Liolaemus poconchilensis Valladares, 2004

Pincheira-Donoso, Daniel, Scolaro, J. Alejandro & Sura, Piotr, 2008, A monographic catalogue on the systematics and phylogeny of the South American iguanian lizard family Liolaemidae (Squamata, Iguania), Zootaxa 1800, pp. 1-85 : 46

Liolaemus poconchilensis Valladares

Phrynosaura reichei Núñez et al. 1998: 11 .

Liolaemus cf. reichei Valladares et al. 2002: 483 .

Liolaemus poconchilensis Valladares 2004: 42 (type locality: Poconchile [18°26’S, 70°05’W], 1100 m, Arica Province, Tarapacá Region, Chile).

Observations: The type locality of this species needs to be rectified. In the original description, Valladares (2004) pointed out that the type series of L. poconchilensis was collected in Poconchile (see above). However, active field work conducted on that zone has repeatedly failed to provide any record of this lizard. In contrast, the species is relatively common in the plateau located between the Valle de Azapa and Valle de Lluta, in the old road from Arica to Poconchile. Also, according to Valladares (2004) and our own field observations, L. poconchilensis is a species living in open and sandy deserts, with dispersed and scarce vegetation. Yet, the locality of Poconchile is a river valley characterized by dense vegetation, including small boreal forests (e.g. Donoso-Barros 1966a). Therefore, it seems to be very unlikely the existence of this taxon in the area recognized as type locality (Poconchile, Valladares 2004).

In this work, we propose formally the following type locality for L. poconchilensis: Sandy deserts on the old road (“camino viejo”) from Arica to Poconchile, between Valle de Azapa and Valle de Lluta, 1100m, Arica Province, Tarapaca Region, Chile .

Regarding another aspect on the distribution of this species, in a recent study of the Liolaemidae collection housed in the British Museum of Natural History of London, Núñez (2004) documented a specimen collected in “Arequiba” (presumably Arequipa), Peru, which would represent the northernmost known individual of L. poconchilensis . The same sample was previously identified as Phrynosaura marmorata by Etheridge ( Nuñez 2004). If Núñez’s (2004) suggestions are correct, L. poconchilensis should be included in the reptilian fauna of Peru. However, it is worth noting that many lizard specimens preserved in old herpetological collections (including the British Museum of Natural History’s collection) exhibit very limited or mistaken information in the original labels (e.g. Donoso-Barros 1966a, 1970b; Núñez 2004). Therefore, old distributional data should be supported by modern field records.