Enyalioides cofanorum Duellman 1973

Torres-Carvajal, Omar, Etheridge, Richard & Queiroz, Kevin De, 2011, A systematic revision of Neotropical lizards in the clade Hoplocercinae (Squamata: Iguania), Zootaxa 2752, pp. 1-44 : 12-13

Enyalioides cofanorum Duellman 1973

Proposed standard English name: Cofan woodlizards

Proposed standard Spanish name: lagartijas de palo cofanes

Enyalioides cofanorum Duellman (1973:230) . Holotype: KU 146658, from “Santa Cecilia [0°3'N, 76°59'33''W], 340 m, Provincia Napo [Sucumbíos], Ecuador.”

Diagnosis. This species can be distinguished from other species of Enyalioides by the combination of the following characters: scattered, projecting, large dorsal scales (inconspicuous or absent in some juvenile and male individuals) between fore and hind limbs; strongly keeled ventrals; large dark patch on posterior aspect of gular region in both sexes; and light stripe extending from postympanic region to scapular region. The only other species of Enyalioides with scattered, projecting dorsal scales is E. heterolepis , from which E. cofanorum differs in lacking projecting scales on the hind limbs. In addition, males and females of E. cofanorum (maximum SVL = 107 mm and 109 mm, respectively) are smaller than those of E. heterolepis (maximum SVL = 137 mm and 115 mm, respectively), and these two species occur on opposite sides of the Andes. Among other species occuring east of the Andes, specimens of E. cofanorum lacking the projecting dorsal scales are similar morphologically to specimens of E. microlepis (character states in parentheses) and can be distinguished from them by having conspicuous dorsolateral crests between hind limbs (inconspicuous or absent), and a smaller body size (maximum SVL = 127 mm and 116 mm in males and females, respectively).

Description. (1) dorsal head scales conical or multicarinate, strongly projecting dorsally; (2) posterior superciliaries not enlarged relative to adjacent scales; (3) scales on lateral edge of skull roof just posterior to superciliaries more projecting than adjacent scales; the projection is more pronounced in adults; (4) one or more enlarged pretympanic scales present; (5) gular scales conical or multicarinate, strongly projecting ventrally; (6) dorsal neck scales conical, heterogeneous in size; lateral neck scales granular or conical, homogeneous in size, and similar in size to smallest dorsal neck scales; (7) vertebrals larger than adjacent dorsals, forming distinct raised middorsal crest that extends onto tail as a pair of crests; (8) nuchal region with continuous and paired middorsal crest; (9) dorsals distinctly keeled and heterogeneous in size, although size heterogeneity is less conspicuous in juveniles and adult males; (10) continuous longitudinal row of raised, enlarged scales between dorsals and flank scales present; (11) scales on flanks granular or keeled, heterogeneous in size, and slightly smaller than dorsals; (12) ventrals keeled; (13) fore limb scales keeled dorsally and ventrally; (14) hind limb scales keeled dorsally and ventrally, with thigh scales smaller than other hind limb scales; scattered enlarged scales absent; dorsal scales of pes homogeneous in size; (15) caudals heterogeneous, increasing in size posteriorly on each segment (6–8 scales in lateral view), not modified as conspicuous spines ( Fig. 3 ); (16) tail compressed laterally. Meristic and morphometric characters are presented in Table 1 .

Coloration in life ( Fig. 4 ). Dorsal background dark brown, with scattered yellowish-green scales on dorsum and lips; juveniles with yellowish-tan crossbars and black spots along vertebral crest; diagonal cream or yellow bar from ear to shoulder; extensive black mark on gular region in juveniles and adults of both sexes; venter tan in adults and yellowish-brown in juveniles; iris orange-brown ( Duellman 1973).

An adult male (QCAZ 8035, Fig. 4 ) differed from the previous description in having a dark brown reticulate pattern on flanks; a dark brown stripe extending from eye to commisure of mouth; another dark brown stripe extending posteriorly from the dorsal margin of the orbit to a point above the tympanum; and light blue gular region lateral and anterior to the black gular mark.

Natural history. Clutch size in Enyalioides cofanorum varies between 2– 5 eggs; a female 95.7 mm SVL collected on 31 July 2001 contained five oviductal eggs with a mean length of 25.6 mm, mean width of 10.4 mm, mean volume of 1.5 cm 3, and mean mass of 1.8 g ( Cisneros-Heredia 2005). Prey items of E. cofanorum include earthworms, sow bugs, spiders, beetles, and orthopterans ( Duellman 1978). This species has been found active by day on the forest floor, inactive under logs, or sleeping head-up on sticks or horizontally on branches less than 1.5 m above the ground ( Duellman 1978; Cisneros-Heredia 2005).

Distribution. Enyalioides cofanorum occurs east of the Andes in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, at elevations between 100–1230 m ( Fig. 5 ). This species is known to occur in sympatry with E. laticeps in northeastern Ecuador. Moreover, E. laticeps occurs at localities near those of E. cofanorum in Colombia and Peru, suggesting that both species are sympatric in those countries as well.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Caudal segments from the anterior third of the tail of ten species of Hoplocercinae in lateral view. (A) Enyalioides cofanorum, (B) E. heterolepis, (C) E. laticeps, (D) E. microlepis, (E) E. oshaughnessyi, (F) E. palpebralis, (G) E. praestabilis, (H) E. rubrigularis, (I) E. touzeti, and (J) Morunasaurus annularis. Scale bars = 5 mm. Illustration by D. Paucar.

FIGURE 4. Photographs of live lizards representing twelve species of Hoplocercinae.

FIGURE 5. Distribution of Enyalioides cofanorum (dots) and E. rubrigularis (triangles).