A new species of Phymaturus (Iguania: Liolaemidae) of the palluma group from Central Chile

Here is described Phymaturus damasense as a new species of the palluma group from Central Chile. We compared samples of Phymaturus obtained from the watershed of the “Río Las Damas” and the watershed of the “Río Maule”, in central Chile. We found several differences in scalation and in color pattern. The samples from watershed of the “Río Maule” correspond to topotypes of P. maulense and two more populations  (from “Termas del Campanario” and from “Laguna del Maule”, new records), but populations from watershed of the “Río Las Damas” corresponds to a new species: P. damasense. This is characterized by: male dorsal pattern formed by a fine reticulation over greenish background color with yellowish-brown tail, subocular scale fragmented in three or four scales,  scales on the anterior border of the auditory meatus are projected posteriorly, females present present dark bars on the flanks (formed by small dots), enlarged scales in the center of the gular fold and may have precloacar pores. Also, we call attention to some chilean populations of the genus Phymaturus reported in the literature which need to be assigned.