Schistometopum thomense (Barboza du Bocage, 1873)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Gymnophiona > Family: Dermophiidae > Genus: Schistometopum > Species: Schistometopum thomense

Siphonops thomensis Barboza du Bocage, 1873, J. Sci. Math. Phys. Nat., Lisboa, 4 (15): 224. Syntypes: MBL (2 specimens); destroyed by fire in 1978; ZMB 8738 likely the only surviving syntype according to Bauer, Good, and Günther, 1993, Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin, 69: 287, although this considered unlikely to be a syntype by Bell, Ceríaco, Scheinberg, and Drewes, 2022, in Ceríaco et al. (eds.), Biodiversity Gulf Guinea Islands: 487. Type locality: "l'Ile Saint Thomé" = São Tomé island.

Siphonops brevirostris Peters, 1874, Monatsber. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1874: 617. Holotype: ZMB 4911, not ZMB 4711 as noted in the original publication; see discussion by Bauer, Good, and Günther, 1993, Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin, 69: 287). Type locality: "Westküste Afrikas (Guinea)"; restricted by Gorham, 1962, Das Tierreich, 78: 16, to "Rolas Island", São Tomé and Principe. Synonymy by Nussbaum and Pfrender, 1998, Misc. Publ. Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan, 187: 1-32.

Dermophis brevirostrisPeters, 1880 "1879", Monatsber. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1879: 937.

Dermophis thomensisPeters, 1880 "1879", Monatsber. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1879: 938.

Schistometopum thomenseParker, 1941, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. 11, 7: 17.

Schistometopum brevirostrisTaylor, 1965, Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 46: 299.

Schistometopum brevirostreTaylor, 1968, Caecilians of the World: 664.

English Names

Sao Tome Caecilian (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 24).

São Thomé Caecilian (Ananjeva, Borkin, Darevsky, and Orlov, 1988, Dict. Amph. Rept. Five Languages: 15).

Island Caecilian (Schistometopum brevirostre: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 24).

Distribution

Northern half of São Tomé I., São Tomé and Principe, Gulf of Guinea to over 1000 m elevation.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: São Tomé and Principe

Endemic: São Tomé and Principe

Comment

Measey and Van Dongen, 2006, Evol. Ecol. Res., 8: 55-68, discussed aspects of geographic variation (then in the sense of including Schistometopum ephele). Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 34–35, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map (then in the sense of including Schistometopum ephele). O'Connell, Prates, Scheinberg, Mulder, and Bell, 2021, Mol. Ecol., 30: 2859–2871, partitioned out Schistometopum ephele, noting a hybrid zone wth Schistometopum thomense in the central part of the island. Bell, Ceríaco, Scheinberg, and Drewes, 2022, in Ceríaco et al. (eds.), Biodiversity Gulf Guinea Islands: 485–490, summarized the literature and systematics of the species. Ceríaco, Marques, Sousa, Veríssimo, Beja, and Ferreira, 2023, ZooKeys, 1168: 41–75, included this species in a report, key, and DNA barcode reference library for the amphibians of São Tomé and Príncipe.  

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