DOI10.47051/PTZY1274

Published July 13, 2023. Updated September 28, 2025. Open access. Peer-reviewed.

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Blotchbelly Andean-Lizard (Andinosaura hyposticta)

Reptiles of Ecuador | Sauria | Gymnophthalmidae | Andinosaura hyposticta

English common name: Blotchbelly Andean-Lizard.

Spanish common name: Lagartija andina ventripunteada.

Recognition: ♂♂ 18.8 cmMaximum distance from the snout to the tip of the tail. Snout–vent length=8.2 cm. ♀♀ 14.9 cmMaximum distance from the snout to the tip of the tail. Snout–vent length=5.2 cm..1–3 The Blotchbelly Andean-Lizard (Andinosaura hyposticta) differs from most other lizards in its area of distribution by lacking prefrontal scales and having extremities long enough that the front and hind limbs overlap when pressed against its body.1,2 The adult males of this species have a reddish brown dorsum with a series of black ocelli (black circles around a yellow spot) along the flanks, black lips with yellow bars (Fig. 1), and a blackish belly with conspicuous transverse yellow bars and spots.1,2 The adult females have a more subdued coloration, lack conspicuous ocelli, and have a light cream belly.3 This species differs from the co-occurring A. oculata by having less than seven lateral scales as well as by having a black belly in adult males. In contrast, the belly of adult males of A. oculata is light grayish brown or cream with dark smears, but without contrasting yellow markings.4

Illustration of an adult male individual of Andinosaura hyposticta

Figure 1: Individuals of Andinosaura hyposticta from Finca Las Islas, Pichincha province, Ecuador.

Natural history: Andinosaura hyposticta is an extremely rare lizard that inhabits old-growth cloud forests,1 but occasionally ventures into pastures with scattered trees as well as in buildings in rural areas.3 Blotchbelly Andean-Lizards are cryptozoic, meaning they prefer moist, shaded microhabitats such as streams with abundant leaf-litter.3 Individuals have been found in leaf-litter during the daytime, crossing a dirt road between pastures, and inside houses,3,5 but they can also climb and are presumably entirely arboreal. Almost nothing is known about their natural history, but other closely related Andinosaura lay clutches of three eggs in holes in the forest floor.6

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Conservation: Near Threatened Not currently at risk of extinction, but requires some level of management to maintain healthy populations.. Andinosaura hyposticta is proposed to be included in this category, instead of in Data Deficient,7 because there is now adequate information to make an assessment of its extinction risk based on novel distribution and natural history data. The species is currently known from eight localities (including six privately protected areas) and is distributed over an area that retains most (~75.9%) of its original forest cover. Therefore, the species is considered to be facing no major immediate extinction threats. The most important threat to all populations seems to be deforestation due to gold mining and the expansion of the agricultural frontier.

Distribution: Andinosaura hyposticta is native to an area of approximately 5,970 km2 along the Pacific slopes of the Andes of northwestern Ecuador and southwestern Colombia. The species is known from just eight localities (Fig. 2).

Distribution of Andinosaura hyposticta in Ecuador

Figure 2: Distribution of Andinosaura hyposticta in Ecuador. The star corresponds to the type locality: Paramba, Imbabura province. See Appendix 1 for a complete list of the presence localities included in the map.

Etymology: The generic name Andinosaura, which comes from the Spanish word andino (from the Andes) and the Latin sauria (=lizard), refers to the distribution of this group of lizards.8 The specific epithet hyposticta comes from the Greek words hypo (=beneath) and stiktos (=spotted)9 and refers to the ventral pattern of the adult males, which consists of bright yellow spots on a shiny black background.1

See it in the wild: Species of the genus Andinosaura are among the most rarely encountered lizards in Ecuador and A. hyposticta is no exception. Due to the species’ secretive and arboreal habits, individuals are encountered usually only by accident and no more than once every few months. Only 11 lizards of this species have ever been recorded as of September 2025, with four of them originating from a single locality: Finca Las Islas.

Acknowledgments: Special thanks to Benjamin Castillo for locating the individuals of Andinosaura hyposticta photographed at Finca Las Islas.

Author: Alejandro ArteagaaAffiliation: Fundación Khamai, Reserva Arlequín, Ecoruta Paseo del Quinde km 56, Santa Rosa de Mindo, Pichincha 171202, Ecuador.

Academic reviewer: Jeffrey D CamperbAffiliation: Department of Biology, Francis Marion University, Florence, USA.

Photographer: Amanda QuezadacAffiliation: Fundación Khamai, Reserva Arlequín, Ecoruta Paseo del Quinde km 56, Santa Rosa de Mindo, Pichincha 171202, Ecuador.

How to cite? Arteaga A (2025) Blotchbelly Andean-Lizard (Andinosaura hyposticta). In: Arteaga A, Bustamante L, Vieira J (Eds) Reptiles of Ecuador: Life in the middle of the world. Available from: www.reptilesofecuador.com. DOI: 10.47051/PTZY1274

Literature cited:

  1. Boulenger GA (1902) Descriptions of new batrachians and reptiles from north-western Ecuador. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 9: 51–57. DOI: 10.1080/00222930208678538
  2. Sánchez-Pacheco SJ, Kizirian DA, Sales-Nunes PM (2011) A new species of Riama from Ecuador previously referred to as Riama hyposticta (Boulenger, 1902) (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae). American Museum Novitates 3719: 1–15.
  3. Field notes, Reptiles of Ecuador book project.
  4. Kizirian DA (1996) A review of Ecuadorian Proctoporus (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae) with descriptions of nine new species. Herpetological Monographs 10: 85–155. DOI: 10.2307/1466981
  5. Benjamin Castillo, pers. comm.
  6. Arteaga A, Bustamante L, Guayasamin JM (2013) The amphibians and reptiles of Mindo. Universidad Tecnológica Indoamérica, Quito, 257 pp.
  7. Bolívar W, Cisneros-Heredia DF, Velasco J (2013) Andinosaura hyposticta. The IUCN Red List of threatened species. Available from: www.iucnredlist.org. DOI: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T44578768A44578777.en
  8. Sánchez‐Pacheco SJ, Torres‐Carvajal O, Aguirre‐Peñafiel V, Sales-Nunes PM, Verrastro L, Rivas GA, Rodrigues MT, Grant T, Murphy RW (2017) Phylogeny of Riama (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae), impact of phenotypic evidence on molecular datasets, and the origin of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta endemic fauna. Cladistics 34: 260–291. DOI: 10.1111/cla.12203
  9. Brown RW (1956) Composition of scientific words. Smithsonian Books, Washington D.C., 882 pp.

Appendix 1: Locality data used to create the distribution map of Andinosaura hyposticta in Ecuador (Fig. 2). Go to the section on symbols and abbreviations for a list of acronyms used. Asterisk (*) indicates type locality.

CountryProvinceLocalitySource
ColombiaNariñoReserva El PangániNaturalist; photo examined
ColombiaNariñoReserva Natural Río ÑambíSánchez-Pacheco et al. 2011
EcuadorImbaburaComuna BrillasolPhoto by Eduardo Obando
EcuadorImbaburaParamba*Boulenger 1902
EcuadorImbaburaReserva ManduriacuReptiles of Ecuador book database
EcuadorPichinchaAldea Creativa Nuestra TierraiNaturalist; photo examined
EcuadorPichinchaFinca Las IslasPhoto by Benjamin Castillo
EcuadorPichinchaHacienda San VicenteiNaturalist; photo examined