Mozambique Herpetological Collection - IICT

Study Extent

The study covers 9 out of the 10 provinces of Mozambique (Gaza, Inhambane, Manica, Maputo, Nampula, Niassa, Sofala, Tete and Zambézia). The temporal distribution is mainly concentrated in the decade of late 1940’s to mid 1950s (especially in years 1948 and 1955).

Sampling

The majority of the records of this dataset result from the Missões Zoológicas de Moçambique carried out by the former Junta de Investigação do Ultramar, coordinated by Fernando Frade during the late semester of 1948 and during the year of 1955. Some of these specimens were previously studied and cited in Manaças (1950, 1952, 1954, 1959, 1961) and Broadley (1963, 1965). Other records result from intermittent donations of specimens to the Junta de Investigação Científica do Ultramar. The donations from 1956 result from the Missão de Combate às Tripanossomíases, carried out by Dr. Marques da Silva a former researcher at the Posto Zootécnico de Angónia. Some other specimens were donated by Dr. Donald Broadley, formerly at the Umtali Museum, Rhodesia, including part of the type series of Platysaurus maculatus lineicauda, Platysaurus maculatus maculatus, and Afroedura transvaalica loveridgei.

Quality Control

Information from each specimen was catalogued in an Excel spreadsheet, involving two steps: i) digitization of specimen records; and ii) taxonomic revision and data checking. Nomenclature was checked through available literature, The Reptile Database [http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/], and the Amphibia Species of the World v.6.0 [http://research.amnh.org/vz/herpetology/amphibia/]. Georeferencing followed the recommendations by Chapman and Wieczorek (2006), including the determination of uncertainty of coordinates, in particular when insufficient information was available from specimens’ records and labels to attribute a specific locality (e.g. Mozambique, Centro Social, etc.).

Method steps

1. 1. The herpetological collections were catalogued using the software Microsoft Excel. We conducted extensive shelf surveys to locate all the remaining Mozambican specimens of amphibians and reptiles. After locating the specimens, basic curatorial procedures were taken. Each jar was cleaned, and ethanol or formalin was changed to 70% etanol gradually. In certain cases jars were substituted as they were cracked or were otherwise not reliably sealable. All the information linked to the survinving specimens and/or jars were collected, copied, and linked to the specimen. After completion of curatorial activities, each specimen was identified to the species and/or subspecies level. The identification of the specimens was accomplished by consulting the most updated available literature sources and followed the currently accepted nomenclature. Additionally, the specimens’ original information was re-checked at this phase, comparing the label data with surviving original field books and catalgoues, in order to screen for any initial cataloguing errors. The collecting locality for each bibliographic reference was georeferenced following the GPS location available in newer publications, and then also converting to decimal degrees. When no data were available in Cabral & Mesquitela (1989) or in the recent publications, we used “GEOLocate online application” (http://www.museum.tulane.edu/geolocate/) for georeferencing the locality cited. The uncertainty of georeferenced localities was recorded whenever possible. For some records it was not possible to determine the coordinates due to insufficient location information. All coordinates are given in geographic format, decimal degrees, datum WGS 84.

The dataset comprises representatives of 26 families, 55 genus, 90 species and 4 subpsecies of Amphibians and Reptiles.

