Systematic revision of the living African Slender-snouted Crocodiles (Mecistops Gray, 1844).

ZOOTAXA 4504(2): 151-193. 24 Oct. 2018. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4504.2.1.

Abstract:

Molecular and morphological evidence has shown that the African slender-snouted, or sharp-nosed, crocodile Mecistops cataphractus (Cuvier, 1824) is comprised of two superficially cryptic species: one endemic to West Africa and the other endemic to Central Africa. Our ability to characterize the two species is compromised by the complicated taxonomic history of the lineage and overlapping ranges of variation in distinguishing morphological features. The name M. cataphractus was evidently originally based on West African material, but the holotype is now lost. Although types exist for other names based on the West African form, the name M. cataphractus is sufficiently entrenched in the literature, and other names sufficiently obscure, to justify retypification. Here, we designate a neotype for M. cataphractus and restrict it to West Africa. We resurrect M. leptorhynchus as a valid species from Central Africa and identify exemplary referred specimens that, collectively, overcome the obscurity and diagnostic limits of the extant holotype. We additionally indicate suitable neotype material in the event the holotype is lost, destroyed, or otherwise needing replacement, and we rectify the previously erroneous type locality designation. We provide a revised diagnosis for crown Mecistops, and revise and update previous descriptions of the two living species, including providing both more complete descriptions and discussion of diagnostic characters. Finally, we provide considerable discussion of the current state of knowledge of these species’ ecology, natural history, and distribution.

shirley-biblio

Divergent Morphology among Populations of the New Guinea Crocodile, Crocodylus novaeguineae (Schmidt, 1928): Diagnosis of An Independent Lineage and Description of A New Species.

Copeia. 107(3): 517-523.

Abstract:

The New Guinea Crocodile (Crocodylus novaeguineae) is a freshwater species of crocodilian endemic to the island of New Guinea in northern Oceania. The species inhabits both the country of Papua New Guinea in the east and Indonesian West Papua. Crocodylus novaeguineae occurs on both the northern and southern side of the Central Highlands, which span east to west dividing the entire island into northern and southern halves. Like most crocodilians, C. novaeguineae inhabits various grassy and forested swamps in lowland freshwater areas and has maintained both cultural and economic significance in the region for centuries. Neill (1971) and, more recently, Hall (1989) have suggested that Crocodylus novaeguineae on the northern side of the Central Highlands (“NCN”) and those on the southern side (“SCN”) are on independent evolutionary trajectories and should be taxonomically recognized. Hall (1989) attempted to affirm the suspicions of Neill and presented compelling morphological and ecological data to do so. Morphologically, the northern and southern hypothesized lineages differed in proportional premaxillary (PXS) to maxillary (MXS) length (NCN: MXS > PXS; SCN: PXS > MXS) and patterns of cervical squamation (NCN: >4 post-occipital scutes with lateral contiguity between them, anteromedial nuchal scute separation absent; SCN: 4 post-occipital scutes with lateral discontinuity between them, anteromedial nuchal scute separation present). Ecologically, C. novaeguineae south of the Central Highlands nest in the wet season, in synchrony with sympatric Crocodylus porosus, whereas north of the Central Highlands, nesting occurs in the dry season. Additionally, variation in reproductive strategy (clutch size and egg size ratios) was diagnosed between NCN and SCN; however, reproductive strategy is highly plastic, even intraspecifically, among crocodilians. Thus, these character states are not robustly interpretable as diagnostic. Phylogenetic approaches using molecular data were later tested and interpreted in the unpublished thesis of Gratten (2003) in which NCN and SCN were considered distinct operational taxonomic units in light of Hall (1989). A Bayesian analysis of relationships of Indo-Pacific Crocodylus using mtDNA curiously recovered a paraphyletic C. novaeguineae, rendered so by the purported Borneo Crocodile C. raninus, described from a skull and two preserved juveniles with no known extant population (Muller and Schlegel, 1844). NCN was recovered as more closely related to C. raninus than to SCN. This finding was attributed to either extremely recent divergence in NCN or misidentification of a dispersed or introduced NCN to Borneo from which the molecular sample was taken. Oaks (2011) recovered a paraphyletic C. novaeguineae; however, all samples of this species were from captive animals and identification of some samples appeared problematic. Thus, our analyses and comparisons herein only include populations of C. novaeguineae due to the lack of biologically reasonable comparisons. Crocodylus novaeguineae is the only freshwater crocodilian in the region besides the putative C. raninus. Little material with robust locality data exists in collections for this species, and in the absence of more specimens and diverse datasets we are unable to make additional comparisons. An improved analysis of morphological variation among populations of C. novaeguineae is warranted, given the ecological and molecular patterns that have slowly emerged. Here, we use multivariate geometric morphometric approaches to gain clarity on the differentiation of populations north and south of the Central Highlands by assessing cranial shape variation across the distribution. We aim to identify diagnostic characters for populations on independent evolutionary trajectories and test whether cranial shape variation corresponds to the hypothesized lineages (a clade north of the central highlands and one south). We predicted that specimens from drainages on the northern side would more closely resemble each other than specimens from drainages on the southern side of the highlands and that shape-based diagnostic characters would be revealed.

