Sand frogs of the African genus Tomopterna Duméril and Bibron, 1841 comprise seven described cryptic species. In this paper we describe a new species from Khorixas, north west Namibia. It is considered a distinct form based on the advertisement call, morphology and mitochondrial DNA sequences.

German explorers and scientists began the study and description of the East African amphibian fauna. Later, Arthur Loveridge played a leading role in collecting, describing and analysing the East African amphibian fauna; his 1957 checklist for the region is still the only one available. Since independence in the early 1960s, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda developed different degrees of capability to conduct research on amphibians. While globally there has been a recent upsurge in research and concern over declining amphibian populations and a general increase in awareness of the importance of amphibian biodiversity, in the East African region this interest has not always been so apparent. Limitations to amphibian study in East Africa include a lack of basic taxonomic studies, field guides and keys to the amphibian fauna, few natural history museums, and a dearth of basic information about the distribution and biology of amphibians. There is a need to determine the conservation status of East African amphibians, encourage studies on basic biology and populations, and to include amphibians in development and conservation policies and agendas.

Karl Heinrich Bergius (1790–1818) and Georg Ludwig Engelhard Krebs (1792–1844) were German apothecaries living in South Africa who collected zoological material, including reptiles, for Martin Hinrich Carl Lichtenstein, director of the Zoological Museum of the Wilhelm-Friedrichs-Universität zu Berlin (ZMB). Although many of the specimens they sent to Berlin went unstudied, six species of reptiles described by Lichtenstein (1823), Wiegmann (1828, 1834) and Fitzinger (1843) were based on type material collected by them. In all cases (Sepedon rhombeata [= Causus rhombeatus], Coluber rufulus [= Lycodonomorphus rufulus], Gerrhosaurus flavigularis. Scincus homolocephalus [= Mabuya homalocephala], Cricochalcis aenea [= Chamaesaura aenea] and Pachydactylus bergii [= P geitje]) it is possible to restrict the type localities on the basis of the activities of the collectors. In the case of Sepedon rhombeata it is demonstrated that a recent claim (de Massary & Ineich 1994) that no type material was present in the ZMB collection at the time of Lichtenstein's description is false. The type of Coluber rufulus is shown to have been collected by Bergius, rather than Krebs, as previously assumed. The consistent mis-spelling of the specific epithet of Mabuya homalocephala is identified and discussed. The type of the latter species was collected in the Eastern Cape province, suggesting its identity with the form until recently recognized as M. h. smithii.

Gekkonid lizards constitute one of the most diverse and highly endemic components of the southern African herpetofauna. Although higher order relationships among African geckos remain obscure, the Pachydactylus Group has been widely accepted as monophyletic. Within this clade many taxa are restricted to particular substrate types. The historical subdivision of these substrates may have promoted cladogenesis, and thus high levels of both endemism and diversity within this lineage. Evolutionary scenarios serving as hypotheses for the relationship between earth history and gekkonid phylogeny are proposed for the P. namaquensis complex, P. punctatus complex, and the P. serval complex, as well as the genera Palmatogecko and Rhoptropus.

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image sizeKey words: Behavioral temperature regulationectothermbody temperaturesoperative temperaturesset point temperatures

The leopard toad of the southwestern tip of Africa has appeared under the names Bufo pantherinus, Bufo cruciger, Bufo regularis and Bufo pardalis. This paper examines the nomenclatural confusion and proposes a neotype of B. pantherinus A. Smith, 1828, to provide stability. The specimen selected as neotype has a record of being handled by Smith, although Smith did not designate type material. This southwestern Cape toad is regarded as being specifically distinct from the very similar B. pardalis Hewitt of southeast Africa, and is not assignable to the B. regularis complex of African toads. Bufo cruciger Schmidt is considered to be a synonym of B. pantherinus Smith.

(1997). A tribute to Don Broadley: Africa's premier herpetologist. African Journal of Herpetology: Vol. 46, No. 2, pp. 58-67.