A new species of skink, Trachylepis gonwouoi sp. nov. is described from Cameroon and the Republic of the Congo. It differs from all other species of Trachylepis in Central-West Africa by a combination of number of keels on dorsal scales (3–5); moderate SVL (maximum size of 80 mm); number of scale rows at midbody (28–34); number of supracilliaries (6–10); a well defined lateral white stripe, bordered by black, extending from under the eye to the insertion of the hind limb; and a ventral color in life of bright blue-green. Trachylepis gonwouoi sp. nov. was found in association with disturbed forest at elevations from 50 to 1050m. This species is syntopic with T. affinis and T. maculilabris. In order to aid in the identification of Trachylepis in West and Central Africa with the addition of T. gonwouoi sp. nov., we provide an updated key to the Trachylepis found from Mauritania through the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This key combines previous literature that treated Western and Central African taxa separately and represents the most comprehensive key for Trachylepis in West-Central Africa to date.
Kaitlin E. Allen, Walter P. Tapondjou N., Luke J. Welton and Aaron M. Bauer. 2017. A New Species of Trachylepis (Squamata: Scincidae) from Central Africa and A Key to the Trachylepis of West and Central Africa. Zootaxa. 4268(2); 255–269. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4268.2.5
كيف تحصل على مدونة جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات من هنا
شاهد قناة منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بألاف المواضيع والمشاركات على اليوتيوب لمزيد من الشرح من هنا
رابط مدونة منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات في أي وقت حــــتى لو تم حذفها من هنا شاهد صفحة منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بألاف المواضيع والمشاركات على الفيس بوك لمزيد من الشرح من هنا
تعرف على ترتيب مواضيع منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات (حتى لا تختلط عليك الامور) من هنا
ملاحظة هامة: كل عمليات تنزيل، رفع، وتعديل المواضيع الجاهزة تتم بطريقة آلية، ونعتذر عن اي موضوع مخالف او مخل بالحياء مرفوع بالمدونات الجاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات، ولكم ان تقوموا بحذف هذه المواضيع والمشاركات والطريقة بسيطة وسهلة. ــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــسلامـ.
We describe a new stiletto snake, Atractaspis, from western Liberia and southeastern Guinea. The new species shares with morphologically similar western African Atractaspis species, A. reticulata and A. corpulenta, the fusion of the 2nd infralabial with the inframaxillary. From A. corpulenta the new species differs by a more slender body (276–288 ventrals and 19 or 20 dorsal scale rows versus 178–208 ventrals with 23–29 dorsal scale rows), a divided anal plate and divided subcaudal scales (both non-divided in A. corpulenta). The new species differs from most A. reticulata by having 19 or 20 dorsal scale rows at midbody (versus 21–23, rarely 19), and a lower ventral count (276–288 versus 304–370). The new species thus has a relatively longer tail: snout-vent-length / tail-length in the female holotype (15.7) and paratype (21.5) versus a mean of 23.6 in seven female A. reticulata. The new Atractaspis likely is endemic to the western part of the Upper Guinea forest zone and thus adds to the uniqueness of this diverse and threatened biogeographic region.
Figure 1. Life coloration of the Atractaspis branchisp. n. holotype (ZMB 88529).
Figure 3. Holotype of Atractaspis branchisp. n. (ZMB 88529) 1 head scalation in dorsal (a), lateral (b), and ventral (c) views 2 ct-scan of skull in dorsal (a), lateral (b), and ventral (c) views; lower jaw virtually removed; green: pterygoid, yellow: palatine, orange: vomer. Scale bar: 1 mm.
Atractaspis branchi sp. n.
Diagnosis: External morphology, skull anatomy and molecular data (see below) clearly supports the position within the genus Atractaspis. The new species can be only mistaken morphologically with species from Laurent’s (1950) section ‘D’, his reticulata-group. In particular it differs from all other species of the genus, except A. reticulata and A. corpulenta (including the West African A. c. leucura), by the fusion of the 2nd infralabial with the inframaxillary. From A. corpulenta it differs by a much higher ventral count (276–288 vs 178–208), lower number of dorsal scale rows at midbody (19 vs 23–29), divided anal plate and subcaudals, and the absence of a white colored tail tip (present in A. c. leucura); from A. reticulata it can be distinguished by a lower ventral count (276–288 vs 304–370), and 19 (the paratype has mostly 19 scale rows, but 20 at midbody) dorsal scales rows at midbody (19 scale rows present in the A. reticulata holotype, other vouchers having 21–23 rows) (Table 1). The new species further differs from A. corpulenta by a more slender body and from A. reticulata by a longer tail compared to body length.
Figure 6. Type locality of Atractaspis branchisp. n. in north-western Liberia. The holotype specimen was found at night. It was moving along the steep slope on the left bank of the small creek.
