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 Group reichei The species herein included in the group reichei have commonly been recognized as members of the controversial genus Phrynosaura ( Werner 1907 ; Donoso-Barros 1966a , b, 1972 ; Núñez & Jaksic 1992 ; Núñez et al. 2003 ). Over the last century, many authors have suggested that clear patterns of differentiation in osteological and cytogenetical traits observed exclusively in L. audituvelatus , L. erroneous , L. manueli , L. poconchilensis , L. reichei and L. torresi would support the hypothesis that these species represent a discrete evolutionary line ( e.g. Núñez et al. 1998 , 2003 ). Yet, on the other hand, some studies conclude that these traits may not be sufficient evidence to separate this still hypothetical group of species from the Liolaemus genus ( Frost & Etheridge 1989 ; Etheridge 1995 ; Etheridge & Espinoza 2000 ; Valladares 2004 ). Recent molecular phylogenies have contributed to clarify in part this problem. This research reveals that at least the two “ Phrynosaura ” species analysed phylogenetically so far, are nested within Liolaemus ( Valladares et al. 2002 ; Schulte et al. 2004 ). Therefore, these findings appear to support Frost & Etheridge’s (1989) and Etheridge’s (1995) proposal that Phrynosaura is a synonym of the genus Liolaemus . Nevertheless, it still remains unknown whether the currently six species assigned to Phrynosaura (or alternatively to the group reichei ; see Núñez et al. 2003 ; Valladares 2004 ) actually form a monophyletic clade within this genus (phylogenetic evidence suggest that these species are members of the series signifer ; see above). Since the anatomical and cytogenetical evidence reported in previous papers suggests that these six species would be closely related taxa ( Núñez et al. 2003 ), we include them into the group reichei ( e.g. Valladares 2004 ). However, further phylogenetic studies are needed to test the validity of this classification criterion.