Recent discovery of Phisalixella variabilis (Boulenger, 1896) on Nosy Be, Madagascar, confirms an old and dubious record (Squamata: Lamprophiidae)
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An integrative taxonomic review of the genus Boaedon in Angola is provided. A molecular phylogeny, based on 99 genetic samples for which the mitochondrial markers 16S rRNA have been sequenced, reveals 23 monophyletic species-level groups in Africa and indicates the presence of nine species in Angola. Based on both phylogenetic and morphological data, we revalidate and designate a neotype for B. angolensis, describe three new species for Angola (e.g. B. bocagei sp. nov., B. branchi sp. nov., and B. fradei sp. nov.), revalidate B. variegatus from its synonymy with B. lineatus and designate a lectotype for this taxon, and identify B. lineatus var. lineolatus as a junior synonym of B. variegatus. The taxonomic status of the recently described B. paralineatus from Central Africa is discussed with respect to the more inclusive B. lineatus group. Moreover, we report on a new country record for Angola, namely B. mentalis, which we elevate here to full species and discuss the taxonomic status of this species in southern Africa. Finally, we provide an identification key and updated distribution maps for all Boaedon species occurring in Angola, including the Cabinda enclave.
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One specimen of Ptychoglossus brevifrontalis Boulenger, 1912 was found during a field survey in the core area of the Amazonian National Park of French Guiana in the southern part of the country. Despite intensive herpetological surveys in French Guiana during the last three decades, this is the first record of the species for this country. This new locality extends the distribution of the species and draws attention to the need for more study of litter-dwelling lizards in French Guiana.
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Recent survey work in Madagascar has led to significant changes in the systematics of Madagascan Phelsuma. A new species from the Masoala Peninsula in northeastern Madagascar is described, which has a nostril position typical of Phelsuma from Mauritius, Reunion and Rodriguez islands. Phelsuma breviceps was rediscovered in extreme southern Madagascar and is resurrected from the synonymy of P. mutabilis. Phelsuma breviceps has fragile skin, a probable predator escape mechanism, similar to the condition found in geckos of the genera Ailuronyx and Geckokpis. Three new synonyms are recognized. Phelsuma befotakensis and P. checki are junior synonyms of P. abbotti, and P. minuthi is a junior synonym of P. lineata. Twenty species of Phelsuma occur in Madagascar, of which 16 are endemic. A checklist and identification key are provided. Conservation problems of Phelsuma in the coastal regions of Madagascar are briefly discussed.
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fragile skin.This seems to be an antpreditor mechanism, and within the Cordylidae is uniquely evolved.The holotype of Zonosaurus aeneus is redescribed, and data are presented for Z. brygooi and Z. subunicolor, based on our recently collected material.A key is provided for all seven dwarf species.Biogeographic patterns show a clear predominance for allopatry, with all species are restricted to primary forest, or forest edge.The new species from southeastern Madagascar is of greatest conservation concern, and further strengthens the importance of the Andohahela Reserve, where it is know to occur.
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A distinctive new species of the colubrid snake genus Heteroliodon is described from the deciduous dry forest of Montagne des Français, near the northern tip of Madagascar. The new species is characterized by stout habitus, low number of ventral scales, long relative tail length, high number of infralabial scales, and absence of a light colored vertebral stripe. The limestone massif of Montagne des Français appears to be an important center of endemism for Madagascan biota and should, therefore, be included in Madagascar's network of nature reserves.
