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We describe a new species of Zygaspis based on a single specimen collected in north-eastern Mozambique and deposited in the Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe, Bulawayo. The new species is characterised by its extensively black pigmentation, 191 body annuli, discrete preoculars, four parietals, two postoculars, three supralabials, and two post-supralabials. Phylogenetic analysis of mtDNA suggests that it is a sister taxon to the widespread Zygaspis quadrifrons.ZooBank.—urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:9651A65E-949E-4C95-A363-81C558A222AC

In his seminal work ‘The Amphibia of southern Africa: a faunal study’, Poynton identified and contrasted two centres of amphibian importance, the temperate south-western Cape (“Cape”) and tropical northeast (“Tropical”). With reference to the dominant role of climate fluctuations resulting from Milankovitch forcing since the Pliocene, Poynton hypothesised: “These climatic fluctuations must have altered the faunal patterning very considerably, and they have probably left an impression on present distribution”. In this study we use modern methods of species distribution and palaeoclimatic models not available in the 1960s to further investigate Poynton's predictions on the importance of glacial–interglacial climatic changes on the distributions of southern Africa's amphibian assemblages. We constructed current distribution models based on presence data for 20 representative endemic anuran taxa from the two centres. We then used two paleoclimatic models (Model for Interdisciplinary Research on Clima...

Although reptile diversity in Africa is high, it is poorly represented in Angola, with just 257 species known. Despite its greater surface area and habitat diversity Angola has significantly lower lacertid lizard diversity than adjacent Namibia. This is particularly notable in African sand lizards (Pedioplanis), where 10 species (two endemic) are known from Namibia but only two are recorded from adjacent Angola. Pedioplanis benguellensis was described from Angola, but its taxonomic status is problematic and it was previously synonymised with P. namaquensis. All other Angolan Pedioplanis were referred to Namibian P. undata, although this taxon is now known to comprise a complex of at least five different species and the relationship of Angolan material to this complex has not been assessed. In this study, we investigated the phylogenetic placement of Angolan Pedioplanis using two mitochondrial (ND2 and 16S) and one nuclear (RAG-1) markers. A Bayesian analysis was conducted on 21 samples from Angol...

After 47 years and 60 volumes, editorial policy in the scholarly journal of the Herpetological Association of Africa has changed from largely unscientific to strictly scientific. I investigate the causes for this by examining the changes in editorial policy throughout the history of the journal and find that there has been a gradual change with some important milestones. Of key importance were the introduction of the peer-review process in 1979 and the inception of a newsletter in 1983. Interest in African herpetology is growing and the quality and quantity of articles in African Journal of Herpetology are seen to continue to increase. The future may include changes in the way that the content is produced, but will continue to provide a platform for herpetological discoveries on the African continent; thereby verifying the maxim: ex Africa aliquid semper novi.

Caecilians remain an enigmatic component of the tropical terrestrial fauna due in part to their cryptic life-history but also to a lack of directed effort towards their study. Many species are known from single specimens associated with poor collection data, which has not facilitated re-collection. Consequently, nearly two thirds of species are currently considered Data Deficient by the IUCN. Boulengerula fischeri was described from a single specimen deposited onto a car by an unknown collector in 1987, and has defied attempts at relocation for nearly 20 years. Herein we describe a collection of 20 individuals from agricultural land immediately outside Cyamudongo Forest in southwestern Rwanda, around 3 km from the type locality. Adults were found to attain a remarkable maximum length of nearly 400 mm despite being only 4.5 mm wide (maximum elongation index of 102). The range of morphometric and meristic measurements taken include those given for the type specimen, featuring mean annular and verte...

Very little life‐history information is available regarding the 13 species of earless dwarf toads from the genus Mertensophryne. We report our observations on the breeding behaviour of M. taitana from Mount Mbololo in the Taita Hills, Kenya. Empirical data from pit‐fall trapping suggest that they are not abundant in the area (< 1.5 % of captures), although we managed to batch mark 230 individuals from breeding assemblages in road puddles during 20 days in November 2007. Results reveal that most individuals depart from a breeding site within 24 hours, although some (around 10%) remain while others travel up to 100 m to nearby puddles. Despite their lack of columellae, these dwarf toads appear to react to conspecific distress calls. Eggs develop rapidly into tadpoles and toadlets within 15 days of being laid, but tadpoles were not observed to use their “crown” at the water surface as previously reported. Instead they were observed submerged in liquid mud at the periphery of puddles. Our brief obser...

The use of automated grape harvesters in the Cape Wine Growing region has resulted in controversy regarding their effect on the chameleon Bradypodion pumilum. We investigated densities of B. pumilum during harvesting at a vineyard near Stellenbosch, South Africa. During dedicated surveys, no chameleons were found in vines, while vegetation surrounding the vines contained densities as high as 1.3 chameleons per 100 m of survey. In addition, the force required to remove ripe grapes was investigated and found to be substantially lower than that required to dislodge a chameleon. We conclude that the effect of automated grape harvesting on chameleons is negligible.