The collection and database of Birds of Angola hosted at IICT (Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical), Lisboa, Portugal

By

Monteiro, Miguel
Reino, Luís
Beja, Pedro
Mills, Michael Stuart Lyne
Bastos-Silveira, Cristiane
Ramos, Manuela
Rodrigues, Diana
Queirós Neves, Isabel
Consciência, Susana
Figueira, Rui

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2014

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

387

Pages

89-99

Subjects

Angola , Animalia , Aves , Chordata , Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical (IIC , occurrence , specimen

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.387.6412

 

Abstract

The bird collection of the Instituto de Investigação Cientítica Tropical (Lisbon, Portugal) holds 5598 preserved specimens (skins), mainly from Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Principe, and Cape Verde. The subset collection from Angola includes 1560 specimens, which were taxonomically revised and georeferenced for the publication of this data paper. The collection contains a total of 522 taxa, including 161 species and 361 subspecies. Two species are classified by the IUCN Red List as Endangered - the wattled crane (Grus carunculata) and the Gabela bush-shrike (Laniarius amboimensis) - and two are classified as vulnerable - African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) and the white-headed vulture (Trigonoceps occipitalis). The temporal span of the database ranges between 1943 and 1979, but 32% are from years 1958–1959, and 25% from years 1968–1969. The spatial coverage of the collection is uneven, with 2/3 of the records representing only four of the eighteen provinces of the country, namely Huíla, Moxico, Namibe and Cuanza Sul. It adds, however, valuable information for the Huíla area of the Angolan Scarp, which is probably a biodiversity hotspot of global conservation priority. Furthermore, this georeferenced database adds invaluable bird information to the GBIF network, for one of the countries with highest but less known biodiversity in Africa.