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Bicuar National Park (BNP) is a protected area in southwestern Angola where biodiversity has been poorly studied. BNP is located on the Angolan plateau on Kalahari sands, in a transition zone between the Angolan Miombo Woodland and the Zambezian Baikiaea Woodland ecoregions. Herpetological surveys were conducted in BNP and surrounding areas, throug...
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... Although P. adspersus is protected in Gauteng Province of South Africa (Nature Conservation Ordinance 12 of 1983), it is not protected elsewhere, neither is any other species of Pyxicephalus. Pickersgill (2007) distinguished three forms of bullfrogs but was P. adspersus), and Marques et al. (2018) identified all southern Angolan material as P. edulis, while Baptista et al. (2019) list all Angolan material as P. adspersus. Scott et al. (2013) showed that most East African material labelled as P. edulis was actually P. angusticeps, including one animal of the P. edulis type series, ZMB 10056. ...
... The distribution of 796 records of Pyxicephalus based on museum catalogues (American Museum of Natural History AMNH, California Academy of Science CAS, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard MCZ, Port Elizabeth Museum, Bayworld PEM), literature (Bocage 1895;Parker 1936;Mitchell 1946;Poynton 1964;Parry 1982;Morgan-Davies et al. 1984;Poynton and Broadley 1985;Poynton and Haacke 1993;Channing et al. 1994;Pickersgill 2007;Mercurio 2011;Scott et al. 2013;Marques et al. 2018;Baptista et al. 2019;Spawls et al. 2023) and citizen scientists (iNaturalist and the ADU FrogMap) shows that the genus is widespread in the drier interior of southern Africa and the Sahel, excluding the Guinea-Congolian tropical forests (Figure 11). Mapping the sequences and calls shows the probable distribution and sympatry of the southern African species (Figure 12). ...
Four species of African bullfrogs are currently recognised. We describe a new species from southern Africa, which can be distinguished on the basis of morphology, advertisement call and DNA sequences. Morphologically it differs from other bullfrogs by a combination of characteristics including a tympanum that is smaller or equal in size to the eye, and smaller in diameter than the space between eye and tympanum, presence of a white dot on the tympanum, longitudinal skin ridges with speckling between dorsal mottles, pale vertebral line usually present, absence of cream coloured lateral stripes, absence of a pale interorbital-bar, upper jaw-barring absent or faint. It has been confirmed from northeastern Namibia, southern Angola and northwestern Botswana. Three further undescribed species are recognised but not formally named, pending further investigation. We confirm the genetic distinctiveness of P. angusticeps. ARTICLE HISTORY
... Although P. adspersus is protected in Gauteng Province of South Africa (Nature Conservation Ordinance 12 of 1983), it is not protected elsewhere, neither is any other species of Pyxicephalus. Pickersgill (2007) distinguished three forms of bullfrogs but was P. adspersus), and Marques et al. (2018) identified all southern Angolan material as P. edulis, while Baptista et al. (2019) list all Angolan material as P. adspersus. Scott et al. (2013) showed that most East African material labelled as P. edulis was actually P. angusticeps, including one animal of the P. edulis type series, ZMB 10056. ...
... The distribution of 796 records of Pyxicephalus based on museum catalogues (American Museum of Natural History AMNH, California Academy of Science CAS, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard MCZ, Port Elizabeth Museum, Bayworld PEM), literature (Bocage 1895;Parker 1936;Mitchell 1946;Poynton 1964;Parry 1982;Morgan-Davies et al. 1984;Poynton and Broadley 1985;Poynton and Haacke 1993;Channing et al. 1994;Pickersgill 2007;Mercurio 2011;Scott et al. 2013;Marques et al. 2018;Baptista et al. 2019;Spawls et al. 2023) and citizen scientists (iNaturalist and the ADU FrogMap) shows that the genus is widespread in the drier interior of southern Africa and the Sahel, excluding the Guinea-Congolian tropical forests (Figure 11). Mapping the sequences and calls shows the probable distribution and sympatry of the southern African species (Figure 12). ...
