A new record of Rondonops biscutatus (Reptilia, Sauria, Gymnophthalmidae) from Mato Grosso, Brazil

Abstract

Rondonops biscutatus is a Iphisini species known from the southwestern portion of the Brazilian Amazon forest, in the states of Mato Grosso, Pará and Rondônia. In this study, we report the second known locality for the species in Mato Grosso, extending the distribution of the species approximately 545 km.

New records amplify the geographical distribution of Rondonops biscutatus Colli et al., 2015 (Squamata, Sauria, Gymnophthalmidae) into the Paraguay river basin, Mato Grosso, Brazil

“…Although the vegetation cover in our study area differed between Cerrado, Amazonia, Pantanal and ecotonal zones (Maurão et al 2012), we only found the species in an area with Amazonian phytophysiognomy. Thus, our records, indicate that the species is restricted to Amazonian phytophysiognomies, which is consistent with the opinions of Colli et al (2015), Abegg et al (2017) and Cacciali et al (2017). This conclusion is supported by the fact that we have sampled lizards across approximately 200 km along the upper Paraguay River, from the Barra do Bugres (15°05′41.66″S, 057°14′30.08″W) to the Taiamã Ecological Station (16°51′54.20″S, 057°33′11.52″ W).…”

“…A portion of the range of R. biscutatus, in the north, is within protected reserves. However, most of the species' distribution is currently undergoing habitat loss due to strong anthropological changes (Colli et al 2015;Abegg et al 2017), especially within the so-called arch of deforestation (Ferreira et al 2005). In this region, human occupation has resulted in a matrix of monocultures of grains and pastures for cattle ranching associated with or preceded by illegal logging (Fearnside 2010).…”

“…The genus Rondonops (Colli et al 2015), a member of the tribe Iphisini, contains two species that occur in the Amazonian forests of Brazil: Rondonops biscutatus Colli et al (2015) and Rondonops xanthomystax Colli et al (2015). Rondonops xanthomystax occurs in the states of Amazonas and Pará (Colli et al 2015;Costa and Bernils 2018), whereas Rondonops biscutatus has a wider distribution, occurring in the states of Rondônia, Pará, and Mato Grosso, and the distribution of this species covers the Amazon and Araguaia-Tocantins basins (Colli et al 2015;Abegg et al 2017;Costa and Bernils 2018). The genus Rondonops was recently described (Colli et al 2015), although R. biscutatus was earlier cited as "Gymnophthalmidae sp."…”

“…Cacciali et al (2017), when evaluating the phylogeny of the tribe Iphisini, proposed that the genus Rondonops is restricted to Amazonian ecoregions. Furthermore, Colli et al (2015) and Abegg et al (2017) suggested that R. biscutatus might also occur in forests and open habitats in the transitional area between the Amazon and the Cerrado savannas. In this study, we confirm this prediction based on four new occurrences in the Paraguay river basin, where we collected a total of six specimens in Amazonian phytophysiognomy in Amazon-Cerrado savannas transition area.…”