Liolaemus famatinae: Parental care

Abstract

Liolaemus famatinae is small lizard known from Famatina Mountains in the La Rioja Province of western Argentina (Cei 1980. J. Herpetol. 14:57–64). It is a small-sized lizard that runs agilely among the bushes during the sunniest hours. It inhabits high elevation grasslands, on stony often limonitic soils, with low vegetation and little is known about its reproductive ecology (Cei 1986. Reptiles del Centro, Centro-Oeste y Sur de la Argentina: Herpetofauna de las Zonas Áridas y Semiáridas. Mus. Reg. Sci. Nat. Torino, Turin, Italy. 527 pp.) except that they are viviparous like other Liolaemus species living in high-elevation terrain (Cabrera and Monguillot 2007. Herpetol. Bull. 101:34–35.). Viviparity seems to have emerged multiple times among squamate reptiles inhabiting cooler environments found at high latitudes and elevations (Schulte et al. 2000. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 69:75–102). Our observation is also congruent with this reproductive pattern observed in most Liolaemus inhabiting harsh cold environments (Fernández et al. 2015. Herpetol. J. 25:101–108). Here, we report notes on clutch size and possible parental care. On 6 January 2023, at 1230 h, we found a group of L. famatinae, an adult female (ca. 5.5 cm SVL, ca. 11 cm total length) and four hatchlings (one measured; ca. 2.4 cm SVL, ca. 5 cm total length), in the Famatina Mountains (28.8437°S, 67.7748°W; WGS 84; 3208 m elev.). At first, we observed the female basking on a stone and when we came closer to catch her, she ran to a refuge between stones in a rock outcrop but we were able to find her under a rock as she stood in front of a small hole ca. 5 cm wide. She then fled inside the hole but emerged a few minutes later with the four neonates following, but we are not sure if additional neonates were in the hole. The female appeared abnormally skinny, and based on neonate size we suspect these lizards were born recently. To our knowledge this is the first reported clutch size for L. famatinae and possible use of a nesting hole. In addition, the presence of the female with the neonates suggests extended parental care to further protect offspring against predators, share shelter and food resources until the neonates can disperse (Halloy et al. 2013. Cuad. Herpetol. 27:15–26).