Cunningham, PL

Wronski, T

LJMU Research Online (Liverpool John Moores University)

African Herp News  Newsletter of the Herpetological Association of Africa Number 52        DECEMBER 2010 20 Geographical Distributions GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTIONS AMPHIBIA: ANURA  BUFONIDAE  Bufo dhufarensis Parker, 1931 Dhofar Toad  Saudi Arabia, Plateau, head drainage of Shaib al Ajma (Wadi Mutim system), Ibex Reserve (ca. 250km southeast of Riyadh, N 23.48° E 46.49° & app. 1100 m.a.s.l.). Drainage line with temporary water flow after heavy rainfall in May 2010, on Jurassic limestone Plateau. Observed by Torsten Wronski. Verified by Peter Cunningham. 1 specimen – photographed (Fig. 1). Fig. 1: Bufo dhufarensis from the Ibex reserve, Saudi Arabia. Photo     Torsten Wronski Leviton et al. (1992) show that the range of Bufo dhufarensis includes the southern Arabian Peninsula south of N 22° along the west coast, Yemen, coastal Oman and the United Arab Emirates east of N 56°. From central Saudi Arabia they are known from Hayr and Riyadh, but viewed as introduced to these areas (Balletto et al. 1985).  This sighting of B. dhufarensis in the Ibex Reserve was made after 77 mm of rain fell in the area of Wadi Mutim, with the average annual rainfall for the Ibex Reserve being 85.4 mm (Robinson 2007). Bufo dhufarensis aestivate underground by burrow-ing into the soil with frantic breeding spells observed throughout the year after unpre-21 AFRICAN HERP NEWS 52, DECEMBER 2010 dictable rainfall events (Balletto et al. 1985, Cunningham & Feulner 2001). This range extension for B. dhufarensis suggests either an indication of geographic spread from the Riyadh area over time (unlikely) or that they occur naturally in the rugged mountainous escarpment running from north of Riyadh in the central Najd area down to the Uruq Bani M’arid area on the south western boundary of the Empty Quar-ter, but never verified due to under collecting from this generally inaccessible area.  References BALLETTO, E., CHERCHI, M.A. & GASPERETTI, J. 1985. Amphibians of the Arabian Penninsula. Fauna of Arabia 7: 318-392. CUNNINGHAM, P.L. & FEULNER, G. R. 2001. Notes on the distribution and ecology of the Dhofar toad, Bufo dhufarensis Parker 1931, in the Musandam Peninsula (Sultanate of Oman). Tribulus 11(2): 9-13. LEVITON, A.E., ANDERSON, S.C., ADLER, K. & MINTON, S.A. 1992. Handbook to Mid-dle East Amphibians and Reptiles. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Rep-tiles. ROBINSON, E.R. 2007. Monitoring and Research in the Ibex Reserve. Rangeland Ecol-ogy Monitoring. King Khalid Wildlife Research Centre, NCWCD, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Annual Report, Pp. 12 - 19.  Submitted by: PETER CUNNINGHAM, Environment & Wildlife Consulting Namibia, P. O. Box 90717, Windhoek, Namibia. E-mail: pckkwrc@yahoo.co.uk, and TORSTEN WRON-SKI, King Khalid Wildlife & Research Centre, P. O. Box 61681, Thumamah, Saudi Arabia, and the Zoological Society of London, London. E-mail: t_wronski@gmx.de.  *****  REPTILIA: SQUAMATA ELAPIDAE  Naja ashei Wüster & Broadley, 2007 Ashe’s Spitting Cobra  Ashe’s Spitting Cobra (Naja ashei) is Africa’s largest cobra and was only described in 2007 (Wüster & Broadley 2007). The first and largest specimen was 2.8 meters (9 feet and 2 inches), and caught much earlier in 1960 by James Ashe and C.J.P. Ionides, the famous snake catcher (Wykes 1960). It had killed and swallowed a domestic cat and got injured in the process but survived. It was kept in captivity for three weeks but unfortunately escaped before it could be taken to the Nairobi Snake Park. There re-mains some confusion as to where it was caught, but Ashe recorded that “I think it was somewhere in Kilifi”, about 45km from Watamu, coastal Kenya, where he later built his snake park (Saving Snakes 2007). The distribution of Naja ashei is currently believed to be restricted to eastern and northern Kenya, southern Ethiopia, southern Somalia and eastern Uganda (Wüster & 

Bufo dhufarensis Parker, 1931 Dhofar Toad - Distribution

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