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Issue: Vol. 5632 No. 3: 8 May 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-05-08
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5632.3.3
Page range: 480-500
Abstract views: 114
PDF downloaded: 15

The Nucras (Squamata: Lacertidae) of the eastern Zambezi River Basin, with the description of a new species from Zambia

Department of Biology; Villanova University; 800 Lancaster Avenue; Villanova; Pennsylvania 19085; USA.
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County; Los Angeles; California 90007; USA.; Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology; Camarillo; California 93012; USA
African Amphibian Conservation Research Group; Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management; North-West University; Potchefstroom 2520; South Africa.; FLORA FAUNA & MAN Ecological Services LTD; Tortola; British Virgin Islands.
Reptilia systematics taxonomy Mozambique Malawi type specimens Nucras ornata Nucras holubi Nucras margaritae sp. nov.

Abstract

The Nucras of the eastern Zambezi River basin region, comprising Zambia, Malawi and central Mozambique have been poorly studied. We re-evaluated the type specimens of Lacerta cameranoi Bedriaga, 1886 and L. tessellata pseudotessellata Bedriaga, 1886, both collected at Tete, Mozambique by Wilhelm Peters in the 1840s. Both are assignable to N. ornata, the most widespread Nucras in the region. However, an additional specimen collected from Tete is referrable to N. holubi, filling a collecting gap for this species between central Zimbabwe and southern Malawi. Nucras records from northeastern Zambia include several N. boulengeri, two photo-vouchered records, one unidentifiable and the other an enigmatic form not consistent with any known species, and a new species from Senga Hill, Northern Province. The new species, Nucras margaritae sp. nov., is known only from its holotype. It is morphologically similar to N. ornata, from which it is separated by 620 airline km, but is deeply genetically divergent from all congeners and is sister to the clade comprising N. holubi, N. ornata, N. damarana and N. intertexta. At least five species of Nucras, four currently named, inhabit the greater eastern Zambezi River basin.

 

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How to Cite

Bauer, A.M., Childers, J.L. & Burger, M. (2025) The Nucras (Squamata: Lacertidae) of the eastern Zambezi River Basin, with the description of a new species from Zambia. Zootaxa, 5632 (3), 480–500. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5632.3.3