Some color in the desert: description of a new species of Liolaemus (Iguania: Liolaemidae) from southern Peru, and its conservation status.

Abstract

The desert of southern Peru and northern Chile is an area with a high degree of endemismin squamate reptiles. In this work, an endemic new species is described in the genus Liolaemus with a restricted geographical distribution on the western slopes of the La Caldera batholith in the Department of Arequipa, southern Peru, that inhabits the Desert province of southern Peru, between 1,800 and 2,756 m asl. The new species is characterized by a unique combination of morphological and molecular characters that distinguish it from all other Liolaemus species, and it is included in the L. reichei clade within the L. montanus group. Evidence presented shows that the category of threat corresponds to Endangered under the IUCN Red List criteria