News - wanted Sengis in southern Mozambique

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Wilhelm Peters‘ mysterious ‘Macroscelides intufi’ from Mozambique
Patrick Arnold
The bushveld sengi in Mozambique?

" ... However, the specimen sampled from Inhambane would extend the known range of E. fuscus by around 500 km to the southern coast of Mozambique. It is well documented that Peters travelled through and collected in the area of Inhambane in 1846/47. ... One can nevertheless not exclude the possibility that “Inhambane” refers to the province rather than the town. If sampled from a locality in the very north of the province, the Mozambique Intufi would extend the range of Elephantulus fuscus by about 150 km.
The Southern Zanzibar-Inhambane coastal forest mosaic and Miombo woodlands in the Inhambane province would fit with E. fuscus’ habitat preferences. There is no obvious habitat discontinuity that could limit the southern range of E. fuscus ... the Save River potentially limits the southern range of E. fuscus. The single Mozambique Intufi from Inhambane would then represent an erroneous sampling locality.
In conclusion, there are reasonable arguments for and against the southern extension of E. fuscus from Peters’ Mozambique Intufi. No species of Elephantulus is, however, currently known from southern coastal regions of Mozambique. To fully assess the conservation status (currently Data Deficient) and range of E. fuscus, this area should be in included in future field surveys on Sengi distribution."

Posted on 06 June, 2023 08:40 by tonyrebelo