Soutpansberg Centre for Biodiversity February Trip Report (Entabeni, Punda Maria and Waterpoort)

Muller's Velvet Gecko (Homopholis mulleri) a highly restricted and rarely seen gecko from the Soutpansberg.

As part of our long term greater Soutpansberg Reptile Survey, the Soutpansberg Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation travelled to the eastern Soutpansberg to sample the Entabeni area near Thohoyandou. The trip was very successful; we logged over 400 individual reptiles (284 at Entabeni) with a total species count of 44, including a new species for our list. Big thanks to Eric Jolin for all the hard work in the in the field and maintaining a positive attitude throughout our visit. Also a big thank you to Lorraine Egan from SAFCOL for arranging our accommodation and for permissions. 

Transvaal Dwarf Chameleon (Bradypodion transvaalense), Entabeni.

Reticulated Centipede Eater (Aparallactus lunulattus) Punda Maria.

Painted Reed Frog ( Hyperolius marmoratus taeniatus) Entabeni.

Entabeni (11-15 February)

Wet Grassland with forested bush clumps at Entabeni.

During our stay at Entabeni we aimed to sample as much high altitude grassland as possible. Finding suitable sites was quite challenging, as it is not an area we have sampled too many times before. The fragmentation in the area is quite high, yet there were quite a few pockets of undisturbed forest and grassland.

We found the grasslands to be quite high in reptile abundance, most common reptiles being Whalberg’s Snake-eyed Skink (Panaspis whalbergii). We concentrated our efforts in three main areas. One section of very rocky grassland that had been quite heavily grazed, another grassland with very few rocks that was moderately grazed and another patch of grassland which had both very rocky and less rocky areas which had also been partly grazed and was partly pristine.

Flat Dragon Lizard (Smaug depressus) high altitude eastern form. Entabeni.

Common Girdled Lizard (Cordylus vittifer). Entabeni.

The most frequently seen reptile Wahlberg's Snake-Eyed Skink (Panaspis wahlbergii). Entabeni.

Speckled Rock Skink (Trachylepis punctatissima). Entabeni.

Variable Skink (Trachylepis varia) a species complex recently split into three. Entabeni.

Male Rainbow Skink (Trachylepis margaritifer). Entabeni.

Cregoi's Legless Skink (Acontias cregoi). Entabeni.

Vanson's Gecko (Pachydactylus vansoni) Entabeni.

Soutpansberg Dwarf Gecko (Lygodactylus soutpansbergensis). Entabeni.

Hatchling Yellow-throated Plated Lizard (Gerrhosaurus flavigularis) found in nursery site with many eggs. Entabeni.

We made 284 individual reptile observations during our limited time. Significant records were high altitude records of Short-snouted Sand Snake (Psammophis brevirostrus), a predation record for a Natal Green Snake (Philothamnus natalensis natalensis) which had eaten two Forest Rain Frogs, Breviceps sylvestris), a new species for our list a hatchling Rhombic Night Adder (Causus rhombetus), some Transvaal Dwarf Chameleons (Bradypodion transvaalense) and the twelve species of frogs we recorded.

Short-snouted Grass Snake (Psammophis brevirostris) Entabeni.

Hatchling Red-lipped Snake (Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia) Entabeni.

Hatchling Rhombic Night Adder (Causus rhombeatus), Entabeni.

Bicoloured adult Bibron's Blind Snake (Afrotyphlops bibronii). Entabeni.

Another interesting observation we made was that the pine forests contained a surprising amount of biodiversity. Traveling through the forestry roads we often saw Montane Speckled Skinks (Trachylepis punctatissima), heard Rain Frogs and saw quite a few mammals. The Natal Green Snake we found was also in highly transformed area with pine and alien pioneers (Solanum mauritianum). More research into recolonisation and biodiversity of these disturbed habitats should be prioritised.

Natal Sand Frog (Tomopterna natalensis). Entabeni

Flat-Backed Toad (Sclerophrys pusilla). Entabeni

Gutteral Toad ( Sclerophrys gutteralis) Entabeni.

Common River Frog (Ameita delandii). Entabeni.

Soutpansberg Forest Rain Frog (Breviceps sylvestris taeniatus) Entabeni.

Bushveld Rain Frog (Breviceps adspersus) Entabeni.

Punda Maria and Pafuri Sections: Kruger National Park (15-17 February)

Flat Dragon Lizard (Smaug depressus) Eastern Lowland Form. Punda Maria.

Leaving Entabeni, the short drive to Punda Maria produced a few dead on road specimens, including a young  Olive Whip Snake (Psammophis mossambicus). After driving around looking at megafauna we went back to camp and walked around in the hot humid weather to see what we could find. It was rush hour and we photographed many species of frog including a Northern Pygmy Toad (Poyntonophrynus fenoulheti), Dwarf Puddle Frog (Phrynobatrachus mababiensis) and Broad Banded Grass Frog (Ptychadena mossambica). The night also delivered the highlight for our Punda effort, a beautiful sub-adult Reticulated Centipede Eater (Aparallactus lunulatus lunulatus), in addition to this we also found two Stilleto Snakes (Atractaspis bibronii). This has added another two snake species to our Punda Maria lists.

Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus). Pafuri. Photo Eric Jolin.

Bibron's Stiletto Snake (Atractaspis bibronii) Punda Maria.

Turner's Gecko (Chondrodactylus turneri). Punda Maria.

Speckled Skink (Pachydactylus punctatus). Punda Maria.

Striped Skink (Trachylepis striata) Punda Maria.

Giant Plated Lizard (Matobosaurus validus). Punda Maria area.

