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The family Ptychadenidae contains three ecologically and morphologically distinct genera: the widespread, species-rich and above-ground dwelling Ptychadena, the less widespread and diverse, burrowing Hildebrandtia, and the little-known, burrowing, monotypic Lanzarana, endemic to Somalia. Previous morphological studies placed Lanzarana in a sister position to Hildebrandtia and these two genera as sister to Ptychadena. However, our analyses of mitochondrial and multilocus nuclear DNA data revealed Lanzarana as a sister lineage to Ptychadena (divergence ∼28 Mya), and Hildebrandtia sister to them (∼42 Mya). This suggests that the common ancestor of ptychadenids may have exhibited a burrowing lifestyle similar to Hildebrandtia and Lanzarana, rather than the more active, above-ground lifestyle of Ptychadena. In addition, based upon analysis of available mitochondrial DNA data, we have identified major clades within the genus Ptychadena and propose them as four species groups, with the P. mascareniensis group being the first diverging lineage (∼20 Mya). We also report four new localities of Lanzarana largeni from central Somaliland, south-western Puntland, southern Somalia and south-eastern Ethiopia, extending the presently known range of the species westward. This represents the first official record of L. largeni from Ethiopia. An ecological niche model of L. largeni for present climatic conditions identifies extensive climatically highly suitable areas in central Somalia and south-eastern Ethiopia. A model for future climatic conditions estimates a substantial extension of climatically suitable areas to northern Somalia and north-eastern Kenya, likely due to predicted more humid conditions accompanying the increase of temperatures in the western Indian Ocean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The taxonomy of many Hemidactylus geckos from the Horn of Africa has recently been evaluated. However, the lack of fresh material for some species and also regions has led to the misidentification of some taxa and an underestimation of the true diversity in others. In this study we analyse new material of Hemidactylus collected from poorly known coastal areas of northern Somaliland. Our results support the existence of two yet undescribed species within the arid clade. One of the new species is small-sized and closely related to H. afarensis from the Afar Triangle in Ethiopia, and together with two other species (H. foudaii, H. sinaitus) forms the monophyletic group for which we propose here the name sinaitus species group. The other new species is medium to large-sized, known from only one locality, and belongs to the macropholis species group, where it is a sister species of H. macropholis. Both new endemic species from the northern coastal hyper-arid plains highlight the role of northern Somaliland as an important biodiversity hotspot. Furthermore, our results show pronounced genetic diversity within H. macropholis, and imply possible existence of cryptic taxa within the species. Hemidactylus arnoldi and H. tropidolepis have, for the first time, been sequenced and placed in a phylogenetic context in this study. Our results confirm that H. tropidolepis is nested within the African radiation and is most closely related to H. funaiolii. Hemidactylus arnoldi clustered within the Arabian radiation of Hemidactylus and it was recovered as a sister lineage to all other species of the radiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atractaspidines are poorly studied, fossorial snakes that are found throughout Africa and western Asia, including the Middle East. We employed concatenated gene-tree analyses and divergence dating approaches to investigate evolutionary relationships and biogeographic patterns of atractaspidines with a multi-locus data set consisting of three mitochondrial (16S, cyt b, and ND4) and two nuclear genes (c-mos and RAG1). We sampled 91 individuals from both atractaspidine genera (Atractaspis and Homoroselaps). Additionally, we used ancestral-state reconstructions to investigate fang and diet evolution within Atractaspidinae and its sister lineage (Aparallactinae). Our results indicated that current classification of atractaspidines underestimates diversity within the group. Diversification occurred predominantly between the Miocene and Pliocene. Ancestral-state reconstructions suggest that snake dentition in these taxa might be highly plastic within relatively short periods of time to facilitate adaptations to dynamic foraging and life-history strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The male of Pandiborellius meidensis (Karsch, 1879) is introduced for the first time and illustrated in detail with color photos, and sexual dimorphism and occurrence of the species are discussed. Pandinurus fulvipes sp. n. from Somaliland is described and fully complemented with color photos of live and preserved specimens, as well as of its habitat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geckos