PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Describing biodiversity on tight budgets: 3 new Andean lizards discovered

2013-12-18
(Press-News.org) Contact information: César Aguilar
caguilarp@gmail.com
Pensoft Publishers
Describing biodiversity on tight budgets: 3 new Andean lizards discovered

Three beautiful new lizards from the Andes of Peru have been delimited and discovered using different lines of evidences by Peruvian and American biologists from San Marcos and Brigham Young universities respectively. The study was published in the open access journal Zookeys.

These lizards have been "hidden" and confused with other lizards of the same group because of their overall similar appearance. However this study, which includes molecular, ecological and more detailed morphological analyses, has identified them as new species. This research can be seen as an example of a midpoint between, on one extreme, species delimitation studies which rely on expensive molecular data and rarely include descriptions of new species, and at the other extreme, species descriptions that rely on morphology and rarely include more than elementary analyses.

The new study shows that with few resources, multiple different lines of evidence can be integrated to discover new species and provide a basis for more stable scientific names. Species with scientific names are crucial because they become "visible" to national and international governments and organizations devoted to biodiversity conservation. Species delimited but not formally described and without scientific names don't exist in the real world, and this is an issue of pivotal importance in the Andean, Patagonian, and Neotropical regions of South America.

The new species are named for and dedicated to two different old Andean civilizations, Chavín and Wari, and an Inca ruler, Pachacutec. Liolaemus pachacutec was found above Písac, an Inca ruin built by Pachacutec. Liolaemus chavin was found in an area close to the center of the Chavín culture, where reptiles and other animals were represented in some remarkable artistic expressions. Liolaemus wari was found close to the center of Wari culture, in Ayacucho department, southeastern Peru.



INFORMATION:

Original Source:

Aguilar C, Wood PL Jr, Cusi JC, Guzmán A, Huari F, Lundberg M, Mortensen E, Ramírez C, Robles D, Suárez J, Ticona A, Vargas VJ, Venegas PJ, Sites JW Jr (2013) Integrative taxonomy and preliminary assessment of species limits in the Liolaemus walkeri complex (Squamata, Liolaemidae) with descriptions of three new species from Peru. ZooKeys 364: 47. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.364.6109

Contacts:

César Aguilar
Email: caguilarp@gmail.com

Jack Sites
Email: jack_sites@byu.edu



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Packaging insulin into a pill-friendly form for diabetes treatment

2013-12-18
Packaging insulin into a pill-friendly form for diabetes treatment Since insulin's crucial discovery nearly a century ago, countless diabetes patients have had to inject themselves with the life-saving medicine. Now scientists are reporting a new development ...

Tropical forests mitigate extreme weather events

2013-12-18
Tropical forests mitigate extreme weather events Tropical forests reduce peak runoff during storms and release stored water during droughts, according to researchers working at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. Their results lend ...

Vemurafenib: Result unchanged despite new data

2013-12-18
Vemurafenib: Result unchanged despite new data Results from later analysis dates uncertain because patients switched between treatments Pursuant to the Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products (AMNOG), the German ...

Toward lowering titanium's cost and environmental footprint for lightweight products

2013-12-18
Toward lowering titanium's cost and environmental footprint for lightweight products A novel method for extracting titanium, a metal highly valued for its light weight, high strength, corrosion resistance and biocompatibility, could lower its cost and make ...

44 percent of adults worry e-cigarettes will encourage kids to start smoking tobacco

2013-12-18
44 percent of adults worry e-cigarettes will encourage kids to start smoking tobacco Almost half of parents concerned their child will try e-cigarettes; support high for prohibiting sale to kids, says U-M National Poll on Children's Health ANN ARBOR, Mich. ...

Suggested ban on trans fat begs the question: Are substitutes any healthier?

2013-12-18
Suggested ban on trans fat begs the question: Are substitutes any healthier? Health advocates cheered last month's U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposal to ban partially hydrogenated oils — which contain trans fats that increase the risk of heart ...

Toward lowering titanium's cost and environment

2013-12-18
Toward lowering titanium's cost and environment In the quest to shrink motors so they can maneuver in tiny spaces like inside and between human cells, scientists have taken inspiration from millions of years of plant evolution and incorporated, for the first ...

Leading health care executives optimistic about health care reform, Penn survey shows

2013-12-18
Leading health care executives optimistic about health care reform, Penn survey shows Views differ sharply from general public, politicians, and commentators Philadelphia - Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of the nation's leading health ...

Liver cells benefit from mesenchymal stem cell co-culture prior to transplantation

2013-12-18
Liver cells benefit from mesenchymal stem cell co-culture prior to transplantation Putnam Valley, NY. (Dec. 18, 2013) – Hepatocyte (liver cell) transplantation is becoming an accepted therapy for acute liver failure, either for ...

Preferable treatment for MS found in allogenic bone marrow stem cells

2013-12-18
Preferable treatment for MS found in allogenic bone marrow stem cells MSCs isolated from MS patients have decreased suppressive function compared to those of healthy counterparts Putnam Valley, NY. (Dec. 18, 2013) – Multiple sclerosis ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Exercise as an anti-ageing intervention to avoid detrimental impact of mental fatigue

UMass Amherst Nursing Professor Emerita honored as ‘Living Legend’

New guidelines aim to improve cystic fibrosis screening

Picky eaters by day, buffet by night: Butterfly, moth diets sync to plant aromas

Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Leanne Redman honored with the E. V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition

CCNY physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves

Researchers’ 3D-printing formula may transform future of foam

Nurture more important than nature for robotic hand

Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch

New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed

New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations

Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency

How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads

Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids

Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation

Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria

Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options

Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity

Finding their way: GPS ignites independence in older adult drivers

Antibiotic resistance among key bacterial species plateaus over time

‘Some insects are declining but what’s happening to the other 99%?’

Powerful new software platform could reshape biomedical research by making data analysis more accessible

Revealing capillaries and cells in living organs with ultrasound

American College of Physicians awards $260,000 in grants to address equity challenges in obesity care

Researchers from MARE ULisboa discover that the European catfish, an invasive species in Portugal, has a prolonged breeding season, enhancing its invasive potential

Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, FAACR, honored with the 2025 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research

Solar cells made of moon dust could power future space exploration

Deporting immigrants may further shrink the health care workforce

Border region emergency medical services in migrant emergency care

Resident physician intentions regarding unionization

[Press-News.org] Describing biodiversity on tight budgets: 3 new Andean lizards discovered