Open AccessThe Herpetology of the Southern Kalahari domain
Author(s) -
W. D. Haacke
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
koedoe
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.419
H-Index - 29
eISSN - 2071-0771
pISSN - 0075-6458
DOI - 10.4102/koedoe.v27i2.578
Subject(s) - parapatric speciation , taxon , range (aeronautics) , ecology , geography , herpetology , arid , biology , gene flow , biochemistry , materials science , gene , composite material , genetic variation
The herpetofauna of the southern Kalahari has mixed affinities, as this area lies on a rainfall gradient in a critical area where a transition between the arid south-west and the moister north-east takes place. As the variation in substrate type is relatively limited, the effect of the rainfall gradient appears to influence and determine the range limits of many taxa in both directions, resulting in an area in which of 55 recorded reptiles, 11 western taxa overlap or form a parapatric zone with 25 eastern taxa, while the remaining taxa are endemic or wideranging