Amietia angolensis (Bocage, 1866)

Parrinha, Diogo, Calado, Francisco M. G., Marques, Mariana P., Bauer, Aaron M. & Ceríaco, Luis M. P., 2025, Echoes of a lost museum: Revision of the herpetological collections sent by Barbosa du Bocage from the Lisbon Museum to the British Museum of Natural History, Vertebrate Zoology 75, pp. 353-404 : 353-404

Amietia angolensis (Bocage, 1866)

Specimens.

Angola: “ W. Africa ”: BMNH 1872.2.15.2 , “ Angola ”: BMNH 1896.2.28.1 .

Comments.

Bocage (1866 a, 1866 b) described Rana angolensis based on two adult specimens collected by Bayão at Duque de Bragança. Perret (1976) mentioned only one specimen from Duque de Bragança as “ holotype ” in the Lisbon Museum, even though Bocage clearly mentioned two specimens in the description. In a letter from 24 May 1869, Bocage listed a specimen as “ 5. Rana sp. ? (Voisin de R. plicigula et de R. delalandii ) ” ( NHMA /DF/ZOO/200/1/189 ; Fig. 4 ), which corresponds to BMNH 1872.2.15.2 , still bearing a label with the number “ 5 ”. This specimen was accessioned as Rana plicigula together with BMNH 1872.2.15.1 (see Hoplobatrachus occipitalis account) and was later reported by Boulenger (1882 b) as Rana angolensis . Bocage sent the second specimen ( BMNH 1896.2.28.1 ) to Boulenger in 1896, asking him to compare it with Rana delalandii in a letter dated 24 February 1896 ( NHMA /DF/ZOO/235/1/1/1/76 ). A specimen preserved at the Museum für Naturkunde ( ZMB 10075) may represent the only surviving syntype of Amietia angolensis (Tillack pers. comm.).

Figures

Figure 4. Extract of letter from Bocage to Günther dated 24 May 1869 (NHMA / DF / ZOO / 200 / 1 / 189) mentioning specimens sent via R. B. Sharpe, including “ Hyperolius huillensis nov. sp. ” and “ Bufo benguellensis nov. sp. ”, years before the descriptions were published.