American Journal of Zoology

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Note on the Amphibians and Reptiles of the Mungbwalu (Ituri Province) and Mutwanga (Province of North-Kivu) in DRC

Received: May 10, 2019    Accepted: Jun. 05, 2019    Published: Jun. 26, 2019
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Abstract

The Democratic Republic of Congo's forests are rich and diversified in biodiversity, particularly in high-altitude regions where they are reputed to be very rich in animal and plant biological diversity, particularly amphibians. Nevertheless, this fauna has not been well documented so far, mainly because of the lack of expertise in this field in the DRC. To contribute to this area, an inventory of amphibians and reptiles had been carried out in the Ituri forest and Mutwanga. We note that the herpetofauna of this region has never been the subject of a recent and thorough study. In order to analyse its biodiversity, 4 sites far from each other, all located in the primary forest, had been sampled. To achieve this, data collection was carried out during the dry season from 25 December 2014 to 12 January 2015 (18 days). The prospecting of the sites took place day and night in view and during the hearing. Amphibians and reptiles had been caught by hand and with the snake stick. All specimens had been digitized, fixed in formaldehyde (10%) and then preserved in alcohol (70%). Muscle necropsies were preserved in Eppendorf tubes containing absolute alcohol (96%). In total, 182 amphibian specimens divided into 32 species, 4 families, all belonging to the Order of the Anurans and 37 reptile specimens diversified into 18 species, 7 families and grouped into two Orders were recorded. The species capture: Hymenochirus boulengeri, Hyperolius rossii, Amietia desaegeri, Amietia ruwenzorica, Xenopus lenduensis and Xenopus ruwenzoriensis were interesting because these species remain poorly documented in the region.

DOI 10.11648/j.ajz.20190202.11
Published in American Journal of Zoology ( Volume 2, Issue 2, June 2019 )
Page(s) 18-27
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Biodiversity, Amphibians, Reptiles, Ituri Forest, Mutwanga-Virunga National Park, DRC

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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Franck Masudi Muenye Mali, Zacharie Chifundera Kusamba, Aristote Mwenebantu Mlungu, Celestin Danadu Mizani, Pionus Katuala Gatate Banda, et al. (2019). Note on the Amphibians and Reptiles of the Mungbwalu (Ituri Province) and Mutwanga (Province of North-Kivu) in DRC. American Journal of Zoology, 2(2), 18-27. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajz.20190202.11

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    ACS Style

    Franck Masudi Muenye Mali; Zacharie Chifundera Kusamba; Aristote Mwenebantu Mlungu; Celestin Danadu Mizani; Pionus Katuala Gatate Banda, et al. Note on the Amphibians and Reptiles of the Mungbwalu (Ituri Province) and Mutwanga (Province of North-Kivu) in DRC. Am. J. Zool. 2019, 2(2), 18-27. doi: 10.11648/j.ajz.20190202.11

