Fantastic lizards and where to find them: cis-Andean microteiids (Squamata: Alopoglossidae & Gymnophthalmidae) from the Colombian Orinoquia and Amazonia Author Diago-Toro, María F. Programa de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Básicas y Tecnologías, Universidad del Quindío, Armenia, Quindío, Colombia. Author García-Cobos, Daniela Subdirección de Investigaciones, Colecciones Biológicas, Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt, carrera 8 # 15 - 08, Claustro de San Agustín, Villa de Leyva, Boyacá, Colombia. Author Brigante-Luna, Giovanni D. 0000-0001-6823-2383 Grupo de investigación de Biodiversidad del Caribe Colombiano, Semillero de Herpetología, Programa de Biología, Universidad del Atlántico. https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0001 - 6823 - 2383 Author Vásquez-Restrepo, Juan D. Programa de Posgrado en Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, México. text Zootaxa 2021 2021-11-11 5067 3 377 400 journal article 3574 10.11646/zootaxa.5067.3.3 937e9cfe-ea1e-4891-b147-91ab13a31d78 1175-5326 5681919 F64E5226-B4DD-44A3-A83E-E05928B82F4B Cercosaura argulus Peters, 1862 Distribution: Widely distributed in the Amazonia, including Brazil , French Guiana , Peru , Ecuador , and Colombia ( Ribeiro-Júnior & Amaral 2017 ). In Colombia there are some populations reported along the trans-Andean region in the Cordillera Central and Oriental, the Magdalena River Valley, the Amazonia region and the south Orinoquia ( Fig. 4C , see Remarks). Similar species: Cercosaura argulus is distinguished from its congeners in having 12–15 longitudinal rows of enlarged hexagonal dorsal scales forming transversal lines, and a divided frontonasal (dorsal hexagonal scales arranged in transverse and oblique series in C. hypnoides , eight longitudinal rows in the C. ocellata group, and a single frontonasal in the C. ocellata group and C. hypnoides ); and scales on flanks moderately smaller than dorsals, 27–35 scales around midbody, absence of preanal pores, and four ventral scales separated by the femoral pores (scales on flanks distinctly smaller than dorsals, 31–45 scales around midbody, preanal pores normally present, and two ventral scales separated by the femoral pores in C. oshaughnessyi ). See Ávila-Pires (1995) , Ribeiro-Júnior & Amaral (2017) , and Sturaro et al. (2018) for a detailed description. Remarks: Cercosaura argulus and C. oshaughnessyi are currently considered two different evolutionary lineages ( Ávila-Pires 1995 ; Torres-Carvajal et al. 2015 ; Sturaro et al. 2017 ; Moravec et al . 2018 ), however, none of these studies have included samples from the trans-Andean region of Colombia where its type locality (near “Santafé de Bogotá ”). is located (Peters 1863). Based on the specimens we examined, we noticed the morphological characters provided by Ávila-Pires (1995) to differentiate between species are relatively well-conserved, with few individuals presenting three ventral scales between femoral pores, a previous condition non-described in the literature. Despite this, the presence of preanal pores and the relative size of the flank scales help to separate both groups in those cases. All the cis-Andean specimens we examined (n=17) agreed with C. oshaughnessyi , while the trans-Andean ones used for comparisons (n=8) with C. argulus , showing an allopatric distribution, however, their distribution in Colombia remains to be clarified. Given that we cannot corroborate the taxonomy used for the literature specimens, we present them together in the distribution map.