A new species of Tropidurus (Squamata, Tropiduridae) of the semitaeniatus group from a semiarid area in Northeastern Brazil

Abstract

A new species of Tropidurus of the semitaeniatus group is described from northeastern Brazil. Tropidurus sp. nov. is morphologically similar to other species of the group in the marked dorsoventral flattening of the body, and the presence of a series of sublabial shields that are larger than the adjacent scales. It is distinguished by a single middorsal longitudinal light stripe that extends from the snout to the scapular region. The new species appears to have the largest body size of the group. The new species inhabits the Vale do Jaguaribe, in the eastern part of the state of Ceará, where there are many fissured rocky outcrops surrounded by hypoxerophytic caatinga vegetation.

Extreme specialization to rocky habitats inTropiduruslizards from Brazil: Trade‐offs between a fitted ecomorph and autoecology in a harsh environment

“…Tropidurus helenae and T. semitaeniatus used rocks in a much higher proportion than other microhabitat categories, whereas T. hispidus used a higher variety of microhabitats. The semitaeniatus group is composed of four lizard species, all inhabiting rock outcrops in the Caatinga of northeastern Brazil, while T. hispidus belongs to a group of generalist lizards, distributed across Caatinga, Cerrado, Chaco, Atlantic Forest and Amazon Forest domains (Passos et al 2011;de Carvalho et al 2013). The generalist habits of T. hispidus were also noted when we analysed microhabitat fidelity associated with the approach of a potential predator (Fig.…”

“…The semitaeniatus group is composed of four lizard species, all inhabiting rock outcrops in the Caatinga of northeastern Brazil, while T. hispidus belongs to a group of generalist lizards, distributed across Caatinga, Cerrado, Chaco, Atlantic Forest and Amazon Forest domains (Passos et al 2011;de Carvalho et al 2013). The semitaeniatus group is composed of four lizard species, all inhabiting rock outcrops in the Caatinga of northeastern Brazil, while T. hispidus belongs to a group of generalist lizards, distributed across Caatinga, Cerrado, Chaco, Atlantic Forest and Amazon Forest domains (Passos et al 2011;de Carvalho et al 2013).…”

“…Tropidurus semitaeniatus and T. helenae are specialized to rocky habitats (Passos et al 2011). Tropidurus semitaeniatus and T. helenae are specialized to rocky habitats (Passos et al 2011).…”

“…Given that Tropidurus species are usually found in syntopy, studies about resource partitioning are not scarce in the literature (Colli et al 1992;Faria & Araujo 2004;Van Sluys et al 2004;Kolodiuk et al 2010;Eloi & Leite-Filho 2013;Gomes et al 2015). Morphological differences among and within species of the genus may reflect habitat and microhabitat use (Colli et al 1992;Kohlsdorf et al 2001;Faria & Araujo 2004), sexual selection (Pinto et al 2005), and intraspecific competition (Kohlsdorf et al 2006 (Passos et al 2011). They have flattened bodies and heads, which allow them to use rock crevices as refuges (Vitt 1981;Ribeiro et al 2012).…”

Biogeography of the Lizard Genus Tropidurus Wied-Neuwied, 1825 (Squamata: Tropiduridae): Distribution, Endemism, and Area Relationships in South America

“…These species have features adapted to life in crevices between rock blocks (including expressive dorsovental body flattening, cryptic coloration, and reduced number of elongated eggs) [106] and occupy rock outcrops scattered throughout the area [107]–[111]. The highly adapted morphology and tight association with rock outcrops suggest that the patchy distribution of these environments (in some cases surrounded by extensive areas of sandy soils [85], [109]) affects the distributional range of these lizards.…”