An elusive new species of gymnophthalmid lizard (Cercosaurinae, Selvasaura) from the Andes of northern Peru

Echevarría L.Y.; Venegas P.J.; García-Ayachi L.A.; Nunes P.M.S. · Evolutionary Systematics (2021) · DOI: 10.3897/evolsyst.5.68520

Resumen

We describe a new species of Selvasaura from the montane forests of the eastern slopes of the Andes in northern Peru, based on external and hemipenial morphological characters and previous phylogenetic analyses. The new species can be differentiated from the other two Selvasaura species in having keeled dorsal scales usually flanked by longitudinal striations, in adults and juveniles; adult males with a yellow vertebral stripe bordered by broad dark brown stripes on each side and a unilobed hemipenis surrounded by the branches of the sulcus spermaticus. The description of the new species contributes information about new states of diagnostic characters of Selvasaura and natural history. Copyright Lourdes Y. Echevarría et al.