SANBI

Rationale (Changed due to Same category and criteria)

Platysaurus broadleyi is extremely abundant in a protected area, Augrabies Falls National Park, and there are other healthy populations along the Orange River. Although there has been expansion of viticulture along the Orange River that could threaten local populations through ecosystem alteration and the use of insecticides, the majority of its range is not transformed. The species is therefore assessed as Least Concern.

Distribution

Endemic to the Gordonia-Kenhardt districts of the Northern Cape, South Africa (Bates et al. 2014). This species is patchily distributed along the Orange River, from Augrabies Falls National Park in the east to Pella in the west. Two records exist from Bak Putz River, a tributary of the Orange River. These records are about 45 km north of the Orange River, close to the border with Namibia. It is not known whether the Orange River and Bak Putz subpopulations are contiguous. Although the species has been observed on both sides of the Orange River east and south of Namibia, it has yet to be recorded from that country.

Habitat View more ecological information

Population trend

Trend

A very large and stable population exists at Augrabies Falls National Park. This population has a perennial supply of water and a high density of primary prey, the black fly, Simulium spp. (Whiting and Greeff 1997). The population appears to be stable but is patchy in distribution and can be in low density at some localities. The species is inferred to be stable given the relatively large range within which there is little threat from habitat loss.

Threats

Viticulture has expanded as an agro-industry along the Orange River in the last decades, and could threaten local populations through ecosystem alteration and through the use of insecticides, if these are ingested by lizards via their insect prey.However ,this affects only a very minor proportion of the range at present (Geo Terra Image 2015, 2016). Because this species is not listed on CITES, the trade is not quantified but the ease at which it can be found online suggests that trade could be a threat if there is targeted collecting.

Uses and trade

This species is not listed on CITES so no trade statistics are available. This species, as well as others in the genus are readily available for sale online but the level of trade is not quantified.

Conservation

Preliminary observations suggest that several subpopulations are small and disjunct and a phylogeographic analysis could be useful to clarify whether these subpopulations are connected. A thorough survey of the Orange River and its tributaries would improve understanding of the distribution and abundance of local subpopulations. It would be useful to quantify trade both in terms of availability and whether collection and export permits are issued for this species by the provincial conservation authority.

References

[@electronic{181632,
 address = {www.iucnredlist.org},
 author = {IUCN},
 title = {The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2018-2},
 year = {2018}
}
,@book{612,
 address = {Pretoria},
 author = {Bates, M.F., Branch, W.R., Bauer, A.M., Burger, M., Marais, J., Alexander, G.J. and de Villiers, M.S.},
 publisher = {Suricata 1. South African National Biodiversity Institute},
 title = {Atlas and Red List of the Reptiles of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland},
 year = {2014}
}
,@article{110163858,
 author = {Whiting, M.J. and Greeff, J.M.},
 journal = {Copeia},
 number = {4},
 pages = {811--818},
 title = {Facultative frugivory in the Cape flat lizard, <i>Platysaurus capensis</i> (Sauria: Cordylidae)},
 volume = {1997},
 year = {1997}
}
,@article{110163858,
 author = {Branch, W.R. and Whiting, M.J.},
 journal = {African Journal of Herpetology},
 pages = {124--136},
 title = {A new <i>Platysaurus</i> (Squamata: Cordylidae) from the Northern Cape Province, South Africa},
 volume = {46},
 year = {1997}
}
,@article{110163858,
 author = {Geo Terra Image},
 title = {Technical Report: 2013/2014 South African National Land Cover Dataset version 5, Pretoria },
 year = {2015}
}
,@article{110163858,
 author = {Geo Terra Image},
 title = {Technical Report: 1990 South African National Land Cover Dataset version 5.2. Pretoria},
 year = {2016}
}
,]

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