A New Genus and Species of Arboreal Lizard (Gymnophthalmidae: Cercosaurinae) from the Eastern Andes of Peru
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SALAMANDRA 55(1) 1–13 15A February new genus 2019 and speciesISSN of0036–3375 arboreal lizard from Peru A new genus and species of arboreal lizard (Gymnophthalmidae: Cercosaurinae) from the eastern Andes of Peru Edgar Lehr1, Jiří Moravec2, Mikael Lundberg3, Gunther Köhler4, Alessandro Catenazzi5 & Jiří Šmíd2,6 1) Department of Biology, Illinois Wesleyan University, P.O. Box 2900, Bloomington, IL 61701, USA 2) Department of Zoology, National Museum, Cirkusová 1740, 193 00 Prague 9, Czech Republic 3) Departamento de Herpetología, Museo de Historia Natural Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Av. Arenales 1256, Jesús María, Lima, Peru 4) Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt a.M., Germany 5) Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th St., Miami, FL 33199, USA 6) Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Viničná 7, Prague, Czech Republic Corresponding author: Edgar Lehr, e-mail: [email protected] Manuscript received: 26 August 2018 Accepted: 6 December 2018 by Jörn Köhler Abstract. We describe a new arboreal genus and species of the family Gymnophthalmidae, subfamily Cercosaurinae, from Peru on the basis of genetic and morphological characters. Dendrosauridion gen. n. can be distinguished morphologically from all other genera of Cercosaurinae by having the lower palpebral disc transparent and undivided, dorsal scales smooth, lateral scales distinctly smaller than dorsal scales, and lateral scales adjacent to ventrals non-granular, not forming a distinct longitudinal line along body axis. Phenotypic synapomorphies are not known for the new genus. In a previously published phylogeny, Dendrosauridion gen. n. was identified as a distinct clade separated from all other cercosaurines. The mono- typic genus contains Dendrosauridion yanesha sp. n., which is known from two localities in montane forests of the eastern Andes in central (Region Pasco) and southern Peru (Region Cusco) from 2780 to 2825 m a.s.l. with a distributional gap of 413 km in between. The two adult males (SVL 59.1–60.2 mm) and one juvenile were found in trees. The secretive habits of D. yanesha sp. n. are likely the reason for its rarity and we propose the threat status of the new species as “Data Deficient.” Key words. Squamata, taxonomy, systematics, phylogeny, morphology, arboreality, Dendrosauridion gen. n. Resumen. Describimos un nuevo género y especie de lagartija arborícola de la familia Gymnophthalmidae, subfamilia Cerco saurinae en Perú, usando caracteres moleculares y morfológicos. Dendrosauridion gen. n. se puede distinguir morfo- lógicamente de todos los demás géneros de Cercosaurinae por tener un disco palpebral inferior transparente y no dividido, escamas dorsales lisas, escamas laterales claramente más pequeñas que las escamas dorsales, y escamas laterales adyacentes a escamas ventrales no granulares, sin formar una línea longitudinal distinta a lo largo del cuerpo. No se conocen sinapo- morfias fenotípicas para el nuevo género. En una filogenia previamente publicada,Dendrosauridion gen. n. fue identificado como un clado distinto separado de todas las demás cercosaurinas. El nuevo género es monotípico y contiene Dendrosau ridion yanesha sp. n., que se conoce de dos localidades en bosques montanos de los Andes orientales en el centro (Región Pasco) y sur de Perú (Región Cusco) entre 2780 y 2825 m s.n.m., separadas por una brecha de distribución de 413 km. Los dos machos adultos (SVL 59.1–60.2 mm) y un juvenil se encontraron en los árboles. Los hábitos reservados de D. yanesha es probablemente la razón de su rareza y consideramos que el estado de amenaza de la nueva especie es de “Datos Deficiente”. Palabras clave. Squamata, taxonomia, sistemática, filogenia, morphología, arborícola,Dendrosauridion gen. n. Introduction 2018). Thirteen genera and 58 species of gymnophthalmids are known to inhabit Peru (Uetz et al. 2018, Moravec et Currently, 249 species of lizards of the family Gymno- al. 2018), of which 21 species (36%) were described within phthal midae are allocated in 49 genera, which are distrib- the last two decades. The taxonomy of gymnophthalmids is uted widely across Central and South America (Uetz et al. complicated because morphological similarities and con- © 2019 Deutsche Gesellschaft für Herpetologie und Terrarienkunde e.V. (DGHT), Mannheim, Germany Available at http://www.salamandra-journal.com 1 Edgar Lehr et al. vergences hinder the generic allocation of species (e.g., clade 4 in Moravec et al. 2018) resembled the arbo- Kizirian 1996, Köhler & Lehr 2003, Chávez et al. 2011). real genus Anadia known from Lower Central America The need for a systematic revision