Kinixys cf. belliana Gray, 1831

Baptista, Ninda L., António, Telmo & Branch, William R., 2019, The herpetofauna of Bicuar National Park and surroundings, southwestern Angola: a preliminary checklist, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 203) 13 (2), pp. 96-130 : 121

Kinixys cf. belliana Gray, 1831

Bell’s Hingeback Tortoise

Material: NB711 (18); NB712 (17); NB509 (16) (tissue only); photographic record (M. Finckh, site 43).

Comment: In a molecular phylogeny of Kinixys , only K. belliana was shown to occur in Angola ( Kindler et al. 2012). However, only northern Angolan material was included and it is very likely that K. spekii may enter southern Angola (see Marques et al. 2018), thus the identification as K. belliana is tentative. This group is widely distributed in Angola ( Marques et al. 2018) and has recently been collected in BNP ( Butler et al. 2019). This species has been observed at several sites throughout the park and is locally harvested for consumption and for the pet trade.