Figure 7. Localities of Atractaspis branchisp. n. and A. reticulata ssp. Records are based on museum specimens, literature and database (GBIF) records; large closed symbols represent the type localities of the different taxa, stars: A. branchi sp. n., circles: A. reticulata records without reference to subspecies; triangles: A. r. reticulata; quadrats: A. r. heterochilus; diamonds: A. r. brieni; country borders indicted as white lines; background of map: major biomes based on Olson et al. (2001).
Natural history: We found the holotype at night. It was slowly moving along the steep slope of the bank of a small rocky creek in primary lowland evergreen rainforest (Fig. 6). When handled, the snake first tried to hide its head below body loops; the head was bend down at an almost right angle and with fangs partly visible outside of the mouth. In this head position, the snake repeatedly tried to strike. Either it tried to move slowly away from the human observers or it abruptly coiled and uncoiled, often jumping distances equaling almost its entire body length, similar to wolf snakes of the genus Lycophidion (Rödel et al. 1995; Greene 1997). The two snakes from south-eastern Guinea were collected in plantations of banana, manioc and coffee, which were planted under the few remaining high trees of the former forest. No other data on biology and ecology of the new species are known.
Distribution: So far the new species is known from the type locality and two additional sites in south-eastern Guinea. These latter two sites are about 27 km apart (Fig. 7).
Etymology: We name this new snake to honor our recently deceased friend and colleague, William Roy “Bill” Branch, for his outstanding contributions to African herpetology. MOR and OSGP are particularly pleased to name the species in memory of Bill. We remember our outstanding field trips with him, unforgettable discussions with a large portion of special humor, and his friendship. The dedication of this species of stiletto snake to Bill is particularly appropriate. After Bill turned from cancer research to herpetology (see “William R. Branch” in Li Vigni 2013), the subject of his first herpetological research, on the serotaxonomy and hemipeneal morphology of stiletto snakes, was presented in two contributions at a symposium of herpetology and ichthyology in Kruger National Park in 1975 (Branch 1975a, b). As the vernacular name, we suggest Branch’s Stiletto Snake.
Mark-Oliver Rödel, Christoph Kucharzewski, Kristin Mahlow, Laurent Chirio, Olivier Pauwels, Piero Carlino, Gordon Sambolah and Julian Glos. 2019. A New Stiletto Snake (Lamprophiidae, Atractaspidinae, Atractaspis) from Liberia and Guinea, West Africa. Zoosystematics and Evolution. 95(1): 107-123. DOI: 10.3897/zse.95.31488
كيف تحصل على مدونة جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات من هنا
شاهد قناة منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بألاف المواضيع والمشاركات على اليوتيوب لمزيد من الشرح من هنا
رابط مدونة منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات في أي وقت حــــتى لو تم حذفها من هنا شاهد صفحة منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بألاف المواضيع والمشاركات على الفيس بوك لمزيد من الشرح من هنا
تعرف على ترتيب مواضيع منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات (حتى لا تختلط عليك الامور) من هنا
ملاحظة هامة: كل عمليات تنزيل، رفع، وتعديل المواضيع الجاهزة تتم بطريقة آلية، ونعتذر عن اي موضوع مخالف او مخل بالحياء مرفوع بالمدونات الجاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات، ولكم ان تقوموا بحذف هذه المواضيع والمشاركات والطريقة بسيطة وسهلة. ــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــسلامـ.
Talbotiella cheekii Burgt, a new tree species from Guinea, is described and illustrated. It is a tree to 24 m high, with a stem diameter to 83 cm, and occurs in forest dominated by tree species of the Leguminosae subfamily Detarioideae, on rocky stream banks and rocky hill slopes, at an altitude of 100 – 600 m. It is estimated that 1600 – 2400 mature trees have been seen, in about twelve forest patches; more trees may be present in places not yet visited. One of the localities of the new species is situated at only 46 km northeast of the centre of the capital Conakry and 6 km northeast of the town centre of Coyah, part of the Conakry urban agglomeration. Its distribution is 1400 km further west from the previous westernmost distribution of the genus. The current extent of occurrence is 166 km2. Talbotiella cheekii is here assessed as Endangered (EN) following IUCN Red List categories.
Key Words: Conservation, Endangered species, West Africa
Fig. 3 Talbotiella cheekii Burgt. A branch with inflorescences; B leaf upper surface; C infructescence with three fruits; D leaflet lower surface showing two glands; E stipule; F auriculate stipule; G flower.
A, E, G from Burgt 2087; B, D, F from Burgt 2065; C from Molmou 988. drawn by Xander van der Burgt.
