On Friday, 19 May 2023, the renowned herpetologist Prof. Dr Wolfgang Böhme will give a lecture on herpetological expeditions in West Africa. In several research trips, he studied the large-scale habitats of desert, savannah, and rainforest and their respective marginal areas with regard to their amphibians and reptiles, whose current distribution reflects the influence of the major postglacial climate fluctuations. The rediscovery of the desert crocodile in the Mauritanian Sahara, thought to be extinct for decades, is just one of many highlights. In Guinea, the Lama Forest proved to be a snake hotspot: in just two weeks, the travellers were able to find 38 species sympatrically. In the Cameroon mountains, where relics of German colonial history can still be found several times, the previously unknown herpetological Mount Nlonako proved to be the most species-rich amphibian site in Africa at the time. The vertical zoning, combined with numerous watercourses, led to a great diversity of frog fauna, which was inventoried for the first time. With over 90 species, including the charismatic hairy and goliath frogs, Mount Nlonako is one of the richest amphibian hotspots in the Afrotropical region. The various, beautiful Montane Chameleons in Cameroon also proved to be an excellent model group to exemplify the process of speciation.
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Böhme Overland from Germany to Cameroon
DGHT City group Münster
Zoo school of Allwetterzoo
Sentruper Str. 315
48161 Münster
Admission from 6.30 p.m., lecture begins at 7 p.m.
