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A New Species of Proctoporus (Reptilia, Gymnophthalmidae, Cercosaurinae) from the Puna of the Otishi National Park in Peru †

  • Edgar Lehr(corresponding author)
    ,
  • Juan C. Cusi
    ,
  • Maura I. Fernandez
    ,
  • Ricardo J. Vera
    ,
  • Alessandro Catenazzi
*Corresponding author for this work
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Journal Article
Article
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Abstract

We describe a new species of Proctoporus from the scientifically unexplored southern sector of the Otishi National Park (Region Cusco) in Peru, on the basis of molecular and morphological characters. Seven type specimens were obtained from six localities between 3241–3269 m a.s.l. within a radius of ca. 1.5 km in a Puna valley. Nine adult specimens (four males, five females) from Chiquintirca (Region Ayacucho, ca. 85 km airline from the type locality) are considered referred specimens. Males of the new species have a snout–vent length of 41.3–53.9 mm ((Formula presented.) = 46.7, n = 6), females have a snout–vent length of 43.6–52.6 mm ((Formula presented.) = 48.1, n = 8). The new species has dorsal scales striated, four supraoculars, four anterior supralabials, loreal and prefrontal scales absent, two pairs of genials (rarely one or three), three rows of pregulars, and five to seven femoral pores in males (absent in females). Sexual dimorphism is evident in the ventral coloration: males have neck, chest, and belly dark gray to black, whereas females have neck, chest, and belly pale gray with a diffuse dark gray fleck in the center of each scale, and an orange iris with a fringed pupil in both sexes.

Scholarship

Output type

Scholarship:
Journal Article
Article
Research
Peer-review

Original language

English

Pages from-to (Number of pages)

Pages 10-28 (19 pages)

Journal (Volume, Issue Number)

Taxonomy (Volume 3, Issue 1)

Publication milestones

  • Published - 03/2023

Publication status

Published - 03/2023

Publication IDs

  • Scopus: 85168146839

Funding Details

We thank C. Aguilar (MUSM, Lima) for cataloging the Proctoporus specimens, for the loan of specimens, and for working in his herpetological collection. We thank the director of the ONP Ing. C.A. Barrientos Allca for granting us research permits and for his support during our expedition. ONP specialist K. Meza Villacorta kindly helped with the research permit proposal. We thank ONP guard M.A. Mayta for his help and companionship during the expeditions. E. Ventocilla kindly helped us to translate English names into Asháninka and M. Sheldon (IWU 70’) helped to phrase the etymology. The fieldwork of EL was supported by a grant from Illinois Wesleyan University. We thank the Ministerio del Ambiente, Lima, Peru for research permits. We thank three reviewers for their helpful feedback that improved our manuscript.
FunderFunding numbersIWU-