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Walia Special Edition on the Bale Mountains (2011) - Zoologische ...

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C<strong>on</strong>servati<strong>on</strong> of Ethiopian Amphibians: A Race Against Time<br />

Abebe Ameha Mengistu 1 , Sim<strong>on</strong> Loader 1 , Abebe Getahun 2 , Samy Saber 3 and Peter Nagel 1<br />

1 University of Basel, Department of Envir<strong>on</strong>mental Sciences, Institute of Biogeography, Basel,<br />

Switzerland.<br />

2 Addis Ababa University, College of Natural Sciences, Department of Biology, Addis Ababa,<br />

Ethiopia.<br />

3 Al-Azhar University, Faculty of Science, Zoology Department, Assiut, Egypt.<br />

Abstract<br />

Ethiopia has a diverse amphibian fauna distributed across an array of habitats, which range from<br />

savanna, moist tropical forest to Afroalpine grasslands. Little is known about <strong>the</strong> tax<strong>on</strong>omy,<br />

evoluti<strong>on</strong>, populati<strong>on</strong> biology and c<strong>on</strong>servati<strong>on</strong> status of <strong>the</strong> different species. This lack of research<br />

can be attributed to, 1) <strong>the</strong> bad reputati<strong>on</strong> that many people had towards amphibians and reptiles,<br />

2) little or no commercial importance of <strong>the</strong>se animals in Ethiopia, and 3) <strong>the</strong> cryptic and nocturnal<br />

nature of <strong>the</strong> life of most of <strong>the</strong>se fauna. Therefore, it is not surprising that until recently, little<br />

coverage has been given to <strong>the</strong> study of amphibians by higher educati<strong>on</strong> and research instituti<strong>on</strong>s in<br />

<strong>the</strong> country.<br />

Degraded landscape in <strong>the</strong> Ethiopian Highlands Ptychadena sp. (Lake Ziway, Ethiopia)<br />

Currently 64 amphibian (26 endemic) species are recorded in Ethiopia, with a large proporti<strong>on</strong><br />

of this diversity found restricted to highland regi<strong>on</strong>s of <strong>the</strong> country. The Ethiopian Highlands are of<br />

particular importance as several endemic amphibian species with narrow distributi<strong>on</strong>s can be found<br />

in this regi<strong>on</strong>. For example, <strong>the</strong> <strong>Bale</strong> <strong>Mountains</strong>, part of <strong>the</strong> Ethiopian Highlands <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> eastern side<br />

of <strong>the</strong> Rift Valley, c<strong>on</strong>tain remarkable diversity of species, many with highly restricted distributi<strong>on</strong>s.<br />

Two remarkable m<strong>on</strong>otypic genera of amphibians (<strong>Bale</strong>breviceps, and Ericabatrachus) are found<br />

<strong>on</strong>ly in <strong>Bale</strong> (Largen and Spawls this editi<strong>on</strong>). These species have narrow distributi<strong>on</strong>s restricted<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>Walia</str<strong>on</strong>g>-<str<strong>on</strong>g>Special</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Editi<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Bale</strong> <strong>Mountains</strong> 92

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