Afroedura praedicta BRANCH, SCHMITZ, LOBÓN-ROVIRA, BAPTISTA, ANTÓNIO & CONRADIE, 2021
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Afroedura praedicta?
Afroedura praedicta
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| Higher Taxa | Gekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Serra da Neve Flat Gecko |
| Synonym | Afroedura praedicta BRANCH, SCHMITZ, LOBÓN-ROVIRA, BAPTISTA, ANTÓNIO & CONRADIE 2021: 69 |
| Distribution | Angola (N Namibe Province) Type locality: Serra da Neve (-13.77354, 13.24825, 1944 m a.s.l.), Namibe Province, Angola |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype. NB 854, adult male, collected by Pedro Vaz Pinto, Ninda L. Baptista and Telmo António on 30 November 2017. Paratypes. ZMB 91607 (NB 853), NB 855, adult males, collected from Serra da Neve (-13.77354, 13.24825, 1944 m a.s.l.), Namibe Province, Angola, by Pedro Vaz Pinto, Ninda L. Baptista and Telmo António on 30 November 2017. ZMB 91608 (NB 1053), NB 1054, adult females, collected from Serra da Neve (-13.77354, 13.24825, 1944 m a.s.l.), Namibe Province, Angola, by Pedro Vaz Pinto, Ninda L. Baptista and Telmo António on 30 November 2017. NB 1055, juvenile, collected from Serra da Neve (-13.77354, 13.24825, 1944 m a.s.l.), Namibe Province, Angola, by Pedro Vaz Pinto, Ninda L. Baptista and Telmo António on 30 November 2017. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: A member of the greater ‘transvaalica’ group as it possesses two pairs of enlarged scansors per digit and a strongly verticillate and flattened tail (Jacobsen et al. 2014). Part of the A. bogerti-group which differs from other members of the ‘transvaalica’ group by having less than 78 mid-body scale rows (vs. 97–102 in A. gorongosa, 113–120 in A. loveridgei, 102–119 in A. transvaalica); by the rostral bordering the nostril (nostril excluded from rostral in A. loveridgei); by the anterior nasals always being in contact (separated by 1–3 granules in A. gorongosa; always in broad contact in A. loveridgei; usually in broad contact in A. transvaalica ~ 3–18%); and in having 12–15 scales between the anterior borders of the eyes (19–22 in A. gorongosa; 15–19 in A. loveridgei; 15–20 in A. transvaalica) (comparative data fide Branch et al. 2017a). Afroedura praedicta sp. nov. differs from other members of the A. bogerti-group by a combination of the following characters (see Tables 3 and 4): 73–78 (mean 74.4 mid-body scale rows (69–77 [mean 73.5] in A. bogerti, 76–88 [mean 79.3] in A. wulfhaackei sp. nov., 64–78 [mean 72.8] in A. donveae sp. nov., 73–86 [mean 80.3] in A. vazpintorum sp. nov.); by the anterior nasals always being in contact (similar to A. donveae sp. nov. and A. vazpintorum sp. nov.; ~ 33% of the time in contact in A. bogerti; ~ 68% of the time in contact in A. wulfhaackei sp. nov.); each verticil having 4 ventral and 5 dorsal rows of scales (similar to the 4 and 5 in A. bogerti, 4–5 [mean 4.0] and 5–6 [mean 5.1] in A. wulfhaackei sp. nov.; but lower than the 5–6 (mean 5.5) ventral and 6–7 (mean 6.6) in A. donveae sp. nov. and 5–6 (mean 5.0) and 6–7 (mean 6.1) in A. vazpintorum sp. nov.); ventral surfaces grey with black specks on scales (similar to A. bogerti and A. wulfhaackei sp. nov.; immaculate in A. donveae sp. nov. and A. vazpintorum sp. nov.). Afroedura praedicta sp. nov. also differs from its sister highland species A. bogerti sp. nov. and A. wulfhaackei sp. nov. in that the nasals are always in direct contact (versus mostly separated) (Branch et al. 2021). |
| Comment | Distribution: see map in Branch et al. 2021: 57 (Fig. 1), Conradie et al. 2023: 280 (Fig. 3). |
| Etymology | The specific epithet reflects the earlier prediction by WRB of the potential existence of an isolated population of Afroedura at Serra da Neve. We use the specific epithet “praedicta”, the Latin participle meaning predicted or anticipated, formed in the feminine genitive to match the gender of Afroedura. |
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