The genus Cistugo Thomas, 1912, which was previously synonymized with Myotis Kaup, 1829 (Ellerman and Morrison-Scott, 1951; Hayman and Hill, 1971; Koopman, 1993, 1994), has once again been recognized as a valid genus (Simmons, 2005), separated from Myotis on the basis of diploid (2n = 50) and fundamental chromosome number (Rautenbach et al., 1993), and mitochondrial DNA gene (cytochrome b) (Stadelmann et al., 2004). The position of the first two upper premolars was not mentioned by Thomas in the original descriptions of the genus Cistugo or C. seabrae (Thomas, 1912); however, Roberts' (1919: 113) description of C. lesueuri mentions that the inner anterior cusp of P4 is in line between the same cusps of P3 and M1.
Villet (1994) described the monotypic genus and species, Stagea platyptera, from a single male deposited in the Albany Museum bearing the following label data : 'Natal, Luneberg [sic], iv.1913, W. Oom, 1846'. At that time, Mr Oom was the headmaster of the primary school which served the German-speaking community in the Luneburg area, and 1846 is a presumed reference number. Since 1913 no additional specimens had been collected and consequently RDS conducted field work in the area to locate an extant population of S. platyptera.
The new genus and species, Afrogehringia endroedyi, is described from the shore of a salt lake in southwestern Africa. The new genus differs from the other known gehringiine genera Gehringia Darlington and Helenaea Schatzmayr & Koch mainly in the tarsal formula, namely a four-segmented protarsus and mesotarsus and five-segmented metatarsus. Many synapomorphic character states, however, demonstrate the close relationship of Afrogehringia with Helenaea which together form the adelphotaxon (subtribe Helenaeina Deuve, 2007) of the genus Gehringia (subtribe Gehringiina s.str.). In its ecology the new species is very similar to Helenaea torretassoa Schatzmayr & Koch, which is also known to occur in saline habitats, whereas H. bisignata Baehr probably lives in sand in slow-flowing lowland rivers, H. felixi Deuve was collected at light in farmland, and the North American Gehringia olympica Darlington lives in gravel in cold mountain streams. A key to all recorded species of Gehringiini is provided.
Ades uhligorum spec. nov. is described from South Africa. This is the first record of the tribe Leiochrinini (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Diaperinae) from the country. The aedeagi of all species of Ades Guerin-Meneville, 1857 (syn. Leiochrodes Westwood, 1883) from Africa and Madagascar are figured. The new species seems to be rare but widespread in South Africa, type specimens were collected either in 'wetland' or were sifted from under Phragmites.
The genera and species, Idioschema karruense Arrow, 1914 and Syrictoides tarsalis Endrodi, 1977 are synonymized with Callistemonus intrusus Peringuey, 1901. A lectotype is designated for Callistemonus intrusus Peringuey, 1901. The species is redescribed (including the first details of how the sexes differ) and all available distribution data (11 localities) are mapped for a species known only from 21 specimens. Comments on the tribal classification of Callistemonus are made and its current placement within the Pentodontini maintained pending a phylogenetic analysis of the African dynastine tribes and genera.
An overview is provided of the processing of hides in southern Africa as reflected in ethnographies and other written sources. Although some of these techniques may still be in use today, the wave of modernization in recent times likely led to the loss or disuse of many processes, knowledge and utensils.The processing of hides consists mainly of three steps : dehairing, scraping and tanning. A variety of methods have been used to process hides, which was in part determined by the availability of particular plants and trees. Both men and women were often involved in the processing of hides. While hides were usually processed by their owner, some groups such as the Zulu employed specialists, and others processed skins as part of a communal activity.
Mankhamba is a proto-historic archaeological site of the Chewa / Maravi people from Malawi. The site yielded the largest faunal sample to date of any site excavated in that country. The animal remains reflect that hunting was the predominant source of animal protein, but that a reasonable portion of the meat was derived also from herded animals. The lacustrine resources were utilized and numerous remains of turtles were recovered. Fish remains were also present, but have not yet been analysed. Cattle, sheep, goats and domestic dogs were identified together with some remains of domestic pig. The faunal remains support much of the known ethnographic information of the area and valuable insight has been gained on the economic and subsistence activities of the Chewa / Maravi people during this period. It is clear from the faunal samples that Mankhamba was an important link in the ivory trade. Marine shells from the African east coast and imported goods from outside Africa attest to the trade relations.