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    AMA Style

    Franck Masudi Muenye Mali, Zacharie Chifundera Kusamba, Aristote Mwenebantu Mlungu, Celestin Danadu Mizani, Pionus Katuala Gatate Banda, et al. Note on the Amphibians and Reptiles of the Mungbwalu (Ituri Province) and Mutwanga (Province of North-Kivu) in DRC. Am J Zool. 2019;2(2):18-27. doi: 10.11648/j.ajz.20190202.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajz.20190202.11,
      author = {Franck Masudi Muenye Mali and Zacharie Chifundera Kusamba and Aristote Mwenebantu Mlungu and Celestin Danadu Mizani and Pionus Katuala Gatate Banda and Sylverstre Gambalemoke Mbalitini and Corneille Ewango and Guy Crispin Gembu Tungaluna and Bejamin Dudu Akaibe},
      title = {Note on the Amphibians and Reptiles of the Mungbwalu (Ituri Province) and Mutwanga (Province of North-Kivu) in DRC},
      journal = {American Journal of Zoology},
      volume = {2},
      number = {2},
      pages = {18-27},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajz.20190202.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajz.20190202.11},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajz.20190202.11},
      abstract = {The Democratic Republic of Congo's forests are rich and diversified in biodiversity, particularly in high-altitude regions where they are reputed to be very rich in animal and plant biological diversity, particularly amphibians. Nevertheless, this fauna has not been well documented so far, mainly because of the lack of expertise in this field in the DRC. To contribute to this area, an inventory of amphibians and reptiles had been carried out in the Ituri forest and Mutwanga. We note that the herpetofauna of this region has never been the subject of a recent and thorough study. In order to analyse its biodiversity, 4 sites far from each other, all located in the primary forest, had been sampled. To achieve this, data collection was carried out during the dry season from 25 December 2014 to 12 January 2015 (18 days). The prospecting of the sites took place day and night in view and during the hearing. Amphibians and reptiles had been caught by hand and with the snake stick. All specimens had been digitized, fixed in formaldehyde (10%) and then preserved in alcohol (70%). Muscle necropsies were preserved in Eppendorf tubes containing absolute alcohol (96%). In total, 182 amphibian specimens divided into 32 species, 4 families, all belonging to the Order of the Anurans and 37 reptile specimens diversified into 18 species, 7 families and grouped into two Orders were recorded. The species capture: Hymenochirus boulengeri, Hyperolius rossii, Amietia desaegeri, Amietia ruwenzorica, Xenopus lenduensis and Xenopus ruwenzoriensis were interesting because these species remain poorly documented in the region.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Note on the Amphibians and Reptiles of the Mungbwalu (Ituri Province) and Mutwanga (Province of North-Kivu) in DRC
    AU  - Franck Masudi Muenye Mali
    AU  - Zacharie Chifundera Kusamba
    AU  - Aristote Mwenebantu Mlungu
    AU  - Celestin Danadu Mizani
    AU  - Pionus Katuala Gatate Banda
    AU  - Sylverstre Gambalemoke Mbalitini
    AU  - Corneille Ewango
    AU  - Guy Crispin Gembu Tungaluna
    AU  - Bejamin Dudu Akaibe
    Y1  - 2019/06/26
    PY  - 2019
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajz.20190202.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajz.20190202.11
    T2  - American Journal of Zoology
    JF  - American Journal of Zoology
    JO  - American Journal of Zoology
    SP  - 18
    EP  - 27
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2994-7413
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajz.20190202.11
    AB  - The Democratic Republic of Congo's forests are rich and diversified in biodiversity, particularly in high-altitude regions where they are reputed to be very rich in animal and plant biological diversity, particularly amphibians. Nevertheless, this fauna has not been well documented so far, mainly because of the lack of expertise in this field in the DRC. To contribute to this area, an inventory of amphibians and reptiles had been carried out in the Ituri forest and Mutwanga. We note that the herpetofauna of this region has never been the subject of a recent and thorough study. In order to analyse its biodiversity, 4 sites far from each other, all located in the primary forest, had been sampled. To achieve this, data collection was carried out during the dry season from 25 December 2014 to 12 January 2015 (18 days). The prospecting of the sites took place day and night in view and during the hearing. Amphibians and reptiles had been caught by hand and with the snake stick. All specimens had been digitized, fixed in formaldehyde (10%) and then preserved in alcohol (70%). Muscle necropsies were preserved in Eppendorf tubes containing absolute alcohol (96%). In total, 182 amphibian specimens divided into 32 species, 4 families, all belonging to the Order of the Anurans and 37 reptile specimens diversified into 18 species, 7 families and grouped into two Orders were recorded. The species capture: Hymenochirus boulengeri, Hyperolius rossii, Amietia desaegeri, Amietia ruwenzorica, Xenopus lenduensis and Xenopus ruwenzoriensis were interesting because these species remain poorly documented in the region.
    VL  - 2
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Ecology and Biodiversity of Earth Resources, Centre de Surveillance de la Biodiversité of the University of Kisangani, Kisangani City, Democratic Republic of the Congo

  • Department of Biology, Centre de Recherche en Sciences Naturelles de Lwiro, Bukavu City, Democratic Republic of the Congo

  • Department of Biology, Centre de Recherche en Sciences Naturelles de Lwiro, Bukavu City, Democratic Republic of the Congo

  • Department of Ecology and Animal Resource Management, Faculty of Science of the University of Kisangani, Kisangani City, Democratic Republic Democratic of the Congo

  • Department of Ecology and Animal Resource Management, Faculty of Science of the University of Kisangani, Kisangani City, Democratic Republic Democratic of the Congo

  • Department of Ecology and Animal Resource Management, Faculty of Science of the University of Kisangani, Kisangani City, Democratic Republic Democratic of the Congo

  • Department of Ecosystem Management, Faculty of Management of Renewable Natural Resources, University of Kisangani, Kisangani City, Republic Democratic of the Congo

  • Department of Ecology and Animal Resource Management, Faculty of Science of the University of Kisangani, Kisangani City, Democratic Republic Democratic of the Congo

  • Department of Ecology and Animal Resource Management, Faculty of Science of the University of Kisangani, Kisangani City, Democratic Republic Democratic of the Congo

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