Fig 1.
Six specimens of the Tupinambis teguixin Group presently considered Tupinambis teguixin.
(a) Roraima, Brazil (b, c); Guyana (d) Trinidad; (e) Peru, Department Loreto, near the Madre Selva field station, on the Rio Orosa; (f) Tobago. Photographers: (a) GRC; (b, c) Armida Madngisa; (d, f) JCM; (e) Mike Pingleton.
Fig 2.
The neolectotype of Lacerta teguixin (NRM 121).
Photo credit Sven O. Kullander.
Fig 3.
The plate (A) of Seps marmoratus from Seba [24] and the specimen (B) (ZMB 849) thought to be the model for the plate.
Photo credit Aaron Bauer.
Fig 4.
A paralectotype of Tupinambis nigropunctatus.
Photo credit Michael Franzen.
Fig 5.
The number of ciliaries in contact with the last supraocular.
This is useful for identification since some taxa tend to have two ciliaries in contact with the last supraocular, while others tend to have three. The white markers denote the ciliaries in contact with the last supraocular.
Fig 6.
Two traits that are useful in separating the four species of the Tupinambis teguixin group.
First, the shape and size of the scales on the anterior surface of the femur: (A) T. cuzcoensis; (B) T. cryptus (C) T. teguixin (D) T. zuliensis. Second, the upper labial under the anterior corner of the orbit (E, F). The inside corner of the orbit is over the third upper labial in Tupinambis teguixin, and the fourth upper labial in T. cryptus. The supratemporals are numbered. Tupinambis teguixin (E) usually has two supratemporals and T. cryptus (F) usually has three supratemporals.
Fig 7.
The distribution of members of the genus Tupinambis.
Large circular markers denote the localities of specimens sampled for DNA. Smaller circular markers denote localities of specimens identified using morphology: Green is clade 1 (T. cuzcoensis sp. n.), blue is clade 2 (T. teguixin), purple is clade 3, (T. zuliensis sp. n.), and red is clade 4 (T. cryptus sp. n.). The two most northern red circles represent the islands of Tobago and Trinidad respectively. The other markers denote other species of Tupinambis not in the teguixin group. Red X = T. palustris. Black X = T. longilineus. Aqua blue circles = T. quadrilineatus.
Fig 8.
Bayesian majority rule consensus tree clade color coding follows Fig 7.
Species illustrated: Top- Tupinambis cuzcoensis sp. n., clade 1. Photo credit Mike Pingleton. Second from top T. teguixin, clade 2. Photo credit Armida Madngisa. Bottom photo T. cryptus (clade 4). Photo credit JCM. Nodes with Bayesian posterior probabilities ≥ 95 are represented by asterisks (*).
Fig 9.
(A) Importance of meristic counts in predicting individual assignments to four species of Tupinambis lizards based on mean decrease in Gini accuracy as revealed by 100 replicates of 10-fold cross-validation of Guided Regularized Random Forests (GRRF). The higher the mean decrease in Gini accuracy, the higher the predictor importance. (B) Prediction error of GRRF models based on reducing number of predictors ranked by importance, as revealed by 100 replicates of 10-fold cross-validation. (C) Variation in vertebral rows and scales around midbody, the two best predictors of differences among four species of Tupinambis lizards.
Table 1.
Comparison of the four species of the Tupinambis teguixin group.
IP = interparietal, R = range, SD = standard deviation, X = mean. * = usually three, ** usually two.
Table 2.
Comparison of the seven species in the genus Tupinambis.
Data for longilineus, palustris, quadrilineatus were taken from the literature and on-line photographs.
Fig 10.
Tupinambis cuzcoensis sp. n. FMNH 168330 from Madre Dio, Peru.
JCM.
Fig 11.
Tupinambis zuliensis sp n. FMNH 2599d.
The specimen is from Enconstrados, Zulia, Venezuela. JCM.
Fig 12.
Compares a member of the Tupinambis teguixin Group and a Salvator merianae.
The two species have been long confused in the literature. Both specimens were in the pet trade and are from unknown localities. Diagnostic characters are obvious. A. Tupinambis teguixin lacks granular scales separating the supraoculars from the ciliaries, it has a single loreal scale, and the head is slightly compressed (dorsoventrally). B. Salvator merianae has granular scales between the supraocualars and the cillaries, a divided loreal, and a deep head. Also note the tall and horizontally divided lower labials. Photographs by JCM.
Fig 13.
A female Tupinambis cryptus investigating an arboreal termite nest as a possible location to deposite her eggs.
Photo credit Graham White.