A Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Egypt

395 Pages·2006·11.114 MB·English

by  Sherif Bahaa El Din

A Guide
to the
Reptiles and Amphibians of Egypt

A Guide
to the
Reptiles and Amphibians
of Egypt
Sherif Baha El Din
The American University in Cairo Press
Copyright©2006by
TheAmericanUniversityinCairoPress
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Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Foreword ix
Introduction xi
Chapter1 TheEgyptianSetting 1
Chapter2 EvolutionofEgypt'sLandscapeandItsHerpetofauna 3
Chapter3 TheContemporaryEgyptianHerpetofauna 7
Chapter4 HerpetofaunalHabitatsofEgypt 13
Chapter5 Conservation 19
Chapter6 Methodology 21
Chapter7 Amphibia 25
Chapter8 Bufonidae 27
Chapter9 Ranidae 37
Chapter10 Hylidae 47
Chapter11 Reptilia 51
Chapter12 Gekkonidae 53
Chapter13 Agamidae 115
Chapter14 Chamaeleonidae 139
Chapter15 Lacertidae 147
Chapter16 Varanidae 191
Chapter17 Scincidae 197
Chapter18 OrderSQUAMATA:SuborderSERPENTES(Snakes) 215
Chapter19 Typhlopidae 219
Chapter20 Leptotyphlopidae 227
Chapter21 Boidae 235
Chapter22 Colubridae 241
Chapter23 Elapidae 291
Chapter24 Atractaspididae 299
Chapter25 Viperidae 303
Contents v
Chapter26 OrderCROCODYLIA(Crocodiles) 317
Chapter27 OrderTESTUDINES(TurtlesandTortoises) 321
Chapter28 Testudinidae 323
Chapter29 Chelonidae 329
Chapter30 Dermochelyidae 337
Chapter31 Trionychidae 341
Chapter32 Emydidae 345
GazetteerofEgyptianLocalities 349
Glossary 355
Bibliography 357
Index 379
vi Contents
Acknowledgments
Many friends and colleagues have helped me throughout this project in various
ways. I would like to thank them all: Moustafa Fouda, Waheed Salama, Omar
Attum,AhmedRiad,TomCole,RichardHoath,MohamedKassas,AlanResetar,
HalaBarakat,EstherWenman,JohnGrainger,JohnandPatsyGasperetti,Gabriel
Mikhail, Francis Gilbert, Barry Clarck, John Gerhart, David and Heddi Merrie,
IbrahimHelmy,AhmedDisi,LoutfyBoulos,MohamedIbrahim,KaoriOdani,Jeff
and Linda Millington, John and Susan Warberton, Jose Rosado, Harold Voris,
SteveGoodman,NickArnold,MohamedGad,JohnPoynton,Pierre-AndreáCro-
chet,GeorgeZug,PatrickOsborne,ZuhairAmr,JensVindum,VanWallach,Ivan
Ineich, Rainer Günther, Ulrich Joger, Alan Leviton, Osama Ghazali, Saleh Mah-
moud, Wolfgang Böhme, Yehuda Werner, Jiři Moravec, Herman in den Bosch,
FekriHassan,ColinMcCarthy,HymenMarx,LyleandGloriaRosenzweig,Alison
Clarck, Max Kasparek, Stephen Spawls, Wolfgang Wüster, Roberto Sindaco,
Samy Zalat, Gian Lorenzo, Dave Ferguson, Michael Pearson, Mohamed Sharif
Khan, Tim Wacher, Ali Hamdy, John McEachern, Philippe Geniez, Moustafa
Saleh, Samir Ghabbour, Ahmed Gamal, Hans Schneider, Jim Buskirk, Paul Wil-
liams, Wael Abed, Amr Sharawi, Jacopo Sinibaldi, Neil Hewison, Mohamed El
SaghirandalltherangersintheprotectedareasofEgypt.
I am especially indebted to my wife and family who have been patient and
unrelentinglysupportive.
SpecialthanksgotoOmarAttum,RobertoSendaco,GabrielMikhail,Mindy
BahaElDinandDanielMüllerwhoprovidedinvaluablephotographicmaterials.
Acknowledgments vii

Foreword
The knowledge of our biodiversity resources is still far from complete. Under-
standing and accounting for our biodiversity is essential if we are to develop
meaningfulandeffectivestrategiesandactionsfortheirfutureconservation.The
presenttreatiseisanexcellentexampleofbiodiversitysurvey,whichupdatesand
consolidates our knowledge about an important part of the Egyptian fauna, the
herpetofauna.Thisfaunadeservesspecialattentionparticularlytheamphibia,tur-
tles and tortoises, which are among the most threatened groups of biota
worldwide.
The introductory chapter provides a synoptic outline of the scene of Egypt:
itsdiversedeserts,oases,NileValleyandDelta,wetlands,andcoastallands.This
sets an ecological background of the survey that follows. The main bulk of this
bookprovidesanauthoritativesystematicsurveyincludingkeysforidentification.
Foreveryspeciesthetextprovidesdetaileddiagnosticfeatureswithnotesonhabi-
tatandecology,conservationstatus,geographicrange,distributionmapsinEgypt,
andanexcellentselectionofphotographs.
This is a most welcome contribution to the natural history of the Egyptian
biodiversity, which provides students, researchers, conservation technicians, and
thelaymanwithavaluableanduptodatereference.
This outstanding publication deserves well-earned acclaim. The author, Dr.
Sherif Baha El Din, and the publisher, The American University in Cairo Press,
are to becommended for this valuable contribution to the Egyptian natural his-
torystudies.
MohamedKassas
EmeritusProfessorofPlantEcology
UniversityofCairo
FormerPresidentoftheWorldConservationUnion(IUCN)
Foreword ix