Aspronema, Hedges & Conn, 2012

Hedges, S. Blair & Conn, Caitlin E., 2012, A new skink fauna from Caribbean islands (Squamata, Mabuyidae, Mabuyinae) 3288, Zootaxa 3288 (1), pp. 1-244 : 57

Genus Aspronema gen. nov.

South American White-striped Skinks

Type species. Mabuia dorsivittata Cope, 1862:350 .

Diagnosis. Species in this genus are characterized by (1) frontoparietals, 1–2, (2) supraciliaries, 3–4, (3) supraoculars, three (rarely four), (4) prefrontal contact, absent (or contact sometimes in Aspronema dorsivittatum ) (5) parietal contact, present, (6) rows of nuchals, 0–2, (7) dorsals + ventrals, 111–132, (8) total digital lamellae, 185–193, (9) a dark middorsal stripe, present, (10) dark dorsolateral stripes, present, (11) dark lateral stripe, present, and (12) dark ventral striping, absent. Maximum body sizes in this genus are 76–84 mm SVL ( Vrcibradic & Rocha 2011) ( Table 2).

The combination of three supraoculars and a narrow, dark middorsal stripe distinguishes this genus from all others. Also, while pale dorsolateral and ventrolateral stripes are not rare in Mabuyinae , those stripes in species of the Genus Aspronema are especially distinctive.

Content. Two species are placed in this genus: Aspronema cochabambae and A. dorsivittatum ( Table 1).

Distribution. The genus is distributed in southern South America, from Bolivia and southern Brazil to northern Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay ( Fig. 8C ).

Etymology. The generic name ( Aspronema ) is a neuter noun derived from the Greek adjective aspro (white) and noun nema (thread), referring to the distinctive narrow and white dorsolateral and ventrolateral stripes present in species of this genus.

Remarks. This pair of species shares a suite of morphological traits and clusters in molecular phylogenies (Mausfeld & Lotters 2001; Harvey et al. 2008; Miralles et al. 2009b), including our analysis ( Fig. 5 ). Palm and sole color is dark in Aspronema cochabambae and pale in A. dorsivittatum ( Harvey et al. 2008) .

Figures

FIGURE 5 (continued on the next page)

FIGURE 8. Distribution of the 16 genera of Neotropical skinks, Family Mabuyidae, Subfamily Mabuyinae. (A) Genera occurring in the greater Caribbean region. (B) Genera occurring exclusively in South America. (C) Additional genera occurring in South America, including one with representatives on Caribbean islands.