New Gymnophthalmids

The Luminous Lizard, Proctoporus shrevei 
Parker, 1935 from Trinidad's Northern
 Range. JCM Natural History Photography
The small teiid lizards, or microteiids are placed in the family Gymnophthalmidae lizards are small, (4-15cm body lengths) and range from southenr Mexico to Argentinia (with one species found on the continental island of Trinidad). About 190 species are known and are currently assigned to about 37 genera. The species in this family have adapted to specilized life styles and they often show limb reduction, body elongation, loss of eyelids and ear openings. They range from lowland tropical rainforests to high elevations in the Andes and may be terrestrial, arboreal, or semi-aquatic. The genus Riama contains small, forest-floor lizards, perhaps the most famous of which is the Luminous Lizard, Riama shrevei from Trinidad.

Sánchez-Pacheco and colleagues (2011) have now described the 28th species in the genus, Riama crypta, a species known only from Pilaló, Cotopaxi, and adjacent areas on the western slope of the Cordillera Occidental at elevations of 2320–2700 m, in Ecuador. Like most species of Riama, R. crypta seems to have a very restricted distribution

Pedro Peloso and colleagues (2011) have described a new genus and species of Gymnophthalmidae with a robust head, elongate body, well developed pentadactyl limbs, and a tail longer than the body. They named the genus, Marinussaurus, in honor of herpetologist Marinus S. Hoogmoed. The specific name M. curupira is derived from the mythical Curupira, an anthropomorphic creature known from many regions in South America which is short, with dark skin and feet pointed backward. The Curupira protects the forest and its inhabitants, severely punishing those who hunt for pleasure and the Curupira is sometimes much feared. The new species is known only from the type locality, located a few kilometers west of the intersection of the Rio Negro and Rio Amazonas/Solimões, in Brazil.

Citations
Peloso, Pedro L. V.; Pellegrino, Katia Cristina Machado.; Rodrigues, Miguel Trefaut Urbano.; Ávila-Pires, Teresa C. S. 2011. Description and phylogenetic relationships of a new genus and species of lizard (Squamata, Gymnophthalmidae) from the Amazonian rainforest of northern Brazil. American Museum Novitates, no. 3713, 1-24.

Sánchez-Pacheco, Santiago J.; Kizirian, David A.; Nunes, Pedro M. Sales. (2011) A new species of Riama from Ecuador previously referred to as Riama hyposticta (Boulenger, 1902) (Squamata, Gymnophthalmidae). American Museum Novitates, no. 3719, 1-20.

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