Afroedura marleyi, FitzSimons, 1930

Jacobsen, Niels H. G., Kuhn, Arianna L., Jackman, Todd R. & Bauer, Aaron M., 2014, A phylogenetic analysis of the southern African gecko genus Afroedura Loveridge (Squamata: Gekkonidae), with the description of nine new species from Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa, Zootaxa 3846 (4), pp. 451-501 : 476

A. marleyi ( FitzSimons, 1930)

( Fig. 5 B)

Distribution. Coastal plain of Zululand, Kwazulu-Natal inland to the Lebombo Mountains and through Swaziland to southeastern Mpumalanga, and possibly adjacent Mozambique (Bauer 2014f) ( Figs. 4 , 6 ).

Remarks. This species was previously considered a subspecies of A. pondolia ( Onderstall 1984) until elevated without comment by Branch (1998). Our samples come from a relatively limited area of the species’ range and we suspect that deeper sampling would reveal greater substructure within A. marleyi .

Figures

FIGURE 4. Map of southern Africa showing the approximate distributional ranges of previously described species of Afroedura. Red dots represent localities sampled for the genetic portion of the study. Ranges based on Branch (1998) and Bates et al. (2014) as well as unpublished data. Taxon names follow the conclusions of this paper. Area demarcated by a dashed line is presented in more detail in Figure 6.

FIGURE 5. Representatives of the species groups of Afroedura. (A) A. multiporis group: A. haackei (Schoemanskloof, Mpumalanga, South Africa); (B) A. marleyi group: A. marleyi (The Hippos, Mpumalanga, South Africa); (C) A. langi group: A. langi (Farm Harmony, Hlaralumi River, Limpopo, South Africa). Photos A – B: Johan Marais, Photo C: N. H. G. Jacobsen.

FIGURE 6. Map of Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces, South Africa and adjacent regions showing the distributions of previously described species of Afroedura endemic to this region and known localities of the nine new species described in this paper. For previously recognized forms an approximate outline of the range based on Bates et al. (2014) is shown; genetically sampled localities are marked by circles in Figure 4. For new species all known localities are plotted as dots (see relevant species accounts), with genetically sampled site marked by circles with a a red center, type locality marked by a star, and all other localities indicated by open circles colored to correspond to the key in the figure. The very restricted distributions of A. maripi sp. nov., A. rondavelica sp. nov., and A. rupestris sp. nov. are indicated by arrows and are labeled directly on the map.