Discopleurus Lacordaire (Pimeliiinae: Stenosini) is distributed in mesic and arid habitats of Central and South America. Most of the species are only known from a few localities, which may be due to their small size and hidden lifestyle. It is assumed that Discopleurus species live at least temporarily in ant nests, a characteristic feature described from many members of the worldwide distributed Stenosini. A recent expedition to the Precordillera of the southern Atacama Desert allowed collecting specimens of a new Discopleurus species that inhabits the most arid habitat known so far for Discopleurus. This species is described here as Discopleurus atacamensis sp. n. and can easily be differentiated from the seven previously described Discopleurus species by the interrupted central keels of the head. A phylogenetic analysis of 60 morphological characters was used to revise the phylogeny of the genus. D. atacamensis is not the sister taxon of one of the three other Chilean species, but the sister to Discopleurus argentinensis which is found on the eastern side of the Andes. The range of the common ancestor may have been separated by the Andean uplift and/or associated environmental changes.

Discopleurus Lacordaire（Pimeliiinae：Stenosini）分布在中美洲和南美洲的中性和干旱生境中。大多数物种仅在少数几个地方才知道，这可能是由于它们的体积小和隐藏的生活方式。假定盘尾类至少暂时地生活在蚂蚁巢中，这是全世界分布的Stenosini的许多成员所描述的特征。最近对阿塔卡马沙漠南部的Precordillera进行的一次考察使得可以收集一种新的Disc Discleurus物种的标本，该物种栖息于迄今为止以Discopleurus最为干旱的生境中。此物种在这里被称为atacamensis Discataleurus atacamensissp。。并且可以通过中断的头部中央龙骨轻松地将其与先前描述的七个Discopleurus物种区分开。系统发育分析的60个形态特征被用来修改属的系统发育。D. atacamensis不是其他三个智利物种之一的姐妹分类群，而是安第斯山脉东侧发现的阿根廷Discopleurus argentinensis的姐妹。共同祖先的范围可能已被安第斯山脉隆起和/或相关的环境变化所分隔。