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The gecko genus Ebenavia Boettger is rediagnosed as phyllodactyle gekkonines with mostly multicarinate scales and restricted to the digits of the pes of females. We describe a second, diminutive species of Ebenavia Lac Tsimanampetsotsa on the southwestern coast of This new species differs the type species, E. inunguis, in its smaller size, darker and more uniform coloration, presence of multicarinate postrostral scales, and a relatively larger and differently shaped first supralabial scale. The phylogenetic affinities of Ebenavia are unknown, but the two species share similarities with Phylloclactylus peringueyi of South Africa, and the possibility that the three species form a monophyletic group should be explored. The discovery of this new species adds to the growing list of Madagascan species-pairs that have east-west disjunctions, with western species adapted to xeric conditions and eastern species found in rainforest. Key wordts: Reptilia; Squamata; Gekkonidae; Gekkoninae; Ebenavia; Systematics; New species; THE monotypic gekkonine genus Ebenavia Boettger is confined to the islands of the western Indian Ocean, where it is recorded the Comoro Islands, and Mauritius. Pakenham (1947) 1 PRESENT ADDRESS: CERC, Columbia University, 1200 Amsterdam Ave., MC 5557, New York, NY 10027, USA. described eggs and hatchlings of Ebenavia cf. inunguis Pemba Island, and Loveridge (1957) confirmed the identifications, but there have been no subsequent reports of the genus on Pemba. Warman and Todd (1977) reported Ebenavia inunguis on Aride Island in the granitic Seychelles, but this was based on a specimen of Urocotyledon inexpectata (Nussbaum, This content downloaded 157.55.39.144 on Thu, 22 Sep 2016 06:57:52 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms March 1998] HERPETOLOGICA 19 unpublished data; see Cheke, 1984). Early reports of Ebenavia in western Australia are based on Ebenavia horni Lucas and Frost, 1895, a species subsequently synonymized with Diplodactylus ocellatus and placed in a new monotypic genus, Crenadactylus, by Dixon and Kluge (1964). Ebenavia was established on dubious grounds. Boettger (1878) diagnosed it essentially as equivalent to Phyllodactylus, but without claws. Subsequent authors, including Boulenger (1885), Mocquard (1909), Angel (1942), and Russell (1972), repeated this diagnosis without modification. Russell (1972), however, doubted whether clawlessness was sufficient grounds for separating Ebenavia Phyllodactylus, and stated that the internal and functional anatomy of the digits of E. inunguis are identical to Phyllodactylus. Recently, several studies (e.g., Dixon and Kroll, 1974; Kluge, 1983) have shown that is an heterogeneous assemblage of geckos, and many species have been transferred to other genera. Therefore, Boettger's original diagnosis of Ebenavia as a clawless Phyllodactylus, sensu lato, has become meaningless. Furthermore, our observations indicate, contrary to the literature, that some specimens of Ebenavia inunguis have small on some digits. These circumstances mean that even though E. inunguis is a distinctive, easily recognizable species, the genus Ebenavia is of uncertain status. It lacks a formal diagnosis by which it can be distinguished other gekkonine genera. In Ebenavia inunguis is primarily a species of the eastern, low elevation rainforests and adjacent degraded habitats where it is normally found on vegetation (trunks, stems, leaf axils) and only infrequently on rocks. We recently discovered a second, partially rock-dwelling, dwarf species of Ebenavia in the desert regions of southwestern The discovery of this new species is important, because it helps to resolve the status of the genus Ebenavia, identifies as the center of evolution of the genus, and establishes another link in the emerging pattern of east-west vicariance in the herpetofauna of In this paper, we review the nomenclatural history of Ebenavia, suggest a new diagnosis for the genus, and describe a second species. METHODS AND MATERIALS Specimens were anesthetized by injection with chlorobutanol, fixed in 10% buffered formalin, soaked in water to remove the formalin, and stored in a final solution of 75% ethanol. Snout-vent and tail lengths were measured with a ruler to the nearest 1.0 mm; other measurements were taken with dial calipers and recorded to the nearest 0.1 mm. Specimens are identified by catalog numbers of the Museum of Zoology, The University of Michigan (UMMZ) and by field numbers (RAN). Other abbreviations used are BMNH (British Museum) and SMF (Natur-Museums und Forschungs-Institutes Senckenberg). Throughout this paper, we use apotypic, plesiotypic, and derivitives thereof rather than apomorphic, etc., following the logic of Tuomikoski (1967) and L0vtrup (1977). NOMENCLATURAL HISTORY Boettger (1878) established Ebenavia and described the only known species, E. inunguis, based on a single specimen collected on Nosy Be, Boettger originally diagnosed Ebenavia