A new species of Tupinambis (Squamata : Teiidae) from central Brazil, withan analysis of morphological and genetic variation in the genus

We describe a new species of Tupinambis from central Brazil. Tupinambis cer radensis is apparently endemic to the Cerrado biome and associated with gal lery forests. Tupinambis cerradensis is sympatric with T. merianae, and pro bably with T. rufescens, throughout its range. A discriminant analysis of e ight size-independent morphometric variables and body size indicated that r elative limb size is the most striking difference among the species of Tupi nambis, and that the discriminatory power of morphometric characters is low . A discriminant analysis of 10 meristic characters indicated that the numb er of femoral pores, dorsals, and scales around midbody are the best discri minators among the species of Tupinambis, and that the discriminatory power of meristic characters is high. Allelic frequencies from six variable pres umed electrophoretic loci produced greater genetic distances between T. cer radensis and T. merianae than between T. cerradensis and T. teguixin. Tupin ambis cerradensis feeds mostly on arthropods and molluscs, ingesting much l ess plant material and vertebrates than the larger species of the genus.