On the greater kudu, Tragelaphus strepsiceros, in southern and central Somalia

Abstract

Keywords: biodiversity; conservation; Horn of Africa; museum data. The availability of detailed data concerning the geographic distribution of taxa has been increasingly recognised as an important tool for biodiversity studies and conservation plan-ning. However, many museum collections remain largely unexplored to such an end. This is unfortunate as voucher specimens defi ne the unequivocal presence – former or cur-rent – of a taxon and enable its systematic revision, seemingly very necessary, even in the case of well-known taxa such as African ungulates (Cotterill 2003 ). In a recent article, Rallo (2000) while describing a small collection of Somali vertebrates donated by Mr. Napoleone Forin to the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale in Venice, listed, without comments, two greater kudu,