as a clawless Phyllodactylus lacking enlarged scales on the undersurface of the tail and without large chin shields. Boulenger (1885:96) diagnosed Ebenavia as differing from Phyllodactylus in having all the digits destitute of claws and repeated, in abbreviated form, Boettger's description of the holotype of E. inunguis. He also described E. boettgeri Madagascar as a new, second species of the genus. It is unclear why Boulenger thought E. boettgeri was distinct E. inunguis. Only the holotypes of the two species were known, and Boulenger had not examined the holotype of E. inunguis. The most striking differences, according to Boulenger's descriptions, are in dorsal coloration: olive-brown in E. inunguis and reddish brown in E. boettgeri. After examining the holotype of E. inunguis, Boulenger (1887:482) decided E. boettgeri was not valid, and all subsequent This content downloaded 157.55.39.144 on Thu, 22 Sep 2016 06:57:52 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 20 HERPETOLOGICA [Vol. 54, No. 1 authors (Mocquard, 1909; Angel, 1942) have considered E. boettgeri to be a junior synonym of E. inunguis, a conclusion with which we concur. Angel (1942) also viewed Ebenavia inunguis as a clawless Phyllodactylus, and he listed 11 species of Phyllodactylus for and the Comoros. The heterogeneous Madagascan has since been reduced through taxonomic revision to a single species, P. brevipes, of doubtful generic assignment. Dumeril and Bibron (1836) and Boulenger (1885) reported that Phyllodactylus porphyreus, a well known South African species, also occurs in Madagascar, and Angel (1936) described P. barbouri on the basis of a specimen in the Paris Museum that had been recorded as P. porphyreus Madagascar. Kluge (1965) believed that the holotype of P. barbouri is a specimen of Diplodactylus vittatus, a species otherwise known only Australia, and he concluded that the locality for the holotype of P. barbouri was wrongly recorded. However, Henle (in Brygoo, 1991:33) indicated that P. barbouri is synonymous with a different Australian species, D. granariensis. Guibe (1956) also thought that P. porphyreus occurs in but this was based on his belief that Mocquard's (1900) P. brevipes is a junior synonym of P. porphyreus. Phyllodactylus brevipes is, however, a distinctive species endemic to which only superficially resembles P. porphyreus (Nussbaum and Raxworthy, unpublished data). We conclude that there is no evidence that P. porphyreus occurs in Dixon and Kroll (1974) placed the remaining species of Madagascan in the resurrected genus Paroedura, leaving brevipes as the single putative species of Phyllodactylus in Because Ebenavia was originally diagnosed with very few characters and only by comparison to Phyllodactylus, and because the concept of Phyllodactylus has changed considerably, the taxonomic status and diagnostic characteristics of Ebenavia are uncertain. Recent phylogenetic analyses of AfroMadagascan geckos that include Ebenavia B FIG. 1-.Dorsal views of snouts of (A) Ebenavia inunguis (UMMZ 207477) and (B) E. maintimainty (UMMZ 211208), illustrating differences in keeling patterns of postrostral scales and relative size of prenasal scale. Scale = 2 mm. (Bauer, 1990a; Kluge and Nussbaum, 1995) suggested various relationships with other geckos, but they did not lead to a formal diagnosis of Ebenavia. CHARACTERISTICS OF EBENAVIA The discovery of a new gecko in southwestern similar in overall body form to Ebenavia inunguis, led to a search for synapotypic character states that would verify their sister-species status. The most striking feature of the two species is the multicarinate condition of most dorsolateral scales (Figs. 1-3). Of the dorsolateral head scales, only the rostral, nasals, some internasals and postrostrals, and the anterior supralabials are acarinate. All dorsolateral body scales are multicarinate, as are the dorsal and preand postaxial limb scales. Dorsolateral caudal scales may or may not be multicarinate, depending on species and whether or not the tail has been regenerated. The pattern of keeling on the ventral scales is also variable. The This content downloaded 157.55.39.144 on Thu, 22 Sep 2016 06:57:52 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms March 1998] HERPETOLOGICA 21
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Abstract A description and biological notes on the second known specimen of the opistoglyph colubrid snake Brygophis coulangesi (Domergue 1988) are provided together with a re-analysis of the holotype. The new specimen was collected in north-eastern Madagascar, from the Anjanaharibe-Sud Chain and it has a large range extension of about 500 km. It is similar in morphology and colouration to the holotype, found in 1968 at Fiherenana Forest, central-eastern Madagascar. Comments are also provided about the similarity of Brygophis with the genus Geodipsas. Key Words: SerpentesColubridae Brygophis coulangesi Madagascarrediscovery
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