Fig. 1.Talbotiella cheekii Burgt. A two flowers; B twig with inflorescences; C infructescence with two fruits; D leaves.
A – B from Burgt 2087; C from Molmou 988; D from Burgt 2065.
PHOTOS: A, B, D Xander van der Burgt; C Martin Cheek.
Talbotiella cheekii Burgt sp. nov.
Recognition: Talbotiella cheekii is morphologically similar to T. batesii Baker f. The pedicels of T. cheekii are pink to red, 9 – 24 mm long; the bracteoles are 8 – 15 × 0.7 – 1.5 mm (the pedicels of T. batesii are white, 4 – 10.5 mm long; the bracteoles are 6 – 8.5 × 1.1 – 2.5 mm). The ovary of T. cheekii is reddish green to dark red, and glabrous with only the edges densely hairy (the ovary of T. batesii is pale pink, and densely hairy). The pod of T. cheekii is glabrous, the sutures sparsely hairy (the pod of T. batesii has the surfaces and suture moderately puberulous). The leaflet apex of T. cheekii is rounded to slightly emarginate (the leaflet apex of T. batesii is acute).
DISTRIBUTION: Guinea (Map 1). Talbotiella cheekii occurs on the sandstone plateau in the northern part of Coyah Préfecture. Its distribution just extends into Dubreka and Kindia Préfectures.
Etymology: Talbotiella cheekii is named after Dr Martin Cheek, Head of the Africa & Madagascar Team in the Identification and Naming Department of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The new species was discovered thanks to his long-standing commitment to the study of African plants. He has been studying the flora of Guinea on field expeditions since 2005, supported the restoration of the National Herbarium of Guinea, and described a new genus and four new species from the country (Cheek & Burgt 2010; Cheek & Haba 2016a, 2016b; Cheek & Williams 2016; Cheek et al. 2016). He is also involved in the designation of new protected areas in Guinea as part of Kew’s Tropical Important Plant Areas (TIPAs) Project (Darbyshire et al. 2017) and is supervising a Darwin Initiative-funded project on rare plant species conservation in the country.
Vernacular Name: Linsonyi (from Burgt 2084); Meni (from Molmou 988); Wonkifong wouri khorohoi (from Burgt 2097), translated as the “Tree with hard wood from Wonkifong”. This last name was proposed by the people of Malassi village when the trees were shown to them. All three names are in the Susu language.
Notes:
Talbotiella cheekii is characterised by the long pedicels, pink to red in colour, the long and narrow bracteoles, the glabrous pod (only the margin sometimes has a few hairs) and the rounded to slightly emarginate leaflet apex. Apart from this, the leaves and leaflets of T. cheekii and T. batesii are more or less similar; both species have 9 – 14 pairs of leaflets per leaf. Of all previously described Talbotiella species, T. cheekii is morphologically most similar to T. batesii. This is remarkable, because T. batesii is the easternmost species of Talbotiella, occurring in southeast Cameroon, northeast Gabon and north Congo (Brazzaville), at 2900 to 3100 km distance from T. cheekii, the westernmost species. A molecular analysis might show, however, that T. cheekii is more closely related to a different species, for example to T. gentii from Ghana, geographically the nearest of the eight existing Talbotiella species.
Two more plant species from the Leguminosae family have been newly discovered in Guinea in recent years: Eriosema triformum Burgt (Burgt et al. 2012), a pyrophytic herb with unifoliolate leaves, from submontane grassland, endemic to the Pic de Fon area in the Simandou Range, and Gilbertiodendron tonkolili Burgt & Estrella (Estrella et al. 2012), a tree from well-drained sandy and/or rocky soils on river banks and forest patches, first discovered in Sierra Leone, and later found to occur also in Guinea (e.g. the specimens Cheek 16172, 16583 and 16614; all in HNG and K).
Xander M. van der Burgt, Denise Molmou, Almamy Diallo, Gbamon Konomou, Pepe M. Haba and Sékou Magassouba. 2018. Talbotiella cheekii (Leguminosae: Detarioideae), A New Tree Species from Guinea. Kew Bulletin. 73:26. DOI: 10.1007/s12225-018-9755-4
كيف تحصل على مدونة جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات من هنا
شاهد قناة منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بألاف المواضيع والمشاركات على اليوتيوب لمزيد من الشرح من هنا
رابط مدونة منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات في أي وقت حــــتى لو تم حذفها من هنا شاهد صفحة منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بألاف المواضيع والمشاركات على الفيس بوك لمزيد من الشرح من هنا
تعرف على ترتيب مواضيع منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات (حتى لا تختلط عليك الامور) من هنا
ملاحظة هامة: كل عمليات تنزيل، رفع، وتعديل المواضيع الجاهزة تتم بطريقة آلية، ونعتذر عن اي موضوع مخالف او مخل بالحياء مرفوع بالمدونات الجاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات، ولكم ان تقوموا بحذف هذه المواضيع والمشاركات والطريقة بسيطة وسهلة. ــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــسلامـ.
