Morphological and Genetic Divergence within the Phymaturus payuniae Clade (Iguania: Liolaemidae), with the Description of Two New Species

Abstract

Abstract. The Phymaturus payuniae clade is an endemic group of lizards inhabiting rocky outcrops of central western Argentina. All recognized species are found in an area of endemism called “Payunia.” Recent studies using morphological data and DNA markers found that the payuniae clade comprises at least 10 terminal taxa. In the present study, we revisited the morphology of all previously considered terminals and analyzed two new populations discovered in Neuquén province in 2005 and 2016. The revised character list allowed us to score morphological characters for several taxa whose morphologies were unknown prior to this study. In the present study, we sequenced ND4 for three terminals (completing other sequences available for these taxa), and Cytb, COI, 12S, and C-mos for one terminal (for which no DNA data had been reported). We then added these sequences to the pre-existing DNA databases for the genus. We estimated genetic distances for three mitochondrial markers among all members of the clade and calculated the evolutionary lability of morphological characters for the whole patagonicus group. Variation of 26 continuous characters was analyzed with Principal Component Analysis for all members of the payuniae clade and species of other clades of the patagonicus and palluma group. Additionally, we revised genital characters for all members of the group and included a description of the new taxa's hemipenial morphology. Considering the distribution of morphological characters among species, their genetic distances, different genital morphology, and the phylogenetic structure inferred, we are able to support the taxonomic status of all species of the group and add the formal description of two new species.