Cnemidophorus duellmani

biology_ecology

Habitat. Duellman recorded in his field notes that the type series of Cnemidophorus duellmani was “ found in open areas. ” Breder (1946: 428) recorded the species was “ Common along the lower reaches [of the Río Chucunaque and Río Chico valleys] in open fields. ” Sexton et al. (1964: 293) studied this species at a site along the Río Chucunaque and stated that the “ Cnemidophorus is commonly associated with areas having a low percentage of vegetation coverage as well as plants low in height. ” Breder (1946: 382) recorded the region encompassing the Panamanian Río Tuira and Río Chucunaque region and tributaries where Cnemidophorus duellmani occurs as in the “ Lower Arid Zone, ” whereas Jaramillo et al. (2010: 621) considered C. duellmani as occurring in the “ Lowland Wet / Moist Forest. ” Curiously, none of the authors who presented ecological data on this species mentioned the presence or absence of “ foot waving, ” which is usually present in members of the C. lemniscatus group.

A review of the Cnemidophorus lemniscatus group in Central America (Squamata: Teiidae), with comments on other species in the group

conservation

Conservation notes. Jaramillo et al. (2010: 621) characterized Cnemidophorus duellmani (as C. lemniscatus) as a species of medium vulnerability because of the former perceived wide geographic distribution of C. “ lemniscatus. ” With our study, C. duellmani is now a Panamanian endemic species with vulnerability score of 13, thus placing the species in the high vulnerability category. However, in this case, that score is misleading since C. duellmani is a species that benefits from human disturbance of habitat (see Sexton et al. 1964, Heatwole 1966). Thus, C. duellmani appears to not be threatened in the foreseeable future, and in fact will likely benefit from continued clearing of lands along the river valleys in the region where it occurs.

A review of the Cnemidophorus lemniscatus group in Central America (Squamata: Teiidae), with comments on other species in the group

description

Description of holotype. An adult male with a snout-vent-length (SVL) of 92.2 mm; snout-ear length (head length) 24.2 mm; snout length (snout to anterior border of eye) 11.1 mm; head width 15.0 mm; head depth 15.7 mm; shank length 19.3 mm; foot length 32.7 mm; hand length 13.7 mm; tail length 206.0 mm, tail length / SVL 2.23. Dorsal head scales enlarged, smooth, platelike, with paired prenasal scales with short median sutures, a single frontonasal, paired prefrontals, a single frontal, paired frontoparietals, two pairs of parietal scales, and a single interparietal scale; rostral not contacting frontonasal; postnasal not contacting prefrontal; prefrontal and first superciliary in narrow contact on one side, separated by posterior extension of loreal on other side; frontal ridge absent; posterior frontal suture aligned near midlength of supraocular 3; scales in frontoparietal region smooth, flat; interparietal narrower than flanking parietals; 2 – 2 scales between fourth supraocular and inner-most parietal; 3 – 3 scales between fourth supraocular and outer-most parietal; 4 – 4 supraoculars plus one smaller supraocular lateral to region of seam between supraoculars 2 – 3 on each side

A review of the Cnemidophorus lemniscatus group in Central America (Squamata: Teiidae), with comments on other species in the group

diagnosis

Diagnosis. Cnemidophorus duellmani can be distinguished from all other species in the C. lemniscatus species group (see Introduction, Harvey et al. 2012) by being the only species to have ten transverse ventral plates (Fig. 8) at the level of the fifteenth, sixteenth, and / or seventeenth ventral row (see Harvey et al. 2012: 105 who gave eight ventrals for species in the C. lemniscatus group). In addition, it differs further from C. ruatanus, the only other Central American species of the group, in having broad contact between the precloacal pair of enlarged plates, without a small scale extending anteriorly between those two plates (Fig. 9), in having 8 – 15 (both sides combined) small scales bordering the posterior edge of supraocular four, in having a mean of 6.2 scales (both sides combined) between supraocular four and the outer parietal, and 8 – 15 (11.8 ± 2.0) circumorbitals; (versus paired precloacal plates frequently entirely separated by a small scale [Fig. 5], or separated at least one-third of its distance by a small scale, 4 – 9 small scales bordering supraocular four, a mean of 4.0 small scales between supraocular four and outer parietal, and 2 – 9, x = 4.2 ± 1.4 circu

A review of the Cnemidophorus lemniscatus group in Central America (Squamata: Teiidae), with comments on other species in the group