Cobras are among the most widely known venomous snakes, and yet their taxonomy remains incompletely understood, particularly in Africa. Here, we use a combination of mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequences and morphological data to diagnose species limits within the African forest cobra, Naja (Boulengerina) melanoleuca. Mitochondrial DNA sequences reveal deep divergences within this taxon. Congruent patterns of variation in mtDNA, nuclear genes and morphology support the recognition of five separate species, confirming the species status of N. subfulva and N. peroescobari, and revealing two previously unnamed West African species, which are described as new: Naja (Boulengerina) guineensis sp. nov.Broadley, Trape, Chirio, Ineich & Wüster, from the Upper Guinea forest of West Africa, and Naja (Boulengerina) savannula sp. nov.Broadley, Trape, Chirio & Wüster, a banded form from the savanna-forest mosaic of the Guinea and Sudanian savannas of West Africa. The discovery of cryptic diversity in this iconic group highlights our limited understanding of tropical African biodiversity, hindering our ability to conserve it effectively.
FIGURE 5. Naja (Boulengerina)guineensis sp. nov. Top: holotype, MNHN 1921.0485, dorsal and ventral view and side view of head. Note extensive mottling of throat and anterior ventral side and limited posterior extent of lighter ventral markings. Bottom: live adult specimen measuring approximately 200 cm total length, from Sekondi-Takoradi, Western Region, Ghana, displaying dark suffusion of throat and anterior venter (not preserved; photo L. Chirio).
Naja (Boulengerina) guineensis sp. nov.
Broadley, Trape, Chirio, Ineich & Wüster
Naia melanoleuca (not Hallowell) Boulenger, 1896: 376 (part, var. B [c,d], C).
Diagnosis. Naja guineensis can be distinguished from the partly sympatric N. savannula sp. nov. by lacking extended dorsal banding, often having 17 rather than 19 dorsal scale rows at midbody, a generally lower subcaudal scale count, fewer ventral bands, a lesser posterior extent of the ventral banding, and a strong tendency towards melanism in adults. Specimens with 19 midbody dorsal scale rows can be distinguished from N. melanoleuca through the reduced number of ventral bands, lesser posterior extent of banding and tendency of ontogenetic melanism from N. subfulva in lacking a lighter anterior dorsum and through ontogenetic melanism, and from N. peroescobari in having the posterior chin shields in contact.
Variation. Midbody dorsal scale row counts of 17 and 19 are approximately equally common in this species. In large adults, light pattern elements on the head and throat often become heavily suffused with black pigment, leading to a virtually entirely melanistic snake. Some specimens have 1–4 generally faint or poorly defined light bands across the neck, and occasionally an ocellate hood marking.
Largest recorded: 1818+437 = 2255 mm, from Ballassou, Guinea (IRD 4213.G), but larger specimens have been observed. Based on locality, Menzies’ (1966) report of a specimen measuring “eight feet, eight inches” (264 cm) from Bo, Sierra Leone, is likely to refer to this species.
Etymology. The specific epithet guineensis means “from Guinea” and is chosen to reflect the distribution of the species in the Upper Guinea forests of West Africa, part of the West African Forests biodiversity hotspot (Myers et al., 2000).
Suggested common name. Black forest cobra.
Distribution. The distribution of Naja guineensis appears to be restricted to the Upper Guinea Forests of western Africa, from western Togo to Liberia and Guinea (Trape & Baldé, 2014) (Fig. 6). There is a single record from Contuboel, Guinea Bissau (MBL 535). All other records 10°N or lower.
FIGURE 7.Naja (Boulengerina)savannula sp. nov. Top: holotype, MNHN 2018.0002. Bottom: live specimen from Kindia, Guinea, showing conspicuous, broad dorsal bands and ventral banding, including narrow accessory bands (not vouchered). Photos J.-F. Trape.
Naja (Boulengerina)savannula sp. nov.
Broadley, Trape, Chirio & Wüster
Naia melanoleuca (not Hallowell) Boulenger, 1896: 376 (part, var. D).
Diagnosis: Distinguishable from other species of the N. melanoleuca complex by the presence of 3 to 8 semidivided yellowish or whitish bands on the anterior dorsal forebody, becoming uniform black caudad; venter yellow with 2 to 8 black bands. Generally higher mean subcaudal scale counts than the other species. Genetically diagnosable through possession of unique mitochondrial haplotypes (cytochrome b: GenBank MH337597–602; ND4: MH337403–408) and unique PRLR and UBN1 haplotypes (PRLR: MH337501–504; UBN1: MH337532– 535).
