Potamites ecpleopus (Cope, 1876)

Ribeiro-Júnior, Marco A. & Amaral, Silvana, 2017, Catalogue of distribution of lizards (Reptilia: Squamata) from the Brazilian Amazonia. IV. Alopoglossidae, Gymnophthalmidae, Zootaxa 4269 (2), pp. 151-196 : 177

Potamites ecpleopus (Cope, 1876)

Type-locality. Middle and upper Amazon, in Brazil and Peru, restricted by Uzzell (1966) to Río Huallaga, somewhere between Rioja, Moyobamba and Balsaspuerto.

Pertinent taxonomic references. Cope (1876), Boulenger (1885), Sinitsin (1930), Burt & Burt (1931), Shreve (1935), Cunha (1961), Uzzell (1966), Peters & Donoso-Barros (1970), Sherbrooke & Cole (1972), Duellman (1978), Cunha et al. (1985), Ávila-Pires (1995), Vanzolini (1995), Ávila-Pires & Vitt (1998), Pellegrino et al. (2001), Bell et al. (2003), Castoe et al. (2004), Doan & Castoe (2005), Chávez & Vásquez (2012), Goicoechea et al. (2016).

Distribution and habitat. Potamites ecpleopus is endemic to Amazonia , with an apparently disjunct distribution in western (delimited eastward by the Japurá, Purus, and Beni Rivers) and eastern Amazonia (restricted to the Tocantins –Xingu and Xingu–Tapajós interfluviums, south of the Amazon) ( Fig. 15 ). MZUSP 64623, however, comes from the upper Comemoração River, a second order tributary of the Madeira River, an intermediary location between the western and eastern areas of occurrence. Potamites ecpleopus occurs in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia ( Fig. 15 ). In Brazil, it is known from the states of Pará, Amazonas, Acre, Rondônia, and Mato Grosso. Potamites ecpleopus is semiaquatic and diurnal, inhabits primary and disturbed terra firme forests, where it is found close to streams (with sandy, rocky or muddy bottoms), in swampy areas, on the leaf litter or directly on rocks or mud (occasionally on trunks, branches or limbs); active specimens are either at the margin of, or partially submerged in the water, and they may also be found under logs and in holes between rocks at the edge of water (Sherbrooke 1975; Duellman 1978; Cunha et al. 1985; Dixon & Soini 1986; Ávila-Pires 1995; Vitt & Zani 1996; Vitt & Ávila-Pires 1998; Vitt et al. 1998b; 1999; Schlüter et al. 2004; Whitworth & Beirne 2011).

Figures

FIGURE 15. Distribution of examined material of Loxopholis sp., Neusticurus rudis, and Potamites ecpleopus.