are one of the most species‐rich, abundant, and widely distributed of all Squamata lineages and present several characteristics that have made them favorite model organisms for biogeographical, ecological, physiological, and evolutionary studies. One of the key aspects of any comparative study is to have a robust, comprehensive phylogeny, and an updated taxonomy. Recently, the Infraorder Gekkota has been the subject of several phylogenetic analyses and taxonomic revisions at different levels. Despite all these phylogenetic and taxonomic advances, there are still some groups whose systematics and taxonomy remain highly problematic. Maybe one of the most poorly resolved groups in spite of decades of intensive research by many herpetologists are the so‐called Palearctic naked‐toed geckos of the family Gekkonidae. This group of nocturnal geckos distributed from Mauritania across North Africa, Arabia, southwestern and central Asia to northern India, western China and southern Mongolia is characterized by the synapomorphy of lack of adhesive subdigital pads. Within the Palearctic naked‐toed geckos, the Saharo‐Arabian clade comprised by the genera Pseudoceramodactylus, Stenodactylus, and Tropiocolotes is the clade with the largest distribution range. At the same time, it is one of the problematic groups, presenting poorly supported phylogenetic relationships, with the genus Tropiocolotes being recovered non‐monophyletic in all analyses despite its morphological uniformity. To reassess the phylogeny of the Palearctic naked‐toed geckos with a special interest in the systematics of Tropiocolotes, we assembled a dataset comprising 298 gecko specimens from 283 different species (including all Tropiocolotes species but one) belonging to 122 of a total of 124 described gecko genera. This dataset included the nuclear c‐mos,ACM4,RAG1,RAG2, and PDC and the mitochondrial ND2 gene. To further investigate the relationships within Tropiocolotes and to revise the systematics of the south Arabian endemic species Tropiocolotes scorteccii, we used an integrative approach including information from the nuclear MC1R and c‐mos, the mitochondrial 12S, 16S, cytb genes, and morphological data from nine of the 10 described Tropiocolotes species. The phylogenetic analyses of the Gekkota dataset recovered a similar topology for the Palearctic naked‐toed geckos to previous studies, but in this case, Tropiocolotes was recovered monophyletic in all analyses, with high support in two of them. The results of the analyses of three datasets specifically assembled to test the effect of both gene sampling and taxon sampling in the monophyly of Tropiocolotes, and the internal relationships of the Palearctic naked‐toed geckos clearly showed that both the number and kind of characters (nuclear or mitochondrial data) and the number of taxa played a fundamental role in recovering the correct phylogenetic relationships. The phylogenetic analyses within Tropiocolotes suggested the existence of high levels of undescribed diversity in the south Arabian T. scorteccii, including a new genetically and morphologically distinct species endemic to Oman (Tropiocolotes confusus sp. nov.). Our study using a large dataset, including several loci and a dense taxon sampling within Gekkota and especially within Tropiocolotes, has proved a valuable strategy to address the monophyly of Tropiocolotes and the relationships within the Saharo‐Arabian Palearctic naked‐toed geckos. The integrative systematic approach including several samples of south Arabian T. scorteccii based on many years of fieldwork has, once more, uncovered a new species endemic to this region. This highlights the importance of this area of Arabia as a reservoir of reptile endemicity and biodiversity, which is likely linked to the high degree of habitat heterogeneity and the effect of the monsoons. Obviously, based on this and previously published evidence, south Arabia represents an area with still high levels of undiscovered diversity. In this study, we use a comprehensive dataset of Gekkota to test the effect of gene and taxon sampling in recovering the monophyly of Tropiocolotes and the phylogenetic relationships between the four main groups of Palearctic naked‐toed geckos. The results show that Tropiocolotes is monophyletic and highlights the importance of including more taxa and more data to resolve contradictory evolutionary relationships. Moreover, an integrative analysis of Tropiocolotes scorteccii uncovered a new species endemic to southern Oman that is described herein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work, we use an exceptional database including 5,359 records of 101 species of Oman’s terrestrial reptiles together with spatial tools to infer the spatial patterns of species richness and endemicity, to infer the habitat preference of each species and to better define conservation priorities, with especial focus on the effectiveness of the protected areas in preserving this unique arid