Variation: Dorsal scale rows on neck 19–25, at midbody 19, before vent 12–15; ventrals 211–233, subcaudals 63–77 (Table 8). Dorsal semi-divided yellow bands 3–8; ventral principal black bands 2–8 (Fig. 7).
Largest recorded: 1825+405 = 2230 mm, from Medina Djikoye, Senegal (IRD 6155.S).
Etymology: The name is derived from the contraction of its savanna habitat and annulated colour pattern and was coined by Barry Hughes in an unpublished 1968 manuscript. We have retained this name at the request of our colleague Barry Hughes.
Suggested common name: West African banded cobra.
Distribution: Senegal and Gambia east to northern Cameroon (Fig. 6). Naja savannula appears to be restricted to gallery forest areas in Africa in Guinean Forest/Savanna Mosaic, extending northwards into West Sudanian Savanna (Chirio, 2003, 2013; Monasterio et al., 2016). Our records are mostly from latitudes 10–14°N, except in the Dahomey Gap in eastern Ghana and Benin, where the species approaches the Gulf of Guinea Coast. The eastern extent of the range is poorly understood. A specimen from Margui Wandala district, northern Cameroon (approx. 10.5°N 13.6°E; MNHN 1962.0022) appears to be assignable to this species, and one of us (JFT) recently collected a specimen from Mboura, 20 km SW Baïbokoum, Logone Oriental Province, Chad (7.598°N, 15.596°E; IRD 2281.N), and there is a recent record from near Niamey, Niger (LC, unpublished data). It seems likely that the species has a wider distribution in northern Cameroon, extreme southern Chad and possibly even extreme northwestern Central African Republic (CAR).
FIGURE 6. Distribution of the five species of the Najamelanoleuca complex.
FIGURE 5. Naja (Boulengerina)guineensis sp. nov. Top: holotype, MNHN 1921.0485, dorsal and ventral view and side view of head. Note extensive mottling of throat and anterior ventral side and limited posterior extent of lighter ventral markings. Bottom: live adult specimen measuring approximately 200 cm total length, from Sekondi-Takoradi, Western Region, Ghana, displaying dark suffusion of throat and anterior venter (not preserved; photo L. Chirio).
FIGURE 7.Naja (Boulengerina)savannula sp. nov. Top: holotype, MNHN 2018.0002. Bottom: live specimen from Kindia, Guinea, showing conspicuous, broad dorsal bands and ventral banding, including narrow accessory bands (not vouchered). Photos J.-F. Trape.
FIGURE 8.Naja (Boulengerina) melanoleuca. Adult specimens from Yaoundé, Cameroon (left—photo J.-F. Trape) and Tsibilé, Gabon (right—photo L. Chirio). Note the diffuse but distinct hood mark that is often present in this species, and the combination of broad main bands and narrow accessory bands on the ventral side.
Naia haie var. melanoleuca Hallowell, 1857, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia: 61.
Type locality: Gabon, syntypes ANSP 6875–76, 6878–79.
Naja haje var. leucosticta Fischer, 1885, Jahr. Hamburg. Wiss. Anst. 2: 115, pl. v, fig. 11. Type locality: Cameroon and Ogooué River, Gabon, syntypes ZMH 4280, 7048, 7299–7302.
Naia melanoleuca; Boulenger, 1896: 376 (part, vars. A [a,b] & B [a,b])
Naja melanoleuca melanoleuca; Laurent, 1956: 290, pl. xxvi, fig. 2.
Naja (Boulengerina) melanoleuca; Wallach et al., 2009.
Boulengerina melanoleuca; Wallach et al., 2014: 122.
Aspidelaps bocagei Sauvage, 1884: 204 (type locality: Gabon and Majumba; holotype MNHN 1884.0015) has been listed as a synonym of N. melanoleuca (e.g., Broadley, 1983; Wallach et al., 2014; Ceríaco et al., 2017), but is in fact a synonym of Naja annulata, as is evident from Sauvage’s description, which notes approximately 20 dark double bands along the entire body length, and 21 mid-dorsal scale rows (see also Schmidt, 1923).
Diagnosis:Dorsum black, often with 1–3 semidivided yellow crossbands on the neck, the first may be an ocellus; venter yellow with 4 to 6 black bands in the first 100 ventrals, thereafter uniform black.
Variation: Dorsal scale rows on neck 19–27, at midbody 19 (very rarely 17 or 21); ventrals 209–230; subcaudals 59–74 (Table 8). Supralabials 7, the third and fourth entering the orbit; infralabials 8, the first four in contact with the anterior sublinguals, no cuneate; preocular 1; postoculars 3 (very rarely 2 or 4); temporals 1+2 or 1+3; nuchals bordering temporals 5–9, usually 7.