murray-biblio

PETZOLD, A., VARGAS-RAMIREZ, M., KEHLMAIER, C., VAMBERGER, M., BRANCH, DU PREEZ, L.,  HOFMEYR, M. D., MEYER,L., SCHLEICHER, A., ŠIROKÝ P. & FRITZ, U. (2014)

A revision of African helmeted terrapins (Testudines: Pelomedusidae: Pelomedusa), with descriptions of six new species.

Zootaxa 3795 (5): 523–548. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.3795.5.2e

Abstract:

Using nearly range-wide sampling, we analyze up to 1848 bp of mitochondrial DNA of 183 helmeted terrapins and identify a minimum of 12 deeply divergent species-level clades. Uncorrected p distances of these clades equal or clearly exceed those between the currently recognized species of Pelusios, the genus most closely related to Pelomedusa. We correlate genetic discontinuities of Pelomedusa with data on morphology and endoparasites and describe six new Pelomedusa species. Moreover, we restrict the name Pelomedusa subrufa (Bonnaterre, 1789) to one genetic lineage and resurrect three further species from its synonymy, namely P. galeata (Schoepff, 1792), P. gehafie (Rüppell, 1835), and P. olivacea (Schweigger, 1812). In addition to these ten Pelomedusa species, we identify two further clades from Cameroon and Sudan with similar levels of genetic divergence that remain unnamed candidate species. We also note that some problematical terrapins from South Africa and Somalia may represent two additional candidate species. Some of the Pelomedusa species are morphologically distinctive, whilst others can only be identified by molecular markers and are therefore morphologically cryptic taxa.

petzold-biblio

At the edge of extinction: a first herpetological assessment of the proposed Serra do Pingano Rainforest National Park in Uíge Province, northern Angola.

Zoosystematics and Evolution 96(1): 237-262.

Volltext: https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.96.51997

Abstract:

We systematically assess the herpetofaunal diversity of the Serra do Pingano Forest Ecosystem (SPFE) and additional localities throughout the northern Angolan province of Uíge during four independent Rapid Assessment (RA) field campaigns held between 2013 and 2019. These assessments represent the first systematic surveys of amphibians and reptiles from the province, and thus we provide the first province-wide species list. We collected data on the status and current threats to amphibians and reptiles in the proposed Serra do Pingano Rainforest National Park and were able to document 33 species of reptiles from Uíge province. Of the 33 species recorded from the province, 10 species are exclusively found in the SPFE. Amphibian surveys yielded 47 amphibian species from the province. These include 14 new country records and additional records that may represent undescribed species. This raises the amphibian count for Angola to at least 133 species, which includes 18 species exclusively found within the SPFE. Species-richness estimators indicate that more species should be detected if survey efforts are intensified. The species composition in the SPFE is unique and consists of a high proportion of forest specialists with restricted ranges and species found nowhere else in the country. This emphasizes today’s paramount importance of the SPFE, which is threatened by increasing agricultural encroachment and uncontrolled timber extraction and charcoal production. These principal factors need to be controlled and/or abandoned in already impacted areas. Conservation strategies should particularly consider the strict protection of remaining intact forests and both lentic and lotic aquatic systems. They are not only crucial for safeguarding a significant number of species that depend on these habitats for reproduction; they also provide key ecosystem services to the local population. Angola, and Uíge province in particular, is at a crossroads concerning decisions and trade-offs among utilization, conservation, and preservation of its forests and, thus, substantial parts of the country’s biodiversity. The establishment of a National Protected Area in the Serra do Pingano Ecosystem is therefore a necessary and urgently needed first step towards protecting Angola’s national biodiversity heritage.

ernst-biblio

Erfahrungen bei der Haltung und Nachzucht der madagassischen Flachrücken-Spinnenschildkröte Pyxis planicauda (GRANDIDIER, 1867).

Testudo 20(1): 7-24.

Volltext

Schlussfolgerung:

Durch den erhöhten Feuchtigkeitsbedarf stellen die Schildkröten hohe Anforderungen an Hygiene und Pflege. Die Flachrücken-Spinnenschildkröte eignet sich für Schildkrötenhalter, die sich bewusst sind, dass die Haltung auch einen technischen Aufwand benötigt.

mislin-biblio

Toward a tree-of-life for the boas and pythons: multilocus species-level phylogeny with unprecedented taxon sampling.

Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 71: 201–213. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2013.11.011.

