A monographic catalogue on the systematics and phylogeny of the South American iguanian lizard family Liolaemidae (Squamata, Iguania)
Author
Pincheira-Donoso, Daniel
Author
Scolaro, J. Alejandro
Author
Sura, Piotr
text
Zootaxa
2008
2008-06-16
1800
1
85
journal article
86426
10.5281/zenodo.6789337
4885f120-14b4-425c-acc8-f2ba6960161c
11755334
6789337
Liolaemus poconchilensis
Valladares
Phrynosaura reichei
Núñez
et al.
1998: 11
.
Liolaemus
cf.
reichei
Valladares
et al.
2002: 483
.
Liolaemus poconchilensis
Valladares 2004: 42
(
type
locality: Poconchile [
18°26’S
,
70°05’W
],
1100 m
, Arica Province,
Tarapacá Region
,
Chile
).
Observations:
The
type
locality of this species needs to be rectified. In the original description,
Valladares (2004)
pointed out that the
type
series of
L. poconchilensis
was collected in Poconchile (see above). However, active field work conducted on that zone has repeatedly failed to provide any record of this lizard. In contrast, the species is relatively common in the plateau located between the Valle de Azapa and Valle de Lluta, in the old road from Arica to Poconchile. Also, according to
Valladares (2004)
and our own field observations,
L. poconchilensis
is a species living in open and sandy deserts, with dispersed and scarce vegetation. Yet, the locality of Poconchile is a river valley characterized by dense vegetation, including small boreal forests (
e.g.
Donoso-Barros 1966a
). Therefore, it seems to be very unlikely the existence of this taxon in the area recognized as
type
locality (Poconchile,
Valladares 2004
).
In this work, we propose formally the following
type
locality for
L. poconchilensis
: Sandy
deserts on the old road (“camino viejo”) from
Arica
to
Poconchile
,
between Valle de Azapa and Valle de Lluta
,
1100m
,
Arica Province
,
Tarapaca Region
,
Chile
.
Regarding another aspect on the distribution of this species, in a recent study of the
Liolaemidae
collection housed in the British Museum of Natural History of London,
Núñez (2004)
documented a specimen collected in “Arequiba” (presumably
Arequipa
),
Peru
, which would represent the northernmost known individual of
L. poconchilensis
. The same sample was previously identified as
Phrynosaura marmorata
by Etheridge (
Nuñez 2004
). If
Núñez’s (2004)
suggestions are correct,
L. poconchilensis
should be included in the reptilian fauna of
Peru
. However, it is worth noting that many lizard specimens preserved in old herpetological collections (including the British Museum of Natural History’s collection) exhibit very limited or mistaken information in the original labels (
e.g.
Donoso-Barros 1966a
,
1970b
;
Núñez 2004
). Therefore, old distributional data should be supported by modern field records.