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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 113ShariaKasrelAini,Cairo,Egypt 420FifthAvenue,NewYork,NY10018 www.aucpress.com All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystemortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechani- cal, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission ofthepublisher. Photographsandillustrationsbytheauthorunlessotherwiseindicated. DarelKutubNo.14107/05 ISBN9789774249792 2345678141312111009 DesignedbySallyMakram/AUCPressDesignCenter PrintedinEgypt 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