of gymnophthalmids to southern Ecuador. A recent phylogenetic revision of has long been recognized, and various phylogenetic ap- gymno phthalmids (Moravec et al. 2018), using tissues of proaches, either based on morphological characters (Doan our material and of the type species of Anadia (A. ocella 2003a) and/or molecular characters (Pellegrino et al. ta), revealed several undescribed species as well as new 2001, Doan & Castoe 2005, Goicoechea et al. 2012, 2013, higher taxonomic clades. One of the above mentioned ar- 2016, Torres-Carvajal & Mafla-Endara 2013, Torres- boreal taxa, Selvasaura brava Moravec, Šmíd, Štundl Carvajal et al. 2015, 2016, Sánchez-Pacheco et al. 2017a, & Lehr, 2018 was recently described as a new genus and b, Moravec et al. 2018), led to a better understanding of species whereas another taxon clustered in the phylog- the evolutionary history, many generic reallocations, res- eny with the recently described Euspondylus excelsum urrections of synonyms, recognition of unnamed clades, Chávez, Catenazzi & Venegas, 2017 (Moravec et al. and descriptions of new genera. 2018, Lehr et al. 2008). Our extensive herpetological fieldwork in the east- Herein, we provide a formal morphological descrip- ern Andes of central Peru over the past years has led to tion of a new genus and species of an arboreal gymnoph- the discovery of many gymnophthalmid lizards. Among thalmid from the montane forests of the eastern Andes of them were three new arboreal species whose generic af- Peru (Fig. 1) that was recognized as Unnamed clade 4 in a filiations based on morphology were difficult to resolve. previous large-scale phylogenetic revision by Moravec et Based on external morphology, one of them (Unnamed al. (2018). Figure 1. Map of Peru with distribution records of Dendrosauridion yanesha gen. et sp. n. The type locality (Region Pasco, Chacos, 2780 m a.s.l.) is indicated by a red star and a yellow circle indicates the southernmost locality (Region Cusco, Alfamayo Hospedaje, 2825 m a.sl.). Map by J. C. Cusi. 2 A new genus and species of arboreal lizard from Peru Materials and methods from cloaca to the tail tip, if original; eye–nose distance (E– N) – straight distance from the snout tip to anterior corner We refer to the results of Moravec et al. (2018) to outline of eye; forelimb length (FLL) – from axilla to tip of dis- the phylogenetic relationships of the new genus described tal claw; hind limb length (HLL) from groin to tip of dis- here to other cercosaurines. Their phylogenetic analyses tal claw; axilla-groin distance (AGD) – distance between were based on taxon sampling that covered the entire sub- limbs (left/right). All examined characters were measured family Cercosaurinae. They used all genetic data available to the nearest 0.1 mm. for the subfamily, which consisted of the 12S rRNA, 16S Meristic and qualitative pholidotic characters were rRNA, cytochrome b, and ND4 mitochondrial markers and counted and evaluated as follows: number of supralabials the c-mos nuclear marker. Based on their results, the new – from the rostral to the mouth corner, last labial defined genus has phylogenetic affinities to five other genera that by its considerably larger size compared with the posteri- were represented in the dataset by the following number of orly adjacent shields; gular scales – number of gulars in a species and samples: Cercosaura (25 samples of 10 species,) straight median series; collar scales – number of enlarged Selvasaura (10 samples of ca. 4 species), Potamites (21 sam- scales in collar; dorsal scales – number of transverse rows ples of 7 species), Proctoporus (113 samples of 23 species), of dorsal scales from the third row behind the interparietal and Unnamed clade 2 (13 samples of an unknown number to the level of the rear edge of the hind limb; ventral scales of species). We reproduce Figures S1–S3 from Moravec – number of transverse rows of ventral scales; lateral scales et al. (2018), showing results of maximum likelihood, Mr- – number of considerably smaller lateral scales situated Bayes, and BEAST analyses (Fig. 2). We have pruned the between larger dorsal and ventral scales at midbody (left/ trees to contain only one tip for each genus using the drop. right); scales around midbody; preanal plates – number of tip function of the ‘ape’ R package (Paradis et al. 2004, R large plates in the posterior row of preanal scales; number Development Core Team 2014). of lamellae under Finger IV – number of single and di- The format of the descriptions and terminology of the vided lamellae (left/right, lamellae divided into segments morphological characters follow mostly Oftedal (1974), counted as one lamella); number of lamellae under Toe IV Doan & Castoe (2003), Chávez et al. (2017), Sánchez- – number of single and divided lamellae (left/right, lamel-