A new genus of tracheline sac spiders (Araneae: Corinnidae) is described from West and Central Africa. Planochelas gen. nov. is described from three new species, P. botulus spec. nov. (type species), P. dentatus spec. nov. and P. purpureus spec. nov. (provisional placement). The genus was predominantly collected by canopy fogging in tropical forests and is possibly exclusively arboreal, with the exception of P. purpureus spec. nov., which is ground-dwelling.
Two new South African species of the genus Pachydesus Motschulsky, 1864, P. rafaelae spec. nov. and P. bulirschi spec. nov., are described. Both species belong to the P. bohemani species group and are closely related to P. raffrayi (Jeannel, 1930). The distribution range of P. rafaelae reaches the southeastern part of Namibia, thus representing the first record of the genus Pachydesus from that country.
A total of 26 species of nacophorine geometrids mostly from southern Africa referable to the genera Pachycnemoides Kruger, 1999, Argyrophora Guenee, [1858], Microligia Warren, 1899, Pseudomaenas Prout, 1938 and Drepanogynis Guenee, [1858] are described as new (Pachycnemoides simplex spec. nov., P. crambometroides spec. nov., P. basilinea spec. nov., P. mimela spec. nov., Argyrophora nyikensis spec. nov., Microligia montiskeniae spec. nov., Pseudomaenas inornata spec. nov., P. immunda spec. nov., P. parilis spec. nov., P. natalensis spec. nov., P. immundoides spec. nov., P. dispar spec. nov., P. balli spec. nov., P. nigrosema spec. nov., P. euglyphica spec. nov., Drepanogynis insolens spec. nov., D. inspersa spec. nov., D. lignitea spec. nov., D. asteiochlora spec. nov., D. legraini spec. nov., D. sympatrica spec. nov., D. calotaenia spec. nov., D. gitteae spec. nov., D. camdeboo spec. nov., D. leucoloma spec. nov., and D. ochrocraspeda spec.nov.). The adult moths and genitalia of both sexes, where known, are illustrated, and the available information on phenology, habitat association and distribution presented. The early stages of all the new species remain unknown. A neotype is designated for Ligia curvaria Dewitz, 1881 and the species is redescribed.
There are two primary sources for type specimen information, namely the specimen (with its labels, and any museum type catalogues and databases) and secondly the original type description with subsequent literature about the type description. It is important to check thoroughly all these sources of information when cataloguing type specimens.
The occurrence of Xenodorus janus (Fabricius, 1801) is documented in the following southern African countries : Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and South Africa. New Central and West African country records include the Central African Republic and Nigeria. Durban in South Africa is the southernmost confirmed record for the species. Males (including their genitalia) and females of X. janus from throughout the species' range are illustrated, their distribution mapped and seasonal phenology of the species compared between tropical and southern Africa. Comments are made on the doubtful specific validity of Xenodorus basquini Silvestre, 1995.
The honey badger, of the genus Mellivora Storr, 1780, is a rare mammalian carnivore in Plio-Pleistocene deposits in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site in South Africa. It has been recorded at Swartkrans in Member 2, represented by two isolated teeth and a mandible fragment described as Mellivora cf. sivalensis (Hendey, 1974; Brain, 1981). Another member of the same subfamily of Mellivorinae existed during the Pliocene in Southern Africa, Plesiogulo monspessulanus, an extinct wolverine (Harrison, 1981) known from postcranial remains at Langebaanweg (Hendey, 1978). In this article we describe the first honey badger to be recognized from the site of Kromdraai B, the site of the type specimen of Paranthropus robustus (Broom, 1938).
