A New Species of Ameivula (Squamata, Teiidae) from Southern Espinhaco Mountain Range, Brazil

In a recent phylogenetic analysis of Teiidae based on morphological characters, three new genera were erected to remove polyphyletism in the genus Cnemidophorus. Accordingly, Ameivula was proposed to accommodate the species formerly included in the Cnemidophorus ocellifer group, characterized by the presence of granules in the supraocular semicircles, femoral pores fewer than 40, and preanal spurs absent. Here we describe a new species of Ameivula from the mountain region of Parque Nacional Serra do Cipo, Minas Gerais, that is apparently endemic to high elevations between 900 and about 1200 m. The new species can be easily distinguished from its congeners by the presence of three supraocular scales, a contact between frontoparietal scale and the third supraoculars (circumorbital with an incomplete series of granules), a third pair of chinshields larger than the others and low number of fourth finger lamellae.