Varanus albigularis angolensis Schmidt, 1933

Ceríaco, L. M. P., De Sá, S., Bandeira, S., Valério, H., Stanley, E. L., Kuhn, A. L., Marques, M. P., Vindum, J. V., Blackburn, D. C. & Bauer, A. M., 2016, Herpetological Survey of Iona National Park and Namibe Regional Natural Park, with a Synoptic List of the Amphibians and Reptiles of Namibe Province, Southwestern Angola, Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 63 (2), pp. 15-61 : 39

ANGOLAN ROCK MONITOR

Varanus albigularis angolensis Schmidt, 1933

MATERIAL.— 7.5 km NW (by road) of Pico Azevedo, adult, found in a rock crevice, 7 December 2013, 15º28ʹ33.6ʺS, 12º27ʹ41.4ʺE, 399 m ( CAS 254768 ) .

COMMENTS.— The subspecies was described from Gauca, Bihé (Bié) Province ( Schmidt 1933). According to the original description, the subspecies differed from the nominotypic form by having larger scales everywhere on the body so that the scales around the body are about 125 instead of 150, and the transverse rows of scales from the collar to thighs are 75 instead of 100 ( Schmidt 1933). Laurent (1964b) noted that the morphological differences between the nominotypic form and angolensis are quite subtle and that angolensis may, in fact, be a synonym of albigularis . However, Bayless (2002) considered the material from nearby localities, such as Bibala and Caraculo as V. a. angolensis . Given the currently accepted distribution of angolensis and the lower number of scales around the midbody and between the collar and the thighs, we tentatively identify our specimen as the Angolan subspecies. The subspecies appears to be the prevalent form in Angola (and possibly extending to some neighboring regions of the DRC, even if the nominotypic form occurs sympatrically, especially in the southern regions of the country ( Bayless 2002).