Colouration: Head brown, the supralabials barred black and yellow, chin yellow. Black above, sometimes a yellow monocellate marking on the hood, or 1–3 small yellow blotches, the dorsal scales may be tipped with white in juveniles (Fig. 8). Yellow or white below with 4 to 6 black bands on the first 100 ventrals, usually uniform black thereafter.
Largest recorded: 2250+420 = 2670 mm, from Moniya, Ibadan, Nigeria (Butler, 1982: 110).
Suggested common name: Central African forest cobra.
Distribution: Centered on the Congo Basin, west to southwestern Nigeria and possibly southern Benin, south to northern Angola, not extending east of the Albertine Rift Valley, where it is replaced by N. subfulva. The western range limits are poorly understood. Populations from southeastern Nigeria are clearly assignable to this form. A few specimens from Lamta, southern Benin (IRD 12.B, IRD 54.B, IRD 60.B), and Ghana (MNHN 1983.0663–64; no further locality information) also appear to be assignable to N. melanoleuca.
Naja (Boulengerina) subfulva Laurent, 1955
Suggested common name. Brown forest cobra.
Diagnosis. Midbody scale rows 19, except along coastal regions of East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania), where most specimens have 17 rows. Pattern highly variable. Adults of most populations distinguishable in having a brown forebody, often with spots, generally becoming darker or blackish posteriorly. Labial pattern may be attenuated in many adults. Venter with several black, dark brown or greyish crossbands on the first 50 ventrals, gradually becoming uniform black caudad in some populations, but often remaining entirely light, often with extensive darker spotting or speckling. Where present, the light forebody and/or light posterior venter are diagnostic for this species. Generally fewer ventral bands and ventral scales than N. melanoleuca or N. savannula and fewer subcaudals than N. savannula (Table 8). Genetically diagnosable through possession of unique mitochondrial haplotypes (cyt b: GenBank MH337603–633; ND4: MH337409–439) and unique PRLR and UBN1 haplotypes (PRLR: MH337441–471; UBN1: MH337531, MH337536–562, MH337564–566).
Variation. Dorsal scale rows on neck 19–27, at midbody 19 (very rarely 17 or 21); ventrals 196–226; anal entire; subcaudals 55–71 (Table 8). Supralabials 7 (very rarely 5 or 6), the third and fourth entering orbit; infralabials 8 (rarely 7), the first four (rarely three) in contact with the anterior sublinguals, no cuneate (very rarely one); preocular 1; postoculars 3; temporal 1+2 or 1+3; temporal bordering parietals 5–9, usually 7.
Naja (Boulengerina) peroescobari Ceríaco et al., 2017
Diagnosis. In the original description, Naja peroescobari was diagnosed from the other members of the N. melanoleuca group through a lack of white ventrals posterior to ventral 22, a lack of lighter markings on the dorsum, and the separation of the posterior chin shields. Our sample does not fully support the diagnostic value of these characters: at least one specimen (BMNH 1906.3.30.80) has the posterior chin shields in contact, and discrete dark bands separated by lighter bands (although often suffused with dark brown pigment) extend as far back as ventrals 45 and 55, respectively, in BMNH 1906.3.30.80 and MBL 1954. Naja peroescobari is distinct from N. subfulva in never having a brown forebody or a light posterior venter and in lacking dark speckling or spotting on the forebody. It displays greatly reduced ventral banding compared to N. melanoleuca and N. savannula, and, unlike N. guineensis, never has 17 midbody dorsal scale rows.The species is also diagnosable through unique mitochondrial haplotypes (Ceríaco et al., 2017; cyt b: GenBank MH337634; ND4: MH337440) and a unique PRLR haplotype (MH337499)
Variation. See Table 8 and Ceríaco et al. (2017) for variation in scale counts and ventral banding in this species.
Distribution. Restricted to the volcanic island of São Tomé in the Gulf of Guinea, where it seems to inhabit primarily the forested parts of the centre and south of the island, whereas it seems to be missing from the more open northeast (Ceríaco et al., 2017).
