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Abstract

A new species of bunchgrass lizard in theSceloporus scalaris group is described from the southern portion of the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico. The new species,Sceloporus aurantius sp. nov., was previously confused withS. brownorum but differs from this and all but one species within theS. scalaris group by a lack of blue belly patches in males. It shares withS. chaneyi an absence of blue belly patches, but differs from this species in size, number of dorsal scales, number of scales around midbody, and presence of an un-patterned morph. The new species further differs fromS. chaneyi, and all other species in theS. scalaris species group, by unique phylogenetic position revealed through species delimitation based on multi-locus nuclear DNA. Principal component analyses of 24 traditional morphological characters used to describe previousS. scalarisgroup taxa indicate that these characters may be of limited use to delineate species in this species group. However, male lateral and ventral coloration may still be an important character for diagnosing species.