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Le Peuplement Animal du Mont Nimba (Guinée, Côte d'Ivoire,Liberia)Author(s): Adrian CraigSource: African Zoology, 49(1):167-167. 2014.Published By: Zoological Society of Southern AfricaDOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3377/004.049.0103URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.3377/004.049.0103

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Book review

Le peuplement animal du Mont Nimba (Guinée,Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia) edited by M. Lamotte& R. Roy. Mémoires du Muséum d’HistoireNaturelle 190. 2003. Pp. 724. Price: C137 (hard-back). Publications scientifiques du Muséum,Paris. ISBN 2 85653 554 2

Mount Nimba, straddling the borders of threecountries, is one of only three peaks (the other twoare in Sierra Leone) above 1500 m in tropical WestAfrica to the west of Mount Cameroon. Thus it hasmany faunal elements distinct from the adjacentlowland areas. Despite a long history of biologicalresearch and the declaration of a Biosphere Reserveand World Heritage Site in 1981, uncontrolledhunting, and open-cast iron ore mining on theLiberian side, has had devastating effects on theenvironment.

This publication, in hard-bound book form,documents studies by the Natural History Museumin Paris on the Guinean sector of the massif, andreviews some of the earlier work. Apart from thebilingual introduction, the other 14 chapters are inFrench, with English abstracts and both Englishand French captions to the tables and figures. Thechapters are referenced separately, while there is asystematic index to the whole volume.

Following a brief account of scientific research atMount Nimba from 1942–1978, and a chapter onthe main biotic regions of the massif, there is anoverview of the fauna of the high-altitude grass-lands. This chapter focuses primarily on the inver-tebrates, but also highlights the endemic live-bearing bufonid Nectophrynoides occidentalis. Achapter on the Ficus species of the Guinean part ofthe mountain follows, with a discussion and taxo-nomic description of their associated fig wasps,drosophilid flies and weevils. Several new taxaare described. Eight chapters of systematic accounts,with some information on biology and zonation onthe mountain, cover the following animal groups:terrestrial and freshwater molluscs, decapodcrustaceans, dragonflies (Odonata), grasshoppers(Eumastacoidea, Acridoidea), click beetles(Elateridae), scarab beetles (Scarabaeidae sensu

stricto, Aphodiidae, Ceratocanthidae), freshwaterfish and reptiles. For the birds, there is a discussionof the avifauna in terms of habitat, trophic struc-ture, and social organisation, and an updatedchecklist. The volume concludes with a shortchapter on bats; 39 species have been collected onMount Nimba, including three tenants of old minegalleries whose closest known populations are onMount Cameroon.

This volume is very well produced and illus-trated. It is a valuable contribution to faunisticstudies in West Africa, but will be of primary inter-est to specialists in the groups treated in detail aslisted above. You will need to read the French text,as the English abstracts are for the most part verybrief, and the translations are often awkward. Asthe editors note in their introduction, the full storyof Mount Nimba has yet to be told – this is just anapéritif.

Adrian CraigDepartment of Zoology & Entomology

Rhodes University, GrahamstownE-mail: a.craig@ru.ac.za

African Zoology 49(1): 167 (April 2014)