Ameiva nodam

description

Ameiva bifrontata divisa — Ruthven, Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan (155): 1 – 6. — 1924 Ameiva bifrontata divisa — Burt & Burt, Bulletin American Museum of Natural History, 61: 227 – 395. — 1931 Ameiva bifrontata divisa — Burt & Burt, Transactions of the Academy of Science of Saint Louis 28 (i): v – 108. — 1933

Two new endemic species of Ameiva (Squamata: Teiidae) from the dry forest of northwestern Peru and additional information on Ameiva concolor Ruthven, 1924

description

Description of holotype: A large adult male with a SVL of 101 mm. Head 0.25 times SVL, 2.95 times longer than wide, 0.64 times as wide as high. Snout elongate, bluntly pointed; canthus rostralis distinct. Neck only slightly narrower than head, and body. Body cylindrical. Limbs well developed, forelimbs 0.3 times SVL, hindlimbs 0.58 times SVL, tibia 0.12 times SVL. Tail round in cross section, tapering toward the tip; 2.08 times SVL. Rostral in posterior part right-angled and bordered by supranasals, in anterior part laterally stretched and bordering supranasals; wider than high; smooth, without sutures; visible from above. Supranasals almost triangular, in short medial contact, not contacting supralabials, bordered posteriorly by hexagonal frontonasal. Postnasal almost triangular, in short contact with rostral and frontonasal and in broad contact with loreal and first and second supralabial. Oblique nasal suture passing centrally through oval nostril. Prefrontals paired and roughly pentagonal, with a short medial suture slightly longer than that between supranasals; laterally in contact with loreal, first supraocular and first supraciliary. Frontal plate divided in two subequal sca

Two new endemic species of Ameiva (Squamata: Teiidae) from the dry forest of northwestern Peru and additional information on Ameiva concolor Ruthven, 1924

diagnosis

Diagnosis and comparison. This comparatively small Ameiva is diagnosed by the following combination of characters: (1) maximum known SVL of 101 mm; (2) lacking longitudinal ridge on frontal scale; (3) frontal plate divided in two subequal scales; (4) postnasals separated from prefrontals by frontonasals; (5) parietal scales usually five; (6) median gular scales not enlarged; (7) enlarged median mesoptychial scales slightly larger than largest gulars; (8) gulars posterior to the interauricular crease smaller than anterior gulars; (9) nasal suture passes centrally through nostril; (10) rostral contacting postnasals; (11) supranasals not contacting supralabials; (12) scales of circumorbital semicircle not extending to anterior margin of third supraocular; (13) 28 – 33 enlarged ventral scales between gular and vent; (14) 10 longitudinal rows of ventral plates, outermost often distinctly smaller; (15) 86 – 113 DOM; (16) 165 – 216 DL; (17) postbrachials dilated; (18) 25 – 35 LFT; (19) 27 – 32 SCF; (20) 10 – 19 FP; (21) five longitudinal yellows stripes on dorsum distinct in juveniles and females, less distinct in most males. Ameiva nodam sp. nov. can be distinguished from all other descr

Two new endemic species of Ameiva (Squamata: Teiidae) from the dry forest of northwestern Peru and additional information on Ameiva concolor Ruthven, 1924

distribution

Distribution and natural history. This species was collected in the northern Peruvian Andes (Fig. 3), from the Canyons of the Chinchipe, Chamaya, Huancabamba, Utcubamba and Marañón rivers from Fonda Atapaca (near Chinchipe River, East of San Ignacio, 450 m), Province of San Ignacio, Region of Cajamarca to Puerto Malleta, Province of Cutervo, Region of Cajamarca (near Rio Marañón, 509 m above sea level). The lowest distributional level of the species was in Bellavista, Province of Jaén, Region of Cajamarca (near Rio Marañón, 390 – 440 m above sea level) and highest distributional level was in Pucará, Province of Jaén, Region of Cajamarca (near Rio Huancabamba, 1054 m above sea level, Fig. 4). The species was visually detected by the first author (could not be collected) in La Balza, Province of San Ignacio, Region of Cajamarca (04 ° 59 ’ S, 79 ° 07 ’ W, 930 m), which is a small village at the border to Ecuador and just separated from it by the small Canchis river. It is thus most likely that this species can also be found in the dryforest regions of the Southern Ecuadorian Andes. This new species is endemic to the Equatorial Dry Forest ecoregion (Brack 1986), a habitat which receive

Two new endemic species of Ameiva (Squamata: Teiidae) from the dry forest of northwestern Peru and additional information on Ameiva concolor Ruthven, 1924