A new species of saxicolous Lepidophyma (Squamata, Xantusiidae) from Tamaulipas, Mexico

By

Grünwald, Christoph I
Reyes-Velasco, Jacobo
Ahumada-Carrillo, Iván T.
Montaño-Ruvalcaba, Carlos E
Franz-Chávez, Héctor
La Forest, Brandon T.
Ramírez-Chaparro, Ricardo
Terán-Juárez, Sergio
Borja-Jiménez, Juan Miguel

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2023-2-8

Original Publication

Herpetozoa

Volume

36

Pages

9--21

Subjects

Conservación , Conservation , Lagartijas NocturnasReptilesSistemáticaTaxonomía , Nachteidechsen , NaturschutzReptilienSierra Madre OrientalSystemati , night lizards , Reptiles , Sierra Madre Oriental , systematics , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/herpetozoa.36.e96184

 

Abstract

We describe a new saxicolous species of Lepidophyma from the Sierra Madre Oriental, in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico and provide morphological and molecular data to support the novelty of this species. The new species is most closely related to members of the L. sylvaticum group; however; it is a flattened form specialised for a saxicolous lifestyle and it can be distinguished from all other members by a combination of meristic characters. Genetic analysis suggests that several populations of L. sylvaticum might represent additional novel taxa, while the validity of L. micropholis is questioned. We discuss conservation priorities of the new species.