Mecistops Gray, 1844

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 : 176

Genus Mecistops Gray, 1844

Mecistops cf. cataphractus ( Cuvier, 1825) WEST AFRICAN SLENDER-SNOUTED CROCODILE

Crocodilus cataphractus ( Cuvier 1825:58) . Holotype: RCSM 710 (collector unknown). Type locality: “ Senegal,” fide Fuchs et al. (1974b:3).

Crocodilus cataphractus : Peters (1877a:611), Bocage (1895a:9), Loveridge (1957:176), Frade (1963:252), Laurent (1964a:27).

Crocodilus cataphractus cataphractus : Fuchs et al. (1974b:3).

Global conservation status (IUCN): Critically Endangered.

Global distribution: A widely distributed species throughout West and Central Africa. Ocurrences in Angola (Map 122): This species occurs in northern Angola, close to the

Congo basin. Cabinda: “Chinchoxo”

[-5.10000, 12.10000] ( Peters 1877a:611);

“ Zona de Cabinda “ [-5.55000, 12.18333]

( Frade 1963:252); “côte de Loango” ( Bocage

1895a:9). Lunda Norte: “ Dundo , canal de la

Mussungue” [-7.25000, 20.50000] ( Laurent

1964a:27), “environs de Dundo ” [-7.36667,

20.83333] ( Laurent 1964a:27); “environs de

Dundo, R. Mussungue, affl. du Luachimo”

[-7.41667, 20.83333] ( Laurent 1964a:27);

“Dundo, R. Luachimo, près de l’embouchure du fleuve Dilolo” [-7.60000, 20.86667] ( Laurent 1964a:27); “affl. de la Luembe ± 70 km au

SE de Dundo ” [-8.37140, 21.59368] ( Laurent

1964a:27).

Taxonomic and distributional notes: MAP 122. Distribution of Mecistops cf. cataphractus in Angola.

The taxonomy of African crocodiles is still unresolved. According to Schmitz et al. (2003) the species Crocodylus cataphractus ( Cuvier, 1825) is not closely related to other Crocodylus species, and they considered C. cataphractu s and Osteolaemus tetraspis Cope, 1861 as sister species. McAliley et al. (2006) recommend the resurrection of the historic Genus Mecistops Gray, 1844 to accommodate this species, based on recent molecular and morphological analyses that support the distinction of M. cataphractu s from Crocodylus species. The recent mitochondrial DNA analysis of Feng et al. (2010) corroborates this interpretation. Historically, M. cataphractus was widely distributed throughout West and Central Africa but recent studies by Shirley (2013) and Shirley et al. (2013) have found molecular and morphological support for two divergent taxa in this genus, one distributed entirely in West Africa and the other in Central Africa (IUCN 2014). Mecistops from Angola belong to undescribed species, occuring in Cabinda Province and Lunda Norte (Grigg and Kirshner 2015), although Shirley (2010) and Shirley et al. (2014) considered the distribution to exclude northeastern Angola.