- Title
- Herpetofaunal diversity and affiliations of the Okavango River Basin, with specific focus on the Angolan headwaters
- Creator
- Conradie, Werner
- Subject
- Water conservation -- Okavango River Delta
- Subject
- Watersheds -- Okavango River -- Angola
- Subject
- Biodiversity -- Angola
- Date Issued
- 2024-04
- Date
- 2024-04
- Type
- Doctorate theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/63667
- Identifier
- vital:73576
- Description
- Although Africa is reputed to possess some of the richest herpetofaunal diversities in the world, a number of areas remain poorly documented and thus inadequately conserved. One such area in particular is the south-eastern part of Angola. Angola endured a long struggle for independence with a protracted civil war that lasted for nearly three decades, leaving the status of the country’s biodiversity in turmoil. Over the past two decades, Angola has become more accessible for biodiversity surveys, opening up new opportunities to document these previously poorly studied areas and help conserve its biodiversity. South-eastern Angola is the water source of the world-renowned Okavango Delta. However very little is known about the biodiversity, diversity status and conservation significance of the headwaters supplying the largest inland delta in the world. To address this bias in sampling and to investigate the conservation importance of the region, a series of rapid biodiversity surveys of the Angolan Okavango River Basin were conducted between 2012 and 2019. This study contributed over 2150 individual records of amphibians and reptiles, representing 88 reptile and 43 amphibian species. At least 15 species were added to the growing country checklist, with the south-eastern region of Angola now comprising 113 reptile species and 51 amphibian species. Because of this study, the area is now one of the most species-rich and well-studied areas in Angola. This study provided the first genetic data for 26 species, and sequences containing Angolan specimens for the first time were generated for 80 species, of which 23 species have originally been described from Angola. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses, supported by species delimitation analyses, were utilised to validate specific species statuses. This allowed for the description of five new species of snake, one gecko and two frogs for Angola. The material further contributed to the description of a new genus of snakes. Numerous undescribed and potentially cryptic species were identified, long-lasting taxonomic issues were resolved, and various taxonomic adjustments were emphasised. Further contributions of the material include assisting in the revision of targeted Angolan amphibian and reptile groups as well as large-scale phylogenetic studies across Africa.
- Description
- Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, School of Natural Resource Science & Management, 2024
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- application/pdf
- Format
- 1 online resource (lii, 499 pages)
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Science
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela University
- Rights
- All Rights Reserved
- Rights
- Open Access
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NMU School of Natural Resource Management
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Conradie, W.pdf | 51 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |