Bibliographic records of Angola mammals

Study Extent

The study geographic extent corresponds to Angola, located along the south-western coast of Africa (4º22’S, 18º03’S). Ungulate taxa are well represented across the country, but records for rodents and carnivores are lacking in the northwest region (provinces of Zaire and Uíge) and in the southeastern regions of the country (mainly in the provinces of Moxico and Cuando-Cubango). The exact date of the records is unknown, and therefore the date of the record’s publication is used as a proxy of temporal spanning. The temporal range of the dataset is 1860-1999, but the bulk of information is concentrated in the decades of 1950-1980.

Sampling

The records gathered in this dataset were compiled and published by Crawford-Cabral and colleagues and correspond to information gathered during scientific expeditions carried out in Angola during the 20th century, complemented with museum specimens and literature records revised by the authors. The records compiled were georefenced at a resolution of quarter degree cell (approximately 25x25km), following the georeferencing scheme of Crawford-Cabral and colleagues.

Quality Control

All of the records were was thoroughly scan for potential error, with a particular emphasis on potential misallocation of observation records.

Method steps

1. Information was collected from the following publications: Crawford-Cabral J (1998) The Angola rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. An account on their distribution. Estudos Ensaios e Documentos, 161. Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical. Lisboa. Crawford-Cabral J, Simões AP (1987) Distributional data and notes on Angolan carnivores (Mammalia: Carnivora) I – Small and medium-sized species. Garcia de Orta, Série de Zoologia 14: 3-27. Crawford-Cabral J, Simões AP (1988) Distributional data and notes on Angolan carnivores (Mammalia: Carnivora) II – Larger species. Garcia de Orta, Série de Zoologia 15: 9-20. Crawford-Cabral J, Veríssimo LN (2005) The ungulate fauna of Angola. Systematic list, distribution maps, database report. Estudos Ensaios e Documentos, 163. Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical. Lisboa. All records listed in the publications were introduced into a database file. Each records was assigned to a quarter-degree grid cell. Information was georeferenced in the Camacupa projection and then projected to WGS 1984.

The taxonomic coverage of the dataset includes 140 taxa (species and subspecies) of the orders Carnivora, Rodentia, Artiodactyla, Hyracoidea, Perissodactyla, Proboscidea, Sirenia, Tubulidentata. Ungulates are the group best represented, with largest number of records (7053) followed by rodents (2037) and carnivores (789).

1. Animalia
   rank: kingdom
2. Chordata
   rank: phylum
3. Mammalia
   rank: class
4. Artiodactyla
   rank: order
5. Carnivora
   rank: order
6. Hyracoidea
   rank: order
7. Perissodactyla
   rank: order
8. Proboscidea
   rank: order
9. Rodentia
   rank: order
10. Sirenia
    rank: order
11. Tubulidentata
    rank: order
12. Antilopinae
    rank: family
13. Bovinae
    rank: family
14. Canidae
    rank: family
15. Cricetomyidae
    rank: family
16. Elephantidae
    rank: family
17. Equidae
    rank: family
18. Felidae
    rank: family
19. Gerbillidae
    rank: family
20. Giraffidae
    rank: family
21. Herpestidae
    rank: family
22. Hippopotamidae
    rank: family
23. Hyaenidae
    rank: family
24. Muridae
    rank: family
25. Mustelidae
    rank: family
26. Nandiniidae
    rank: family
27. Nesomyidae
    rank: family
28. Orycteropodidae
    rank: family
29. Procavidae
    rank: family
30. Rhinocerotidae
    rank: family
31. Suidae
    rank: family
32. Tragulidae
    rank: family
33. Trichechidae
    rank: family
34. Viverridae
    rank: family

The geographic range of the records covers Angola.