Holaspis Gray, 1863

Marques, Mariana P., Ceríaco, Luis M. P., Blackburn, David C. & Bauer, Aaron M., 2018, Diversity and Distribution of the Amphibians and Terrestrial Reptiles of Angola Atlas of Historical and Bibliographic Records (1840 - 2017), Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 65, pp. 1-501 : 214

Genus Holaspis Gray, 1863

Holaspis guentheri Gray, 1863 BLUE-TAILED TREE LIZARD

Holaspis guentheri Gray 1863a:152, p. 20 , fig. 1. Holotype: BMNH 1946.8 .7.31 (donor Sir A. Smith, collector unknown). Type locality: None stated, but Gray (1863) considered that it might be a “Tropical-American” form.

Holaspis guentheri : Ferreira (1897b:242), Spawls et al. (2004:163), Chirio and LeBreton (2007:218), Trape et al. (2012:322).

Holaspis guentheri guentheri : Loveridge (1957:227), Laurent (1964a:56), Chirio and LeBreton (2007:218), Trape et al. (2012:322).

Global conservation status (IUCN): Not Evaluated.

Global distribution: This is a lowland forest species, found in open woodland adjacent forest and in some coastal forests, from Uganda and Tanzania in the east to Sierra Leone in the west. In the southwest it reaches Angola.

Ocurrences in Angola (Map 167): The few published Angolan records are from the northeast of the country. Lunda Sul: “Alto Cuílo” [-10.01667, 19.55000] ( Laurent 1964a:56); “Alto Chicapa” [-10.88333, 19.23333] ( Laurent 1964a:56).

Taxonomic and distributional notes: Based on the species global distribution record from “Rio Cuce,” Huíla Province seems doubtful and is probably based on a misidentification. Ferreira’s (1897b) remarks relative to Gray’s (1863) and Boulenger’s (1887) descriptions of the species suggest that the “Rio Cuce” specimen was probably the small, terrestrial gerrhosaurid, Cordylosaurus subtessellatus ( Smith, 1844) , which shares a similar color pattern and does occur in the area. MAP 167. Distribution of Holaspis guentheri in Angola.