A revision of the genus Prionodactylus with a new genus for P. leucostictus and notes on the genus Euspondylus (Sauria, Teiidae)

Abstract

Prionodactylus differs from Euspondylus in having a double row of widened gular scales and keeled hexagonal scales; it is therefore removed from synonymy with Euspondylus. Five species (P. vertebralis, P. dicrus new species, P. manicatus, P. argulus, and P. eigenmanni) are recognized. P. dicrus is related to P. vertebralis; in both, the loreal is separated from the supralabials, the subdigital lamellae are not tuberculate, and the frontonasal is not divided; P. dicrus differs in having two dorsolateral light stripes an- teriorly that fuse to one posteriorly, rather than a single median light line throughout. P. vertebralis is known from Pacific Ecuador and Colombia, the Magdalena and Cauca valleys of Colombia, and from adjacent Panama and Venezuela; Euspondylus ampuedae appears to be the same species (new synonymy). P. dicrus occurs on the Amazonian slopes of central Ecuador. P. manicatus has two subspecies. P. m. manicatus, with single tubercles on the subdigital lamellae, no median collar scale, and a divided eyelid disc, occurs in Amazonian Ecuador and northern Peru. P. m. bolivianus, with non- tuberculate subdigital lamellae, a median collar scale, and an undivided eyelid disc, occurs in Amazonian Bolivia and southern Peru. In both races, the loreal touches the supralabials and the frontonasal is not divided. P. argulus has a wide range in the Guianas and Amazonian South America, at relatively low elevations, from northern Brazil along the slopes of the Andes to Bolivia. It has a divided frontonasal, and the loreal touches the supra- labials. P. eigenmanni occurs only in Amazonian Bolivia. It has a single frontonasal, the loreal touches the supralabials, and the subdigital lamellae may have both single and double tubercles.