Gerrhosaurus auritus Boettger, 1887

Conradie, Werner, Keates, Chad, Verburgt, Luke, Baptista, Ninda L., Harvey, James, Júlio, Timóteo & Neef, Götz, 2022, Contributions to the herpetofauna of the Angolan Okavango-Cuando-Zambezi River drainages. Part 2: Lizards (Sauria), chelonians, and crocodiles, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 322) 16 (2), pp. 181-214 : 194

Gerrhosaurus auritus Boettger, 1887

Kalahari Plated Lizard ( Fig. 16 , Map 16)

Material (7 specimens): PEM R 23273, Cuanavale River source, -13.09330° 18.89396°, 1,367 m asl; PEM R 23313, drive to Quemba village on grasslands, -12.14597° 18.39728°, 1,402 m asl; PEM R 23324, Cuito River source lake, -12.68935° 18.36012°, 1,435 m asl; PEM R 23481, Cuando River source, trap 4, -13.00164° 19.1296°, 1,372 m asl; PEM R 23557, DOR en route from Munhango to Cuanavale River source, -12.56364° 18.66669°, 1,317 m asl; PEM R 23974 (iNaturalist 12410724), Lungwebungu River, ad hoc, -12.58619° 18.66538°, 1,300 m asl; PEM R 23975 (iNaturalist 12410714), Lungwebungu River new campsite, -12.58445° 18.66538°, 1,308 m asl. Description: No dorsolateral yellow stripe; flanks with scattered orange scales; tympanic shield very broad and crescentic; weak to moderately keeled lateral scales; scales on soles of feet keeled; 26–28 (26) dorsal midbody scale rows; 8 enlarged ventral plates; 50–52 (51) transverse ventral scale rows; 3 supralabials; 3–4 infralabials; 4–5 supraciliaries; 16–18 (17) subdigital lamellae under 4 th toe; 13–17 (15) femoral pores per thigh. Largest female: 156.0 + 254.0 mm ( PEM R 23557); largest male: 143.5 + 249.0 mm ( PEM R 23273). Habitat and natural history notes: Found active during the day in close proximity to their burrows in miombo woodland or grasslands, to which they retreated when disturbed. Comment: Although a historical record exists from Lunda Sul Province ( Monard 1937), these are the first modern records of this species for Angola. The species has also been recorded from adjacent western Zambia ( Pietersen et al. 2017).

Figures

Fig. 16.Adult male Gerrhosaurus auritus (PEM R23273) from Cuanavale River source. Photo by Werner Conradie.