Quick Argentine / Colombian difference.

[Awano]

That is very interesting that there may be more undescribed tegu species out there. I always find it cool when old species are reevaluated and found likely to be multiple distinct species. I recently read a paper about Macrochelys temminckii in the the South East U.S. actually being three distinct species with some significant morphological variance. It's pretty crazy to see new species pop up when you look closely enough.
It's also pretty cool that they relocate animals that may be affected by development. I don't know if we do something like that in the U.S. but I like the idea!

 

[Roadkill]

There's different reasons why there could be undescribed species, as you've pointed out, there is often the case that because of lack of attention or technology, what was commonly thought of as one species gets split up into several. Then there's the other case of the species simply not being seen before. However, when it comes to tegus, there's a whole lot of both, as we know more I'm sure we'll observe different species carved out of what was once considered one species, and it's still somewhat surprising that considering South America has basically been occupied/explored by Europeans for longer than North America that the fauna is still quite poorly explored.
Then again, there's the argument that as our understanding of biology and evolution has progressed, the whole concept of "species" is quite outdated and inaccurate.

 

[Mr. Jiffy]

Are golds a species in and of themselves? You mentioned Co, Ar, and then Gold, so do they belong to either Co or Ar?

 

[laurarfl]

Golds are considered to be T teguixin.

 

[Roadkill]

Mr.Jiffy, you've waded into an area that opens a larger can of worms. I'll never understand how hobbyists who can tell you all the different morphs and who's breeding what, can at the same time say it's too hard to remember the scientific names. Particularly with tegus - there's currently only seven species recognized. Why is this an issue? Well, because people juggle around common names to the point where they're meaningless (for example, if you've followed my posts, you'd know I abhor the "Argentine" epithet because it labels a whole group that exists more OUTSIDE Argentina than inside, the only reason I can figure out how this name came about is because likely the first ones imported to North America were likely from Argentina). With the scientific names, it is very clear what species one is talking about. With common names, not so much. Usually, a "gold" refers to the Colombian gold tegu, same species (currently) as the Colombian black & white tegu, Tupinambis teguixin. However, with how herpetoculture has gone, and everyone wanting the "new" and "unique" thing, I can easily see someone trying to sell a Equadorian Gold, or Trinidad Gold - which would still be the same species (although for my interests, I'd really want to keep distinct either of these...). At the same time, I've seen some people refer to Salvator duseni as gold tegus. I'd assume by your post that you're referring to Tupinambis teguixin, but with your desire to muddy it even further by shortening to Ar and Co - well, if people want to not be bothered to use actual science names and actually learn what species is what, then feel free to call it whatever you want, just don't get into arguments over what you or anyone else means, there's a reason the scientific nomenclature exists.

 

[Mr. Jiffy]

*Excuse my french*, I was referring to the Tupinambis teguixin, and was wondering if was a sub-species or closely related to the Tupinambis merianae, or if it was more closely related to "columbian black and white". But I can definately see the need for a snide remark to answer my question. Pardon me for being in a hurry.

 

[Roadkill]

Ok, let's try this.
S. merianae.
There's no such thing as a Columbian tegu.