Enyalioides oshaughnessyi ( Boulenger 1881 )

Torres-Carvajal, Omar, Etheridge, Richard & Queiroz, Kevin De, 2011, A systematic revision of Neotropical lizards in the clade Hoplocercinae (Squamata: Iguania), Zootaxa 2752, pp. 1-44 : 23-25

Enyalioides oshaughnessyi ( Boulenger 1881)

Proposed standard English name: red-eyed woodlizards

Proposed standard Spanish name: lagartijas de palo ojirrojas

Enyalius oshaughnessyi Boulenger (1881:246) . Holotype: MRHN 2009, from “ Ecuador.”

Enyalioides oshaughnessyi Boulenger (1885:115) ; Burt & Burt (1931:267; 1933:24); Peters & Donoso-Barros (1970:115).

Diagnosis. Enyalioides oshaughnessyi differs from other species of Enyalioides in having dorsal scales that are both homogeneous in size, and smooth or slightly keeled. Moreover, it is the only species of Enyalioides with a bright red iris in both sexes (but see Remarks) and a dark gular patch restricted to the inner aspect of the gular fold in males. Other species of Enyalioides have a copper, brown (various tones), or bronze iris, and a dark patch (absent in E. palpebralis and some specimens of E. praestabilis ) on the outer aspect of the gular fold covering the throat.

Description. (1) dorsal head scales conical or multicarinate, strongly projecting dorsally; (2) posterior superciliaries not enlarged relative to adjacent scales; (3) scales on lateral edge of skull roof just posterior to superciliaries strongly projecting; the projection is more pronounced in adults; (4) one or two enlarged pretympanic scales present; (5) gular scales conical or multicarinate, strongly projecting ventrally; (6) dorsal neck scales homogeneous in size, mostly conical or cycloid and slightly imbricate; lateral neck scales similar in size to dorsal neck scales except for some enlarged conical scales, which sometimes form an oblique row extending from tympanum to scapular region; (7) vertebrals larger than adjacent dorsals, forming distinct raised middorsal crest that extends onto tail as a pair of crests; (8) nuchal region with continuous and usually (92.3%) single middorsal crest; (9) dorsals flat, usually (76.9%) smooth, and homogeneous in size; (10) longitudinal row of raised, enlarged scales between dorsals and flank scales usually (84.6%) present; when present this row is continuous; (11) scales on flanks heterogeneous in size, with most scales similar in size and shape to dorsals and a few enlarged, circular, and keeled scales; (12) ventrals keeled; (13) fore limb scales keeled dorsally and ventrally; (14) hind limb scales keeled dorsally and ventrally; scattered enlarged scales absent; dorsal scales of pes homogeneous in size; (15) caudals heterogeneous, increasing in size posteriorly on each segment (6–8 scales in lateral view), not modified as conspicuous spines ( Fig. 3 ); (16) tail compressed laterally. Meristic and morphometric characters are presented in Table 1 .

Coloration in life ( Fig. 4 ). Adult male KU 109630: dorsal background olive green with light green and turquoise blue spots on flanks, tail, and dorsal surfaces of legs; labials and chin greenish yellow; gular region light blue with black patch under gular fold; chest greenish tan; venter and posterior surfaces of thighs tan; ventral surface of tail olive tan; iris rusty orange; throat and tongue flesh colored (W.E. Duellman, 30 March 1963, field notes). All adult males seen by the authors alive or in photographs have a red iris ( Fig. 4 ; but see Remarks).

Adult female (based on photograph by P.S. Hamilton, Fig. 4 ): dorsal background light brown with light green and light blue spots on flanks, tail, and hind limbs; labials light green, greenish brown, or reddish brown; distal margin of superciliaries, canthals, some suboculars, and some pretympanics bright green, light blue post-tympanic blotch; light green scales on chin and gular region; iris red.

Natural history. Some specimens of Enyalioides oshaughnessyi have been found sleeping at night on branches less than 1 m above the ground (F. Ayala field notes, January-February 2006).