Nile Monitor (Varanus niloticus) Pafuri region.

During the the drive through Kruger National Park from Punda Maria to Pafuri we located a few more species for our trip lists. These included Zimbabwe Flat Lizard (Platysaurus intermedius rhodesianus), Giant Plated Lizard (Matobosaurus validus) and a Northern Boomslang (Dispholidus typus viridis) crossing the road.

Dwarf Puddle Frog (Phrynobatrachus mababiensis) Punda Maria.

Plain Grass Frog (Ptychadena anchieta) Punda Maria.

Northern Pygmy Toad (Poyntonophrynus fenoulheti) Punda Maria.

Pafuri to Lajuma via Waterpoort (17 February)

Female Muller's Velvet Gecko (Homopholis mulleri) a rarely seen and highly restricted animal.

To maximise our diversity and areas covered we exited at Pafuri gate and drove via Waterpoort to to do some night sampling in the area on our way back home. The trip back produced the highlight of our trip: a male and female Muller’s Velvet Gecko (Homopholis mulleri) found at Waterpoort. We also found two juvenile pythons moving about in moist weather and a very large Rhombic Egg Eater (Dasypeltis scabra).

Rock Monitor (Varanus albigularis) Pafuri.

Southern African Rock Python (Python natalensis). Waterpoort.

African Bull Frog ( Pyxicephalus edulis)

Melissa Petford with massive Rhombic Egg Eater (Dasypeltis scabra) to show the scale.

All in all a very succesful trip. Watch this space for more trip reports and contact us if you would like to join us on one of our intensive reptile sampling trips at very resonable prices.

Reptiles (44 Species)

Pelusios sinuatus –  Serrated Hinged Terrapin

Stigmochelys pardalis – Leopard Tortoise

Crocodylus niloticus – Nile Crocodile

Chondrodactylus turneri – Turner’s Tubercled Gecko

Hemidactylus mabouia – Tropical House Gecko

Homopholis mulleri – Muller’s Velvet Gecko  

Homopholis wahlbergii – Wahlberg’s Velvet Gecko

Lygodactylus ocellatus soutpansbergensis – Soutpansberg Dwarf Gecko  

Pachydactylus punctatus – Speckled Gecko

Pachydactylus vansoni – Vanson’s Gecko  

Heliolobus lugubris – Bushveld Lizard

Cordylus vittifer – Transvaal Girdled Lizard

Smaug warreni depressus – Flat Girdled Lizard

Platysaurus intermedius rhodesianus – Zimbabwe Flat Lizard

Broadleysaurus major – Rough-scaled Plated Lizard

Gerrhosaurus flavigularis – Yellow Throated Plated Lizard

Matobosaurus validus – Giant Plated Lizard

Acontias cregoi – Cregoi’s Legless Skink

Panaspis maculicollis – Spotted-necked Snake-eyed Skink

Panaspis wahlbergii – Wahlberg’s Snake-eyed Skink

Mochlus sundevallii sundevallii – Sundevall’s Writhing Skink

Trachylepis margaritifer – Rainbow Skink

Trachylepis punctatissima – Speckled Rock Skink

Trachylepis striata – Striped Skink

Trachylepis varia – Variable Skink

Varanus albigularis albigularis – Rock Monitor

Varanus niloticus – Water Monitor

Chamaeleo dilepis dilepis – Flap-necked Chameleon

Bradypodion transvaalense – Wolkberg Dwarf Chameleon

Acanthocercus atricollis atricollis – Southern Tree Agama

Afrotyphlops bibronii – Bibron’s Blind Snake

Leptotyphlops sp. – Unidentified Worm Snake

Python natalensis – Southern African Python

Bitis arietans arietans – Puff Adder

Causus rhombeatus – Rhombic Night Adder

Aparallactus lunulatus lunulatus – Reticulated Centipede Eater

Atractaspis bibronii – Bibron’s Stiletto Snake

Psammophis brevirostris – Short-snouted Grass Snake

Psammophis mossambicus – Olive Grass Snake

Elapsoidea sundevallii longicauda – Long-tailed Garter Snake

Dasypeltis scabra – Rhombic Egg Eater

Dispholidus typus – Northern Boomslang

Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia – Red-lipped Snake

Philothamnus natalensis natalensis – Eastern Natal Green Snake

Amphibians (20 species)

Breviceps adspersus adspersus – Bushveld Rain Frog

Breviceps sylvestris taeniatus – Soutpansberg Forest Rain Frog

Poyntonophrynus fenoulheti – Northern Pygmy Toad

Schismaderma carens – Red Toad

Sclerophrys capensis – Raucous Toad

Sclerophrys garmani – Eastern Olive Toad

Sclerophrys gutteralis – Guttural Toad

Sclerophrys pusilla – Flat-Backed Toad

Hyperolius marmoratus taeniatus – Painted Reed Frog

Kassina senegalensis – Bubbling Kassina

Phrynomantis bifasciatus – Banded Rubber Frog

Phrynobatrachus mababiensis – Dwarf Puddle Frog

Ptychadena anchieta – Plain Grass Frog

Ptychadena mossambica – Broad Banded Grass Frog

Xenopus laevis – Common Platanna

Ametia delandii – Common River Frog

Cacosternum boettgeri – Boettger's Caco

Pyxicephalus edulis – African Bullfrog

Strongylopus grayii – Clicking Stream Frog

Tomopterna natalensis – Natal Sand Frog

Chiromantis xerampelina – Southern Foam Nest Frog

Southern Ground Hornbill. Also interested in herps.