Ichnotropis capensis (Smith, 1838)

Conradie, Werner, Keates, Chad, Verburgt, Luke, Baptista, Ninda L., Harvey, James, Júlio, Timóteo & Neef, Götz, 2022, Contributions to the herpetofauna of the Angolan Okavango-Cuando-Zambezi River drainages. Part 2: Lizards (Sauria), chelonians, and crocodiles, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 322) 16 (2), pp. 181-214 : 197

Ichnotropis capensis (Smith, 1838)

Cape Rough-scaled Lizard ( Figs. 20–22 , Map 20) Material (66 specimens): PEM R23274–8, Cuanavale River source, -13.0933° 18.89396°, 1,367 m asl; PEM R23253–4, Cacundu falls, -13.7739° 18.7552°, 1,281 m asl; PEM R23298, grasslands W of Cuanavale to Samanunga village, -13.07508° 18.88481°, 1,366 m asl; PEM R23326–8, INBAC: (no number); Cuito River source lake, -12.68935° 18.36012°, 1,435 m asl; PEM R23351–3, Kulua River source, 6 km SE of Cuito River source, -12.736749° 18.3931022°, 1,446 m asl; PEM R23370, INBAC: (no number), Cuanavale River source, -14.85472° 19.28639°, 1,203 m asl; PEM R23409–10, Lungwebungu River camp bridge crossing, -12.58346° 18.66598°, 1,304 m asl; PEM R23414–9, Cuando River source, -13.00345° 19.12751°, 1,343 m asl; PEM R23440, INBAC: (no number x2), Cuando River source trap 1, -13.00393° 19.12808°, 1,351 m asl; PEM R23453, INBAC: WC-4584 (plus 1 additional specimen), Quembo River trap 4, -13.13586° 19.04709°, 1,368 m asl; PEM R23489, Quembo River trap 2, -13.13544° 19.04397°, 1,375 m asl; PEM R23493–5, Cuanavale River source lake camp side, -13.09442° 18.89372°, 1,396 m asl; PEM R23502, Sombanana village, -12.31082° 18.62392°, 1,403 m asl; PEM R23505–7, source lake north of Lungwebungu River crossing, -12.41024° 18.63483°, 1,414 m asl; PEM R23508–9, amphitheatre at Cuanavale River source, -13.05048° 18.89623°, 1,415 m asl; PEM R23521–2, grassland drive west of Cuanavale River source, -13.01347° 18.81669°, 1,538 m asl; PEM R23531, Sombanana village, Dala River, -12.3071° 18.6235°, 1,407 m asl; PEM R23539, Longa River, -14.55956° 18.41419°, 1,321 m asl; PEM R23546–8, Quembo River source camp, -13.14557° 19.04571°, 1,423 m asl; PEM R23977, Lungwebungu River near trap 2, ad hoc, -12.58200° 18.66562°, 1,208 m asl; PEM R23986, Lungwebungu River trap 1, -12.580126° 18.667396°, 1,298 m asl; PEM R23996–7, INBAC: WC-4544 (plus 2 additional specimens), Lake Tchanssengwe, -12.41402° 18.64418°, 1,393 m asl; PEM R27393, INBAC: WC-6796, Cuanavale River source lake, -13.09052° 18.89394°, 1,357 m asl; PEM R27394–401, INBAC: WC-6796, Quembo River bridge camp, -13.52745° 19.2806°, 1,241 m asl. Description: 35–46 (40) midbody scale rows; 8–10 (9) longitudinal rows of enlarged ventral plates; 26–31 (27) transverse ventral scale rows; 4–5 supralabials; 6–7 infralabials; 4/4 supraciliaries; 19–26 (22) subdigital lamellae under 4 th toe; 9–13 (10) femoral pores per thigh. Largest female: 63.1 + 117.0 mm (PEM R23531); largest male: 67.7 + 160.0 mm (PEM R23410, new maximum size record). Habitat and natural history notes: In February 2016 and April 2018, only juveniles and subadult specimens were observed, while in October 2016 and November 2019 only adult specimens were observed. Comment: Based on general coloration and morphology, we assign these specimens to the widespread I. capensis . The large series of material (adults, subadults, and juveniles) allowed us to assess the color variability within this species, and in doing so we could confirm that previous material assigned to Ichnotropis sp. by Conradie et al. (2016) and I. b. pallida by Butler et al. (2019) and Bandeira (2019) is referrable to subadult I. capensis . The status of I. c. overlaeti remains unresolved, although Marques et al. (2018) suggest that it might be a valid species based on its geographical separation from the nominotypical form that occurs further south. These new records and unpublished PEM records from Saurimo in Lunda Sul Province breach the distributional gap, potentially forming a link between the southern and northwestern Zambian and DRC records ( Haagner et al. 2000; Pietersen et al. 2021).

Figures

Fig. 20. Adult male Ichnotropis capensis from Lungwebungu River camp. Photo by Werner Conradie.