Scientists have discovered a new species of iguana in the mountains of central Chile, called Liolaemus uniformis.
Liolaemus uniformis: male (top) and female. Image credit: Troncoso-Palacios J. et al.
Different in size and scalation, compared to the rest of the local lizards, what initially caught the attention of the scientists – Dr. Jaime Troncoso-Palacios of the Universidad de Chile and co-authors – was its coloration.
Not only was it unlike the already described ones, but also appeared consistent within the collected individuals, even regardless of their sex.
Eventually, it was this peculiar uniformity that determined the name of the new species.
“The species name ‘uniformis’ (Latin) refers to the lack of dorsal pattern and uniform color found for both males and females,” Dr. Troncoso-Palacios and his colleagues wrote in a paper in the journal ZooKeys.
Liolaemus uniformis is currently only known from the type locality in the surroundings of the Chepical Lagoon in the San Felipe de Aconcagua Province, Valparaíso Region, Chile,
While most of the other lizards from the area and its surroundings often vary greatly in coloration and pattern between populations and sexes, such thing is not present this new species.
Both males and females have their bodies’ upper side in brown, varying from dark on the head, through coppery on the back and light brown on the tail.
The down side of the body is mainly yellowish, while the belly – whitish. The only variables the team has noticed in their specimens are slight differences in the shade with two females demonstrating unusual olive hues on their snouts.
These differences in morphology were also strongly supported by the molecular phylogeny through the analysis of mitochondrial DNA.
“This new species was found inhabiting rocky areas with little shrubby vegetation composed mainly of high-Andean forbs, such as Chuquiraga oppositifolia and Azorella sp. This lizard was found in abundance and was observed to have saxicolous habits. It was active between 9:00 h and 18:00 h and took refuge under rocks,” the scientists wrote.
The head and body of male Liolaemus uniformis measure around 3.3 inches (8.5 cm), with a tail of 5.1 inches (13 cm).
The females are more slender and measure 2.8 inches (7 cm) in length on average.
The species is omnivorous, feeding mainly on plants as well as insects and roundworms.
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Troncoso-Palacios J. et al. 2016. A new species of Liolaemus related to L. nigroviridis from the Andean highlands of Central Chile (Iguania, Liolaemidae). ZooKeys 555: 91-114; doi: 10.3897/zookeys.555.6011
