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| Proctoporus otishi Mamani & Rodriguez, 2022 Photos by Lily O. Rodríguez. |
Abstract
The gymnophthalmid Andean lizards of the genus Proctoporus (Gymnophthalmidae, Cercosaurinae) are semifossorial species that inhabit the montane forests, inter-Andean valley, and humid grasslands across the Cordillera de los Andes from Peru to Argentina. The distribution range of Proctoporus is discontinuous, with many places lacking herpetological surveys. Here, based on morphological data, we describe a new species of Proctoporus from a remote location on a mountaintop north of the Cordillera de Vilcabamba in southeastern Peru. The new species is readily distinguished from all other species of Proctoporus by the presence of three anterior infralabials, three rows of pregular scales and the absence of enlarged pregular scales. With this new species, the species diversity has increased to 19 since 18 species have previously been identified.
Key words: Reptilia, biodiversity, Andes, escalator to extinction, mountaintop, semifossorial lizard.
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| the Paratype of Proctoporus otishi sp. nov. (MUSM 20753, SVL = 49.6 mm, TL = 68.7 mm, female) in life. Photos taken by Lily O. Rodríguez. |
Proctoporus otishi sp. nov.
Diagnosis: (1) Frontonasal subequal, longer or shorter than frontal; (2) nasoloreal suture absent; (3) two supraoculars; (4) four superciliaries; (5) two postoculars; (6) palpebral disc undivided and transparent; (7) four supralabials anterior to the posteroventral angle of the subocular; (8) three anterior infralabials; (9) six genials and four in contact; (10) three rows of pregulars; (11) dorsal body scales quadrangular, keeled, sub imbricate; (12) 32–35 scales around midbody; (13) 33–38 transverse dorsal rows; (14) 20–21 transverse ventral rows; (15) 22–25 longitudinal dorsal rows; (16) 10 longitudinal ventral rows; (17) two rows of continuous series of small lateral scales separating dorsals from ventrals per side; (18) 5–6 posterior cloacal plate scales; (19) two anterior preanal plate scales; (20) four femoral pores per hind limb in a male, absent in females; (21) preanal pores absent; (22) 11–13 subdigital lamellae on finger IV; 16–17 subdigital lamellae on toe IV; (23) limbs not overlapping when addressed against body; (24) pentadactyl, digits clawed; (25) in life, the dorsum is purple brown with tiny cream-colored spots, the flanks have enlarged cream-colored spots distributed irregularly from head to tail and the surface of the forelimbs and hindlimbs are similar to the flanks (Fig. 3); in preservative, the dorsum, head, and dorsal surface of the tail are dark brown, the flanks of the body, tail and dorsal surface of the limbs are dark brown with small and irregular cream-colored spots, and the venter, throat, and ventral surface of the limbs and tail are dark brown (Fig. 2). The measurements are shown in Table 1.
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Etymology. The specific epithet otishi is a term that refers to the place where the new species was found—Parque Nacional Otishi, north of the Cordillera de Vilcabamba in Peru.
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| Eggs of Proctoporus otishi sp. nov. found under mosses. Photos taken by Lily O. Rodríguez. |
Luis Mamani and Lily O. Rodriguez. 2022. A New Species of Andean lizard, Proctoporus (Gymnophthalmidae: Cercosaurinae), from the highland of Parque Nacional Otishi in Peru. Zootaxa. 5213(1):75-85. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5213.1.5
