Abstract
The South American lizard genus Liolaemus has undergone a complex adaptive radiation that has resulted in the evolution of more than 200 species widely spread in an extraordinary diversity of environments, and forming a complex array of assemblages. This evolutionary complexity has puzzled systematists and taxonomists since the first species were described more than 150 years ago. Within this lineage, the Andean Liolaemus faunas have proven to be a major challenge for herpetologists. Therefore, intense research is needed in this area to clarify long-standing problems. After more than a century of taxonomic confusion, the identity of Liolaemus stolzmanni (Steindachner, 1891) is here restored as the name that must be applied to the lizards widely known as Phrynosaura (= Liolaemus) reichei Werner, 1907 from the low to midelevation deserts of Tarapacá, Chile. Since 1966, the name L. stolzmanni has been erroneously assigned to populations of Liolaemus from the high Andes of the Chile-Bolivia borderlands which, according to observations presented in this study, correspond to Liolaemus pachecoi Laurent, 1995. A lectotype and allotype for L. stolzmanni are designated and the type locality for L. stolzmanni (= L. reichei) is emended to “Deserts of Iquique, Tarapacá Region, Chile”. Furthermore, the recognition of L. pachecoi as a species distinct from L. jamesi is supported by mtDNA sequence divergence data despite the inconclusive meristic and morphometric data. In summary, I conclude that (i) the Chilean L. reichei is a synonym of L. stolzmanni, and hence, that L. stolzmanni is a species endemic to Chile, not an element of the fauna of present-day Peru and that (ii) the Chilean Altiplano populations currently recognized as L. stolzmanni are L. pachecoi, a species hitherto known only from Bolivia. Also, I report the first confirmed specimens of L. poconchilensis from Peru, a species previously known only from Chile and confused with L. reichei.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call