... Only recently, based on a phylogenetic revision of the T. varia species complex, Weinell and Bauer (2018) showed evidence that the Angolan populations likely constitute a distinct taxon, suggesting that the names albopunctata and/or angolensis would possibly be available for the Angolan lineage. This led subsequent authors to adopt the oldest nomen, albopunctata, as the applicable name for the Angolan representatives of the T. varia complex (Marques et al., 2018;Baptista et al., 2019;Branch et al., 2019a;Butler et al., 2019). However, as noted by Weinell and Bauer (2018) and Marques et al. (2018), the situation is nomenclaturally unstable primarily because of the loss of the type material of both Bocage's albopunctata and angolensis, and the secondary homonymy of Mabuia angolensis, erected by Monard (1937) to describe a putative new species within the T. striata/wahlbergii species complex (see account of T. monardi, comb. ...
... All Angolan T. ansorgii records subsequent to those of Boulenger (1907) and Monard (1937) most likely refer to nominotypical sulcata based on distribution ranges. These include the records from Otschinjau, Cunene Province by Hellmich (1957b), from "Munhino, 50 km à l' ouest de Sá da Bandeira, district de Mocâmedes, 1000 m" [= "Munhino, " 50 km west of Lubango, Namibe Provice; georeferenced to -14.96667, 12.96667 by Marques et al., 2018] by Laurent (1964), and from "11 km south of Chibemba, " Huíla Province by Haacke in Baptista et al. (2019). Besides the most recently collected specimens (Butler et al., 2019, this paper, and another in review), the only historical specimens (excluding the type material and those recorded by Monard, 1937) that can be safely allocated to T. ansorgii are those recorded from Entre Rios, Benguela Province, and Nova Lisboa [currently Huambo], Huambo Province, by Hellmich (1957a). ...
... Marques et al. (2018) also noted that it was "highly unlikely that these [Angolan] records refer to the same lineage as true T. spilogaster. " Butler et al. (2019) provided the first records of the species for Huíla Province, and some months later Baptista et al. (2019) provided additional records for the same province. According to our molecular data ( fig. 1) the central and southern Angolan populations constitute a distinct taxon, sister to T. spilogaster sensu stricto, and morphological data also allow us to separate these two taxa. ...
The genus Trachylepis is currently represented by 21 species in Angola, most of them part of nomenclaturally and taxonomically challenging species complexes. In this study we present an integrative taxonomic revision of the genus in Angola and describe seven new species: Trachylepis attenboroughi, sp. nov., Trachylepis bouri, sp. nov., Trachylepis hilariae, sp. nov., Trachylepis ovahelelo, sp. nov., Trachylepis suzanae, sp. nov., Trachylepis vunongue, sp. nov., and Trachylepis wilsoni, sp. nov. As result of our taxonomic revisions, 25 valid Trachylepis species are now confirmed from Angola. A phylogenetic analysis using a combination of mitochondrial (16S, ND2) and nuclear (RAG1) markers, as well as morphological data, supports the recognition of the new species. In addition, data support the revalidation of Trachylepis albopunctata (Bocage, 1867), Trachylepis notabilis (Peters, 1879), and Trachylepis ansorgii (Boulenger, 1907). We also provide a redefinition of Euprepes anchietae Bocage, 1866, which we synonymize with Trachylepis maculilabris (Gray, 1845). Given that the type material for Trachylepis albopunctata, T. angolensis, and T. anchietae has been lost or destroyed, we designate neotypes for the purpose of nomenclatural stability. The description of the new species and the revision and revalidation of previously described Angolan species contribute to a better understanding of the taxonomy and biogeography of the genus, as well as to the general biogeographic patterns and evolution of the Angolan fauna.
