Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
9 Herpetofauna of the eastern
African fores ts
K. M. HOWELL
nent water for reproducion and the caecilians
and some toads have intenal ferilisaion.
Many of the reptiles are also crypically col-
oured. Chameleons are able to change their col-
ours and pattens, and one species, Chamaeleo
lateisp inis, closely resembles a lichen in patten
and texture. They also have a bizarre variety of
head onamentaion: some have a simple pro-
tuberance on the rostrum, but others have as
many as three hons extending from the front Of
the head. While the chameleons are relaively
slow, other lizards are much more acive. Holaspis
guenthei has an extremely flattened body which
acts as an aerofoil to assist it in making controlled
glides from ree to tree. The colour and behaviour
patterns of snakes make them very difficult to see
unless they are moving, but they too exhibit a
variety of forms, from the slender Th elotomis
apensis to the massive Bitis gabonia.
Of all the vertebrates, the amphibians and
repiles of the forests of easten Africa are the
poorest known and receive the least attenion
from layman and biologist alike. Had it not been
for the devoted efforts of Arthur Loveridge
(1932a,b, 1933, 1935, 1937, 1942a,b, 1947,
1952, 1953a,b, 1956, 1957), who almost single-
handedly tackled the taxonomy and biology of the
easten Africa herpetofauna and provided
regional syntheses of his findings, it is unlikely
that workers today would have a irm oundaion
on which to base their studies.
Loveridge was also among the first to realise
the uniqueness of the amphibians and repiles of
the easten Arican forests, especially of the
Usambaras and Ulugurus. In terms of species
Inroducion
Most visitors as well as residents of easten Africa
are unappreciaive of the variety of amphibians
and reptiles found there. With the excepion of
some people who value snakes for mysical and
curaive properies, the repiles are generally great
feared and killed whenever encountered, and
even amphibians such as frogs and toads are
regarded with some suspicion.
Although the layman may be familiar with some
of the larger, more conspicuous amphibians and
repiles in the open habitats such as woodlands,
and those species which can survive in and around
man's dwellings, very few people spend enough
ime inside natural forest to ideniy the various
amphibians and repiles found there. These are
often crypically coloured, and some may be
found only high in the forest canopy, or hiding
inside roting logs and leaf litter of the forest
floor. Thus, all but a very few of those people who
live near the forest and work in it are unfamiliar
with some of its most interesing inhabitants.
Among the amphibians, there are brightly col-
oured reefrogs which are able to change their
colours: a frog, Lptpelis uluguruensis with a col-
our patten which resembles a small patch of
fungus; and a toad, Bufo brauni which closely
resembles a dead leaf on the forest floor.
Although in the breeding season mixed species
groups of anurans may congregate in the hun-
dreds, the behaviour of amphibians is seldom
observed because they are most acive at night.
Unlike most related non-forest forms, some of the
species have become less dependent on perma-
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