A global reptile assessment highlights shared conservation needs of tetrapods.

Comprehensive assessments of species' extinction risks have documented the extinction crisis1 and underpinned strategies for reducing those risks2. Global assessments reveal that, among tetrapods, 40.7% of amphibians, 25.4% of mammals and 13.6% of birds are threatened with extinction3. Because global assessments have been lacking, reptiles have been omitted from conservation-prioritization analyses that encompass other tetrapods4-7. Reptiles are unusually diverse in arid regions, suggesting that they may have different conservation needs6. Here we provide a comprehensive extinction-risk assessment of reptiles and show that at least 1,829 out of 10,196 species (21.1%) are threatened-confirming a previous extrapolation8 and representing 15.6 billion years of phylogenetic diversity. Reptiles are threatened by the same major factors that threaten other tetrapods-agriculture, logging, urban development and invasive species-although the threat posed by climate change remains uncertain. Reptiles inhabiting forests, where these threats are strongest, are more threatened than those in arid habitats, contrary to our prediction. Birds, mammals and amphibians are unexpectedly good surrogates for the conservation of reptiles, although threatened reptiles with the smallest ranges tend to be isolated from other threatened tetrapods. Although some reptiles-including most species of crocodiles and turtles-require urgent, targeted action to prevent extinctions, efforts to protect other tetrapods, such as habitat preservation and control of trade and invasive species, will probably also benefit many reptiles.

A new of species of the Agama lionotus Boulenger, 1896 complex (Squamata: Agamidae) from northern Kenya.

Kenya has a high diversity of agamid lizards and the arid northern frontier area has the highest species richness. Among the Kenyan agama species, Agama lionotus has the widest distribution, occurring from sea level to inland areas in both dry and moist savanna as well as desert areas. This species mostly prefers rocky areas, both in granitic/metamorphic and volcanic rocks, although it also makes use of tree crevices as well as man-made structures. Recently in Marsabit, northern Kenya, a small-sized agama species, distinct from A. lionotus, was collected within a rocky lava desert area. This new species is characterized by its small size (mean SVL ~83 mm) as compared to typical A. lionotus (mean SVL ~120 mm). Past studies have shown the value of adult male throat coloration for the identification of species within the A. lionotus complex. Herein we also highlight female dorsal color pattern, which is a key character for distinguishing the new species from others in the group, including the similar A. hulbertorum. As in A. lionotus, displaying adult males have an orange to yellow head, a vertebral stripe, a bluish body coloration and an annulated white/blue tail. But the most diagnostic character is the coloration of females and non-displaying males, which exhibit a series of regular pairs of dark spots along the vertebrae as far posterior as the tail base. In addition, females have a pair of elongated orange or yellow marks on the shoulders and another on the dorsolateral margins of the abdomen. This study shows that more cryptic species in the Agama lionotus complex may still await discovery. The new species was found inhabiting dark desert lava rocks but should additionally be present in suitably similar sites in the northern frontier area. This underscores the need to re-examine populations of Agama lionotus from different microhabitats in this country.

An ecological analysis of snakes captured by C.J.P. Ionides in eastern Africa in the mid-1900s.

Historical data can clarify ecological attributes of fauna in sites that have subsequently been altered by anthropogenic activities. We used the 1960s notebooks of pioneering East African naturalist C.J.P. Ionides to extract quantitative information on captures of 484 snakes of five species (rhinoceros vipers Bitis nasicornis, black mambas Dendroaspis polylepis, Jameson's mambas D. jamesoni, water cobras Naja annulata, and eastern forest cobras N. subfulva). High capture rates suggest high abundances of all species. The relative numbers of each species collected changed over the years and differed seasonally, reflecting targeting by Ionides. Sex ratios and age-class distributions differed among species and were affected by factors such as month of collection and time of day. Habitat use was affected by species, sex and body size: for example, arboreality became less common with increasing body size in the rhinoceros viper and black mamba, and males were found in arboreal sites more often than were females. In both D. jamesoni and D. polylepis, adult males and females were recorded together in September-October, suggesting reproductive activity at this time of year. Although fragmentary, the data from Ionides' notebooks provide a unique glimpse into ecological patterns of snakes within an African landscape half a century ago.

A new large species of Bitis Gray, 1842 (Serpentes: Viperidae) from the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia.

A new species of viperine viperid snake is described, Bitis harenna sp. nov. The new species is a member of the subgenus Macrocerastes based on it having three scales separating the nasal and rostral shields, and on the combination of 'divisions' of dorsal scale rows on the upper flanks and 'fusions' of rows on the lower flanks. Bitis harenna sp. nov. is distinguished from other members of the subgenus by its unique colour pattern, posterior parietal flange on the lateral wall of the braincase, and possibly by differences in scalation and head proportions. Only a single museum specimen is known, a female collected from 'Dodola' in Ethiopia probably in the late 1960s and previously identified as a possibly unusually coloured and patterned B. parviocula. A live, presumably male, specimen very closely resembling the holotype of Bitis harenna sp. nov. was photographed on the Harenna escarpment of the Bale Mountains National Park, Ethiopia in 2013, providing secure occurrence data and evidence that the holotype is not a uniquely aberrant specimen. A revised key to the species of Bitis in Ethiopia is presented. Aspects of body scalation are compared among species of the subgenus Macrocerastes and between species of Macrocerastes and Bitis, and several systematic characters are highlighted and clarified.

First record of human envenomation by Atractaspis congica Peters, 1877 (Squamata: Atractaspididae).

We describe here the first known documented case of human envenomation by the burrowing asp Atractaspis congica. The patient received a single fang puncture in the index finger and suffered local pain, discolouration, blistering and swelling of the finger, hand and forearm. Analgesics were given, but no antivenom. Recovery was complete within 48 h, saves some moderate swelling, blistering and hypersensitivity.