Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 4286 No. 4: 4 Jul. 2017
Type: Article
Published: 2017-07-04
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4286.4.5
Page range: 525–534
Abstract views: 123
PDF downloaded: 97

A new species of Boulengerula Tornier, 1896 (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Herpelidae) from Kenya and the “rediscovery” of Boulengerula denhardti

Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
Herpetology Section, National Museums of Kenya, Museum Hill Road, Nairobi, Kenya
Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
Amphibia Africa biogeography caecilians morphology systematics taxonomy

Abstract

A new species of herpelid caecilian, Boulengerula spawlsi sp. nov., is described based on nine specimens from Ngaia (= Ngaya or Ngaja) Forest Reserve, Nyambene Hills, Meru County, Kenya collected between 2007 and 2013. The new species differs from all other Boulengerula in having more anteriorly positioned tentacular apertures and tentacular grooves that are partly or completely covered by the maxillopalatines. Specimens of the new species were previously erroneously reported as a rediscovery of the poorly known congener Boulengerula denhardti Neiden, 1912 together with a biogeographic scenario to explain their disjunct distribution that is not required.

 

References

  1. Agarwal, I., Wilkinson, M., Mohapatra, P.P., Dutta, S.K., Giri, V. & Gower, D.J. (2013) The first teresomatan caecilian (Amphibia: Gymnophiona) from the Eastern Ghats of India—a new species of Gegeneophis Peters, 1880. Zootaxa, 3693 (4), 534–546.
    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3693.4.7

    De Villiers, C.G.S. (1938) A comparison of some cranial features of the East African gymnophiones Boulengerula boulengeri Tornier and Scolecomorphus uluguruensis Boulenger. Anatomische Anzeiger, 86, 1–26.

    Gower, D.J., Loader, S.P., Moncrieff, C.B. & Wilkinson, M. (2004) Niche separation and comparative abundance of Boulengerula boulengeri and Scolecomorphus vittatus (Amphibia: Gymnophiona) in an East Usambara forest, Tanzania. African Journal of Herpetology, 53, 183–190.
    https://doi.org/10.1080/21564574.2004.9635510

    Gower, D.J. & Wilkinson, M. (2002) Phallus morphology in caecilians (Amphibia, Gymnophiona) and its systematic utility. Bulletin of the Natural History Museum: Zoology, 68, 143–154.
    https://doi.org/10.1017/s096804700200016x

    Gower, D.J., Wilkinson, M., Sherratt, E. & Kok, P.J. (2010) A new species of Rhinatrema Duméril & Bibron (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Rhinatrematidae) from Guyana. Zootaxa, 2391, 47–60.

    Kamei, R.G., Wilkinson, M., Gower, D.J. & Biju, S.D. (2009) Three new species of striped Ichthyophis (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Ichthyophiidae) from the northeast Indian states of Manipur and Nagaland. Zootaxa, 2267 (1), 26–42.
    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.2267.1.2

    Kamei, R.G., Gower, D.J., Wilkinson, M. & Biju, S. (2013) Systematics of the caecilian family Chikilidae (Amphibia: Gymnophiona) with the description of three new species of Chikila from northeast India. Zootaxa, 3666 (4), 401–435.
    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3666.4.1

    Kotharambath, R., Wilkinson, M., Oommen, O.V., George, S., Nussbaum, R.A. & Gower, D.J. (2012a) On the systematics, distribution and conservation status of Ichthyophis longicephalus Pillai, 1986 (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Ichthyophiidae). Journal of Natural History, 46, 2935–2959.
    https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2012.717972

    Kotharambath, R., Gower, D.J., Oommen, O.V. & Wilkinson, M. (2012b) A third species of Gegeneophis Peters (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Indotyphlidae) lacking secondary annular grooves. Zootaxa, 3272, 26–34.

    Loader, S.P., Pisani, D., Cotton, J.A., Gower, D.J., Day, J.J. & Wilkinson, M. (2007) Relative timescales reveal multiple origins of parallel disjunct distributions of African caecilian amphibians. Biology Letters, 3, 505–508.
    https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0266

    Loader, S.P., Wilkinson, M., Cotton, J.A., Measey, G.J., Menegon, M., Howell, K.M., Müller, H. & Gower, D.J. (2011) Molecular phylogenetics of Boulengerula (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Caeciliidae) and implications for taxonomy, biogeography and conservation. The Herpetological Journal, 21, 5–16.

