Abstact METAMORPHOSIS December 1997 Occasional Supplement Number 3 - 1

METAMORPHOSIS December 1997 Occasional Supplement Number 3

Title

BIODIVERSITY AND OROPHILY ON THE CAMEROON HIGHLANDS

Authors

Libert Michel

ABSTRACT:

Orophily is defined, and several examples are given of the difficulty of asserting the orophilic character of a given species. Data published in 1991 on the butterfly fauna of the Cameroon Highlands is updated and confirms both a relatively low diversity and a surprisingly low proportion of orophilic species. The very low degree of differentiation of at least 75% of these species indicates a recent isolation; the term “Cameroonian oro-endemic” is defined and shown to apply to only about 13% of orophilic species. A comparison between these two groups suggests that the hypothesis of a continuous montane forest belt across the continent is not necessary to explain the present disjunctions in the distribution of orophilic butterflies.