Relicts in the mist: Two new frog families, genera and species highlight the role of Pantepui as a biodiversity museum throughout the Cenozoic

Fouquet, Antoine; Kok, Philippe J.R.; Recoder, Renato Sousa; Prates, Ivan; Camacho, Agustin; Marques-Souza, Sergio; Ghellere, José Mario; McDiarmid, Roy W.; Rodrigues, Miguel Trefaut

doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2023.107971

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Serra da Neve’s strictly endemic numbers are even more striking when considering its area. With an approximate area of 630 km 2 , Serra da Neve is undoubtedly the richest region in southwestern Africa with respect to strict endemics per unit of area, with one endemic reptile taxa per 127 km 2 (Table 3 ; Bauer et al 2023 ), and much more similar to or higher than those found on endemic-rich oceanic islands ( Ceríaco et al 2022 ; Bauer et al 2022 ), or South American table mountains, known as “tepuis” ( Recoder et al 2020 ; Fouquet et al 2023 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

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

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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.

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