Most herpetological research in Eritrea was conducted during the period 1827#x2013;1930 and was almost exclusively the preserve of Italian enthusiasts, who concentrated their efforts within an 80 km radius of Asmara. Virtually no field work has been undertaken on the Eritrean mainland in the past 65 years and a great deal still remains to be learned about the composition, distribution and status of the herpetofauna. The 109 species provisionally listed in the present work (Anura 19, Testudines 9, Crocodylia 1, Sauria 45, Serpentes 35) are predominantly savanna (37.5) and deserticolous (33.1) forms and the Eritrean highlands are impoverished by aridity. Of eight taxa which extend into this region from the Ethiopian Plateau, only three appear to be genuinely montane and the ability of the remainder to colonise lowland sites elsewhere in their ranges is taken as evidence of their resistance to drought conditions.Rhinotyphlops erythraeus(Scortecci 1928), which is known only from the type locality at an altitude of 2200 m, might conceivably be an Eritrean montane endemic, but the two nominally endemic anurans have no evident associations with high elevations and may therefore extend into neighbouring territories. The taxonomic status ofPhrynobatrachus telliniiPeracca 1904 is very uncertain, but it has been possible to reach more definite conclusions aboutRana corniiScortecci 1929 andR. demarchiiScortecci 1929 following examination of the single surviving syntype of each species, recently rediscovered in London. The evidence from these specimens is thatR. corniiis a junior synonym ofPtychadena schubotzi(Sternfeld 1917), while the namedemarchiiseems to represent a valid species which is most appropriately retained in the genusRana(sensu DUBOIS 1992), at least until its relationships can be more satisfactorily determined on the basis of fresh material.
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