... Angola has experienced long-lasting political instability and armed conflicts, starting with the Angolan struggle for national liberation (1961)(1962)(1963)(1964)(1965)(1966)(1967)(1968)(1969)(1970)(1971)(1972)(1973)(1974), and following independence from Portuguese rule in 1975, by the Angolan Civil War . With the advent of peace and increased security across the country, modern surveys have revealed a very rich herpetological diversity (e.g., Haacke 2008;Huntley 2009Huntley , 2011Conradie et al. 2012aConradie et al. , 2012bConradie et al. , 2013Conradie et al. , 2016Conradie et al. , 2020aConradie et al. , 2020bConradie et al. , 2021Conradie et al. , 2022aConradie et al. , 2022bCeríaco et al. 2014Ceríaco et al. , 2016Ceríaco et al. , 2018Ceríaco et al. , 2020aCeríaco et al. , 2020bCeríaco et al. , 2020cCeríaco et al. , 2021Branch and Conradie 2015;Stanley et al. 2016;Branch et al. 2017Branch et al. , 2018Branch et al. , 2019aBranch et al. , 2019bBranch et al. , 2021Branch 2018a;Baptista et al. 2018Baptista et al. , 2019aBaptista et al. , 2020Marques et al. 2019Marques et al. , 2020Marques et al. , 2022aMarques et al. , 2022bMarques et al. , 2023Vaz Pinto et al. 2019Hallerman et al. 2020;Nielsen et al. 2020;Lobón-Rovira et al. 2021, 2022b, 2022cParrinha et al. 2021;Wagner et al. 2021). Historical records of reptiles and amphibians in Angola (1840Angola ( to 2017 were recently summarised and mapped by Marques et al. (2018), a checklist of the country's snakes was published by Branch (2018b), and summaries of current knowledge of reptiles and amphibians were produced by Branch et al. (2019c) and Baptista et al. (2019b) respectively. ...
Cordylus angolensis (Bocage, 1895) was described 128 years ago on the basis of a single specimen collected at Caconda in the west-central highlands of Angola. Additional specimens referred to this species were collected at ‘Mombolo’ (also in the central highlands) during the Vernay Angola Expedition in 1925. As the holotype was apparently destroyed in the fire of 1978 at the Museu Bocage in Lisbon and no additional specimens have been collected, its taxonomic status and phylogenetic relationships has remained uncertain. The species has eluded all efforts aimed at its re-discovery in the vicinity of the type locality, with a single specimen from near Condé, north of Mombolo—collected in 1970 by Wulf Haacke—the only other specimen of Cordylus known from west-central Angola. Recent field work in the Angolan highlands resulted in the collection of a series of specimens from Taqueta Mountain (west of Caconda), Monte Verde (Sandula, ‘Mombolo’) and Uassamba (Vondo). A phylogenetic analysis, using three mitochondrial and six nuclear genes, indicated the existence of two distinct species-level lineages in the Angolan highlands. These two species are allopatric and morphologically distinct, differing especially in terms of their colour patterns, eye colour and certain scalation characteristics. We therefore confirm that C. angolensis is a valid species and designate a neotype, and describe a new species, Cordylus momboloensis sp. nov.
... Distribution: A widespread species, ranging from Namibia and Angola to Malawi and northwards to Ethiopia at elevations from sea level to about 1900 m [108,109]. Altitudinal range and province records in Rwanda: 962-1673 m; Southern, Western, and Eastern Provinces. ...
The diversity and distribution of the amphibians in Rwanda was critically reviewed to provide a reliable species inventory for informed conservation management. The checklist of the amphibian species of Rwanda is based on results of our own fieldwork, historical records compiled from the literature, and examination of voucher specimens in museum collections. A total of 62 species are recorded, and 22 further species listed in field guides and open-access data bases are discussed, identified as erroneous records, and consequently not included in the country list. We provide diagnostic characters of external morphology and the advertisement call for each validated species, and a short synopsis of geographic distribution, altitudinal range, occurrence in the provinces of Rwanda, and habitat preference. We provide keys to all genera, and all taxonomically described species based on morphological characters and additional keys based on features of the advertisement calls. We discuss features of amphibian communities including local community structure and delimitation of altitudinal metacommunities. Based on the IUCN red list assessment and our field surveys, we propose for the first time a national red list of amphibians in Rwanda.
