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Reptiles of the Soutpansberg

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Reptiles of the Soutpansberg REPTILES 53 REPTILES I.G. Gaigher Lajuma ResearchandEnvironmentalEducationCentre Sourcesofinformation Dasypeltis inornata Southernbrowneggeater • “Transvaal”Museum,Pretoria Isolatedpopulation • National Museum, Cape Town - Atlas of lizard distri- Chirindia langi langi and C.l.occidentalis butioninSouthernAfrica Lang’sroundheadedwormlizard • PortElizabethMuseum Nearendemicsubspecies Monopeltis .sphenorhynchus sphenorhynchus • VariousotherMuseums Slenderspadesnoutedwormlizard • Universitycollectionsanddatasets Isolatedpopulation • IUCN Typhlosaurus lineatus subtaeniatus and T.l. richardi • Biodiversity data base of the Provincial Department Cregoi’s blindleglessskink ofNatureConservationin Polokwane. Endemicsubspecies • NationalParksBoardcollections Scelotes limpopoensis albiventris • Privatecollectionsanddatasets. Limpopodwarfburrowingskink Nearendemicsubspecies.OccurrenceinMoun- This information is readily available but human resources taintobeverified. are required to access and collate it. Australolacerta rupicola Soutpansbergrocklizard Information in this synthesis is based on Branch (1998). Endemicspecies Because his maps are of a general nature it was in some Nucras lalandi cases difficult to know whether a species has actually Delalandes sandveld lizard been collected from the Soutpansberg. Uncertain locali- Relictpopulation(notrestrictedtotheMoun- ties were discarded so the list might be conservative. tain) Also, the reptiles of the Soutpansberg have not been sur- Cordylus vandami veyed thoroughly so it is highly likely that new distribu- VanDam’sgirdledlizard tion records and even new species may be found in future. Isolatedpopulation Summarystatistics Platysaurus monotropis Orangethroatedflatlizard Based on this information, a total of at least 116 reptile Endemicto Blouberg species have been recorded in the Soutpansberg. This Platysaurus relictus biodiversity is remarkably high for such a small area and Soutpansbergflatlizard makes up 36% of the total number of reptile species that EndemicspeciestotheSoutpansberg have been recorded in South Africa. This is roughly the Platysaurus intermedius inopinus same number of species (119) that occur in the Kruger Commonflatlizard National Park. The diversity is high compared to Nearendemicsubspecies biodiversity hotspots of the world and the species diver- Bradypodion cf.sp. transvaalensis sity per unit area is higher than that of most of these Transvaaldwarfchameleon hotspots. Most of the species (92 or 79%) are either cath- Isolatedpopulation.Revisionofthegroup olic or occur in “savannah” or bushland. Nine species mightshowthatitisadifferentspeciesorsub- (8%) are mainly restricted to grassland, the same number species are associated with forests and five (4%) occur in Colopus wahlbergii wahlbergii wetlands. Twelve species show a distinct preference for Kalaharigroundgecko rocky outcrops. Isolatedpopulation The following eighteen species are of particular conser- Homopholis mulleri vation importance: Muller’svelvetgecko Nearendemic Amblyodipsas micropthalmus nigra Lygodactylus nigropunctatus incognitus Whitelippedsnake Blackspotteddwarfgecko Nearendemicsubspecies Endemicsubspecies Xenocalamus transvaalensis Lycodactylus ocellatus soutpansbergensis Transvaalquill-snoutedsnake Spotteddwarfgecko Isolatedpopulation Endemicsubspecies 54 REPTILES Due to a lack of information the conservation status of Recommendationsforprioritystudies these species in the Soutpansberg is not known. Two of the three endemic species and at least one of the endemic A detailed distribution survey to update the check list and subspecies seem to be well protected on private reserves to record distribution patterns and habitat preferences. in the Western Soutpansberg. The dwarf chameleon seems to be extremely rare. Habitat loss in the eastern part DNA analysis to determine the taxonomic status of of the mountain is of concern for this species. groups such as the dwarf chameleons and flat lizards. Majorstudiesandpublications “Hotspots”ofparticularimportance Due to a lack of information it is not possible to determine None on the Soutpansberg as such. hot spots for rare species. The best approach would be to concentrate conservation efforts on biotopes that are un- General publications on South African reptiles: der most threat such as forests, wetlands and montane grassland. BRANCH, B. 1998. Field guide to the snakes and other reptilesofsouthernAfrica. BROADLY, D. G. 1990. Fitzsimons’ snakes of Southern Africa.DeltaBooks(Pty)Ltd,Johannesburg. C.Wood.
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