A Review of Ecuadorian Proctoporus (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae) with Descriptions of Nine New Species

Abstract

Sixteen species of Proctoporus (nine of them new) occur in Ecuador. Summaries of individual and geographic variation, distribution, figures, and a key to species are provided. Most species have restricted distributions; however, in some cases this may be an artifact of collecting. Species occupy narrow elevational zones, such as those documented herein along a transect across the Andean Cordillera of extreme northern Ecuador. There are seven possible or confirmed cases of sympatry among congeners. Morphological evidence suggests that species in sympatry may utilize different microhabitats.