... Since the description of P. angolensis, only a handful of specimens have been recorded from Angola (Monard 1931(Monard , 1937Mertens 1937;Bogert 1940;Hellmich 1957;Baptista et al. 2019;Ceríaco et al. 2021a;Conradie et al. 2021). Specimens from outside of Angola were documented from northern Namibia (Mertens 1955), the Zambezi Region (= Caprivi Strip) in north-eastern Namibia, western Zambia, northern Botswana (Broadley 1980), and north-eastern Zimbabwe (Broadley 1995) (see Fig. 1). ...
... Recent herpetological surveys undertaken in eastern and southwestern Angola led to the collection of several specimens assigned to P. angolensis (Branch 2018;Baptista et al. 2019;Conradie et al. 2021). The first was collected by William R. Branch from the coastal semi-arid lowlands in Namibe Province and was initially assigned to P. ambigua (Branch 2018). ...
... data), another problematic identification, as it did not agree with the species description and this was the first record of P. angolensis from the more arid coastal plains of Angola. Nominotypical P. angolensis, which fully agrees with the original description, was collected from Bicuar National Park in southwestern Angola (Baptista et al. 2019). Finally, during several expeditions to document the biodiversity of the headwaters of the Angolan Okavango-Cuando-Zambezi river basins in east-central Angola, a series of specimens was collected, and tentatively assigned to P. angolensis based on external morphology ), but they exhibited the same distinct characteristics reported from western Zambia and north-eastern Namibia specimens by Broadley (1980). ...
African Shovel-snout snakes ( Prosymna Gray, 1849) are small, semi-fossorial snakes with a unique compressed and beak-like snout. Prosymna occur mainly in the savanna of sub-Saharan Africa. Of the 16 currently recognised species, four occur in Angola: Prosymna ambigua Bocage, 1873, P. angolensis Boulenger, 1915, P. frontalis (Peters, 1867), and P. visseri FitzSimons, 1959. The taxonomical status and evolutionary relationships of P. angolensis have never been assessed due to the lack of genetic material. This species is known to occur from western Angola southwards to Namibia, and eastwards to Zambia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. The species shows considerable variation in dorsal colouration across its range, and with the lower ventral scales count, an ‘eastern race’ was suggested. In recent years, Prosymna material from different parts of Angola has been collected, and with phylogenetic analysis and High Resolution X-ray Computed Tomography, the taxonomic status of these populations can be reviewed. Strong phylogenetic evidence was found to include the angolensis subgroup as part of the larger sundevalli group, and the existence of three phylogenetic lineages within the angolensis subgroup were identified, which each exhibit clear morphological and colouration differences. One of these lineages is assigned to the nominotypical P. angolensis and the other two described as new species, one of which corroborates the distinct eastern population previously detected. These results reinforce that a considerable part of Angolan herpetological diversity is still to be described and the need for further studies.
... In order to address these shortcomings, national inventories have been published to help summarise all the historical materials from Angola (Branch 2018;Marques et al. 2018;Baptista et al. 2019b;Branch et al. 2019c) and have set the foundation for future herpetological work. Several formal conservation areas, including national parks and reserves, have been the focus of herpetological surveys in the last decade (Ceríaco et al. 2014(Ceríaco et al. , 2016a(Ceríaco et al. , 2018bConradie et al. 2016Butler et al. 2019;Baptista et al. 2019a;Ernst et al. 2020). The rapid improvement of our knowledge of Angolan herpetofauna, especially the number of new species descriptions, highlights the need to re-evaluate estimates of biodiversity richness across the country . ...
