MARQUES ET AL.: AMPHIBIANS AND TERRESTRIAL REPTILES OF ANGOLA 
45 
em (or Sudan-Zambezian) Sub-region,” was further divided into two main districts — the 
“Angolan-Rhodesian plateau district,” containing the “Angolan mountains and high plateaus” zone 
and the “Zambezi peneplains” zones, and the “Southwestern Africa Arid district,” containing both 
the “Dry Mutiati [Mopane] woodlands of southwestern Angola” and the “Namibe desert and 
subdesert” zones (Table 4). 
We largely accept the general division provided by Crawford-Cabral (1991) and present our 
own interpretation of Angolan zoogeographic units based on the distributional data in this atlas 
(a comparison between this and earlier hypotheses is provided in Table 4). 
The Northern zone encompasses the north of the country, including the Cabinda enclave, 
Zaire, Uige, Kwanza Norte, central and northern Malanje, and Lunda Norte, but extends further 
south following the Escarpment to Kwanza Sul and Huambo (potentially entering Huila). This zone 
also roughly corresponds to the area of the Congo-Casain basins and the coastal rivers north of the 
Kwanza-River mouth, with the latter, as well as the Zambezi River Basin demarcating its southern 
limit. This area is dominated by genera and species typical of West and Central Africa, for which 
Angola represents, in many cases, the southernmost part of their distributions. This northern zone 
is divided into: 
(1) The Cabinda enclave area: Crawford-Cabral (1991) divided the Cabinda sector into 
two zones — the coastal area and the Mayombe forest. While we assume that this division is “real,” 
particularly in light of the different biomes present (see Biomes and Vegetation Zones above), we 
do not have enough data to confirm that this difference exists for amphibians and reptiles. How¬ 
ever, it is clear that Cabinda has a distinctive fauna, quite similar to the Republic of the Congo and 
well embedded in West/Central African lineages. Examples of species found only found there and 
not present in the “mainland” of Angola are Hyperolius ocellatus, Pelusios gabonensis. Cyclo¬ 
derma aubryi, Osteolaemus tetraspis, Trioceros oweni, Calabaria reinhardtii, and Grayia caesar 
(2) The Southem-Congolese plains area extends from Zaire and northern Uige to northern 
Malanje (Baixa de Cassanje area). This area is dominated by Westem-Congolian Forest Savannah 
Mosaics at elevations lower than 1000 m. The fauna of these areas is typically Congolese, with 
most of the species also occurring in the neighboring Republic of Congo and Democratic Repub¬ 
lic of the Congo. Some examples of these taxa are Cryptothylax greshoffii, Feylinia grandisquamis, 
Atractaspis irregularis, and Xenocalamus mechowii. 
(3) The Escarpment area extends from Uige, through Kwanza Norte, Kwanza Sul, Huam¬ 
bo, and Bie and terminates in Huila. It is mostly situated above 1500 m but is variable in elevation, 
with distinctive areas like the mountains of Calulo, Gabela, and Selles, as well as Mount Moco, the 
highest peak of Angola. As for birds, the area is rich in endemics, including Arthroleptis carquejai, 
Leptopelis jordani, Leptopelis anchietae, Amnirana parkeriana, Ichnotropis microlepidota, and 
Rhoptropus benguellensis. It also provides an avenue for the expansion southwards of West/Cen¬ 
tral African species, as for example Trachylepis maculilabris. 
(4) The Angolan-Katangan area, mostly limited to the northeastern areas of Malanje, 
Lunda Norte, and northern parts of Lunda Sul, is almost totally congruent with the lower elevation 
areas of northeastern Angola, associated with Southern Congolian Forest-Savannah mosaic and the 
metaigneous rocks intrusions of the Casai. As a particularly area of interdigitating habitats, alter¬ 
nating from riparian forests to more open savannah habitats, this area supports some taxa that do 
not occur in other areas of the country and which are most closely associated with northwestern 
Zambian and the Katanga area of the Demogratic Republic of Congo, as well as a considerable 
number of endemics. Arthroleptis lameerei, Lepidothyris hinkeli joei, Ichnotropis overlaeti, 
Afrotyphlops schmidti, dead Xenocalamus bicolor machadoi are examples of these forms. 
