Evolutionary history of burrowing asps (Lamprophiidae: Atractaspidinae) with emphasis on fang evolution and prey selection.

Atractaspidines are poorly studied, fossorial snakes that are found throughout Africa and western Asia, including the Middle East. We employed concatenated gene-tree analyses and divergence dating approaches to investigate evolutionary relationships and biogeographic patterns of atractaspidines with a multi-locus data set consisting of three mitochondrial (16S, cyt b, and ND4) and two nuclear genes (c-mos and RAG1). We sampled 91 individuals from both atractaspidine genera (Atractaspis and Homoroselaps).

New records of one of the least known snakes, Telescopus pulcher (Squamata: Colubridae) from the Horn of Africa.

Telescopus pulcher is an enigmatic colubrid snake only known from the holotype and paratype specimens described from 'Migiurtinia' in Puntland (Somalia) in 1935. Herein we recorded the third and fourth-ever known specimens of this species from the Toon village, Woqooyi Galbeed Region, and 15 km southeast of Sheikh, Saahil Region, Somaliland. The species is endemic to Somaliland and adjoining parts of Ethiopia and Puntland.

Diversity, distribution and conservation of the terrestrial reptiles of Oman (Sauropsida, Squamata).

In the present work, we use an exceptional database including 5,359 records of 101 species of Oman's terrestrial reptiles together with spatial tools to infer the spatial patterns of species richness and endemicity, to infer the habitat preference of each species and to better define conservation priorities, with especial focus on the effectiveness of the protected areas in preserving this unique arid fauna. Our results indicate that the sampling effort is not only remarkable from a taxonomic point of view, with multiple observations for most species, but also for the spatial coverage achieved. The observations are distributed almost continuously across the two-dimensional climatic space of Oman defined by the mean annual temperature and the total annual precipitation and across the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of the multivariate climatic space and are well represented within 17 out of the 20 climatic clusters grouping 10% of the explained climatic variance defined by PC1 and PC2.

Terrestrial reproduction as an adaptation to steep terrain in African toads.

How evolutionary novelties evolve is a major question in evolutionary biology. It is widely accepted that changes in environmental conditions shift the position of selective optima, and advancements in phylogenetic comparative approaches allow the rigorous testing of such correlated transitions. A longstanding question in vertebrate biology has been the evolution of terrestrial life histories in amphibians and here, by investigating African bufonids, we test whether terrestrial modes of reproduction have evolved as adaptations to particular abiotic habitat parameters.

Rediscovery and a new record of Hemidactylus laevis (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) from Somaliland, with notes on and resurrection of Hemidactylus fragilis.

Hemidactylus laevis, a gekkonid lizard originally described from the Gaan Libah Mountains in Somaliland, is recorded herein from Erigavo, Sanaag Region, in the same state, which represents the second-ever known specimen and locality for this species in more than 100 years since its description. The species is endemic to Somaliland. Data on morphology and natural history, as well as the first life photographs are provided.

Eimeria atheridis n. sp. (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae), a new coccidium from the western bush viper Atheris chlorechis (Pel, 1851) from tropical Africa.

Coprological examination of nine bush vipers Atheris chlorechis imported from Ghana revealed the presence of a new coccidian species belonging to Eimeria Schneider, 1875. Thin walled oöcysts of Eimeria atheridis n. sp.