Procatopus, Boulenger, 1904

Bragança, Pedro H. N. & Costa, Wilson J. E. M., 2019, Multigene fossil-calibrated analysis of the African lampeyes (Cyprinodontoidei: Procatopodidae) reveals an early Oligocene origin and Neogene diversification driven by palaeogeographic and palaeoclimatic events, Organisms Diversity & Evolution (New York, N. Y.) 19 (2), pp. 303-320 : 312

Procatopus and the Cameroon volcanic line

Procatopus species are presently distributed over dense rainforest areas, occurring in Cameroon coastal river drainages ( P. nototaenia Boulenger, 1904 and P. similis Ahl, 1927 ) as well as in forest patches in arid areas of Nigeria ( P. aberrans Ahl, 1927 ) revealing a disjunct distribution for the genus ( Fig. 4 ) ( Clausen 1959; Wildekamp et al. 1986). According to the present analysis, the split between the Nigerian P. aberrans and the Cameroonian clade containing other congeners in the late Miocene-Pliocene transition (4.6 Mya, 95% HDP 2.3–7.6 Mya) is probably related to the increasing aridification in that period, fragmenting a previously continuous forest to form forest refugia and to the reactivation of the Cameroon volcanic line during the Miocene and Pliocene ( Fig. 4 ) ( Fitton 1987; Obaje 2009; Ubangoh et al. 1998). The Cameroon volcanic line with its volcanoes and highlands is considered the main geological feature in the region, acting as a forest refugia during arid times and as a zoogeographical barrier for many taxa such as crocodiles, small mammals, bats, anurans, birds, and the tigerfish genus Hydrocynus ( Fjeldså and Bowie 2008; Goodier et al. 2011; Koubínová et al. 2013; Nesi et al. 2013; Nicolas et al. 2012; Shirley et al. 2013; Zimkus 2009).

Figures

Fig. 4 Estimated distribution extension of Procatopodidae genera based on information present in Wildekamp et al. (1986), Wildekamp (1995), and Wildekamp (2004)