Cercosaura hypnoides Doan & Lamar, 2012

Diago-Toro, María F., García-Cobos, Daniela, Brigante-Luna, Giovanni D. & Vásquez-Restrepo, Juan D., 2021, Fantastic lizards and where to find them: cis-Andean microteiids (Squamata: Alopoglossidae & Gymnophthalmidae) from the Colombian Orinoquia and Amazonia, Zootaxa 5067 (3), pp. 377-400 : 386

Cercosaura hypnoides Doan & Lamar, 2012

Distribution: This species is endemic to Colombia, currently known from the Andean slopes in the department of Meta, municipality of Acacías ( Fig. 4C ).

Similar species: Cercosaura hypnoides can be distinguished from all other Cercosaura species in the cis-Andean region in having hexagonal dorsal scales arranged in transverse and oblique series (hexagonal in transverse rows in C. argulus and C. oshaughnessyi , and quadrangular in the C. ocellata group). C. hypnoides may be easily confused with any red-tailed Gymnophthalmus by its color pattern, however, it is easily differentiable in possessing dorsal and ventral scales non-cycloid and pentadactyl hands (dorsal and ventral scales cycloid and hands with four digits in Gymnophthalmus ). Moreover, it can be distinguished from members of the Cercosaura ocellata group in having a divided nasal scale and black belly with diffused cream blotches (undivided nasal and white or cream belly in C. ocellata group). See Doan & Lamar (2012) and Sturaro et al. (2018) for a detailed description.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Distribution maps for the cis-Andean microteiid lizards in Colombia (Alopoglossidae + Gymnophthalmidae). Circles are examined specimens, while squares are records from literature (see Supplementary Files for specific references). Red arrows indicate new records for Colombia. Black arrows show a zoom in to regions where several records overlap. The light green shadow indicates the Orinoco River basin, and the dark green the Amazon River basin.