Afroedura haackei, Jacobsen, Niels H. G., Kuhn, Arianna L., Jackman, Todd R. & Bauer, Aaron M., 2014

Jacobsen, Niels H. G., Kuhn, Arianna L., Jackman, Todd R. & Bauer, Aaron M., 2014, A phylogenetic analysis of the southern African gecko genus Afroedura Loveridge (Squamata: Gekkonidae), with the description of nine new species from Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa, Zootaxa 3846 (4), pp. 451-501 : 474

A. haackei stat. nov. Onderstall, 1984

( Fig. 5 A)

Distribution. Granite outcrops of the southern Lowveld of Mpumalanga province, South Africa (Bauer 2014h) ( Figs. 4 , 6 ). TM 49920 from Farm Scrutton 23MT (2230AD) (illustrated by Pienaar 1978 as A. transvaalica ) appears similar or identical to A. haackei ( Onderstall 1984, Jacobsen 1990) and may represent a translocation.

Remarks. This species was described as a subspecies of A. pondolia ( Onderstall 1984) , but was amended by Jacobsen (1990) to A. multiporis haackei . Our molecular data confirm the relationship of the two taxa, but based on substantial genetic differentiation ( Fig. 1 ) as well as differences in body size and precloacal pore counts (see Table 4), and their allopatric distribution, we here formally elevate A. haackei to specific rank. The species was previously listed in the South African Red Data Book as “Restricted” ( Jacobsen 1988a) but is currently considered to be of Least Concern (Bauer 2014h).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Maximum likelihood phylogram of Afroedura relationships derived from two genes (ND 2, RAG 1). Support values are presented as maximum likelihood bootstraps (MLBS) / Bayesian posterior probabilities (BPP) / parsimony bootstraps (PBS). Only most closely related outgroup taxa are shown. Images (top to bottom) of representative Afroedura species groups: A. hawequensis, A. pondolia, A. karroica, A. loveridgei, A. haackei, A. marleyi, A. granitica sp. nov.

FIGURE 4. Map of southern Africa showing the approximate distributional ranges of previously described species of Afroedura. Red dots represent localities sampled for the genetic portion of the study. Ranges based on Branch (1998) and Bates et al. (2014) as well as unpublished data. Taxon names follow the conclusions of this paper. Area demarcated by a dashed line is presented in more detail in Figure 6.

FIGURE 5. Representatives of the species groups of Afroedura. (A) A. multiporis group: A. haackei (Schoemanskloof, Mpumalanga, South Africa); (B) A. marleyi group: A. marleyi (The Hippos, Mpumalanga, South Africa); (C) A. langi group: A. langi (Farm Harmony, Hlaralumi River, Limpopo, South Africa). Photos A – B: Johan Marais, Photo C: N. H. G. Jacobsen.

FIGURE 6. Map of Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces, South Africa and adjacent regions showing the distributions of previously described species of Afroedura endemic to this region and known localities of the nine new species described in this paper. For previously recognized forms an approximate outline of the range based on Bates et al. (2014) is shown; genetically sampled localities are marked by circles in Figure 4. For new species all known localities are plotted as dots (see relevant species accounts), with genetically sampled site marked by circles with a a red center, type locality marked by a star, and all other localities indicated by open circles colored to correspond to the key in the figure. The very restricted distributions of A. maripi sp. nov., A. rondavelica sp. nov., and A. rupestris sp. nov. are indicated by arrows and are labeled directly on the map.