Proctoporus lacertus, Stejneger, 1913

Goicoechea, NoemÍ, Padial, José M., Chaparro, Juan Carlos, Castroviejo-Fisher, Santiago & Riva, Ignacio De La, 2013, A taxonomic revision of Proctoporus bolivianus Werner (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae) with the description of three new species and resurrection of Proctoporus lacertus Stejneger, American Museum Novitates 2013 (3786), pp. 1-32 : 24-28

Proctoporus lacertus, Stejneger, 1913

Figure 8

Oreosaurus lacertus Stejneger, 1913: 546 .

Proctoporus obesus Barbour and Noble, 1920: 616 .

Proctoporus bolivianus: Uzzell, 1970: 1 .

Proctoporus bolivianus: Doan and Castoe, 2003:433 .

Proctoporus bolivianus: Doan et al. (2005) : 325.

Proctoporus bolivianus [Ca6 UTAR51484 Doan et al., 2005]: Goicoechea et al., 2012: 953.

HOLOTYPE: USNM 49551 (fig. 8), adult male, from Tincochaca , Province La Convención, Department of Cusco, Peru, 2800 m.

PARATYPES: USNM 49551 , same data as holotype ; USNM 49549 from Ollantaytambo , Province Urubamba, Department of Cusco, Peru, 2792 m ; MCZ 12085 and MCZ 12087 from Tincochaca , Province La Convención , Department of Cusco, Peru, 2800 m .

DIAGNOSIS: (1) Frontonasal length usually equal to frontal length; (2) nasoloreal suture absent; (3) three supraoculars; (4) 3–4 superciliaries, first expanded onto dorsal surface of head; (5) postoculars two; (6) palpebral disc made up of a single, undivided scale; (7) four supralabials anterior to the posteroventral angle of the subocular; (8) two pair of genials in contact; (9) dorsal body scales quadrangular, slightly keeled; (10) transverse rows of dorsals 36–40; (11) transverse ventral rows 22–24; (12) a continuous series of small lateral scales separating dorsals from ventrals; (13) posterior cloacal plate made up of six scales in both sexes; (14) anterior preanal plate scales paired; (15) femoral pores per hind limb in males six; (16) preanal pores absent; (17) subdigital lamellae on toe IV 16–22; subdigital lamellae on toe V 5–13; (18) limbs not overlapping when adpressed against body in adults; (19) pentadactyl; digits clawed; (20) dorsum dark gray; lateral surface of head like dorsal surface, lip irregularly barred with cream coloring; ventral surface of head cream with clumps of black stippling on each scale; pregular region like head but with fainter stippling.

Specimens of Proctoporus lacertus show the presence of an undivided palpebral disc, which identifies them as members of the genus Proctoporus , as opposed to Riama and Petracola (Doan and Castoe, 2005; Uzzell, 1970). Proctoporus lacertus can be distinguished from P. pachyurus by having three supraoculars (four in P.pachyurus ) and 36–40 transverse dorsal scale rows (47–60 in P.pachyurus ); from P. sucullucu by having limbs not overlapping when adpressed against body and the lack of loreal scale (present in P. sucullucu ); from P. bolivianus by having frontonasal length subequal to frontal length ( P. bolivianus has frontonasal longer than frontal); from P. unsaacae and P. guentheri by the lack of both loreal scale and a continuous series of lateral ocelli; from P. kiziriani by the lack of loreal scale (present in P. kiziriani ) and by having darker dorsal background color; from P. carabaya by the lack of loreal scale and first supraocular not fused with first superciliary; from P. iridescens by having three supralabials anterior to the posteroventral angle of the subocular and two pairs of genials in contact (three supralabials and three pairs of genials in P. iridescens ); from P. xestus by the lack of prefrontal scales (present in P. xestus ) and by having keeled dorsal scales (smooth in P.xestus ); and from P. chasqui by the lack of prefrontal scales.

