Crocodylus Laurenti, 1768

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 : 174-175

Genus Crocodylus Laurenti, 1768

Crocodylus niloticus Laurenti, 1768 NILE CROCODILE

Crocodylus niloticus Laurenti 1768:53 . Type: not located fide King and Burke (1989:11). Type locality: “ Indien und Ägypten ”, later restricted to “ Ägypten ” [= Egypt] by Fuchs et al. (1974a:110).

Crocodilus vulgaris : Günther (1865a:480), Bocage (1866a:41, 1867b:218, 1895a:8), Peters (1877a:611), Monard (1937b:150).

Crocodilus niloticus : Ferreira (1903:16), Themido (1941:11), Hellmich (1957a:31), Saldanha (1966:8), Branch and McCarteney (1992:3), Ceríaco et al. (2014b:669), Branch and Conradie (2015:200), Conradie et al. (2016:26).

Crocodylus niloticus chamses : Fuchs et al. (1974a:111).

Global conservation status (IUCN): Least Concern.

Global distribution: Widespread across much of eastern sub-Saharan Africa, northward along the Nile Valley into Egypt, and westwards across northern Namibia and southern Angola and thence northwards up the Atlantic coast to Cameroon. Also present in Madagascar.

Ocurrences in Angola (Map 121): This species occurs across the country, despite the scarcity of publish data the Angolan population as traditionally been reported very high in almost all of the hydrographic basins . Cabinda: “ Chinchoxo ” [-5.10000, 12.10000] ( Peters

1877a:611). Lunda Norte: “Carumbo”

[-7.74422, 19.95467] (Branch and Conradie

2015:200). Luanda: “ Rio Bengo ” [-8.71667,

13.40000] ( Bocage 1866a:41); “Loanda”

[-8.83333, 13.26667] ( Bocage 1866a:41).

Malanje: “Pungo Andongo” [-9.66667,

15.58333] ( Günther 1865a:480); “Duque de

Bragança ” [-9.10000, 15.95000] ( Ferreira

1903:16); “Capanda” [-9.72841, 15.34585]

(Ceríaco et al. 2014b:669). Kwanza Sul:

“Novo Redondo” [-11.20000, 13.85000]

( Bocage 1867b:218). Benguela: “Alto Cubal” MAP 121. Distribution of Crocodylus niloticus in Angola.

[-13.03333, 14.25000] (Hellmich 1857a:31).

Huíla: “fleuve Kuvangu” [-14.46667, 16.30000] ( Monard 1937b:150). Cunene: “étangs du Kuvelai” [-15.65000, 15.80000] ( Monard 1937b:150). Cuando Cubango: “sight below the Mupupa Falls” [-17.51667, 20.05000] (Branch and McCartney 1992:3); “Cuito basin (29)” [-17.87291, 19.83333] ( Conradie et al. 2016:9-10, 26); Cuito basin (35) observation” [-16.62322, 19.05352] ( Conradie et al. 2016:9-10, 27); “Cubango basin (43) observation” [-17.53500, 23.18916] ( Conradie et al. 2016:9-10, 26); “Cuando basin (44a) observation” [-17.57333, 23.26000] ( Conradie et al. 2016:9-10, 27); “Cubango basin (45) observation” [-16.88350, 18.01180] ( Conradie et al. 2016:9, 12, 27).

Taxonomic and distributional notes: Crocodylus niloticus is a widespread species throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa, however, some West African populations long assigned to C. niloticus are recognized as C. suchus (Geoffroy Saint-Hiliare, 1807) , a taxon recently resurrect- ed from synonymy ( Schmitz et al. 2003). Fuchs et al. (1974a) previously recognized seven subspecies in C. niloticus and applied the name C. niloticus chamses to the Angolan population. The actual distributions of C. niloticus sensu stricto and C. suchus are poorly known in the region of central West Africa and Angola in particular ( Fergusson 2010), thus it is unclear if Angolan populations represent one or both of the species. Grigg and Kirshner (2015) provided a distribution map with the ranges of C. niloticus and C. suchus in Africa, which reflects the lack of data from central regions in Angola, but suggests that C. niloticus is the sole species occurring in the country, an interpretation we here accept. Branch and McCartney (1992) stated that the species is commonly found in all the major permanent river systems, including the Cuito and Cubango rivers. Hellmich (1957a) also refered to a large population in the Kwanza River, while Monard (1937b) mentioned sightings from Cunene near Forte Roçadas, Capolongo along the Cuvango, and at the mouth of Catumbela. Monard (1932) identified the mythical creature named “Libata” by locals of Chiumbé and Cuílo (northeast of Angola) as C. niloticus .