Two new Poyntonophrynus species (Anura: Bufonidae) highlight the importance of Angolan centers of endemism
- Authors: Baptista, Ninda L , Pinto, Pedro V , Keates, Chad , Lobón-Rovira, Javier , Edwards, Shelley , Rödel, Mark-Oliver
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/461572 , vital:76214 , xlink:href="https://zoobank.org/7B5494CC-F8F2-46EA-BB73-D28B13D31CB6"
- Description: The pygmy toad genus Poyntonophrynus is endemic to southern Africa. The morphology of these small toads is conserved. They are usually dully colored, and are predominately adapted to arid conditions. During recent surveys in Angola we found Poyntonophrynus specimens that were not assignable to known species. Using an integrative approach, based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, morphology, osteology, biogeography and ecology, we identified three new lineages, and describe two of them as new species. All three lineages are closely related to P. pachnodes, an Angolan endemic species, but they are geographically isolated from it. The new species are morphologically distinguishable, and are associated with two of the most important Angolan centers of endemism: the western escarpment and the central highlands. In order to get a more comprehensive understanding of the osteology of the genus, we also provide an osteological characterization of P. dombensis, which was not available to date. Our findings i) increase the number of earless species in the genus Poyntonophrynus, ii) emphasize southwestern Africa as the cradle of diversification in this genus, iii) report the occurrence of Poyntonophrynus in humid environments, thus showing that these toads are ecologically more variable than previously thought, and iv) underline the importance of further biodiversity studies in Angolan centers of endemism.
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- Date Issued: 2023
A new species of red toad, Schismaderma Smith, 1849 (Anura: Bufonidae), from central Angola
- Authors: Baptista, Ninda L , Pinto, Pedro V , Keates, Chad , Edwards, Shelley , Rödel, Mark-Oliver , Conradie, Werner C
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/461462 , vital:76204 , xlink:href="https://www.biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.5081.3.1"
- Description: A new species of red toad, from the previously monotypic genus Schismaderma, is described. The new species was found in Malanje Province, and seems endemic to central Angola, occurring approximately 500 km west of the closest known records of Schismaderma carens. Unusual adult colouration and geographical distance to remaining S. carens populations suggested specific differentiation. In an integrative approach, we compared the red toads from central Angola with S. carens from across the entire range, including molecular data, morphology of adults and tadpoles, and male advertisement calls. Phylogenetic analysis based on mitochondrial (12S, 16S, COI) and nuclear (CXCR4, RAG1) markers, retrieved the Angolan clade as monophyletic, and revealed intra-specific substructuring among the remaining Schismaderma. Genetic distances supported specific differentiation of the central Angolan material compared with other S. carens. Adults from the new Angolan species have bolder ventral patterning and smaller body size than S. carens. No obvious differences were detected between the tadpoles and the advertisement calls of the two Schismaderma species. This discovery adds to the knowledge of the herpetofauna of the Angolan Miombo woodlands, a poorly understood ecoregion, and likely more biodiverse than previously assumed. The result of past river basin dynamics in central Angola likely led to the evolution of this new species of Schismaderma.
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- Date Issued: 2021
New insights into the taxonomic status, distribution and natural history of De Witte's Clicking Frog (Kassinula wittei Laurent, 1940)
- Authors: Conradie, Werner C , Keates, Chad , Lobón-Rovira, Javier , Vaz Pinto, Pedro , Verburgt, Luke , Baptista, Ninda L , Harvey, James , Júlio, Timóteo
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/443572 , vital:74134 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc-afzoo-v55-n4-a6
- Description: Kassinula is a monotypic genus of small frog in the family Hyperoliidae, only represented by Kassinula wittei. This species morphologically resembles both Kassina Girard, 1853 and Afrixalus Laurent, 1944, and its taxonomic status has been debated for decades. It has previously been subsumed within Kassina, and is currently placed as a sister genus to Afrixalus, although it has not been included in any phylogenetic studies until now. This species is poorly represented in museum collections and is only known from fewer than 35 specimens from southern Democratic Republic of the Congo and adjacent Zambia. Newly collected material from central Angola, a range extension of 400-800 km west of previously known localities, allowed us to revisit the taxonomic placement of the genus with the aid of phylogenetic analysis and shed light on its geographic distribution, morphology and natural history. Although our phylogenetic analysis is limited to a single mitochondrial gene (16S), we place Kassinula in the subfamily Hyperoliinae and closely related to Afrixalus, with a high degree of confidence. Further phylogenetic studies are needed before formally synonymising Afrixalus with Kassinula.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Rediscovery, taxonomic status, and phylogenetic relationships of two rare and endemic snakes (Serpentes: Psammophiinae) from the southwestern Angolan plateau
- Authors: Branch, William R , Baptista, Ninda L , Keates, Chad , Edwards, Shelley
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/462658 , vital:76323 , xlink:href="https://zoobank.org/References/7FEE7CB2-9A74-407A-A9DB-DB714FEF1E0F"
- Description: Two rare and endemic psammophines (Serpentes: Psammophiinae) occur in Angola. The taxonomic status of Psammophylax rhombeatus ocellatus Bocage, 1873 and Psammophis ansorgii Boulenger, 1905 have long remained problematic, with both having varied past and present taxonomic assignments, and whose distributions may therefore present zoogeographic anomalies. Little was known of their biology, habitat associations, or phylogenetic relationships. New material was collected during biodiversity surveys of the Humpata Plateau, near Lubango, Angola. It allowed fuller descriptions of scalation and live coloration for both species, and resolution of their taxonomic status. Genetic analysis confirms that both are distinct at the specific level. In addition, within Psammophis, Jalla’s Sand Snake (Psammophis jallae Peracca, 1896), of which P. rohani Angel, 1925, remains a synonym, is sister to P. ansorgii, and Boulenger’s comment on similarities with P. crucifer are not supported. The status of an unusual skaapsteker from Calueque, Cunene Province, Angola, is discussed and its assignment to Ps. ocellatus is provisional and requires additional material for taxonomic resolution. The new P. ansorgii records from Tundavala represent a range (+ 400 km southwest) and altitude (1800 m to 2286 m asl) extension from the previous only known precise locality of Bela Vista (= Catchiungo), Huambo Province, whilst that for Ps. ocellatus doubles the known altitude from 1108 m to 2286 m asl and extends the range about 122 km to the northwest from historical material from the plateau of Huíla and Cunene provinces.
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- Date Issued: 2019