REDESCRIPTION OF HOLOTYPE: Adult male, snout-vent length (SVL) 48.78 mm, tail length 54.66 mm; head scales smooth, without striations or rugosities; rostral scale wider (1.44 mm) than tall (0.91 mm), meeting supralabials on either side above the height of supralabials and becoming higher medially, in contact with frontonasal, nasals, and first supralabials; frontonasal longer than wide, subequal in length to frontal, in contact with rostral, nasals, anteriormost supraocular, and frontal; prefrontals absent; frontal longer than wide, roughly polygonal, not in contact with anteriormost superciliary, in contact with frontonasal, first two supraoculars, and frontoparietals; frontoparietals polygonal, in contact with frontal, second and third supraoculars, parietals, and interparietal; supraoculars three, all in contact with superciliaries, third in contact with frontoparietal, parietal, and postocular; interparietal longer than wide, heptagonal, in contact with frontoparietals anteriorly, parietals laterally, and occipitals posteriorly; parietals polygonal, with anterior sutures in contact with frontoparietals and third supraoculars, posterior sutures in contact with occipital, lateral sutures diagonally in contact with temporal; occipitals three, smaller than parietals, medial pentagonal smaller than laterals. Nasal entire with no separate loreal scale, longer than high; four superciliaries, first fused with first supraocular; palpebral disc made up of a single transparent scale; suboculars two; postoculars two; temporals smooth, glossy, polygonal; supratympanic temporals two; supralabials toward the posteroventral angle of the subocular four.

Mental wider (1.55 mm) than long (0.95 mm), in contact with first infralabial and postmental posteriorly; postmental single, pentagonal, in contact with first and second infralabials and first pair of genials; two pairs of genials in contact, anterior pair in contact with second and third infralabials; second pair of genials in contact with third and fourth infralabials laterally; one pair of chin shields, separated by two smaller median pregulars; gular scale rows four; collar fold slightly distinct, concealing one row of small scales; lateral neck scales round, smooth. Dorsals rectangular, longer than wide, juxtaposed, with single high, rounded keel, in 33 transverse rows; longitudinal dorsal scale rows 21 at midbody; continuous lateral scale series, smaller than dorsals, partially hidden in lateral fold; reduced scales at limb-insertion regions present; transverse ventral scale rows 21; longitudinal ventral scale rows at midbody 11; anterior preanal plate scales paired; posterior preanal plate scales six, lateralmost scales small; scales on tail rectangular, juxtaposed; dorsal, dorsolateral, and ventrolateral caudal scales smooth; midventral subcaudal scales wider than adjacent scales, almost square, anteriormost midventral subcaudal scales subimbricate. Limbs pentadactyl; digits clawed; dorsal brachial scales polygonal, subequal in size, subimbricate, smooth; ventral brachial scales roundish, subimbricate, smooth; antebrachial scales polygonal, subequal in size, smooth, ventral antebrachial scales smallest; dorsal manus scales polygonal, smooth, subimbricate; palmar scales small, rounded, subimbricate, domelike; dorsal scales on fingers smooth, quadrangular, covering dorsal half of digit, overhanging subdigital scales, five on finger I, eight on II, 11 on III, 11 on IV, seven on V; scales on anterodorsal surface of thigh large, polygonal, smooth, subimbricate; scales on posterior surface of thigh small, rounded, juxtaposed; scales on ventral surface of thigh large, rounded, flat, smooth; femoral pores six; preanal pores absent; scales on anterior surface of crus polygonal, smooth, juxtaposed, decreasing in size distally; scales on anterodorsal surface of crus rounded, juxtaposed; scales on ventral surface of crus large, smooth, flat, subimbricate; scales on dorsal surface of digits quadrangular, smooth, overhanging supradigital lamellae, two on toe I, five on II, eight on III, 12 on IV, six on V; subdigital lamellae single distally, double proximally, five on toe I, eight on II, 14 on III, 16 on IV, 11 on V; limbs not overlapping when adpressed against the body, separated by eight to nine dorsal scale lengths.

