Liolaemus hatcheri Stejneger, 1909

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 : 37

Liolaemus hatcheri Stejneger

Liolaemus hatcheri Stejneger 1909: 218 ; Liebermann 1939: 72; Etheridge 1998: 31; Etheridge & Espinoza 2000: 8; Chebez et al. 2005: 31; Sura 2005: 429; International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 2005 (Opinion 2103, case 3219).

Liolaemus magellanicus Donoso-Barros 1970a: 185 (in part; see also Donoso-Barros 1970b; Cei 1986).

Vilcunia periglacialis Cei & Scolaro 1982a: 357 (type locality: 6 km E Estancia Lago Belgrano, 1000 m, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina); Cei 1986: 269.

Liolaemus periglacialis Etheridge 1995: 33 ; Videla & Cei 1998: 63; Scolaro & Cei 2002: 275; Scolaro 2005: 44; Pincheira-Donoso & Scolaro 2007: 57.

Observations: A major nomenclatural debate has surrounded this patagonian species. Over many decades the name Liolaemus hatcheri Stejneger (1909) was considered a synonym of L. magellanicus , in agreement with Donoso-Barros’s (1970a; see also Donoso-Barros 1970b; Cei 1986) suggestions. More recently, discussions on the valid name of this taxon increased with the redescription of L. hatcheri provided by Etheridge (1998). This author proposed that L. hatcheri and L. periglacialis are the same species, and hence that the specific name hatcheri has precedence in relation to periglacialis ( Cei & Scolaro 1982a), described many decades later. However, Scolaro & Cei (2002) claimed that the original description of L. hatcheri was based on a series of Liolaemus individuals belonging to three different species ( L. hatcheri , L. lineomaculatus and L. kingii ), with limited or no details on the collection locality. Also, the name periglacialis had largely been used in many herpetological studies, in contrast to the name hatcheri , cited in only a few works ( Burt & Burt 1930, 1933; Liebermann 1939; more recent references include Etheridge & Espinoza 2000; Chebez et al. 2005; Sura 2005). Therefore, the name periglacialis (commonly under the genus Vilcunia Donoso-Barros & Cei 1971 ) was not only based on an official type series with exact details on the type locality (see above), but also has been widely used in several publications ( Scolaro & Cei 2002). Scolaro & Cei (2002) presented the case to the International Commision on Zoological Nomenclature, which accepted these criteria, recognizing the name Liolaemus periglacialis instead of Liolaemus hatcheri . Nevertheless, in a more recent resolution presented by this commission ( International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 2005, Opinion 2103, case 3219), the name L. hatcheri was revalidated, with the following declaration: “The Commission has ruled that priority should be maintained for the Patagonian tropidurine lizard name Liolaemus hatcheri Stejneger, 1909 . A proposal had been made to give precedence to the junior subjective synonym Liolaemus periglacialis Cei & Scolaro, 1982 ”. Therefore, we consider that the officially valid name for this austral species is Liolaemus hatcheri Stejmeger 1909 , which is used in this systematic catalogue.