PÉREZ, MINOLI & MORANDO 2014 |
| Distribution | Argentina (Río Negro) Type locality: rocky hills 1.74 km South of the Sierra Grande town, east of National Road 3 (41°37’S, 65°20’W, 270 m elevation, datum = WGS 84), San Antonio department, Río Negro province, Argentina |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype: MLP S 2636, adult male collected on July 6, 2008 by C.H.F. Pérez and M. León collectors. Paratypes: LJAMM-CNP 8203, 8205 (adult males), 8204 (adult female) collected on rocky cliffs of Sierra Grande hills, behind Sierra Grande town (41°36’S, 65°22’W, 429 m, datum = WGS 84), San Antonio department, Río Negro province, Argentina, on October 15, 2007 by C.H.F. Pérez and M. León collectors. LJAMM-CNP 14366-14367 (adult males) 14368 (adult female) collected on rocky cliffs on the west slope of Sierra Grande hills, behind Sierra Grande ghost town (41°36’S, 65°23’S, 387 m, datum = WGS 84), San Antonio department, Río Negro province, Argentina, on March 4, 2011 by C.H.F. Pérez, D. Udrizar & M. Carrera collectors. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis. Phymaturus yachanana sp. nov. is a robust and medium sized member of the clade referred as the patagonicus group by Etheridge (1995), because it has flat imbricate superciliaries, non-rugose dorsal scales on tail, and subocular scale usually not fragmented. This new species is allopatric and differs from all other members of the clade in its unique dorsal pattern of mid-dorsal small white dots occupying only 1-8 scales and larger lateral dots or bands (3–27 scales) on a brown background. Phymaturus yachanana sp. nov. can be distinguished from P. agilis, P. camilae, P. ceii, P. desuetus, P. etheridgei, P. excelsus, P. manuelae, P. somuncurensis, P. spurcus, P. spectabilis and P. tenebrosus by color pattern features, lower scale count around midbody (see Table 1), reciprocal monophyly of 19 individuals on a cytochrome-b gene tree that included all related species (Morando et al. 2013), and disjunct geographical distribution. Presence of sexual dichromatism differentiated Phymaturus yachanana sp. nov. from P. camilae, P. excelsus, P. somuncurensis, P. spurcus, P. spectabilis and P. tenebrosus. Ventral scale count in Phymaturus yachanana sp. nov. is lower than in P. ceii, and P. manuelae and shows some overlap with P. agilis, P. camilae, P. ceii, P. desuetus, P. etheridgei, P. excelsus, P. manuelae, P. somuncurensis, P. spurcus, and P. tenebrosus but with different average (see Table 1). Dorsal pattern of P. yachanana sp. nov. is composed of white smudges uniformly distributed (occupying 1–27 scales) scattered along trunk, a pattern never observed in P. ceii, P. somuncurensis, P. tenebrosus with a color pattern of more dispersed spots. Phymaturus etheridgei has a dorsal body background brown reddish with small black and white scales transversal black lines that is not present in P. yachanana sp. nov. Dorsal background brown and black with ocelli series in P. spectabilis and P. excelsus, is a pattern never observed in P. yachanana sp. nov. Dorsal pattern uniformly dark brown in P. spurcus with a background light brown is a pattern never observed in P. yachanana sp. nov. There is an irregular and discontinuous pattern of speckled black spots attenuated in two dorsolateral stripes in P. agilis that is not present in P. yachanana sp. nov. Creamy-yellow dorsal background, speckle with small black spots, elongated and half-moon, irregularly scattered in P. desuetus are never observed in P. yachanana. Phymaturus manuelae has black dorsal background whit irregular and discontinuous pattern of speckled light brown spots and sub elliptic spots in two paravertebral discontinuous lines, a pattern not present in P. yachanana sp. nov. Reticulated pattern in throat and gular zones observed in P. yachanana is not present in P. spurcus, P. tenebrosus, P. excelsus, P. ceii, P. agilis, P. desuetus and P. etheridgei with throat and gular region gray. Phymaturus yachanana can be distinguished from P. patagonicus and P. calcogaster for its different dorsal color pattern, differences in mitochondrial and nuclear genes, and allopatric distribution. Phymaturus yachanana has an average dorsal scale count lower than P. calcogaster (182 vs 221) but higher than P. patagonicus (182 vs 172). Ventral scale count is lower than in P. calcogaster (154 vs 174) and shape of femoral scales is different. Scales in the posterior part of the femur and tibial region are strongly mucronated in P. yachanana including a few with a slight keel, but only are slightly mucronated in P. patagonicus (Fig. 5). |
| Comment | Group: calcogaster species group Abundance: only known from its original description (Meiri et al. 2017). |
| Etymology | The specific name, “yachanana”, means "with abundant iron ore" in the language of the northern Tehuelches, a native group that inhabited the region of the type locality (yacha =means iron ore, nana= abundant). This name was used for a locality near Sierra Grande hills by the Swiss naturalist and explorer Jorge Claraz during his travels to the region in the summer of 1865–1866 (Casamiquela 1998, see p. 162). Sierra Grande hills harbor the only one iron mine of Argentina. |
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