A treasure trove of endemics: two new species of snake-eyed skinks of the genus Panaspis Cope, 1868 (Squamata, Scincidae) from the Serra da Neve Inselberg, southwestern Angola

By

P. Marques, Mariana
Parrinha, Diogo
Lopes-Lima, Manuel
Tiutenko, Arthur
Bauer, Aaron M. (Aaron Matthew), 1961-
Ceríaco, Luis M. P.

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2024-7-24

Original Publication

Evolutionary systematics

Volume

8

Series / Issue

Issue: 2

Pages

167--182

Subjects

Africa , cryptic species , herpetofauna , integrative taxonomy , Reptiles

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Hamburg Centrum für Naturkunde (CeNak) 2017-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/evolsyst.8.121103

 

Abstract

Four species of the genus Panaspis – P. cabindae, P. wahlbergi, P. maculicollis and P. mocamedensis – are currently known from Angola. The analysis of recently collected specimens from Serra da Neve Inselberg, an isolated mountain located in northern Namibe Province, revealed unexpected taxonomic diversity in the group. Using an integrative taxonomy approach based on morphological and DNA sequence data, with both mitochondrial (16S) and nuclear (RAG-1) genes, we were able to distinguish two distinct populations, described here as two new species, Panaspis ericaesp. nov. and P. mundavambosp. nov. Both species are assumed to be endemic to the inselberg. This reinforces our notion of southwestern Angola as a hotspot of skink diversity, and highlights the urgent need for the conservation of Serra da Neve.