Browsing by Author "Van Dijk, D. E."

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    Anuran fauna of the Lesotho Highlands in the Khatse Dam catchment area and Jorodane River region
    (AOSIS, 1996) Van Dijk, D. E.
    Surveys were made of the anuran fauna of the Khatse Dam catchment area in the Lesotho Highlands, and of the region between the Central Mountains and the Thaba Putsoa Range which would be affected by Phase IB of the Lesotho Highlands Water Scheme, if implemented. The Khatse Dam is at present filling. Seven species of anurans were encountered in the Khatse Dam catchment, and five of them also in the valley to the south-west. Four taxa occur all around central Lesotho, but one, the Gariep toad, has its south-eastern limit on the Drakensberg Escarpment, and another, Gray's frog, shows indications in Lesotho, as elsewhere, of being distinct from the typical taxon. Two taxa are endemic to the mountains of the Lesotho region, the one being more rheophilic and more wide-spread. The remaining anuran, previously unknown in Lesotho, is now recorded from the highly characteristic, strongly rheophilic tadpoles, as Heleophryne. The various available habitats and the associated anurans are reviewed. Features of the reproductive cycles, are noted. Dispersal and isolation are outlined. Reference is made to the most probable additions to the anuran fauna which further collecting might reveal. The probable impact of the Khatse Dam is discussed.
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    Contributions to knowledge of some Southern African fossil sites and their fossils
    (Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2001-03) Van Dijk, D. E.; Van den Heever, J. A.
    The fossil sites and fossils reported here range from the Archaean to the Recent. Information is presented on the circumstances of the discovery of some fossil sites in Southern Africa. A number of fossil sites, some of which can no longer be studied, are photographically recorded. Some recorded sites were relocated, while failure to locate others is noted. The assemblages at selected fossil sites are compiled, including some additions to their floras and faunas. Certain individual fossils are illustrated and discussed. Techniques which are not standard are outlined.
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    The earliest known Palaeozoic ensiferan insect from africa, Afroedischia oosthuizeni gen. et sp. nov. (Orthoptera: Oedischiidae)
    (Academy of Science for South Africa, 1999) Geertsema, H.; Van Dijk, D. E.
    An oedischiid orthopteran insect from the Lower Permian of southern Africa is described as Afroedischia oosthuizeni gen. et sp. nov. This is the only member of the family Oedischiidae known in the Southern Hemisphere, if Proedischia Pinto and Ornellas, 1978, of the Upper Carboniferous of Brazil, is correctly placed in a separate family Proedischiidae.
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    Pliocene frogs from Langebaanweg, Western Cape Province, South Africa
    (Academy of Science for South Africa, 2003) Van Dijk, D. E.
    THE VARSWATER FORMATION AT Langebaanweg, Western Cape Province, South Africa, is known particularly for its Late Miocene-Early Pliocene mammalian and abundant avian fossils. Amphibian bones from the site are, like the avian bones, notable for their variety, surpassed in numbers of families and genera by no site in Africa and few sites in the world. The bones were transported by a river system from a variety of habitats and include those of swimmers, hoppers, leapers, burrowers and probably also climbers and torrent-associated climbers/swimmers. The fossil evidence indicates the presence of at least four anuran families and possibly as many as seven genera in six families.