Gene flow in mongooses endemic to Namibia's granite inselbergs despite past climatic fluctuations and isolating landscape features

Rapson, Sara A.; Goldizen, Anne W.; Seddon, Jennifer M.

doi:10.1644/11-mamm-a-379.1

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 72 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In contrast to East-African Afromontane inselberg studies, xeric southwestern African inselbergs have been largely neglected in the fauna studies ( Brand et al 2011 ; Elzen 1983 ; Griffin 2000 ), with most focusing only on flora and vegetation ( Porembski and Barthlott 2000 ), and, more recently, on carnivores ( Rapson et al 2013 ). Northwestern Namibia and west-central Angola form an area with a considerable diversity and number of inselbergs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An island in a sea of sand: a first checklist of the herpetofauna of the Serra da Neve inselberg, southwestern Angola

Marques,

Parrinha,

Lopes-Lima

et al. 2024

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Serra da Neve inselberg in Namibe Province, southwestern Angola is the second highest peak of Angola with an elevation of 2489 m. It remains one of the least explored regions in the country, despite several endemic species having been recently described from this inselberg. Here we provide an inventory of the amphibian and reptile species ocurring in Serra da Neve and compare its fauna with that of the surrounding habitats at lower elevations. We also examine the phylogenetic affinities of the inselberg taxa. A total of 59 herpetological taxa were recorded for the Serra da Neve inselberg and its immediate surroundings. These include 11 species of amphibians, belonging to nine genera and seven different families, and 48 species of reptiles, belonging to 32 genera and 12 families. Of these, one amphibian and seven reptiles from seven different genera are strictly endemic, making the inselberg the richest region in southwestern Africa with respect to strict endemics, with one endemic reptile taxa per 127 km2. Not surprisingly, most of the recorded taxa belong to clades that are endemic, or at least strongly associated, with southern Africa, but two are representatives of central African clades, and another two are more closely related to eastern African highland taxa. We also provide comments on the threats to the conservation of this endemic-rich inselberg.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%