Acontias Cuvier, 1816

Marques, Mariana P., Ceríaco, Luis M. P., Blackburn, David C. & Bauer, Aaron M., 2018, Diversity and Distribution of the Amphibians and Terrestrial Reptiles of Angola Atlas of Historical and Bibliographic Records (1840 - 2017), Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 65, pp. 1-501 : 237-239

Genus Acontias Cuvier, 1816 “1817”

Acontias jappi (Broadley, 1968) BAROTSELAND BLIND LEGLESS SKINK

Typhlosaurus lineatus jappi Broadley 1968a:13 . Holotype: NMZB 6757 (formerly UM 6757 ) (collector R.G.

Japp). Type locality: “Kalabo, Barotseland, Zambia ”. Typhlosaurus jappi : Schneider and Bauer (2009:56). Acontias jappi : Lamb et al. (2010:42), Wagner et al.

(2012:294).

Global conservation status (IUCN): Not

Evalutated

Global distribution: The species occurs from western Zambia to eastern Angola, west of the Zambezi River.

Ocurrences in Angola (Map 194): The species occurs in Moxico Province, southeastern Angola. Moxico: “Gago Coutinho district”

[-10.88333, 19.23333] ( Broadley 1968a:13;

Schneider and Bauer 2009:56).

Taxonomic and distributional notes:

Schneider and Bauer (2009) recognized

A. jappi as a full species, and were followed by

Lamb et al. (2010) and Wagner et al. (2012),

although molecular data are required to confirm its specific status. MAP 194. Distribution of Acontias jappi in Angola.

Acontias kgalagadi Lamb, Biswas and Bauer, 2010 KALAHARI LEGLESS SKINK

Typhlosaurus lineatus Boulenger 1887:432 , pl. XXVIII, fig. 3. Holotype: BMNH 69.2 .4.1 (presented by South African Museum ). Type locality: “ Cape of Good Hope,” South Africa.

Acontias kgalagadi kgalagadi : Conradie et al. (2016:25) .

Global conservation status (IUCN): Not Evalutated

Global distribution: The species is knwon from northern Namibia and Botswana and adjacent southeastern Angola.

Ocurrences in Angola ( Map 195 ): Cuando Cubango: “Cuando basin (44a)” [-17.57333, 23.26000] ( Conradie et al. 2016:9, 25) .

Taxonomic and distributional notes: Conradie et al. (2016) collected a single individual from this species from Cuando Cubango constituting the first record in Angola and the first record north of the Okavango River. Lamb et al. (2010) provided a replacement name, Acontias kgalagadi , for Typhlosaurus lineatus , which they placed in Acontias based on a molecular phylogenetic analysis. Boulenger’s name was preoccupied by Acontias lineatus Peters, 1879 , a species occurring in western South Africa and southern Namibia.

Acontias occidentalis FitzSimons, 1941 SAVANNA LEGLESS SKINK

Acontias plumbeus occidentalis FitzSimons 1941:275 . Lectotype: PEM R5105 (formerly AM 6064) designated by Mertens (1955:74). Type locality: Explicitly restricted to “Okahandja, Damaraland, Südwestafrika [ Namibia]” by Mertens (1955).

Acontias plumbeus : Monard (1937b:96).

Acontias percivali ocidentalis : Broadley (1969:20), Branch (1998:135), Daniels et al. (2005:646), Daniels et al. (2006:354).

Acontias occidentalis : Lamb et al. (2010:36), Bates et al. (2014:247).

Global conservation status (IUCN): Least Concern.

Global distribution: This species is endemic to southern Africa and adjacent areas in southern Angola ( Branch 1998; Daniel et al. 2005;

Bates et al. 2014).

Ocurrences in Angola (196): The species occurs in Cunene Province near the Namibian border. Cunene: “Mupa” [-16.18333,

15.75000] ( Monard 1937b:96; Broadley

1969:20).

Taxonomic and distributional notes:

The original type series included 10 specimens from across the species range, including northern Namibia, Botswana, and parts of the former

Transvaal Province of South Africa. Monard

(1937b) misidentified a specimen from

“Mupa” southern Angola as Acontias plumbeus

Bianconi, 1849, a species endemic to southern

Africa ( Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swazialnd)

( Bates et al. 2014). We recently located this individual in the Musée d’Histoire Naturelle, MAP 196. Distribution of Acontias occidentalis in La-Chaux-de Fond, Switzerland and identified Angola.

it as A. occidentalis FitzSimons, 1941 . Acontias occidentalis was previously considered a subspecies of A. percivali Loveridge, 1935 . Based on molecular phylogenetic studies the two are closely related ( Daniels et al. 2006), but considered specifically distinct ( Lamb et al. 2010).

Figures

MAP 195. Distribution of Acontias kgalagadi in Angola.