    Loveridge, A. (1936) Scientific results of an expedition to rain forest regions in eastern Africa VII Amphibians. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard, 79, 369–430.

    Malonza, P.K., Lötters, S. & Measey, G.J. (2010) The montane forest associated amphibian species of the Taita Hills, Kenya. Journal of East African Natural History, 99 (1), 47–63.
    https://doi.org/10.2982/028.099.0103

    Malonza, P.K. & Measey, G.J. (2005) Life history of an African caecilian: Boulengerula taitanus Loveridge 1935 (Amphibia Gymnophiona Caeciilidae). Tropical Zoology, 18, 49–66.
    https://doi.org/10.1080/03946975.2005.10531214

    Measey, G.J., Muchai, V. & Spawls, S. (2012) Rediscovery of Boulengerula denhardti Nieden 1912 (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Caeciliidae) in Meru County, Kenya. African Zoology, 47, 187–191.
    https://doi.org/10.3377/004.047.0118

    Nussbaum, R.A. (1988) On the status of Copeotyphlinus syntremus, Gymnopis oligozona, and Minascaecilia sartoria (Gymnophiona, Caeciliidae): a comedy of errors. Copeia, 1988, 921–928.
    https://doi.org/10.2307/1445715

    Nussbaum, R.A. & Hinkel, H. (1994) Revision of East African caecilians of the genera Afrocaecilia Taylor and Boulengerula Tornier (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Caeciliaidae). Copeia, 1994, 750–760.
    https://doi.org/10.2307/1447192

    Sherratt, E., Gower, D.J., Klingenberg, C.P. & Wilkinson, M. (2014) Evolution of cranial shape in caecilians (Amphibia: Gymnophiona). Evolutionary Biology, 41, 528–5425.
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s11692-014-9287-2

    Taylor, E.H. (1968) The caecilians of the world: a taxonomic review. University of Kansas Press, Lawrence, 848 pp.

    Taylor, E.H. (1969) Skulls of Gymnophiona and their significance in the taxonomy of the group. University of Kansas Science Bulletin, 48, 585–687.

    Wilkinson, M. (1989) On the status of Nectocaecilia fasciata Taylor, with a discussion of the phylogeny of the Typhlonectidae (Amphibia: Gymnophiona). Herpetologica, 45, 23–36.

    Wilkinson, M. (1990) The presence of a musculus retractor cloacae in female caecilians (Amphibia: Gymnophiona). Amphibia-Reptilia, 11, 300–304.
    https://doi.org/10.1163/156853890X00221

    Wilkinson, M. & Kok, P.J.R. (2010) A new species of Microcaecilia (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Caeciliidae) from Guyana. Zootaxa, 2719, 35–40.

    Wilkinson, M., Loader, S.P., Gower, D.J., Sheps, J.A. & Cohen, B.L. (2003) Phylogenetic relationships of African caecilians (Amphibia: Gymnophiona): insights from mitochondrial rRNA gene sequences. African Journal of Herpetology, 52, 83–92.
    https://doi.org/10.1080/21564574.2003.9635483

    Wilkinson, M., Loader, S.P., Müller, H. & Gower, D.J. (2004) Taxonomic status and phylogenetic relationships of Boulengerula denhardti Nieden, 1912 (Amphibia, Gymnophiona, Caeciliidae). Zoosystematics and Evolution, 80, 41–51.
    https://doi.org/10.1002/mmnz.20040800104

    Wilkinson, M., San Mauro, D., Sherratt, E. & Gower, D.J. (2011) A nine-family classification of caecilians (Amphibia: Gymnophiona). Zootaxa, 2874, 41–64.

    Wilkinson, M., Sherratt, E., Starace, F. & Gower, D.J. (2013) A new species of skin-feeding caecilian and the first report of reproductive mode in Microcaecilia (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Siphonopidae). PLoS ONE, 8 (3), e57756.
    https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0057756

    Wilkinson, M., Presswell, B., Sherratt, E., Papadopolou, A. & Gower, D.J. (2014) A new species of striped Ichthyophis Fitzinger, 1826 (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Ichthyophiidae) from Myanmar. Zoootaxa, 3785 (1), 45–58.
    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3785.1.4