Distribution. Enyalioides oshaughnessyi occurs in the western slopes of the Andes and adjacent Pacific lowlands of northern Ecuador and southern Colombia at elevations between 50–1600 m ( Fig. 7 ). This species is known to occur in sympatry with E. heterolepis in northwestern Ecuador and it is very likely that both species also are sympatric in southwestern Colombia.

Remarks. Several authors have confused Enyalioides oshaughnessyi with E. microlepis ( Burt & Burt 1931; Peters & Donoso-Barros 1970; Almendáriz 1992; Torres-Carvajal 2001). See Remarks under E. microlepis above.

Torres-Carvajal & de Queiroz (2009) found Enyalioides oshaughnessyi to be paraphyletic relative to E. touzeti based on three samples of E. oshaughnessyi and one sample of E. touzeti (numbers are from Torres-Carvajal & de Queiroz 2009, and correspond to localities): ( E. oshaughnessyi 13, ( E. touzeti 14, ( E. oshaughnessyi 15, E. oshaughnessyi 16))). According to these authors, this pattern can be explained by fixed morphological differences between the species evolving prior to the evolution of reciprocal monophyly of their mtDNA alleles (see also remarks under E. touzeti below). Alternatively, Torres-Carvajal & de Queiroz (2009) suggested that Enyalioides oshaughnessyi as currently circumscribed might represent more than one species; that is, that E. oshaughnessyi 13 represents a different species than E. oshaughnessyi 15 and E. oshaughnessyi 16. This possibility is supported by color data, particularly the color of the iris. E. oshaughnessyi 13 (QCAZ 6671) of Torres-Carvajal & de Queiroz (2009), a female specimen, and QCAZ 8073, a male from the same locality (Alto Tambo, Esmeraldas, Ecuador; Fig. 7 ), both have reddish-brown irises ( Fig. 4 ). In contrast, all other specimens of “ E. oshaughnessyi ” seen by the authors (live specimens and photographs) have red irises ( Fig. 4 ), including both male and female lizards recently photographed near the locality where E. oshaughnessyi 15 of Torres-Carvajal & de Queiroz (2009) was collected (Bilsa Ecological Reserve, Esmeraldas, Ecuador; Fig. 7 ). A red iris is unique within Hoplocercinae , suggesting that its presence in both sexes is an autapomorphy of the species represented by E. oshaughnessyi 15 (and E. oshaughnessyi 16) of Torres-Carvajal & de Queiroz (2009), and that this species is different from the one represented by QCAZ 6671 and QCAZ 8073 (i.e., E. oshaughnessyi 13 of Torres-Carvajal & de Queiroz 2009). The original species description of E. oshaughnessyi is based on a single, preserved (i.e., iris color unknown), adult male specimen with vague locality data (“ Ecuador ”), which at this point prevents us from recognizing either of the two putative species as E. oshaughnessyi . Additional specimens from Alto Tambo, as well as other nearby localities such as southwestern Colombia will help clarify the species limits and phylogenetic relationships among populations of “ E. oshaughnessyi ,” as well as E. touzeti .

Figures

FIGURE 3. Caudal segments from the anterior third of the tail of ten species of Hoplocercinae in lateral view. (A) Enyalioides cofanorum, (B) E. heterolepis, (C) E. laticeps, (D) E. microlepis, (E) E. oshaughnessyi, (F) E. palpebralis, (G) E. praestabilis, (H) E. rubrigularis, (I) E. touzeti, and (J) Morunasaurus annularis. Scale bars = 5 mm. Illustration by D. Paucar.

FIGURE 4. Photographs of live lizards representing twelve species of Hoplocercinae.

FIGURE 7. Distribution of Enyalioides microlepis (dots) and E. oshaughnessyi (triangles). A, Alto Tambo; B, Bilsa Ecological Reserve (see Remarks under E. oshaughnessyi).