New species of Stenocercus (Squamata : Iguania) from the Andes of central Peru with a redescription of Stenocercus variabilis

Abstract

A new species of Stenocercus is described from the eastern slopes of the Andes in central Peru, Departamentos Ayacucho and Huancavelica. It differs from other Stenocercus by the combination of the following characters: scales on posterior surface of thighs granular, lateral body scales imbricate and keeled, vertebral row of enlarged scales present, gular scales unnotched, neck folds present, three caudal whorls per autotomic segment, postfemoral mite pocket absent, dorsal ground color gray or brown, without a black shoulder patch in males. Specimens of the new species have been misidentified as Stenocercus variabilis, which occurs allopatrically in Departamento Junin.