Chris Anderson
Dr. House of Chameleons
Hi All,
I thought I would bring to everyone's attention that four new species have been described form the Rhampholeon (Rhinodigitum) platyceps complex: Rhampholeon (Rhinodigitum) bruessoworum sp. nov., Rhampholeon (Rhinodigitum) maspictus sp. nov., Rhampholeon (Rhinodigitum) nebulauctor sp. nov., and Rhampholeon (Rhinodigitum) tilburyi sp. nov. These species are all from isolated ‘sky islands’ of northern Mozambique. This paper also verifies that the taxa Rhampholeon (Rhinodigitum) platyceps carri is a junior synonym of the nominate form, meaning that it is not a valid subspecies, leaving Rhampholeon (Rhinodigitum) platyceps lacking any subspecies.
These new species were described in the following paper:
Branch, W.R., Bayliss, J. and Tolley, K.A. 2014. Pygmy chameleons of the Rhampholeon platyceps compex (Squamata: Chamaeleonidae): Description of four new species from isolated ‘sky islands’ of northern Mozambique. Zootaxa 3814 (1): 1-36.
The abstract of this paper is available at the following URL: http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2014/f/z03814p036f.pdf
Photographs of what is now known as Rhampholeon (Rhinodigitum) maspictus were published widely in the media following the discovery of the species on Mt. Mabu and can be seen by searching "Mabu chameleon" in google images.
Chris
I thought I would bring to everyone's attention that four new species have been described form the Rhampholeon (Rhinodigitum) platyceps complex: Rhampholeon (Rhinodigitum) bruessoworum sp. nov., Rhampholeon (Rhinodigitum) maspictus sp. nov., Rhampholeon (Rhinodigitum) nebulauctor sp. nov., and Rhampholeon (Rhinodigitum) tilburyi sp. nov. These species are all from isolated ‘sky islands’ of northern Mozambique. This paper also verifies that the taxa Rhampholeon (Rhinodigitum) platyceps carri is a junior synonym of the nominate form, meaning that it is not a valid subspecies, leaving Rhampholeon (Rhinodigitum) platyceps lacking any subspecies.
These new species were described in the following paper:
Branch, W.R., Bayliss, J. and Tolley, K.A. 2014. Pygmy chameleons of the Rhampholeon platyceps compex (Squamata: Chamaeleonidae): Description of four new species from isolated ‘sky islands’ of northern Mozambique. Zootaxa 3814 (1): 1-36.
The abstract of this paper is available at the following URL: http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2014/f/z03814p036f.pdf
Photographs of what is now known as Rhampholeon (Rhinodigitum) maspictus were published widely in the media following the discovery of the species on Mt. Mabu and can be seen by searching "Mabu chameleon" in google images.
Chris
