Ichnotropis capensis (Smith, 1838)

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 : 115

Ichnotropis capensis (Smith, 1838)

Cape Rough-scaled Lizard ( Fig. 20A–B )

Material: NB771 (34); NB772 (34); NB779 (12); photographic record (M. Finckh, site 43).

Comment: Ichnotropis capensis and I. bivittata are known to occur sympatrically in Angola ( Laurent 1964; Marques et al. 2018), and five taxa within this genus are listed for Angola ( Marques et al. 2018; Branch et al. 2019c). The systematics of the genus Ichnotropis is poorly established ( Laurent 1964), and while there is no recent systematic revision of the group ( Edwards et al. 2013), a thorough historical revision was recently published ( Berg 2017). According to this, two subspecies of I. capensis occur in Angola, I. c. capensis (Smith, 1838) and I. c. overlaeti Witte and Laurent, 1942, with the latter being restricted to northern Angola ( Marques et al. 2018). Rough-scaled lizards have recently been collected in BNP and were referred to Ichnotropis bivittata pallida Laurent, 1964 ( Butler et al. 2019), but we have regarded them as I. capensis , given that I. b. pallida is morphologically distinct, and occurs in higher altitudes, such as Humpata ( Laurent 1964). Specimens from BNP have a bright orange/red lateral line that is more evident in males than in females, and living males have a bright yellow chin and chest ( Fig. 20A–B ) that becomes bleached when preserved. Detailed and comprehensive studies of species within this genus in Angola are needed.

Figures

Fig. 20. Ichnotropis capensis, BNP. (A) Female; (B) male.