Mabuya falconensis Mijare, 1997

Miralles, Aurélien, Fuenmayor, Gilson Rivas & Barrio-Amorós, César L., 2005, Taxonomy of the genus Mabuya (Reptilia, Squamata, Scincidae) in Venezuela, Zoosystema 27 (4), pp. 825-837 : 830

Mabuya falconensis Mijare &-Urrutia & Arend&, 1997

( Fig. 2A, B )

Mabuya falconensis Mijare &-Urrutia & Arend&, 1997: 595. — MoQina 1998: 149.

TYPE MATERIAL. — HoQotype: Cerro Santa Ana, Penín &uQa de Paraguaná, FaQcón &tate, VenezueQa ( EBRG 1727 ). Paratype &: Miranda, FaQcón &tate ( ULABG 2115 ) ; CoQina, FaQcón &tate ( ULABG 2116 ). MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Colombia. Guajira &tate, Rio Barbacoa Arroyo de Arena &, 1 &pec. ( UMMZ 54793 ) .

Venezuela. Carabobo &tate, Lago de VaQencia, 2 &pec& ( MHNLS 5511, 5512); PaQma SoQar, Morón, 1 &pec. ( MHNLS 5852); Bahia de Patanemo, 2 &pec& ( MHNLS 6087, 6302). — FaQcón &tate, Sierra San Lui&, Curimagua, 1 &pec. ( MHNLS 9526); Penín&uQa de Paraguaná, Re&erva BioQogíca de Monte Cano, 200 m, 1 &pec. ( MHNLS 17095); Tucaca&, 2 &pec& ( UMMZ 55927, 55932). — Miranda &tate, Higuerote, 1 &pec. ( MHNLS 16654). — Sucre &tate, Chacopata, 1 &pec. ( MHNLS 9040). — Yaracuy &tate, Boquerón, 1 &pec. ( UMMZ 55924).

DISTRIBUTION ( Fig. 6). — UntiQ no?, M. falconensis ?a& con&idered a& an endemic xerophiQou& &pecie& of the FaQcón &tate, onQy kno?n from a &maQQ area around it& type QocaQity (Mijare&-Urrutia & Arend& 1997). During our revi&ion,?e have di&covered many other QocaQitie& for thi& &pecie&. Ea&t of the FaQcón &tate, &pecimen& have been found in Yaracuy &tate, at Boqueron ( UMMZ 55924), in Carabobo &tate ( MHNLS 5511, 5512, 5852, 6087, 6302) and in Sucre &tate, in the Penín&uQa de Araya ( MHNLS 9040). We&t of FaQcón &tate, a &pecimen from the northea&tern CoQombia, Guajira, ha& been aQ&o cQearQy identified a& beQonging to thi& &pecie& ( UMMZ 54793). Tho&e ob&ervation& extend markedQy it& di&tribution aQong the northern coa&t. The &ame pattern of di&tribution i& found in Cnemidophorus arenivagus Markezich, CoQe & De &&auer, 1997, a &pecie& endemic to the &emiarid coa&t of northern South America ( Markezich et al. 1997).

DIAGNOSIS. — Mabuya ?ith paired prefrontaQ& and frontoparietaQ&, parietaQ pQate& in contact?ith each other behind the interparietaQ pQate, a &ingQe pair of nuchaQ&. Four &upraciQiarie&, the &econd Qonge&t. PaQm& and &oQe& Qight coQoured. On each &ide a?ide, dark QateraQ iQQ-defined band. Dor&oQateraQ Qight &tripe& ab&ent.

REMARKS

CoQor pattern of M. falconensis can be very variabQe in a &ame popuQation. Some &pecimen& have the dor&um nearQy Qacking aQQ dark &pot& ( MHNLS 9526)?herea& other& have a high den&ity of &pot& aQigned in eight narro? QongitudinaQ &tripe& ( MHNLS 17095, UMMZ 55927).

Mabuya falconensis &hare& &uperficiaQ character&?ith M. mabouya , a geographicaQQy neighbouring &pecie& from Southern Le&&er AntiQQe& (MiraQQe& 2005): the&e t?o po&&ibQy cQo&eQy reQated &pecie& inhabit xerophi- Qou& environment (Mijare&-Urrutia & Arend& 1997; BreuiQ 2002) and have in common an accute &nout and a &imiQar coQour pattern. Mabuya falconensis can be di&tingui&hed from M. mabouya in having four &upraocuQar (ver&u& three) and a &maQQer &ize.

Figures

FIG. 2. — Lateral view of the head and dorsal view of the anterior part of the body of Mabuya falconensis Mijares-Urrutia & Arends, 1997 (MHNLS 5512) (A, B) and M. nigropunctata (Spi@, 1825) (MHNLS 16203) (C, D). Scale bars: 4 mm.