Historia y taxonomía: redescripción de Lio/aemus andinus Koslowsky, 189S y descripción de dos nuevas especies de Liolaemus (lguania: Liolaemidae).

Due to lack of information about the precise type locality of Liolaemus andinus, and the subse-quent loss of the type material, for a long-time various population of divergent morphological characteristics were assigned to this taxon, which caused the identification of the true L. andinus to become problematic. The present study started in 2004 and after sixteen years of research of the various populations assigned or related to this species, L. andinus is redescribed, a neotype is assigned, and considerations on its probable provenance, and data on its biology and distribution are provided. Also, a hypothesis is presented on the provenance of L. andinus based on biological and historical support evidence. The taxonomic position of populations that have been assigned to and confined with L. andinus in the literature is determined, several of which have affinity with L. poecilochromus and L. rosenmanni. Morphology and molecular-based analyses performed in this study allow us to describe two new Liolaemus species, previously confused and identified as Liolaemus andinus. These new taxa inhabit the high Andes phytogeographic region in Argentina, at altitudes above 3000 m a.s.l. One of these species is distributed in the southwest of Catamarca province and the other inhabits the central-western portion of La Rioja province. The most significant morphological differences between these new species and Liolaemus andinus are mainly the coloration pattern and some lepidosis characters related to number of scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]