Chris Anderson
Dr. House of Chameleons
Just thought I'd share a pic of an unusual cham species and give people a chance to try their hand at IDing it.
Enjoy,
Chris
Enjoy,
Chris
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ID Challenge
- Thread starter Chris Anderson
- Start date
ChameleonsTree
New Member
Can you give a hint to its origin
PardalisGirl
Avid Member
Cool..........
I would have to ID that as the rare Wartasaurus Chameleon. Seriously, I have no idea, but that one wickedly cool chameleon. Wow and where did you get it?
I would have to ID that as the rare Wartasaurus Chameleon. Seriously, I have no idea, but that one wickedly cool chameleon. Wow and where did you get it?
If this was easy, Chris wouldn't be asking for us to guess... I have no idea.
Jeweledchameleons
Avid Member
Remember kids, don't mess around without protection
-or else you'll end up looking like this guy.
seriously,
Please tell us that you have a breeding pair for this species
and that the individual you have there is young and not full grown.
extremely cool.
Seems like it's gotten some damage from rubbing the screen of the cage on the dorsal spines
still VERY COOL....
-or else you'll end up looking like this guy.
seriously,
Please tell us that you have a breeding pair for this species
and that the individual you have there is young and not full grown.
extremely cool.
Seems like it's gotten some damage from rubbing the screen of the cage on the dorsal spines
still VERY COOL....
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Chris Anderson
Dr. House of Chameleons
Thanks for all the compliments everyone. It is a Chamaeleo (Trioceros) laterispinis. Unfortunately its the only one in the country but hopefully I'll be able to make arrangements to get a couple more. This species hasn't been imported into the US in at least 10 years and prior to that, if any did come in, it was only a couple. This species has some of the coolest features of a lot of different species of chameleon and has quickly shot to among the top of my list of cool species. I had only ever seen a hand full of photos of this species before and none of the photos do this species justice. I will try to get some better photos soon but the coloration, scalation and patterning is just unbelievable. The dorsal crest does seem to have been worn down some how a little but it seems to be in great condition and completely different then any single species I've ever seen.
Chris
Chris
Kent67
Retired Moderator
LLL had some within the last 4 or 5 years. They weren't all that expensive either, I think less than $100 each, which I thought was fairly odd. There are 14 F1's allowed out of Tanz. this year. Do you know if that quota has already been met?
PardalisGirl
Avid Member
Very Jealous..........
That is entirely too cute and awesome at the same time. I hope you can get another for breeding. Congrats on your aquisition
That is entirely too cute and awesome at the same time. I hope you can get another for breeding. Congrats on your aquisition
Chris Anderson
Dr. House of Chameleons
Kent,
Couldn't have been Ch. laterispinis. They can only be sent out of Tanzania by a single individual who has only shipped the rarer species to 3 people in the US (including myself) in the last 8 years and no Ch. laterispinis were included in these shipments. Also, their cost out of Tanzania before any mark up, freight, paperwork, etc., is higher then the price you mentioned. There is a yearly quota on them for export out of TZ (from the single mentioned source) but this isn't a reflection of what is always exported and while some have been exported over the years, they've gone to Europe and Asia and only in very limited numbers.
Time will tell how difficult they are to keep. I've spoken with a guy in Austria who has been working with them for a couple years now and recently got them to produce for him so hopefully the information he's passed on will prove useful with them!
Chris
Couldn't have been Ch. laterispinis. They can only be sent out of Tanzania by a single individual who has only shipped the rarer species to 3 people in the US (including myself) in the last 8 years and no Ch. laterispinis were included in these shipments. Also, their cost out of Tanzania before any mark up, freight, paperwork, etc., is higher then the price you mentioned. There is a yearly quota on them for export out of TZ (from the single mentioned source) but this isn't a reflection of what is always exported and while some have been exported over the years, they've gone to Europe and Asia and only in very limited numbers.
Time will tell how difficult they are to keep. I've spoken with a guy in Austria who has been working with them for a couple years now and recently got them to produce for him so hopefully the information he's passed on will prove useful with them!
Chris
Kent67
Retired Moderator
You're close. I checked my pics and they're showing July 12, 2000. Guess it's been longer than it feels like. They're crappy pics but look to be the same species.