1. Amphibia
   rank: class
2. Reptilia
   rank: class
3. Anura
   rank: order
4. Squamata
   rank: order
5. Crocodylia
   rank: order
6. Pyxicephalidae
   rank: family
7. Ranidae
   rank: family
8. Brevicipitidae
   rank: family
9. Rhacophoridae
   rank: family
10. Hyperoliidae
    rank: family
11. Hemisotidae
    rank: family
12. Mycrohylidae
    rank: family
13. Phrynobatrachidae
    rank: family
14. Ptychadenidae
    rank: family
15. Bufonidae
    rank: family
16. Pipidae
    rank: family
17. Agamidae
    rank: family
18. Scincidae
    rank: family
19. Gekkonidae
    rank: family
20. Typhlopidae
    rank: family
21. Lamprophiidae
    rank: family
22. Elapidae
    rank: family
23. Chamaeleonidae
    rank: family
24. Crocodylidae
    rank: family
25. Colubridae
    rank: family
26. Gerrhosauridae
    rank: family
27. Lacertidae
    rank: family
28. Amphisbaenidae
    rank: family
29. Cordylidae
    rank: family
30. Varanidae
    rank: family
31. Amietia
    rank: genus
32. Amnirana
    rank: genus
33. Breviceps
    rank: genus
34. Cacosternum
    rank: genus
35. Chiromantis
    rank: genus
36. Hemisus
    rank: genus
37. Hyperolius
    rank: genus
38. Phrynobatrachus
    rank: genus
39. Phrynomantis
    rank: genus
40. Ptychadena
    rank: genus
41. Pyxicephalus
    rank: genus
42. Schismaderma
    rank: genus
43. Sclerophrys
    rank: genus
44. Strongylopus
    rank: genus
45. Xenopus
    rank: genus
46. Acanthocercus
    rank: genus
47. Acontias
    rank: genus
48. Afroedura
    rank: genus
49. Afrotyphlops
    rank: genus
50. Agama
    rank: genus
51. Amblyodipsas
    rank: genus
52. Aparallactus
    rank: genus
53. Aspidelaps
    rank: genus
54. Atractaspis
    rank: genus
55. Bitis
    rank: genus
56. Boaedon
    rank: genus
57. Causus
    rank: genus
58. Chamaeleo
    rank: genus
59. Chondrodactylus
    rank: genus
60. Crocodylus
    rank: genus
61. Crotaphopeltis
    rank: genus
62. Dasypeltis
    rank: genus
63. Dendroaspis
    rank: genus
64. Dipsadoboa
    rank: genus
65. Dispholidus
    rank: genus
66. Elapsoidea
    rank: genus
67. Gerrhosaurus
    rank: genus
68. Heliobolus
    rank: genus
69. Hemidactylus
    rank: genus
70. Homopholis
    rank: genus
71. Leptotyphlops
    rank: genus
72. Limaformosa
    rank: genus
73. Lycophidion
    rank: genus
74. Lygodactylus
    rank: genus
75. Matobosaurus
    rank: genus
76. Mochlus
    rank: genus
77. Monopeltis
    rank: genus
78. Naja
    rank: genus
79. Natriciteres
    rank: genus
80. Nucras
    rank: genus
81. Panaspis
    rank: genus
82. Philothamnus
    rank: genus
83. Platysaurus
    rank: genus
84. Psammophis
    rank: genus
85. Psammophylax
    rank: genus
86. Rhampholeon
    rank: genus
87. Scelotes
    rank: genus
88. Smaug
    rank: genus
89. Telescopus
    rank: genus
90. Tetradactylus
    rank: genus
91. Thelotornis
    rank: genus
92. Trachylepis
    rank: genus
93. Varanus
    rank: genus
94. Xenocalamus
    rank: genus
95. Zygaspis
    rank: genus
96. Amietia angolensis
    rank: species
97. Amnirana darlingi
    rank: species
98. Breviceps mossambicus
    rank: species
99. Cacosternum boettgeri
    rank: species
100. Cacosternum nanum
     rank: species
101. Chiromantis xerampelina
     rank: species
102. Hemisus marmoratus
     rank: species
103. Hyperolius marmoratus
     rank: species
104. Hyperolius sp.
     rank: species
105. Hyperolius tuberilinguis
     rank: species
106. Phrynobatrachus mababiensis
     rank: species
107. Phrynobatrachus natalensis
     rank: species
108. Phrynomantis bifasciatus
     rank: species
109. Ptychadena guibei
     rank: species
110. Ptychadena oxyrhynchus
     rank: species