... As a result of the recent surveys, Iona NP is now recognised as the most herpetologically species-rich conservation area in Angola (Conradie et al. 2016Ceríaco et al. 2018b;Baptista et al. 2019a;Ernst et al. 2020) and may be a regionally important area. We believe that the number of species is underestimated, especially for snakes and fossorial species. ...
Angola has experienced an incredible increase of the knowledge of its herpetofauna over the past decade. However, accurate biodiversity inventories remain deficient for certain regions of particular conservation interest. We therefore provide an updated checklist of Iona National Park’s herpetofauna, with 75 recorded species, including five amphibians and 70 reptiles, 40 of these recorded for the first time in Iona National Park. These species comprise ~80% of the reptile diversity of Namibe Province. Therefore, this work recognises Iona National Park as the most reptile-diverse protected area in Angola and is potentially one of the richest in southern Africa. Consequently, this work enhances the importance of specific conservation plans in the area and the need for further investigation into the hidden biodiversity of this region.
... After preliminary analysis of freshly collected material from southern Angola (Huíla Province), Marques et al. (2018) divided the Angolan populations of Acanthocercus in two putative taxa, A. cyanocephalus in the central and northern regions of the country, and A. sp. in the southern provinces of Huíla, Cunene and Cuando-Cubango. This option was followed by Butler et al. (2019) and Baptista et al. (2019). More recently Wagner et al. (2021) carefully revisited the Angolan and northern Namibian populations of the genus. ...
Recent integrative taxonomic studies of the agamid genus Acanthocercus Fitzinger, 1843 have shown that Angola harbors three different taxa, all within the Acanthocercus atricollis (Smith, 1849) species complex—A. cyanocephalus (Falk, 1925) in the northeastern parts of the country, A. margaritae Wagner et al. 2021 in the southern regions, and an unnamed species in the central and northwestern parts of Angola. Using the previously published molecular data as evidence of phylogenetic support and newly collected morphological, meristic and coloration data, we here describe this unnamed lineage as a new species. The new species is morphologically very similar to A. cyanocephalus, but it can easily be differentiated from the latter by the coloration pattern of displaying males, with a blue coloration restricted to the head region, and by its inferior scale counts compared to other species of the A. atricollis complex group. As reported in other studies in this group, male breeding coloration is an effective trait for diagnosing these morphologically conserved species. This description raises the number of Acanthocercus species recognized to 15 and is another contribution revealing the rich but still incompletely described herpetological diversity of Angola.
... In this period, the country's biodiversity was neglected and over-exploited for its natural resources (Huntley and Matos 1992). Following the cessation of hostilities and the ongoing redevelopment of regional infrastructure, the modern biodiversity surveys have begun to focus on poorly surveyed regions of the country in the south-west (Huntley 2009;Ceríaco et al. 2016a;Baptista et al. 2018Baptista et al. , 2019aButler et al. 2019), northeast (Branch and Conradie 2015;Huntley and Francisco 2015), south-east (Brooks 2012(Brooks , 2013Conradie et al. 2016;NGOWP 2017), central (Ceríaco et al. 2014(Ceríaco et al. , 2016b(Ceríaco et al. , 2018a, and north-west regions. Some of these surveys have targeted areas that had never been scientifically surveyed until recently, leading to the discovery and description of several new species of amphibians (Conradie et al. 2012aCeríaco et al. 2018bCeríaco et al. , 2021Nielsen et al. 2020) and reptiles (Conradie et al. 2012bStanley et al. 2016;Branch et al. 2019Branch et al. , 2021Marques et al. 2019Marques et al. a,b, 2020Ceríaco et al. 2020a-c;Hallermann et al. 2020;Parrinha et al. 2021). ...
... The new record represents the eastern-most locality for this species and the first record for the larger Okavango Delta system. This species was recently recorded from Bicuar National Park and surroundings (Baptista et al. 2019a;Butler et al. 2019). ...
... Recently, Portillo et al. (2018) used the specimen mentioned above and found no genetic differences between the Angolan population and the distant South African population. Butler et al. (2019) and Baptista et al. (2019a) documented the presence of this species from Bicuar National Park in Huíla Province. ...
