The relationship between people and lizards in Patagonia

Abstract: Understanding how human beings perceive and interact with the local herpetofauna is fundamental for its conservation. In this chapter, we propose looking forward to the local ecological knowledge (LEK) of the Patagonian lizards, especially the "matuasto". The preliminary analysis of ethnohistorical sources points out the relevant role of "matuastos" in the cosmologies of the original people from Patagonia, often considered as immortal, selfish and harmful beings. Field reports agree on the warning not to disturb these territorial lizards, otherwise they would react aggressively with bites. The recorded stories account for frequent biting events on sheep. The local perception on "matuastos" as harmful beings would provoke an attitude of caution and rejection towards them. This work provides a first overview on the relationship of lizards and the people from Patagonia while constituting an initial step for future research.Fil: Aigo, Juana del Carmen. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto de Diversidad y Evolución Austral; ArgentinaFil: Ladio, Ana Haydee. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; ArgentinaFil: Boretto, Jorgelina Mariela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; ArgentinaFil: Cabezas Cartes, Facundo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; ArgentinaFil: Ibarguengoytía, Nora. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentin

Biogeography, ecology, and spatial patterns of patagonian lizards

Patagonia has a great diversity of lizards, including 6 families, 11 genera and 163 species. The majority of this diversity with documented geographical records corresponds to the Liolaemidae family (Phymaturus and Liolaemus). Latitudinally, lizard richness is higher between 37° to 39° S, decreasing gradually until latitude 54° S; longitudinally, it is higher between 69° and 71° W. The georeferenced records and the number of collected specimens have some biases, with higher values in the northern regions (up to latitude 42° S). However, there are areas up to latitude 45° S with species richness similar to others with a greater number of collected individuals. The vegetation units with the highest species richness (S) in Argentinean Patagonia are the northern and central areas reaching west of Chubut Province: Western District (S = 60) and Typical Southern Monte (S = 49), passing through areas with intermediate richness and with only one species (Wet Magellanic Steppe) or none (Evergreen shrub, Monte?s Mountains and Valleys, Western Interior Pampa, and Peat Bogs). There is a general trend towards lower species richness in vegetation units located in the extreme south of Argentina and south of latitude 41° S in Chile. We evaluated differences in lizard diversity and evenness among vegetation units through a dendrogram based on species incidences and found 6 clusters. Then, we compared species richness between members of each cluster with rarefaction curves. Species marginally distributed in Patagonia have a narrower altitudinal range than Patagonian endemics. Species in genus Liolaemus have small differences in altitudinal range, but species of Phymaturus have pronounced differences in altitudinal ranges. Our spatial analyses, based on intensive systematic-taxonomic activity over the last two decades, shed light into the understanding of lizard distributions in one of the regions with the greatest diversity of reptiles in the world. We also provide ecological and spatial metrics for an updated list of Patagonian lizards. We highlight that the usefulness of discretizing large volumes of information and geographic space into a synthetic framework allows using quantitative results for the study of spatial patterns of biodiversity, decision-making for design studies, use of resources and creation of protected areas.Fil: Minoli, Ignacio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Puerto Iguazú | Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Puerto Iguazú; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico para el Estudio de los Ecosistemas Continentales; ArgentinaFil: Perez, Cristian Hernan Fulvio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagonico. Unidad de Administracion Territorial.; ArgentinaFil: Morando, Mariana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico para el Estudio de los Ecosistemas Continentales; ArgentinaFil: Avila, Luciano Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico para el Estudio de los Ecosistemas Continentales; Argentin