Wolfgang Wüster, Laurent Chirio, Jean-François Trape, Ivan Ineich, Kate Jackson , Eli Greenbaum, Cesar Barron, Chifundera Kusamba, Zoltán T. Nagy, Richard Storey, Cara Hall, Catharine E. Wüster, Axel Barlow and Donald G. Broadley. 2018. Integration of Nuclear and Mitochondrial Gene Sequences and Morphology Reveals Unexpected Diversity in the Forest Cobra (Naja melanoleuca) Species Complex in Central and West Africa (Serpentes: Elapidae). Zootaxa.4455(1); 68–98. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4455.1.3
Luis M. P. Ceríaco,Mariana P. Marques,Andreas Schmitz andAaron M. Bauer. 2017. The “Cobra-preta” of São Tomé Island, Gulf of Guinea, is A New Species of Naja Laurenti, 1768 (Squamata: Elapidae). Zootaxa. 4324(1); 121–141. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4324.1.7
كيف تحصل على مدونة جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات من هنا
شاهد قناة منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بألاف المواضيع والمشاركات على اليوتيوب لمزيد من الشرح من هنا
رابط مدونة منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات في أي وقت حــــتى لو تم حذفها من هنا شاهد صفحة منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بألاف المواضيع والمشاركات على الفيس بوك لمزيد من الشرح من هنا
تعرف على ترتيب مواضيع منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات (حتى لا تختلط عليك الامور) من هنا
ملاحظة هامة: كل عمليات تنزيل، رفع، وتعديل المواضيع الجاهزة تتم بطريقة آلية، ونعتذر عن اي موضوع مخالف او مخل بالحياء مرفوع بالمدونات الجاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات، ولكم ان تقوموا بحذف هذه المواضيع والمشاركات والطريقة بسيطة وسهلة. ــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــسلامـ.
A new genus Kindia(Pavetteae, Rubiaceae) is described with a single species, Kindia gangan, based on collections made in 2016 during botanical exploration of Mt Gangan, Kindia, Republic of Guinea in West Africa. The Mt Gangan area is known for its many endemic species including the only native non-neotropical Bromeliaceae Pitcairnia feliciana. Kindia is the fourth endemic vascular plant genus to be described from Guinea. Based on chloroplast sequence data, the genus is part of Clade II of tribe Pavetteae. In this clade, it is sister to Leptactina sensu lato (including Coleactina and Dictyandra). K. gangan is distinguished from Leptactina s.l. by the combination of the following characters: its epilithic habit; several-flowered axillary inflorescences; distinct calyx tube as long as the lobes; a infundibular-campanulate corolla tube with narrow proximal section widening abruptly to the broad distal section; presence of a dense hair band near base of the corolla tube; anthers and style deeply included, reaching about mid-height of the corolla tube; anthers lacking connective appendages and with sub-basal insertion; pollen type 1; pollen presenter (style head) winged and glabrous (smooth and usually hairy in Leptactina); orange colleters producing a vivid red exudate, which encircle the hypanthium, and occur inside the calyx and stipules. Kindia is a subshrub that appears restricted to bare, vertical rock faces of sandstone. Fruit dispersal and pollination by bats is postulated. Here, it is assessed as Endangered EN D1 using the 2012 IUCN standard. High resolution LC-MS/MS analysis revealed over 40 triterpenoid compounds in the colleter exudate, including those assigned to the cycloartane class. Triterpenoids are of interest for their diverse chemical structures, varied biological activities, and potential therapeutic value.
Taxonomic Treatment
KindiaCheek, gen nov.
Type:Kindia gangan Cheek
Diagnosis: differs from Leptactina s.l. in a corolla tube with a slender proximal part and an abruptly much wider, longer distal part (not more or less cylindrical, or gradually widening); a glabrous, winged pollen-presenter (not hairy, non-winged); an epilithic habit (not terrestrial, growing in soil); a conspicuous opaque red colleter exudate (not translucent and colourless or slightly yellow); and type 1 pollen (not type 2) (De Block & Robbrecht, 1998).
Figure 1: Photographs showing the cliff-dwelling habitat and the habit of Kindia gangan at Mt Gangan, Kindia, Guinea. (A) plants scattered on high sandstone cliff (Cheek 18345); (B) plant habit on cliff face (Cheek 18541A); (C) frontal view of flower (Cheek 18541A); (D) side view of inflorescence showing cupular bract (Cheek 18541A); (E) opened fruit showing ripe seeds (Cheek 18345). Photos taken by Martin Cheek.
Figure 1: Photographs showing the cliff-dwelling habitat and the habit of Kindia gangan at Mt Gangan, Kindia, Guinea. (A) plants scattered on high sandstone cliff (Cheek 18345); (B) plant habit on cliff face (Cheek 18541A).
Photos taken by Martin Cheek.
Figure 1: Photographs showing the cliff-dwelling habitat and the habit of Kindia gangan at Mt Gangan, Kindia, Guinea. (C) frontal view of flower (Cheek 18541A); (D) side view of inflorescence showing cupular bract (Cheek 18541A); (E) opened fruit showing ripe seeds (Cheek 18345). Photos taken by Martin Cheek.
Local names and uses: None are known. The local communities in the area when interviewed in November 2017, stated that they had no uses nor names for the plant (D Molmou & T Doré, pers. obs., 2017).