fauna. Our results indicate that the sampling effort is not only remarkable from a taxonomic point of view, with multiple observations for most species, but also for the spatial coverage achieved. The observations are distributed almost continuously across the two-dimensional climatic space of Oman defined by the mean annual temperature and the total annual precipitation and across the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of the multivariate climatic space and are well represented within 17 out of the 20 climatic clusters grouping 10% of the explained climatic variance defined by PC1 and PC2. Species richness is highest in the Hajar and Dhofar Mountains, two of the most biodiverse areas of the Arabian Peninsula, and endemic species richness is greatest in the Jebel Akhdar, the highest part of the Hajar Mountains. Oman’s 22 protected areas cover only 3.91% of the country, including within their limits 63.37% of terrestrial reptiles and 50% of all endemics. Our analyses show that large areas of the climatic space of Oman lie outside protected areas and that seven of the 20 climatic clusters are not protected at all. The results of the gap analysis indicate that most of the species are below the conservation target of 17% or even the less restrictive 12% of their total area within a protected area in order to be considered adequately protected. Therefore, an evaluation of the coverage of the current network of protected areas and the identification of priority protected areas for reptiles using reserve design algorithms are urgently needed. Our study also shows that more than half of the species are still pending of a definitive evaluation by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pandinurus hangarale sp. n. from Somaliland is described and fully complemented with color photos of live and preserved specimens, as well as its habitat. Hemispermatophore of P. hangarale sp. n. is illustrated and described. In addition to the analyses of external morphology and hemispermatophores, we also describe the karyotype of P. hangarale sp. n. (2n=120). Known localities of Pandinurus smithi (Pocock, 1897) are compiled; the type locality is not in Somaliland but in Ethiopia (Turfa) and in reality it is probably an endemic of Ethiopia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pandinurus kmoniceki sp. n. from Somaliland is described and fully complemented with color photos of live and preserved specimens, as well as its habitat. Hemispermatophore of P. kmoniceki sp. n. is illustrated and described. In addition to the analyses of external morphology and hemispermatophores, we also describe the karyotypes of P. kmoniceki sp. n. (2n=120). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decade, taxonomic studies have drastically increased the number of species known to inhabit the Arabian deserts. While ongoing phylogenetic studies continue to identify new species and high levels of intraspecific genetic diversity, few studies have yet explored the biogeographic patterns in this arid region using an integrative approach. In the present work, we apply different phylogenetic methods to infer relationships within the Palearctic naked-toed geckos. We specifically address for the first time the taxonomy and biogeography of Bunopus spatalurus Anderson, 1901, from Arabia using multilocus concatenated and species tree phylogenies, haplotype networks and morphology. We also use species distribution modelling and phylogeographic interpolation to explore the phylogeographic structure of Bunopus spatalurus hajarensis in the Hajar Mountains and the roles of climatic stability and possible biogeographic barriers on lineage occurrence and contact zones in this arid mountain endemism hot spot. According to the inferred topology recovered using concatenated and species tree methods, the genus ' Bunopus' is polyphyletic. Bunopus tuberculatus and B. blanfordii form a highly supported clade closely related to Crossobamon orientalis, while the two subspecies of ' Bunopus' spatalurus branch together as an independent highly supported clade that diverged during the Miocene according to our estimations. Within B. s. hajarensis, three geographically structured clades can be recognized that according to our estimations diverged during the Late Miocene to Pliocene. The paleodistribution models indicate climatic stability during the Late Pleistocene and the lineage occurrence, and predicted contact zones obtained from phylogeographic interpolation therefore probably result from the older splits of the groups when these lineages originated in allopatry. As demonstrated by the results of the multilocus molecular phylogenetic analyses and the topological test carried out in this study, the genus ' Bunopus' is not monophyletic. To resolve this, we resurrect the genus Trachydactylus Haas and Battersby, 1959; for the species formerly referred to as Bunopus spatalurus. Considering the morphological differences, the high level of genetic differentiation in the 12S mitochondrial gene and the results of the phylogenetic and the cmos haplotype network analysis, we elevate Trachydactylus spatalurus hajarensis to the species level Trachydactylus hajarensis (Arnold, 1980). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article compares coloration and pattern of hatchlings of 6 species of helmeted terrapins which have a wide sub-Saharan distribution in Africa and the southwestern Arabian Peninsula. The descriptions are based only on terrapins that may be assigned with certainty to a particular species and which are sufficiently preserved for morphological description. The 6 species include the Pelomedusa galeata, the Pelomedusa kobe and the Pelomedusa neumanni.

