Drewes, Robert C.

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JOURNAL
OF THE EAST AFRICA NATURAL HISTORY
SOCIETY AND NATIONAL MUSEUM
VOL. 28 15thAUGUST 1971 No. 126
NOTES ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF HOLODACTYLUS
AFRICANUS BOETTGER
By
R. C. DREWES
CaliforniaAcademyof Sciences
ResearchAssociate,NationalMuseumsof Kenya
HolodactylusafricanusBoettgeroccupiesa uniquepositionas the only EastAfrican
eublepharinegeckoand one of only two found on the African continent.Its rangehas
been given as Ethiopia and British Somaliland,south through Somalia to Kenya
(Loveridge,1947,1957).In regardto Kenya, I havebeenunableto find anyheretofore
publishedlocalitieswithin Kenya,or, indeed,within politicalEastAfrica.
Holodactylusafricanus(CAS 125431)emergingfrom burrow,Mkomazi, Tanzania.
Page2
DuringtheperiodJune29toJuly 14,1968,acollectionof lizardswasmadein the
Lokoriarea,TurkanaDistrict,Kenya,by theSouthTurkanaExpeditionof theRoyal
GeographicalSociety.ThespecimensweresentotheBritishMuseum(NaturalHistory)
and identifiedby E. N. Arnold.AmongthemwasHolodlM:tylus africanus (personal
communication;specimenotseenbyauthor).
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TANZANIA
Map of EastMrica showingextentof sub-desertsteppeandlocalitiesatwhichHolodactylusafricanus
hasbeenfound. Somalialocalitiesnot found: Caitoli Nege11ijand Gumboworen.Note: Bthiopian
localitylistedin Loveridge(I947) as "Abdulla" is locatedin Somalia, just southof theEthiopian
borderandwestof WebbeShibeli.
Page 3
On January7, 1970,at approximately8:00am,followinga periodof heavyrain,
asub-adultmaleHolodactylusafricanuswascollectedbyDr. E. S.RossoftheCalifornia
Academyof SciencesatMkomazi,Tanzania[4°38"S, 38°05"E] (CAS 125431).This is
thefirstrecordofthegenusin Tanzaniandrepresentsaconsiderablerange xtensionto
thesouth.Theanimalwasfoundemergingfromaburrowithadduginlateriticsoilabout
6 metres(20 feet)froma termitemoundandwasphotographedin situ by Dr. Ross.
(Plate).
CAS 125431,whichis 78 mmin length(58mmS.V.+20mmtail),agreesclosely
withthedescriptiongivenbyLoveridge(1947)forHolodactylusafricanus.Fivetermites
(Bellicositermes[=Macrotermes:Termitidae])werefoundin thestomach.
The distributionofH. africanusseemstoagreewiththatof aparticularsub-desert
steppevegetationtypewhichis dominatedbywidelyspacedCommipJwra ndAcaciaof
lowstature,withSalvadoraandLeptadeniapyrotechnica(Forsk.)Decnealsocharacteri-
stic. Sub-desertsteppeis usuallyborderedby largeareasof wetterwoodedsteppe
composedof morecloselyspacedAcaciaandCommipJwrawithgrassesof onemetrein
height,andis apparentlytransitionalbetweenwoodedsteppeandtruedesert(Keay,
1959).It extendsasa continuouscoastalbeltwithinlandextensionsfromChisimaio,
Somalia,northbeyondtheRift Valleyin Ethiopia.Isolatedareasof this vegetation
typeexistaroundLakeRudolf,south-eastalongtheTanaRiverto nearBura,Kenya,
andin thevicinityof theUsambaraMountainsofnorth-eastTanzania.
Basedonavailabledata,allspecimensofHolodactylusafricanushavebeenfoundin
scatteredlocalitieswithinthesub-desertsteppedescribed,andit seemslikelythatthe
animalmaybeexpectedin suitablehabitatsthroughoutthesub-deserts eppe.It hasnot
beenrecordedfromwestof theRift Valley(theKenyalocality,accordingto Gwynne
[1969],isontheRiftValleyfloor),suggestingthattheRift actsasaphysiographicbarrier
towestwardexpansion.However,westandnorthoftheRift extensivesub-deserts eppe
areaswhichbordertheSaharaarepoorlyknown,andHolodactylusmayeventuallybe
foundthere.
I suggestthatHolodactylusprobablyevolvedin thearidsub-desertareasofnorthern
EastMrica.At onetimeit mayhavehadamoreextensiverange,butsubsequentfluctua-
tionsin moisturehaveledtotheisolationof populationsexistingin remnantsub-desert
steppehabitatsin north-centralKenyaandnorth-easternTanzania.
TheoriginsofHolodactylusareobscure,forthegenusdoesnotappeartobeclosely
alliedto anyextantgroup.Indeed,Kluge(1967)suggeststhatthedifferencesbetween
HolodactylusandHemitheconyx,theonlyotherAfricaneublepharine,pointto separate
evolutionarylines.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wishtothankthefollowingfortheirassistance:Dr. AlanE. Leviton,TheodoreJ.
Papenfuss,andDr.EdwardS.RossoftheCaliforniaAcademyofSciences,andDr.M. D.
GwynneoftheRoyalGeographicalSociety,London.
LITERATURE CITED
GWYNNE,M. D., (1969).The South TurkanaExpedition. ScientificPapersI, Geogrl. J. pp. 331-
342·
KllAY, R. W. J. (1959).VegetationMap of Mrica. L'Association pour L'Etude de la Flore de
Mrique Tropicale,Oxford UniversityPress,pp. I-II, map.
KLUGH,ARNOLDG. (1967).Higher TaxonomicCategoriesof GekkonidLizards andTheir Evolu-
tion. Bull. Am. Mus. nat.Hist., Vol. 135,pp. 1-60,pI. 1-5.
LovmuDGH,ARTHUR(1947).Revisionof theMrican Lizards of the Family Gekkonidae.Bull. Mus.
compoZool.,Harv., Vol. 98,No. I, pp. I-470, pI. 1-7.
LovBamGH,ARTHUR(1957).CheckList of theReptilesandAmphibiansof EastAfrica. Bull. Mus.
compoZool.Harv., Vol. 117,No.2, pp. 15I-362+i-xxxvi.
(Received2ndApril, 1971).


Notes on the distribution of Holodactylus Africanus Boettger

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Notes on the distribution of Holodactylus Africanus Boettger

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