Bonn zoological Bulletin Volume 57 Issue 1 pp. 31–54 Bonn, April 2010 Reptiles from southern Benin, West Africa, with the description of a new Hemidactylus (Gekkonidae), and a country-wide checklist Klaus Ullenbruch1, Olaf Grell2 & Wolfgang Böhme1 1Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Adenauerallee 160, D-53113 Bonn, Germany; E-mails:
[email protected];
[email protected]; 2Biologenbüro GGV, Stralsunder Weg 16, D-24161 Altenholz-Stift, Germany; E-mail:
[email protected] Abstract. We report on a collection of reptiles made in southern Benin, mostly in the vicinity of Lama Forest, a relict rain forest surrounded by savannah habitats within the the so-called Dahomey gap. 48 species (3 chelonian, 20 saurian and 25 ophidian species were encountered) are listed with the respective voucher material and commented in respect to taxonomic or ecological information. Five lizard species (Agama sylvanus, Hemidactylus ansorgei, H. lamaensis n. sp., Holaspis guentheri, Varanus ornatus) and two snake species (Natriciteres variegata, Amblyodipsas unicolur) are new for the fauna of Benin, the second Hemidactylus species being even new to science. Some other species are reported from Benin for only the second time. This commented list of species collected from southern Benin is followed by a general country-wide checklist, which is based on literature data and also some unpublished records from northern Benin, among them the remarkable rediscov- ery of Agama gracilimembris, 9 decades after its original description from this country. Key words. Reptilia: Chelonia, Crocodylia, Squamata; Benin, West Africa, new country records; Hemidactylus lamaen- sis n. sp.; country-wide checklist INTRODUCTION Herpetologically, Benin is among the most insufficiently Dahomey carried out by A.