COLORATION IN PRESERVATIVE: Dorsal and lateral surface of head dark brown; ventral surface of head cream with dark brown splitting on pregular and gular region. Dorsal surface of body same color as head, but with dark brown spots that form one median stripe. Lateral surface of body same color as head. Ventral surface of body darker than dorsal coloration. Limbs with similar coloration as body. Coloration of dorsal and ventral surfaces of tail paler than body coloration (fig. 8).

COLORATION IN LIFE: Data of coloration of living specimens is not available, as none of the specimens examined in this study had been collected by us.

VARIATION: Only two specimens examined (USNM 49551 [fig. 8] and MCZ 12085) have the first superciliary expanded onto the dorsal surface of the head. The coloration is similar among all the specimens, but some have a darker ground color and can show a dorsal dark stripe on middorsum. Stippling on the venter is more distinct or grayer in some specimens and nearly absent in others. The coloration of some of the specimens is pale, as opposed to the dark brown and black of several others.

DISTRIBUTION: This species is known from several localities in central department of Cusco, all of them at an elevation above 2800 m, reaching an altitude of 4019 m (T.M. Doan, personal commun.) (fig. 9).

HABITAT AND ECOLOGY: This species is rarely found exposed on the ground surface and is nearly exclusively observed under rocks ( Doan, 2008).

COMMENTS: Proctoporus lacertus was described by Stejneger (1913) as Oreosaurus lacertus from a specimen collected at Tinccochaca, Cusco, Peru. Subsequently, according to morphological comparisons, Uzzell (1970) synonymized P. lacertus Stejneger , along with Proctoporus obesus Barbour and Noble and Proctoporus longicaudatus Andersson , with P. bolivianus . However, he did state that the names of the junior synonyms remained available should further data support the distinctiveness of these forms ( Uzzell, 1970).

All morphological characters mentioned in the description of P. lacertus ( Stejneger, 1913) , and those observed in specimens from Torontoy, Ñusta Hispana (previously assigned to P. lacertus ; Stejneger, 1913; Barbour and Noble, 1920; Burt and Burt, 1931), and from Calca examined by us, have morphological character states that overlap with those of P. lacertus (table 2). Given the paraphyletic position of populations from central Cusco (Cochayoc, Canchayoc, and Carrizales) with respect to Proctoporus bolivianus , the identical or broadly overlapping ranges of character states between Calca populations and those previously assigned to P. lacertus , as well as the geographic proximity of all these populations and the type locality of P. lacertus , we consider it appropriate to resurrect the name P. lacertus for populations from the central region of the Departamento de Cusco. We have provided a redescription of this species above on the basis of an extended set of specimens, thus improving the original, but incomplete description by Stejneger (1913).

Proctoporus obesus was described from a single specimen from Ñusta Hispana, Cusco, Peru ( Barbour and Noble, 1920). The holotype of this species is damaged, and many of the characters presented in the original description as well as in subsequent revisions ( Uzzell, 1970; Doan and Castoe, 2003) had to be guessed. We were not able to examine the holotype of this species, but the USMN collection kindly provided us photographs of this specimen (fig. 2). It seems to differ greatly from specimens of P. bolivianus . The frontonasal length is subequal to the frontal length in the holotype of P.obesus (frontonasal is longer than frontal in P. bolivianus ) and the dorsal body scales are quite smooth (slightly keeled in P. bolivianus ). Also, data from the original description along with additional data provided by Uzzell (1970) and Doan and Castoe (2003) indicate that P.obesus greatly differs from P. bolivianus . Furthermore, the type locality of P.obesus is far from the distribu- tional range of P. bolivianus . Proctoporus obesus nonetheless overlaps in range with P. lacertus . Uzzell (1970) and Doan and Castoe (2005) already noticed its large head and large size and robustness; thus, P. obesus could indeed represent a distinct species. However, until specimens from the type locality are obtained and compared to all other currently accepted species we prefer to consider it as a junior synonym of P. lacertus rather than a synonym of P. bolivianus .

Figures

FIG. 8. Holotype of Proctoporus lacertus (USNM 495551 snout-vent length, 48.78 mm).