A New Species of Alopoglossus Boulenger (1885) (Squamata, Alopoglossidae) from the Lowlands of the Eastern Guiana Shield, with Assessment of the Taxonomic Status of A. copii surinamensis

Marco Antônio Ribeiro-Júnior*, Shai Meiri, Antoine Fouquet

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Two species of Alopoglossus (A. angulatus and A. meloi) were recognized to occur in the Guiana Shield lowlands, northeastern Amazonia. A third group of populations forming a distinct genetic lineage related to Alopoglossus avilapiresae was recently documented in the region. The Guiana Shield lowlands area also encompasses the type locality of Alopoglossus copii surinamensis (currently considered a synonym of A. angulatus). Aiming at describing a possible new species of Alopoglossus from the Guiana Shield and evaluating the taxonomic status of A. copii surinamensis, we analyzed variation in scutellation and morphometrics of the two nominal species of Alopoglossus occurring in the Guiana Shield and A. avilapiresae, which was recovered as the sister clade of the new Guiana Shield lineage, by examining 361 specimens from French Guiana, Brazil, Suriname, Guyana, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Our results revealed a distinct combination of diagnostic characters that supports the description of specimens displaying the third Guiana Shield lineage as a new species. The new species is also distinct from A. copii surinamensis that we retain under a synonym of A. angulatus after examination of all species of the angulatus group and by considering updated diagnostic characters. The new taxon described here increases the total number of known species of Alopoglossus to 15.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)427-445
Number of pages19
JournalJournal of Herpetology
Volume54
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Dec 2020

Funding

FundersFunder number
Alexander and Eva Lester Fund
Conselho Nacional de Desen-volvimento Científico e Tecnológico
Gans Collections and Charitable Fund
Agence Nationale de la RechercheANR-10-LABX-25-01
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico475559/2013-4, CT-INFRA/GEOMA 61/2009
Tel Aviv University
Ministério da Ciência e Tecnologia

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