Cercosaura ocellata Wagler, 1830

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 : 164

Cercosaura ocellata Wagler, 1830

Type-locality. “Asia?”, suggested by Ruibal (1952) as “somewhere in northeastern South America , Suriname?”.

Pertinent taxonomic references. Wagler (1830), Gray (1845), Boulenger (1885), Ruibal (1952), Cunha (1961), Peters & Donoso-Barros (1970), Cunha et al. (1985), Ávila-Pires (1995), Doan (2003), Echevarría et al. (2015), Torres-Carvajal et al. (2015), Goicoechea et al. (2016).

Distribution and habitat. Cercosaura ocellata is endemic to eastern Amazonia , with its western distribution delimited by the Negro River north of the Amazon, and the Tapajós River south of it, occurring in Brazil, Suriname, and Guyana ( Fig. 8 ). Hoogmoed & Lescure (1975) reported it from French Guiana and Rivas et al. (2012) from Venezuela. In Brazil, it is known from the states of Amapá, Pará, Maranhão, Amazonas, and Roraima. Cercosaura ocellata is terrestrial and diurnal, inhabits primary and secondary forests, frequently close to more open, sunny places (like forest border, treefall gaps or river margins), where it is mainly found among leaf litter, but occasionally on low vegetation ( Cunha et al. 1985; Ávila-Pires 1995; Ávila-Pires et al. 2010). Hoogmoed (1973) reported a specimen among sedges above water, and Ávila-Pires (1995) a specimen found in savanna forest on white sand in Suriname. Gardner et al. (2006) and Ribeiro-Júnior et al. (2008) registered this species as far more abundant in Eucalyptus plantations than in a mosaic of primary and secondary forests in the Jari River area, northern Amazonia .

Figures

FIGURE 8. Distribution of examined material of Cercosaura bassleri, C. eigenmanni, C. ocellata, and C. schreibersii.