ABRONIA FUSCOLABIALIS ( ANGUIDAE ; GERRHONOTINAE )

Rubén Ortega-Álvarez1, Leonel Valdez Cano2, Víctor Wilchest2, Esteban Berrones Benítez3, Israel Medina Mena4 & Israel Solano-Zavaleta5* 1Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad (IIES) Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Morelia, Antigua Carretera a Pátzcuaro 8711, Col. San José de la Huerta, Morelia, Michoacán 58190, México. 2Santiago Xiacuí, Santiago Xiacuí, Oaxaca, México. 3Alta Cima, Gómez Farías, Tamaulipas, México. 4Red de Monitores Comunitarios de Aves “Huilotl Toxtlan”, Los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, México. 5Grupo de Ecología Evolutiva y Demografía Animal, Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, México 04510, México. *Correspondence: isolanoz@ciencias.unam.mx Received: 2020-06-22. Accepted: 2021-10-16. Editor: Oscar A. Flores-Villela, México.

Here, we describe four new records of A. fuscolabialis at Sierra Juárez, northern Oaxaca (Fig. 1). No specimen was collected. All records' photographs  were catalogued at the Colección digital de Vertebrados de la Facultad de Estudios Superiores Zaragoza, UNAM (MZFZ-IMG). These records are separated by 33-35 km to the south of the previously reported specimen from Sierra Júarez (MVZ-177806), and 34-36 km to the west of the nearest specimen reported from Sierra Mixe (UTA R-9899). Following Clause et al. (2020) we have masked the locality data by rounding coordinates to the nearest hundredth of a decimal degree and rounded all reported linear distances to the nearest kilometer. Despite being reported only for cloud forests (Campbell, 2007;Campbell & Frost, 1993) we recorded it in pineoak forests.
The first individual was observed on May 26th, 2015 (Fig. 2). It was resting over a fallen tree on the ground, in the locality named Llano Verde (17.31˚ N, 96.37˚ W, WGS 84, 2280 m a.s.l.), within the municipality of Santiago Xiacuí. This area is under forestry management, and it is covered by humid oak-pine forests with Quercus laurina and the Mexican Weeping Pine (Pinus patula) as dominant species. Particularly, P. patula is extracted from the site to produce boards.
A second individual was found in the municipality of Santiago Xiacuí by May 10th, 2016 (Fig. 3). It was moving on the ground at a site known as Arroyo Cuache (17.28˚ N, 96.40˚ W, WGS 84, 2456 m a.s.l.), 150 m away from a stream. This locality was covered by pine-oak forests, mainly dominated by P. patula and Q. laurina, but there was also an important presence of laurel (Laurus sp.), miconia (Miconia sp.), madrone (Arbutus sp.), alder (Alnus sp.), and Neatleaf Oak (Quercus rugosa). This site was under forestry management over 10 years ago, for the use of P. patula and Smooth-bark Mexican Pine (Pinus pseudostrobus).
By June 15th, 2016, we found a third individual of the species at the site named La Aplanada (17.30˚ N, 96.39˚ W, WGS 84, 2399 m a.s.l.), in the municipality of Santiago Xiacuí (Fig. 4).  It was resting on a bromeliad attached to a madrone, at 1.5 m over the ground. Pine-oak forests covered the area, which were intensively managed for timber extraction. Pinus rudis, Douglas Pine (Pinus douglassiana), P. patula, Leather Leaf Mexican Oak (Quercus crassifolia), and Arbutus sp. represented the dominant tree species in the site.
Finally, we came across a fourth individual in June 25th, 2016 (Fig. 5), at the municipality of Capulálpam de Méndez, in the locality named El Embudo (17.31˚ N, -96.37˚ W, WGS 84, 2345 m a.s.l.). It was basking on a branch at the top of a Q. laurina. The tree was already dead and dry, it was approximately 15 m height and was covered with bromeliads, orchids, liquens, and ferns. A small river ran about 10 m from the tree. The area was covered with humid pine-oak forests, and it was located nearby an area that was under intensive forestry management. The dominant tree species in the area were Q. laurina, P. pseudostrobus, and P. patula.
The local conservation of A. fuscolabialis depends on communities through the preservation and sustainable management of forests, given that there are no federal protected areas across the region. More support to communal conservation initiatives might aid in the preservation of the species. Community-based monitoring might help reduce the fear that local people show to the lizard, as well as to increase the ecological and distributional knowledge of the species.