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Issue: Vol. 4324 No. 1: 26 Sept. 2017
Type: Article
Published: 2017-09-26
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4324.1.8
Page range: 142–160
Abstract views: 128
PDF downloaded: 2

Description of a new flat gecko (Squamata: Gekkonidae: Afroedura) from Mount Gorongosa, Mozambique

Port Elizabeth Museum, P.O. Box 13147, Humewood 6013, South Africa Research Associate, Department of Zoology, Nelson Mandela University, P.O. Box 77000, Port Elizabeth 6031, South Africa
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, U.S.A
Natural History Museum of Geneva, Department of Herpetology and Ichthyology, C.P. 6434, 1211 Geneva 6, Switzerland
Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstrasse 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany
Edward O. Wilson Laboratory, Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A
Faculty of Natural Sciences, Lúrio University, Caixa Postal 958, Pemba, Mozambique Department of Biology & CESAM, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, Box 461, 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 461, 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden
Port Elizabeth Museum, P.O. Box 13147, Humewood 6013, South Africa Research Associate, Department of Zoology, Nelson Mandela University, P.O. Box 77000, Port Elizabeth 6031, South Africa
Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstrasse 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany
Reptilia Afroedura gorongosa sp. nov. Afroedura loveridgei Afroedura transvaalica biodiversity endemism lizards

Abstract

A new species of flat gecko, Afroedura gorongosa sp. nov., is described from Gorongosa National Park, Sofala Province, central Mozambique. The new species is morphologically similar to A. transvaalica and A. loveridgei, from both of which it is genetically distinct (15–17% divergence; 400 bp of 16S rRNA). Morphologically it can be distinguished from both species by having fewer midbody scale rows (97–101) and a higher number of precloacal pores in males (8–13). The type series was collected on the western flanks of Mount Gorongosa (900 and 1100 m a.s.l.) in comparatively cool and moist microclimates, where it is threatened by illegal deforestation. Additional material was collected as low as 212 m a.s.l. on an inselberg near Mount Gorongosa. The new discovery adds to the growing number of endemic montane reptiles discovered in Mozambique in recent years, and highlights the need for a national conservation assessment of the country’s herpetofauna and continued protection of the Mount Gorongosa region.

 

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