The narwhal, Monodon monoceros, is a marine mammal that moves seasonally in Arctic waters. In males, left upper canines grow to between 2 and 3 metres in length as tapered tusks (Figs 1,2). Occasionally, tusks grow on the right side in males, but they are generally short.
In sending the first number of the Annals of the Transvaal Museum out into the world, it may be of some interest to review the history of this Institution.
In 1906, Dr J. W. B. Gunning was Director of the 'Transvaal Museum and Zoological Gardens', as they were then known, and he decided that the time had come for the Museum to publish its scientific research results in its own Annals, the first issue of which came out in 1908. In the century that followed, 44 volumes of the Annals of the Transvaal Museum have been published, and these have contained a total of 783 papers, of which all but 64 have been concerned with the documentation of the incredibly rich biodiversity of southern Africa, past and present. It was Carl Linnaeus, born in 1707 and often called the Father of Taxonomy, who started a system of naming, ranking and classifying organisms, and this process has continued to the present day, allowing us to understand the biodiversity of Planet Earth, of which we are a part. This is where the papers in the Annals of the Transvaal Museum, during the last 100 years, have made such an important contribution.
The Annual Report of the Director, Dr J. W. B, Gunning, for 1906 declared that the Transvaal Zoological Gardens, now called the Transvaal Museum, would receive grant-in-aid funds from the Government, in the guise of the Department of Agriculture. This funding would be used to build world-class collections and pay competitive salaries. Today the Transvaal Museum, as part of the Northern Flagship Institution, is funded by the Department of Arts and Culture and is seriously underfunded. The question can be asked: how much has changed since 1906?
The genus Cothresia Jeannel, 1964 is revised. It now comprises only C. tabulae (Peringuey, 1898), C. curta Jeannel, 1964, C. hogsbackiensis spec. nov., and C. megacephala spec. nov., while all other species previously placed in Cothresia are either transferred to Trechus Clairville, 1806 (T baleensis (Basilewsky, 1974) comb. nov., T clarkeianus (Basilewsky, 1974) comb. nov., T robini (Basilewsky, 1974) comb. nov., T rotundicollis (Basilewsky, 1974) comb. nov., T rougemonti (Basilewsky, 1975) comb. nov.) or to Pachydesus Motschulsky, 1864 (P. scitulus (Peringuey, 1896) comb. nov.). Trechus basilewskianus nom. nov. is proposed as a replacement name for the preoccupied T minutus (Basilewsky, 1974). The revised genus is exclusively comprised of apterous species endemic to South Africa. An identification key and a distribution map of the genus are provided.
Rodents are among the most common mammals represented in Plio-Pleistocene faunal assemblages excavated from cave deposits in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site (situated within 100 km southwest of Pretoria, 25°43'55S 28°16'57E), and other localities in South Africa. In this report, we present temperature indices based on multivariate analyses previously applied to Late Quaternary microfaunal samples from southern Africa. The indices are calibrated in terms of temperature expressed in degrees Celsius. The results suggest that assemblages from Kromdraai A, Swartkrans, Bolt's Farm, Gladysvale, Haasgat and Drimolen relate to interglacial episodes within the Plio-Pleistocene. The coolest episode represented by samples included in this study is associated with Plovers Lake, dated at about one million years ago.
Faunal analysis comprises the correct identification of animal bone fragments by morphologically comparing the specimen 10 its modern counterpart. This is a time-consuming task and not many experts are available. The aim of this study was thus to investigate the possibility of identifying animal bones through computerized methods. Osteometric data of the hind limb long bones of 30 southern African bovid species were obtained from several South African museums. Forty-five measurements were taken on the femur, tibia and metatarsal. These 18000 measurements were used in an attempt to develop a computerized database program to aid in the identification of bones. Ten specimens from the Kemp's Caves collection of conventionally identified bones as well as ten modern specimens were measured to test the accuracy of the developed computer program. The three long bones showed statistically significant differences between the species in the Bov II, III and IV size classes. Bov I species, however, showed significant differences in the metatarsal measurements only. Results of this preliminary study were promising, but larger samples and further statistical evaluation may enhance the accuracy of such programs.