Chris Anderson
Dr. House of Chameleons
Kent,
Definitely post the pics. I'd be blown away if they were but I guess it wouldn't be the first time things have come in under the radar, misidentified or otherwise without most people knowing. You've got me really curious, thats for sure! Do you have a scanner you can scan the pics in?
Chris
Definitely post the pics. I'd be blown away if they were but I guess it wouldn't be the first time things have come in under the radar, misidentified or otherwise without most people knowing. You've got me really curious, thats for sure! Do you have a scanner you can scan the pics in?
Chris
Kent67
Retired Moderator
Hey Chris,
They are actually pics I copied off of their website, so I'll just email them to you. They were selling them as laterispinis, which caught my eye and they were more like the color of the one in Necas. I've not seen any as green as your juvie there. None look like the black and white one in Spawls!
Do you know details about this species from Joe like are they rare in the wild, or are they just from a difficult collection area, etc?
They are actually pics I copied off of their website, so I'll just email them to you. They were selling them as laterispinis, which caught my eye and they were more like the color of the one in Necas. I've not seen any as green as your juvie there. None look like the black and white one in Spawls!
Do you know details about this species from Joe like are they rare in the wild, or are they just from a difficult collection area, etc?
Chris Anderson
Dr. House of Chameleons
To be honest, the majority of the information I have is that in Spawls et.al. and what I've heard from the individual i mentioned in Austria. I need to speak to Joe in more depth about this species' natural habitat, etc.
I mentioned it in my reply to your email but the photos from LLL you sent me look more like Ch. incornutus to me then Ch. laterispinis, although the photos aren't great, as you said. The dorsal crest just isn't prominant enough and while there are enlarged scales on the flanks, they aren't anything like laterispinis, IMO but rather remind me of Ch. incornutus. I'm curious to hear your thoughts though with those considerations.
Here are a few more pics I took, including one of the enclosure I have it setup in. None of the pics do it justice which I'm quite agitated about but hopefully I'll get some better ones eventually.
Enjoy,
Chris
I mentioned it in my reply to your email but the photos from LLL you sent me look more like Ch. incornutus to me then Ch. laterispinis, although the photos aren't great, as you said. The dorsal crest just isn't prominant enough and while there are enlarged scales on the flanks, they aren't anything like laterispinis, IMO but rather remind me of Ch. incornutus. I'm curious to hear your thoughts though with those considerations.
Here are a few more pics I took, including one of the enclosure I have it setup in. None of the pics do it justice which I'm quite agitated about but hopefully I'll get some better ones eventually.
Enjoy,
Chris
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Kent67
Retired Moderator
Sorry, just got home and got side-tracked by the dog needing to go out and run and my own nutritional needs. Anyway, I'll copy and paste the email I was working on and finish it here:
I think those LLL pics are very difficult to tell. I only have the first ed. of the Necas book and the one pic of laterispinis doesn't really show those huge tubercles like yours. VERY cool, by the way. I don't think any photos of this species had been published in lay literature up until Necas so I don't know if it would even be possible for an importer or retailer to mis-ID them as laterispinis, but rather passed along what was on the export permits....
As for morphology, I agree the dorsal crest doesn't look the same. However, the head shape seems very similar with the low, almost extended casque. I was also looking at a quote from Spawls, "...three dark, vertical, dumb-bell-shaped bars, interspersed with light blotches...." which the two photos of the darker animal seem to have, similar to yours. I guess we'll never know though.
Edit: I almost forgot I wanted to get this in before anyone else: ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I think those LLL pics are very difficult to tell. I only have the first ed. of the Necas book and the one pic of laterispinis doesn't really show those huge tubercles like yours. VERY cool, by the way. I don't think any photos of this species had been published in lay literature up until Necas so I don't know if it would even be possible for an importer or retailer to mis-ID them as laterispinis, but rather passed along what was on the export permits....
As for morphology, I agree the dorsal crest doesn't look the same. However, the head shape seems very similar with the low, almost extended casque. I was also looking at a quote from Spawls, "...three dark, vertical, dumb-bell-shaped bars, interspersed with light blotches...." which the two photos of the darker animal seem to have, similar to yours. I guess we'll never know though.
Edit: I almost forgot I wanted to get this in before anyone else: ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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