Pelusios nanus Laurent, 1956

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 : 208

Pelusios nanus Laurent, 1956

African Dwarf Mud Terrapin ( Fig. 41 , Map 38) Material (2 specimens): PEM R23423 , Cuando River source, -13.00345° 19.12751°, 1,343 m asl; PEM R27410 (shell), Quembo River bridge camp, -13.52745° 19.2806°, 1,241 m asl. Description : Carapace lengths 91.6 mm ( PEM R27410 ) and 88.4 mm ( PEM R23423 ), respectively. Carapace very smooth and rounded, uniform dark brown with black edges to scutes; plastron beige with lateral and anterior edges dark brown to black; head brown with yellow vermiculation; limbs dark brown; skin of neck and limbs light yellow. Habitat and natural history notes: The live specimen was caught in shallow water covered by grass at the source of the Cuando River . Comment: The new records close the distributional gap between the central and eastern Angolan records ( Marques et al. 2018) and are the first from the Cuando River basin .

Figures

Fig. 41. Adult female Pelusios nanus (PEM R23423) from Cuando River source. Photo by Werner Conradie.