Nilssonia gangetica (Cuvier, 1825:203)

Wagner, Philipp, Bauer, Aaron M., Leviton, Alan E., Wilms, Thomas M. & Böhme, Wolfgang, 2016, A Checklist of the Amphibians and Reptiles of Afghanistan *, Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 63 (13), pp. 457-565 : 519-520

Nilssonia gangetica (Cuvier, 1825:203)

1825 Trionyx gangeticus Cuvier, Recherches sur les Ossemens Fossiles de Quadrupèdes, où l’on Rétablit les Caractères du plusieurs Espèces d’Animaux que les Révolutions du Globe paroissent avoir Détruites. Dufour & d’Ocagne, Paris. ed. 3, Tome cinquième, IIe Partie. (2) + 548 pp., 33 pls.

SYNTYPES.— MNHN 4148 , 9387 , 1887–838 , A5226 (= 1866–751), from “du Gange” [= Ganges River ], India .

LOCALITIES.— Khost [ Pakthia Prov. ] (specimen uncataloged and presumed lost) [ Fig. 22 ; see pl. 14, fig. 8 for distribution] .

REMARKS.— Even though the first record of this species from Afghanistan was published in 1970,

it has rarely been recognized in subsequent literature (except for Dayer and Zon 1981:88). The authors (Schneider and Djalal 1970) found two specimens. One was seen in a garden pond of a German medical practitioner in Khost. The other one was collected near Khost and donated to the Zoological Museum in Kabul where it was catalogued as a skeleton (see Fig. 25 ). The authors did not give a museum catalog number but presented images ( Fig. 25 ) and a determination of the species supported by Heinz Wermuth. Therefore, without any doubt N. gangetica is part of the Afghan herpetofauna .

Figures

FIGURE 22: Hemorrhois ravergieri from Feyzabad. Photo by F. Joisten.

FIGURE 25: The specimen” of Nilssonia gangetica from the lost Kabul collection.