Liolaemus martorii Abdala, 2003

Pincheira-Donoso, Daniel, Scolaro, J. Alejandro & Sura, Piotr, 2008, A monographic catalogue on the systematics and phylogeny of the South American iguanian lizard family Liolaemidae (Squamata, Iguania), Zootaxa 1800, pp. 1-85 : 51

Liolaemus martorii Abdala

Liolaemus boulengeri Vega & Bellagamba 1994: 142 .

Liolaemus martorii Abdala 2003: 15 (type locality: Las Grutas, Western San Antonio Department, Río Negro Province, Argentina), 2007: 44.

Observations: The taxonomic status of this species should be reevaluated on the basis of comparative evidence between its type series and specimens of the Patagonian species Liolaemus goetschi . When Abdala (2003) proposed L. martorii as a new species, the taxon L. goetschi was still considered a synonym of L. melanops (e.g. Cei 1986). Nevertheless, Cei & Scolaro (2003) suggested that L. goetschi and L. melanops represent two different species. This might explain why Abdala (2003) did not provide comparisons between the populations identified as L. goetschi and L. martorii . Morphological and field observations between these two taxa carried out by one of us (JAS) suggest that they may be conspecific. Distribution, morphology and coloration exhibit strong overlap between L. goetschi and L. martorii . The problem should be reassessed using appropriate statistical analyses.