Rhoptropus boultoni montanus Laurent, 1964

Ceríaco, L. M. P., De Sá, S., Bandeira, S., Valério, H., Stanley, E. L., Kuhn, A. L., Marques, M. P., Vindum, J. V., Blackburn, D. C. & Bauer, A. M., 2016, Herpetological Survey of Iona National Park and Namibe Regional Natural Park, with a Synoptic List of the Amphibians and Reptiles of Namibe Province, Southwestern Angola, Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 63 (2), pp. 15-61 : 29

MONTANE NAMIB DAY GECKO

Rhoptropus boultoni montanus Laurent, 1964

MATERIAL.— Leba Pass overlook, 5 December 2013, 15º4ʹ37.2ʺS, 13º13ʹ58.5ʺE, 1682 m ( CAS 254866 , CAS 254867 ; 15º4ʹ38.3ʺS, 13º13´57.0ʺE, 1682 m ( CAS 254868 ) ; 15º4ʹ36.0ʺS, 13º14ʹ1.6ʺE, 1682 m ( CAS 254869–254872 ); Leba Pass, between river and highway , 15º04ʹ13.2ʺ S, 13º14ʹ37.3ʺE, 1676 m ( CAS 254882 ) .

COMMENTS.— The subspecies was described from the Leba Escarpment (“ 60 km on the road to Moçâmedes [now Namibe, Namibe Province] from Sá da Bandeira [now Lubango, Huila Province]”, Laurent 1964a). A large series of specimens in the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History are derived from localities near Lubango, in Huila. Our specimens are topotypical and were collected on the Namibe side of the provincial boundary. Specimens were found basking on high elevation granite rocks covered with bryophytes. Molecular phylogenetic studies (A. Kuhn, unpublished) reveal that this taxon is specifically distinct from R. boultoni . Its formal elevation to specific status will be justified in detail elsewhere.