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Cordylus angolensis (BOCAGE, 1895)

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Higher TaxaCordylidae (Cordylinae), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Angolan Girdled Lizard
G: Angola-Gürtelschweif 
SynonymZonurus angolensis BOCAGE 1895
Cordylus cordylus angolensis LOVERIDGE 1944
Cordylus angolensis — VISSER 1971
Cordylus angolensis — ADOLPHS 2006
Cordylus angolensis — STANLEY et al. 2011
Cordylus angolensis — REISSIG 2014
Cordylus angolensis — BATES et al. 2023: 620 
DistributionAngola, (N Namibia ?, S Zaire ?)

Type locality: Caconda, Huila District, Angola.  
Reproductionovovivparous (Ovoovovivparous) 
TypesHolotype: lost, was MB (Museu Bocage) (probably lost in fire 1978) 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: A medium to large rupicolous Cordylus with a moderately depressed head and body. Referred to Cordylus (rather than any other species of Cordylidae) by the following combination of characters: head distinct from body, two pairs of large and well developed limbs (body serpentiform, head indistinct from body, and limbs rudimentary in Chamaesaura Schneider, 1799), scales on back large and keeled (granular in Platysaurus Smith, 1844, partly granular in Pseudocordylus Smith, 1838 and Hemicordylus Smith, 1838), non-spinose occipitals (spinose in Smaug Stanley et al., 2011), 23–24 transverse dorsal scale rows (40–43 in Ninurta Stanley et al., 2011; 31–46 in Karusasaurus Stanley et al., 2011; 15–16 in Ouroborus Stanley et al., 2011); loreal absent (present in Smaug, Nirnuta, Ouroborus, Karusasaurus, and Namazonurus Stanley et al., 2011). Cordylus angolensis is distinguishable from other members of its genus by the following combination of characters: (1) back dark brown with a paravertebral series of pale markings; (2) top of head plain brown or with occasional pale blotches; (3) iris of the eye brown; (4) scales of the first transverse row of dorsals similar in appearance to those of the row behind; (5) loreal shield absent; (6) nostril pierced in the posterior part of a large nasal, situated behind the suture of rostral and first supralabial, usually well separated from both the first supralabial and the preocular; (7) a regular row of six enlarged, non-spinose occipitals; (8) Frontonasal separated from the frontal by a pair of prefrontals (each of which usually exceeds it in size) or in contact; (9) Anterior pair of parietals usually in contact anteriorly; (10) dorsolateral and lateral scales may be weakly to moderately spinose; (11) tail spinose, but more weakly so distally; (12) dorsal scale rows transversely 24–25; (13) dorsal scale rows longitudinally 20–23; (14) ventral scale rows transversely 22–24; (15) ventral scale rows longitudinally 14; (16) subdigital lamellae on 4th toe 14; (17) femoral pores per thigh 5–6 in males and females; (18) differentiated femoral scales [generation glands] per thigh in males 19–25; (19) premaxillary teeth 7. Its status as a distinct species is supported by monophyly with high levels of support from a suite of three mitochondrial and six nuclear markers (see above); and it differs from C. ‘Mombolo’ (see below), the most similar species genetically and morphologically, by an uncorrelated ND2 p-distance of 9.22% (Table 3). (Bates et al. 2023)


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CommentThe status of the poorly-known C. angolensis Bocage 1895 remains problematic. Broadley (1971) considered it a synonym of C. tropidosternum. Loveridge (1944) noted that Bocage’s type description of C. angolensis lacked detail, and the types have subsequently been destroyed. However, the colouration and various features of scalation in C. angolensis, i.e., 27-28 transverse rows of dorsals and 14 longitudinal rows of ventrals, are unusual in C. meculae. Given the large geographic distance between the two taxa they are unlikely to be conspecific, but this can only be resolved with the collection of additional material [from BRANCH et al. 2005]. 
EtymologyNamed after its distribution in Angola. 
References
  • Adolphs, K. 2006. Bibliotheca Cordyliformium. Squamata Verlag, Sankt Augustin, 303 pp.
  • Bates MF, Lobón-Rovira J, Stanley EL, Branch WR, Vaz Pinto P 2023. A new species of green-eyed Cordylus Laurenti, 1768 from the west-central highlands of Angola, and the rediscovery of Cordylus angolensis (Bocage, 1895) (Squamata: Cordylidae). Vertebrate Zoology 73: 599-646 - get paper here
  • Bocage,J.V. du B. 1895. Herpétologie d'Angola et du Congo. Lisbon: Imprimerie Nationale, i-xx, 203 pp. - get paper here
  • BRANCH, WILLIAM R.; MARK-OLIVER RÖDEL AND JOHAN MARAIS 2005. A new species of rupicolous Cordylus Laurenti 1768 (Sauria: Cordylidae) from Northern Mozambique. African Journal of Herpetology 54 (2): 131-138. - get paper here
  • Herrmann, H.-W.; W.R. Branch 2013. Fifty years of herpetological research in the Namib Desert and Namibia with an updated and annotated species checklist. Journal of Arid Environments 93: 94–115 - get paper here
  • Loveridge,A. 1944. Revision of the African lizards of the family Cordylidae. Bull. Mus. comp. Zool. Harvard 95 (1): 1-118 - get paper here
  • Marques, Mariana P.; Luis M. P. Ceríaco , David C. Blackburn , and Aaron M. Bauer 2018. Diversity and Distribution of the Amphibians and Terrestrial Reptiles of Angola -- Atlas of Historical and Bibliographic Records (1840–2017). Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. (Ser. 4) 65: 1-501 (Supplement II)
  • MARQUES, MARIANA P.; LUIS M. P. CERÍACO, EDWARD L. STANLEY, SUZANA A. BANDEIRA, ISHAN AGARWAL, AARON M. BAUER 2019. A new species of Girdled Lizard (Squamata: Cordylidae) from the Serra da Neve Inselberg, Namibe Province, southwestern Angola. Zootaxa 4668 (4): 503–524 - get paper here
  • Reissig, J. 2014. Girdled Lizards and Their Relatives. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, ISBN-10: 3899734378
  • Stanley, Edward L.; Aaron M. Bauer; Todd R. Jackman, William R. Branch, P. Le Fras N. Mouton 2011. Between a rock and a hard polytomy: rapid radiation in the rupicolous girdled lizard (Squamata: Cordylidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 58(1): 53-70. - get paper here
  • Visser, John D. 1971. Cordylus cordylus and its races in the Cape Province - A general discussion. J. Herp. Assoc. Africa 7: 18-20. - get paper here
 
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