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The genus Phymaturus (Reptilia: Liolaemidae) is distributed in the mountains and rocky plateaux of Argentina and Chile and comprises two groups of species, palluma and patagonicus. The two lineages have diverged early in the evolution of the genus and up to today, there is very little geographical overlap between them.We worked with records of localities from the literature, herpetological collections and field data to evaluate habitat suitability of the genus Phymaturus. We used 11 environmental variables to develop environmental niche models (ENMs) for each group within the genus using the Maxent software, and to determine those variables that best explain the distribution of each group. We also estimated measures of niche similarity using ENMTools to determine whether niche differentiation is real or apparent. The geographical overlap between the groups was very low considering the large geographical range of the genus. Some variables, such as mean annual temperature, soil type and bare soil cover, have a high contribution to the models for both groups. The current niche overlap between Phymaturus groups indicates that the environmental niches of the palluma and patagonicus groups are not equivalent. Based on background analysis, we cannot reject the hypothesis that similarity (or divergence) between groups of Phymaturus is no more than expected based on the availability of habitat. The results of this study are a first approximation to the knowledge of the environmental variables associated with the palluma and patagonicus groups, and reveal that the ecological differences found between these groups are more likely due to habitat availability in their respective regions than to differences in habitat preferences.

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Overwintering is an anuran strategy to survive in cold-temperate climates. Those aquatic species that withstand harsh conditions and short growing seasons are candidates for having long larval periods. Prolonged larval development, which includes overwintering for more than two years, has been reported for North-American and Euro-Asiatic species, but this strategy has been poorly studied in the Southern Hemisphere. Alsodes pehuenche is an endemic frog from the high Andes mountains of Argentina and Chile, recently categorized as Endangered by the Asociación Herpetológica Argentina (AHA) and as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). We studied egg laying in this species and its larval development by marking tadpoles with elastomers. We found that eggs are laid in clumps at the beginning of summer. The larval cycle includes four winters, although a fifth winter should not be ruled out. This is the first study that demonstrates a long larval development (four winters) in South-American species and has important implications for conservation biology.

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