Etymology: The genus is named for the town and prefecture of Kindia, Guinea’s fourth city, and the species is named for Mt Gangan to its north, which holds the only known location for the species. Both names are derived as nouns in apposition.
Distribution République de Guinée, Kindia Prefecture, northeastern boundary of Mt Gangan area, west of Kindia-Telimélé Rd (Fig. 5).
Ecology:
The area of the Mt Gangan complex in which we found plants of Kindia consists of two parallel ranges of small sandstone table mountains separated by a narrow N–S valley that appears to be a geological fault. Bedding of the sandstone is horizontal. Uneven erosion on some slopes has resulted in the formation of frequent rock ledges, overhangs and caves. In contrast, other flanks of the mountains are sheer cliffs extending 100 m or more high and wide. It is on the cliff areas at 230–540 m a.s.l that K. gangan occurs as the only plant species present, usually as scattered individuals in colonies of (1–3–)7–15 plants, on the bare expanses of rock that are shaded for part of the day due to the orientation of the cliffs or to overhangs or due to a partial screen of trees in front of the rockfaces. Pitcairnia feliciana (Bromeliaceae), in contrast is found in fully exposed sites where there is, due to the rock bedding, a horizontal sill in which to root. These two species can grow within metres of each other if their cliff microhabitats occur in proximity. The rock formations create a variety of other microhabitats, including vertical fissures, caves, shaded, seasonally wet ledges, and are inhabited by sparse small trees, shrubs, subshrubs, perennial and annual herbs, many of which are narrow endemic rock specialists. We speculate that the seed of this species might be bat-dispersed because of the greenish yellow-white colour of the berries (less attractive to birds than fruits which are e.g., red or black) and the position of the plants high on cliff faces, where nothing but winged creatures could reach them, apart from those few plants at the base of the cliffs. However, fruit dispersal is not always effected since we found numerous old dried intact fruits holding live seeds on the plants at the type locality in February 2016. It is possible that the robust, large white flowers are pollinated by a small species of bat since in June and September we saw signs of damage to the inner surface of the corolla inconsistent with visits by small insects. The damage takes the form of brown spots on the inner surface of the corolla tube. Freshly opened flowers do not have these spots, nor do all flowers, only those few which show slight damage. The very broad, short corolla is not consistent with pollination by sphingid moths (which prefer long, slender-tubed flowers), but this cannot be ruled out.
Conclusions:
Kindia, an endangered subshrub, restricted to bare, vertical rock faces of sandstone is described and placed in Clade II of tribe Pavetteae as sister to Leptactina s.l. based on chloroplast sequence data. The only known species, K. gangan, is distinguished from the species of Leptactina s.l. by a combination of characters: an epilithic habit; several-flowered axillary inflorescences; distinct calyx tube as long as the lobes; a infundibular-campanulate corolla tube with narrow proximal section widening abruptly to the distal section; presence of a dense hair band near base of the corolla tube; anthers and style deeply included, reaching about mid-height of the corolla tube; anthers lacking connective appendages and with sub-basal insertion; pollen type 1; pollen presenter winged and glabrous; orange colleters, which encircle the calyx-hypanthium, occur at base and inside the calyx and stipules and produce vivid red exudate. High resolution LC-MS/MS analysis revealed over 40 triterpenoid compounds in the colleter exudate, including those assigned to the cycloartane class. Triterpenoids are of interest for their diverse chemical structures, varied biological activities, and potential therapeutic value.
Martin Cheek, Sékou Magassouba, Melanie-Jayne R. Howes, Tokpa Doré, Saïdou Doumbouya, Denise Molmou, Aurélie Grall, Charlotte Couch and Isabel Larridon. 2018. Kindia (Pavetteae, Rubiaceae), A New Cliff-dwelling Genus with Chemically Profiled Colleter Exudate from Mt Gangan, Republic of Guinea. PeerJ. 6:e4666. DOI: 10.7717/peerj.4666
كيف تحصل على مدونة جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات من هنا
شاهد قناة منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بألاف المواضيع والمشاركات على اليوتيوب لمزيد من الشرح من هنا
رابط مدونة منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات في أي وقت حــــتى لو تم حذفها من هنا شاهد صفحة منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بألاف المواضيع والمشاركات على الفيس بوك لمزيد من الشرح من هنا
تعرف على ترتيب مواضيع منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات (حتى لا تختلط عليك الامور) من هنا
ملاحظة هامة: كل عمليات تنزيل، رفع، وتعديل المواضيع الجاهزة تتم بطريقة آلية، ونعتذر عن اي موضوع مخالف او مخل بالحياء مرفوع بالمدونات الجاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات، ولكم ان تقوموا بحذف هذه المواضيع والمشاركات والطريقة بسيطة وسهلة. ــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــسلامـ.