We describe herein two new species, Gint dabakalo sp. n. from Somaliland and G. puntlandus sp. n. from Somalia (Puntland) (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Additional information is given on taxonomy and distribution of all four species of genus Gint Kovařík et al., 2013, fully complemented with color photos of live and preserved specimens, as well as their habitats. True male of G. calviceps is documented for first time, and validates original decisions to create separate genus Gint, and to transfer Buthacus calviceps Pocock, 1900, to that genus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gecko genusHemidactylus, with its 132 currently recognized species, ranks among the most species-rich reptile genera. Recent phylogenetic studies disclosed unexpectedly high genetic variability and complex biogeographic history within its arid clade distributed in the Mediterranean, Northeast Africa, Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. Particularly, the species from the Arabian Peninsula have been lately the subject of many taxonomic revisions that have resulted in the descriptions of 16 new taxa. Yet not all detected cryptic lineages have been treated taxonomically and thoroughly investigated morphologically. Based on phylogenetic analyses of two mtDNA (12S,cytb) and four nDNA (cmos,mc1r,rag1,rag2) gene fragments of a total length of 4015 bp in combination with analysis of morphological characters, we reinvestigate the systematics of theH. robustusspecies group consisting of the widespreadH. robustusand three undescribed species, two of which occur in Southwest Yemen and one in central Ethiopia. By comparing two phylogenetic inference methods, concatenated gene trees and species-tree estimation, we reconstruct the phylogeny of theH. robustusspecies group. The coalescent-based species-tree estimation resulted in different tree topology than the concatenation approach, being probably a result of incomplete lineage sorting of ancestral polymorphism, suggesting that theH. robustusspecies group is in a stage of incipient speciation. The degree of differentiation of the characters examined within theH. robustusspecies group allowed us to provide a redescription ofH. robustusand formally describe three new species ofHemidactylus–H. adensissp. nov. andH. mandebensissp. nov. from Yemen andH. awashensissp. nov. from Ethiopia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three new species H. gambelaensis Kovařík, sp. n., H. gibaensis Kovařík, sp. n. and H. novaki Kovařík, sp. n. from Ethiopia are described, compared with other species and fully illustrated with color photos of habitus and localities. Data about the distribution of Hottentotta in Ethiopia including photos of all seven known species and their Ethiopian localities are summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Horn of Africa is a center of diversity for African agamid lizards. Among the nine species of Agama occurring in the Horn of Africa, Agama spinosa is the most widely distributed. The A. spinosa group (sensu stricto, morphologically defined by possessing six clusters of spinose scales around the ear) contains two species: A. spinosa occurs from Egypt to Ethiopia and Somalia where it is replaced by the morphologically distinct and therefore sensu lato A. bottegi. Both species are only represented in museum collections by a small number of specimens from Ethiopia and Somalia, presumably the result of constant civil war that has plagued the region for decades and impeded field surveys. In this study, we examine species limits in the A. spinosa group using molecular genetic data (503 characters; mitochondrial 16S rRNA) and morphological data (67 characters). Deep divisions among populations of A. spinosa are supported by phylogenetic analyses and by multivariate analyses of morphometric data. Two new species from northern Somalia that differ from A. spinosa and A. bottegi are described. Furthermore, A. smithi, currently recognized as a synonym of A. agama, is re-assessed and recognized as a species of uncertain taxonomic position (i.e., incertae sedis). The results of this study improve our understanding of the evolution of agamid lizard diversity in the Horn of Africa, a significant biodiversity hotspot in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]