Herpetological results of Francisco Newton’s Zoological Expedition to Angola (1903 – 1906): a taxonomic revision and new records of a forgotten collection
Author
Santos, Bruna S.
Author
Marques, Mariana P.
0000-0002-1712-2632
mptlmarques@gmail.com
Author
Bauer, Aaron M.
0000-0001-6839-8025
aaron.bauer@villanova.edu
Author
Ceríaco, Luis M. P.
0000-0002-3798-2664
brunascesantos@gmail.com
text
Zootaxa
2021
2021-09-03
5028
1
1
80
http://zoobank.org/c678f0fe-1b62-4f34-8a66-449cf9806b50
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.5028.1.1
1175-5326
5453967
C678F0FE-1B62-4F34-8A66-449CF9806B50
Leptotyphlops
cf.
scutifrons
(Peters, 1854)
Material (
one specimen
):
One adult specimen (MHNCUP/REP 333;
Fig. S52
), collected from Africa-Congo, A’Dalla Tando [=N’dalatando] [-9.30000º, 14.91667º,
782 m
a.s.l.
]
Kwanza Norte Province
, in 1903
.
Comments:
Leptotyphlops scutifrons
is known from southern Africa and can be found throughout western and central
Angola
(
Marques
et al.
2018
).
Ferreira (1904)
cited adult specimens with “dark brown or black colour” of “
Glauconia scutifrons
” from “Cazengo” and “Zembe” (
Kwanza Norte Province
).
Marques
et al.
(2018)
tentatively considered them to be
L. scutifrons
, as
Broadley & Broadley (1999)
had placed
Glauconia scutifrons
in its synonymy and considered the species to occur in the Angolan plateau. We hereby follow this interpretation, as morphological analysis of the specimen proved inconclusive due to its poor conservation state. We were unable to properly review the characters that both
Broadley & Broadley (1999)
and
Broadley & Wallach (2007)
used to distinguish
Leptotyphlops
species
in their revisions of the genus.
Adalsteinsson
et al.
(2009)
in a more recent review of the
Leptotyphlopidae
, included
L. scutifrons
in a new tribe (
Leptotyphlopini
) and suggested the use of “complex” to refer to it, as they found large sequence divergence between different samples of the species. The generic map the authors presented for
Leptotyphlops
only included the Angolan provinces of Cuando Cubango and
Moxico
(
Adalsteinsson
et al.
2009
;
Marques
et al.
2018
). In addition, the authors also designated a new genus,
Namibiana
, to which they allocated the former “
rostratus
” group species of
Leptotyphlops
that
Broadley & Wallach (2007)
had previously defined. The new genus is known from
southwest Africa
, including
Angola
. An integrative taxonomic revision is much needed to address the current difficulties of the group.