111. Ptychadena mascareniensis
     rank: species
112. Pyxicephalus edulis
     rank: species
113. Schismaderma carens
     rank: species
114. Sclerophrys garmani
     rank: species
115. Sclerophrys gutturalis
     rank: species
116. Sclerophrys pusilla
     rank: species
117. Sclerophrys sp.
     rank: species
118. Strongylopus rhodesianus
     rank: species
119. Xenopus muelleri
     rank: species
120. Acanthocercus atricollis
     rank: species
121. Acontias aurantiacus
     rank: species
122. Afroedura loveridgei
     rank: species
123. Afrotyphlops fornasinii
     rank: species
124. Afrotyphlops schlegelii
     rank: species
125. Agama armata
     rank: species
126. Agama mossambica
     rank: species
127. Agama kirkii
     rank: species
128. Amblyodipsas microphthalma
     rank: species
129. Amblyodipsas polylepis
     rank: species
130. Aparallactus capensis
     rank: species
131. Aparallactus lunulatus
     rank: species
132. Aspidelaps scutatus
     rank: species
133. Atractaspis bibronii
     rank: species
134. Bitis arietans
     rank: species
135. Boaedon capensis
     rank: species
136. Boaedon sp.
     rank: species
137. Causus rhombeatus
     rank: species
138. Causus defilippii
     rank: species
139. Chamaeleo dilepis
     rank: species
140. Chondrodactylus turneri
     rank: species
141. Crocodylus niloticus
     rank: species
142. Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia
     rank: species
143. Dasypeltis scabra
     rank: species
144. Dendroaspis angusticeps
     rank: species
145. Dendroaspis polylepis
     rank: species
146. Dipsadoboa aulica
     rank: species
147. Dispholidus typus
     rank: species
148. Elapsoidea boulengeri
     rank: species
149. Elapsoidea sundevallii
     rank: species
150. Gerrhosaurus flavigularis
     rank: species
151. Heliobolus lugubris
     rank: species
152. Hemidactylus mabouia
     rank: species
153. Homopholis wahlbergii
     rank: species
154. Leptotyphlops incongnitus
     rank: species
155. Limaformosa capensis
     rank: species
156. Lycophidion capense
     rank: species
157. Lygodactylus capensis
     rank: species
158. Matobosaurus validus
     rank: species
159. Mochlus sundevalli
     rank: species
160. Monopeltis sphenorhynchus
     rank: species
161. Naja annulifera
     rank: species
162. Naja mossambica
     rank: species
163. Natriciteres olivacea
     rank: species
164. Nucras holubi
     rank: species
165. Panaspis wahlbergii
     rank: species
166. Philothamnus angolensis
     rank: species
167. Philothamnus hoplogaster
     rank: species
168. Philothamnus semivariegatus
     rank: species
169. Psammophis mossambicus
     rank: species
170. Psammophis orientalis
     rank: species
171. Psammophylax tritaeniatus
     rank: species
172. Rhampholeon gorongosae
     rank: species
173. Scelotes arenicola
     rank: species
174. Smaug mossambicus
     rank: species
175. Telescopus semiannulatus
     rank: species
176. Tetradactylus ellenbergeri
     rank: species
177. Thelotornis capensis
     rank: species
178. Trachylepis boulengeri
     rank: species
179. Trachylepis depressa
     rank: species
180. Trachylepis margaritifera
     rank: species
181. Trachylepis sp.
     rank: species
182. Trachylepis striata
     rank: species
183. Trachylepis varia
     rank: species
184. Varanus exanthematicus
     rank: species
185. Zygaspis violacea
     rank: species
186. Platysaurus intermedius wilhelmi
     rank: subspecies
187. Platysaurus maculatus lineicauda
     rank: subspecies
188. Platysaurus maculatus maculatus
     rank: subspecies
189. Xenocalamus bicolor lineatus
     rank: subspecies

The Republic of Mozambique