Abstract:

Snakes in the families Boidae and Pythonidae constitute some of the most spectacular reptiles and comprise an enormous diversity of morphology, behavior, and ecology. While many species of boas and pythons are familiar, taxonomy and evolutionary relationships within these families remain contentious and fluid. A major effort in evolutionary and conservation biology is to assemble a comprehensive Tree-of-Life, or a macro-scale phylogenetic hypothesis, for all known life on Earth. No previously published study has produced a species-level molecular phylogeny for more than 61% of boa species or 65% of python species. Using both novel and previously published sequence data, we have produced a species-level phylogeny for 84.5% of boid species and 82.5% of pythonid species, contextualized within a larger phylogeny of henophidian snakes. We obtained new sequence data for three boid, one pythonid, and two tropidophiid taxa which have never previously been included in a molecular study, in addition to generating novel sequences for seven genes across an additional 12 taxa. We compiled an 11-gene dataset for 127 taxa, consisting of the mitochondrial genes CYTB, 12S, and 16S, and the nuclear genes bdnf, bmp2, c-mos, gpr35, rag1, ntf3, odc, and slc30a1, totaling up to 7561 base pairs per taxon. We analyzed this dataset using both maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference and recovered a well-supported phylogeny for these species. We found significant evidence of discordance between taxonomy and evolutionary relationships in the genera Tropidophis, Morelia, Liasis, and Leiopython, and we found support for elevating two previously suggested boid species. We suggest a revised taxonomy for the boas (13 genera, 58 species) and pythons (8 genera, 40 species), review relationships between our study and the many other molecular phylogenetic studies of henophidian snakes, and present a taxonomic database and alignment which may be easily used and built upon by other researchers.

reynolds-biblio

Systematics of Pythons of the Morelia amethistina Complex (Serpentes: Boidae) with the Description of three new Species.

Herpetological Monographs. 14: 139–185. doi:10.2307/1467047.

Description:

The scrub pythons (Morelia amethistina complex) are revised based on museum specimens and new material recently collected in eastern Indonesia. Morelia kinghorni (formerly M. amethistina kinghorni) and M. amethistina (formerly M. amethistina amethistina) are recognized as species, and three new species are described. The phylogenetic relationships of scrub pythons are resolved using morphological and molecular characters Scrub pythons are most closely related to Morelia boeleni and have undergone both ancient divergences and a relatively recent radiation. The distribution of scrub pythons corresponds well with areas of endemism recognized in earlier studies of other taxa. Their distribution and evolution appears to have been shaped by combined effects of dispersal and vicariance. Scrub python populations exhibit interesting color and pattern polymorphism and ontogenetic change, and these characteristics vary among populations.

harvey-biblio

A new species of Gonyosoma Wagler, 1828 (Serpentes, Colubridae), previously confused with G. prasinum (Blyth, 1854).

Evolutionary Systematics. 5 2021, 129–139 | DOI 10.3897/evolsyst.5.66574.

Volltext

Abstract:

A new species of the genus Gonyosoma Wagler is described from Yunnan Province, China. The new species closely resembles G. prasinum (Blyth), but it is differentiated from the latter species by the following characters: precloacal plate divided, iris blue and inside of mouth greyish-white in life. Based on phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial cytochrome b sequence data, the new species is recovered as the sister species to G. prasinum by Bayesian Inference and Maximum Likelihood analyses. The uncorrected pairwise distance between the new species and other species of the genus Gonyosoma ranged from 11.78% to 17.07% calculated using the mitochondrial cytochrome b sequence. This discovery increases the number of Gonyosoma species to seven.

liu-biblio

On the distribution of Gonyosoma prasinum (Blyth, 1854) and Gonyosoma coeruleum Liu, Hou, Ye Htet Lwin, Wang & Rao, 2021, with a note on the status of Gonyosoma gramineum Günther, 1864 (Squamata: Serpentes: Colubridae).

Zootaxa 5154 (2): 175-197 · June 2022. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5154.

Volltext

Abstract:

Based on 85 examined specimens, photographs of living specimens and illustrations published in the literature, we refine
the distribution ranges of both Gonyosoma prasinum (Blyth, 1854) and of the recently described species Gonyosoma
coeruleum Liu, Hou, Ye Htet Lwin, Wang & Rao, 2021, which was not clearly addressed in its original description. We
also redescribe the syntypes of Coluber prasinus Blyth, 1854 and the holotype of Gonyosoma gramineum Günther, 1864,
we discuss the status of this latter taxon, and we describe the hemipenial morphology of G. coeruleum.

david-biblio

Beobachtungen zur Herpetofauna Jordaniens. Ein Reisebericht.

ÖGH-Aktuell 31, Dezember 2012: 6-17.

Inhalt:

Es wird über eine Sammelreise vom 03-17.052011 nach Jordanien berichtet, auf der 25 Reptilien- und eine Amphibienart gefunden wurden.

scholz-biblio