Chapter 13 The Reptiles of Angola: History, Diversity, Endemism and Hotspots William R. Branch, Pedro Vaz Pinto, Ninda Baptista, and Werner Conradie Abstract This review summarises the current status of our knowledge of Angolan reptile diversity, and places it into a historical context of understanding and growth. It is compared and contrasted with known diversity in adjacent regions to allow insight into taxonomic status and biogeographic patterns. Over 67% of Angolan reptiles were described by the end of the nineteenth century. Studies stagnated dur- ing the twentieth century but have increased in the last decade. At least 278 reptiles are currently known, but numerous new discoveries have been made during recent surveys, and many novelties await description. Although lizard and snake diversity is currently almost equal, most new discoveries occur in lizards, particularly geckos and lacertids. Poorly known Angolan reptiles and others from adjacent regions that W. R. Branch (deceased) National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project, Wild Bird Trust, Hogsback, South Africa Department of Zoology, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa P. Vaz Pinto Fundação Kissama, Luanda, Angola CIBIO-InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal e-mail:
[email protected] N. Baptista National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project, Wild Bird Trust, Hogsback, South Africa CIBIO-InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal Instituto Superior de Ciências da Educaҫão da Huíla, Rua Sarmento Rodrigues, Lubango, Angola e-mail:
[email protected] W. Conradie (*) National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project, Wild Bird Trust, Hogsback, South Africa School of Natural Resource Management, Nelson Mandela University, George, South Africa Port Elizabeth Museum (Bayworld), Humewood, South Africa e-mail:
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