Reptilia , Squamata , Teiidae , Tupinambis quadrilineatus : Distribution extension and geographic distribution map

Tupinambis quadrilineatus Manzani and Abe, 1997 (Squamata, Teiidae) is an endemic species of Cerrado biome in Brazil. The lizard was described in 1997, based on four specimens from different localities in the Brazilian states of Goiás, Mato Grosso and Tocantins (Manzani and Abe 1997). In the following year, the description of Tupinambis cerradensis Colli, Péres Jr. and Cunha, 1998 was published, on basis of 18 specimens from six localities in Mato Grosso and Goiás (Colli at al. 1998). In the same article, the authors recognized T. cerradensis as a junior synonym of T. quadrilineatus, explaining that their paper had already been submitted when the description of T. quadrilineatus was published. Later on T. quadrilineatus was recorded in the Jalapão region, state of Tocantins (Vitt at al. 2005; Mesquita et al. 2006); the upper Rio Tocantins valley in northern Goiás (region of Minaçu; Silva Jr. et al. 2005); Gama city, municipality of Brasília, Distrito Federal (Guimarães et al. 2007); and the municipality of Chapada Gaúcha in the north of Minas Gerais state (Recoder and Nogueira 2007).


Adriano Lima Silveira
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro / Museu Nacional, Departamento de Vertebrados, Setor de Herpetologia.Quinta da Boa Vista, São Cristóvão. CEP 20940-040. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. E-mail: biosilveira@yahoo.com.brTupinambis quadrilineatus Manzani and Abe, 1997 (Squamata, Teiidae) is an endemic species of Cerrado biome in Brazil.The lizard was described in 1997, based on four specimens from different localities in the Brazilian states of Goiás, Mato Grosso and Tocantins (Manzani and Abe 1997).In the following year, the description of Tupinambis cerradensis Colli, Péres Jr. and Cunha, 1998 was published, on basis of 18 specimens from six localities in Mato Grosso and Goiás (Colli at al. 1998).In the same article, the authors recognized T. cerradensis as a junior synonym of T. quadrilineatus, explaining that their paper had already been submitted when the description of T. quadrilineatus was published.Later on T. quadrilineatus was recorded in the Jalapão region, state of Tocantins (Vitt at al. 2005;Mesquita et al. 2006); the upper Rio Tocantins valley in northern Goiás (region of Minaçu ;Silva Jr. et al. 2005); Gama city, municipality of Brasília, Distrito Federal (Guimarães et al. 2007); and the municipality of Chapada Gaúcha in the north of Minas Gerais state (Recoder and Nogueira 2007).
A second record of Tupinambis quadrilineatus from Minas Gerais is here presented, as well as additional records from the states of Mato Grosso and Goiás, which expand the geographic distribution previously known.Notes on these new specimens and a map with all known geographic records of the species are also presented.Geographic coordinates were obtained with Google Earth 4.3.7284.3916(beta) program.In December 2006, two large eggs were found at about 50 cm below the ground, in a termite nest.During the excavation, one of the eggs broke up, which yielded a juvenile of Tupinambis quadrilineatus already fully developed (Figure 1).The specimen immediately tried to flee, moving up quickly, but it was collected.The hatched egg measured 51 mm in length and 31 mm in width, the hatchling 88 mm snout-vent length and 144 mm tail length.The second egg was incubated but did not hatch.The termite nest was located in an area of vereda with gallery forest, inserted into formations of cerrado sensu stricto.The second specimen, an adult male (Figure 2), was collected on the same locality in January 2008, while it was killing chicks on the farm during daytime.At this farm, T. quadrilineatus was collected in sintopy with T. merianae (Duméril and Bibron, 1839).The specimens are deposited in the herpetological collection of Museu Nacional / Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (MNRJ 15217, 17217).
João Pinheiro (Minas Gerais) represents the southernmost record for the species, ca.280 km south of Chapada Gaúcha, the only other record in Minas Gerais, and ca.290 km southeast of Gama, Federal District, the other closest locality.
Cáceres (Mato Grosso) represents the most westerly record, extending the known geographic distribution ca.190 km southwest of Rosário Oeste (Mato Grosso).
According to Colli et al. (1998), T. quadrilineatus is apparently endemic to Cerrado, where it prefers gallery forest, and it occurs in sympatry with T. merianae, in agreement with data from this study.
Scale counts and measurements of studied specimens (obtained following Colli et al. 1998) are presented in Tables 1 and 2 respectively, and compared to data from literature (Manzani and Abe 1997;Colli et al. 1998).All characters fall within the known range of the species, except for a higher number of pores (10) in MNRJ 17217.MNRJ 15217 and MNRJ 17217 are, respectively, the smallest and the largest known specimens of the species.
*Total number on both sides