The herpetofauna of Angola has been neglected for many years, but recent surveys have revealed previously unknown diversity and a consequent increase in the number of species recorded for the country. Most historical surveys focused on the north-eastern and south-western parts of the country, while mostly neglecting the central and south-eastern parts, comprising the provinces of Bié, Moxico, and Cuando Cubango. To address
this sampling bias and investigate the conservation importance of the region, a series of rapid biodiversity surveys of the upper Cuito, Cubango, Cuando, Zambezi, and Cuanza river basins were conducted by the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project between 2015 and 2019. The first part of those survey results are presented here as an updated checklist of current and historical snake records from the south-eastern region of Angola. In summary, 160 new specimens were collected from the region, comprising 36 species, bringing the
total number of recognized snake species for the region to 53. These surveys revealed three new country records (Amblyodipsas ventrimaculata, Crotaphopeltis barotseensis, and Dasypeltis confusa) and led to the description of two novel species in previous publications (Boaedon branchi and B. fradei), increasing the total number of snake species in Angola to 133. Finally, updated geographic distribution maps are provided for all species
encountered in this study for the whole country. This contribution increases our knowledge of this poorly known region of Africa and highlights the need for and importance of similar studies in other undersampled areas.
... As a reflection of the diverse climate and landscape, more than 100 species of amphibians and nearly 300 species of reptiles have been recorded from Angola Baptista et al. 2019b;Branch et al. 2019c). Several decades of armed conflict rendered travel and access to remote localities impractical and dangerous to carry out research, but new field surveys conducted in recent post-war years have resulted in the description of more than 30 new species of reptiles and amphibians (Conradie et al. 2012a(Conradie et al. , 2012bStanley et al. 2016;, 2020cBranch et al. 2019bBranch et al. , 2021Marques et al. 2019aMarques et al. , 2019bMarques et al. , 2020Hallermann et al. 2020;Nielsen et al. 2020;Lobón-Rovira et al. 2021), the rediscovery of several rare and poorly known species (e.g., Branch et al. 2018Branch et al. , 2019aGonçalves et al. 2019;Vaz Pinto et al. 2019;Baptista et al. 2020) and the first records of species previously unknown for the country (e.g., Ceríaco et al. 2016;Conradie & Bourquin 2013;Conradie et al. 2016Conradie et al. , 2020bBaptista et al. 2019a;Ernst et al. 2020). Among the reptiles described in the past two decades are several lizard species endemic or near-endemic to southwestern Angola (Haacke 2008;Conradie et al. 2012b;Stanley et al. 2016;Branch et al. 2019bBranch et al. , 2021Marques et al. 2019Marques et al. , 2020Ceríaco et al. 2020b), highlighting the importance of this region as a lizard hotspot and center of endemism. ...
The genus Pedioplanis reaches its northernmost limit in western Angola, where it is represented by three species, Pedioplanis benguelensis, P. haackei and P. huntleyi. The taxonomic status of P. benguelensis remains problematic, mainly due to the vague original escription and the loss of the original type material. Here we provide a revision of the Angolan representatives of the genus, with the escription of a new species, Pedioplanis serodioi sp. nov., from the lowlands of southwestern Angola. Phylogenetic analyses using a ombination of mitochondrial (16S and ND2) and nuclear (RAG-1) arkers, as well as morphological data, support the recognition of the ew species. For purposes of nomenclatural stability, we designate a neotype for P. benguelensis and provide motivation to correct the pelling of the specific epithet to “benguelensis”. The clarification of he status of P. benguelensis and the description of a new species contribute to a better understanding of the taxonomy and iogeography of the genus Pedioplanis, as well as the general biogeographic context of southwestern Angola, adding to the rowing evidence in favor of the recognition of this region as a hotspot of lizard diversity and endemism. An updated key to the genus is also provided.
