Cercosaura ocellata Wagler, 1830 (Lacertilia, Gymnophthalmidae): distribution extension of Northeastern Brazil

Abstract

Abstract:The lizard, Cercosaura ocellata, with its type-locality suggested as being South America's Northeast, is widely distributed in the North and Midwest regions of Brazil, with scarcity of records for the states in the Northeast Region. This work aims to enlarge the geographical distribution of this species. An individual of C. ocellata was registered in a fragment of Atlantic Rain Forest, Mata de Tejipió (08° 05' 45.59" S, 34° 57' 04.91" W). This register expands its distribution 585 km north and 770 km south, respectively from its closest locations, Bahia and Ceará, filling a gap of disjunct distribution of approximately 900 km in the northeast region of the country.

DISTRIBUTION EXTENSION AND NEW RECORDS FOR Cercosaura olivacea (GRAY, 1845) (SQUAMATA: GYMNOPHTHALMIDAE) IN NORTHEASTERN BRAZIL

“…Cercosaura olivacea is widely distributed throughout South America and many distributional gaps remained to be fulfilled (e.g. Oliveira & Moura 2013, Sales et al 2014, Sturaro et al 2018. In the Caatinga ecoregion, a tropical dry forest with a dry climate and xeromorphic vegetation endemic to Brazil (Assis 2000), the species was known to occur in brejo de altitude (highland humid forest remnants scattered throughout the semiarid lowlands) in the Planalto de Ibiapaba, state of Ceará (Borges-Nojosa & Caramaschi 2003).…”

“…Despite being commonly found in open areas and close to urbanized regions (Recoder & Nogueira 2007, Oliveira & Moura 2013, C. olivacea has environmental preferences for regions with minimal vegetation cover, as do other species of the genus (Cunha et al 1985). In all collection areas, the specimens were found sheltering or foraging under the leaf litter, in areas where the soil was more humid.…”

“…SAM (scales around midbody), DLR (dorsals in a longitudinal row), DTR (dorsals in a transverse row), LTS (lateral scales), VLR (ventrals in a longitudinal row), VTR (ventrals in a transverse row), FN (frontonasals), FR (frenoculars), LO (loreal), OC (occipitals), SL (supralabials), PSL (post-supralabials), IL (infralabials), PIL (post-infralabials), SO (supraoculars), PRO (preoculars), SBO (suboculars), PO (post-oculars), PS (palpebrals), CI (supraciliaries), ST (supratemporals), TEV (temporals in a vertical row bordering postoculars), CS (pairs of chinshields), GL (gulars in a longitudinal row), PG (paired enlarged gulars in the medial region of the throat), FP (number of femoral pores), SVL (snout-vent length), TL (tail length, only for individuals with intact tail), HL (head length), HW (head width), HD (head depth), LAL (lower arm length), HaL (hand length), LLL (lower leg length), FoL (foot length). Bahia state (Couto-Ferreira et al 2011) and 180 km south of the nearest location in the municipality of Recife, Pernambuco state (Oliveira & Moura 2013), filling an important gap in the knowledge of this enigmatic species of lizard in northeastern Brazil.…”

New record of Cercosaura ocellata Wagler, 1830 (Squamata, Gymnophthalmidae) in northeastern Brazil, with a distribution map for the species in South America

“…Ruibal (1952) as northeastern South America, although the precise location is unknown. Despite that, there are only four accurate records in the literature for the species in northeastern Brazil, in the states of Maranhão (Ávila-Pires 1995), Ceará (Borjes-Norjosa and Caramaschi 2003), Pernambuco (Oliveira and Moura 2013) and Bahia (Couto-Ferreira et al 2011).…”