Psammodromus occidentalis, Fitze, Patrick S., Gonzalez-Jimena, Virginia, San-Jose, Luis M., Mauro, Diego San & Zardoya, Rafael, 2012

Fitze, Patrick S., Gonzalez-Jimena, Virginia, San-Jose, Luis M., Mauro, Diego San & Zardoya, Rafael, 2012, A new species of sand racer, Psammodromus (Squamata: Lacertidae), from the Western Iberian Peninsula, Zootaxa 3205, pp. 41-52 : 47-50

Psammodromus occidentalis new species

Holotype: MNCN / ADN 34516 (field number PF_08_2001, GenBank accession number FJ587677 ), adult male from Colmenar del Arroyo (Madrid, Spain, 40° 27’ 22.14’’N, 4° 10’ 28.36’’W) captured on 24 October 2008 by Patrick S. Fitze and Virginia Gonzalez-Jimena. It is conserved in pure alcohol and frozen at -80°C.

Voucher number MNCN / ADN

tail characteristics intact re-grown, cut at 57 re-grown, cut at 56 re-grown, cut at 71 intact

mm 1 mm1 mm 1

belly coloration white white yellowish yellowish yellowish body mass (g) 1.48 1.87 1.99 1.48 1.05 Description of the holotype. Adult male ( Figure 4 ) with detached original tail: SVL 43 mm, total length 63 mm, belly colour white, body mass 1.497 g, 12 femoral pores on both hind limbs, head length 10.7 mm, head width 5.5 mm, snout length 3.5 mm, snout width 4.1 mm, anal scale width 2.9 mm, 24 ventral scales, no supralabial scale below the subocular scale, 18 throat scales, one collar scale, two ocelli on each flank, nuptial coloration score 0.

Paratypes: MNCN / ADN 34515 (field number PF_08_2000, GenBank accession number FJ587676 ), first-year female. BMNH 2008.271 (field number PF_08_2002; DNA sample MNCN / ADN 34517; GenBank accession number FJ587678 ), adult male. BMNH 2008.272 (field number PF_08_2003; DNA sample MNCN /ADN 34518, GenBank accesion number: FJ587679 ), first year male. All specimens were captured in the type locality (Colmenar del Arroyo, Madrid 40° 27’ 22.14’’N, 4° 10’ 28.36’’W) by Patrick S. Fitze and Virginia Gonzalez-Jimena on October 24th, 2008. They are conserved in pure alcohol and frozen at -80°C. The characteristics of the collected individuals are summarized in Table 3.

Diagnosis. Psammodromus occidentalis sp. n. (former name: P. hispanicus hispanicus Western lineage; Fitze et al. 2011) shows 20–29 ventral scale rows, no supralabial scale below the subocular scale, 15–26 throat scales, 0– 3 collar scales, 9–15 femoral pores, a snout shape of 0.96–2.51, 0–5 ocelli, and a nuptial coloration score of 0–4. It can be distinguished from the edwardsianus lineage by the absence of a supralabial scale below the subocular scale, lower femoral pore numbers, more extended nuptial coloration, and slightly bigger snout shape values, and from the Central lineage ( P. hispanicus ) by bigger snout shape values, corresponding to a less pointed snout, higher number of femoral pores, and higher number of ocelli. Molecular differentiation based on mitochondrial and the nuclear datasets shows that P. occidentalis sp. n. is more distant from the edwardsianus and Central lineage than the later two from each other. Psammodromus occidentalis sp. n. can be easily distinguished from P. algirus by the smaller body size, a shorter tail length that rarely exceeds 2 x SVL (in adult individuals with intact tail: mean = 1.5 x ± 0.02; range = 0.7 – 2.4; P. algirus > 2 x SVL, Böhme 1981), absence of pterygoid teeth ( Arnold 1989), presence of a gular fold and distinct collar scales, absence of imbricated and pointed ventral scales, and presence of two TABLE 3. Variation of Psammodromus occidentalis sp. n. paratypes collected on 24 October 2008 at the holotype locality. central ventral rows of clearly narrower scales compared to scales of adjoining rows. Psammodromus occidentalis sp. n. differs from P. blanci by a clearly present gular fold, absence of imbricate or rounded ventral scales, two narrower central ventral rows (compared to the adjoining ventral rows), by rarely existing solid lateral lines, and by a brown grayish dorsal ground color ( Schleich et al. 1996). It differs from P. microdactylus by the presence of a gular fold, distinct collar scales, a brown grayish dorsal ground color, two dashed lateral lines, absence of pointed or rounded central ventral rows, presence of two narrower central ventral rows, and absence of greenish or dark olive dorsal ground color ( Schleich et al. 1996).

Etymology. The species epithet refers to the geographical distribution of this lizard. All described populations are located on the Western Iberian Peninsula.

Distribution. P. occidentalis sp. n. was captured on the Western Iberian Peninsula ( Figure 1 ). The edwardsianus and Central lineages were found on the East coast and in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, as previously described ( Boulenger 1921; Fitze et al. 2011).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Sampling localities. Populations of Psammodromus occidentalis sp. n. are coloured in green, populations of Psammodromus hispanicus hispanicus are coloured in red, and those of Psammodromus hispanicus edwardsianus are coloured in blue. More details about the sampled populations can be found in Fitze et al. 2011 (Additional File 3 - Table S 2). Minimum convex polygons encompass the sampled populations of each group.

FIGURE 4. Photographs of the holotype Psammodromus occidentalis sp. n. voucher number MNCN / ADN 34516; a) dorsal view, b) ventral view, c) lateral view (left side).