Chris Anderson
Dr. House of Chameleons
Hi Everyone,
I thought I'd let everyone know that a new chameleon species was just described from the Anosibe An’Ala region of Eastern Madagascar. It is a member of the Calumma furcifer species group and has been named Calumma tarzan, the Tarzan Side-striped Chameleon. The species was found in a small patch of forest near a town that was formerly called "Tarzanville" (now known as Ambodimeloka) and it was named in dedication of "Tarzan" as an attempt to draw attention to the need for conservation in Madagascar to protect habitat from the current problems with deforestation and habitat loss. The authors believe this species qualifies as "Critically Endangered" on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species designations.
This species looks very similar to Calumma gastrotaenia, however it has an amazing flat, spade-like rostrum. Males have a brown-grey colored dorsal portion of the casque that extends onto the neck just behind the head forming a saddle-like patch and they exhibit a spectacular stress display with bright yellow bands extending from the dorsal ridge forward as they terminate about half way down the flanks and scattered yellow spots on the ventral portion of the flanks. The Females exhibit a series of thin, dark longitudinal stripes going down the flanks and scattered dark dots.
Here is a photo of a male:
Here is the reference to the paper:
Gehring, P.-S., Pabijan, M., Ratsoavina, F. M., Köhler, J., Vences, M. and Glaw, F. (2010). A Tarzan yell for conservation: a new chameleon, Calumma tarzan sp. n., proposed as a flagship species for the creation of new nature reserves in Madagascar. Salamandra 46, 167-179.
Chris
I thought I'd let everyone know that a new chameleon species was just described from the Anosibe An’Ala region of Eastern Madagascar. It is a member of the Calumma furcifer species group and has been named Calumma tarzan, the Tarzan Side-striped Chameleon. The species was found in a small patch of forest near a town that was formerly called "Tarzanville" (now known as Ambodimeloka) and it was named in dedication of "Tarzan" as an attempt to draw attention to the need for conservation in Madagascar to protect habitat from the current problems with deforestation and habitat loss. The authors believe this species qualifies as "Critically Endangered" on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species designations.
This species looks very similar to Calumma gastrotaenia, however it has an amazing flat, spade-like rostrum. Males have a brown-grey colored dorsal portion of the casque that extends onto the neck just behind the head forming a saddle-like patch and they exhibit a spectacular stress display with bright yellow bands extending from the dorsal ridge forward as they terminate about half way down the flanks and scattered yellow spots on the ventral portion of the flanks. The Females exhibit a series of thin, dark longitudinal stripes going down the flanks and scattered dark dots.
Here is a photo of a male:
Here is the reference to the paper:
Gehring, P.-S., Pabijan, M., Ratsoavina, F. M., Köhler, J., Vences, M. and Glaw, F. (2010). A Tarzan yell for conservation: a new chameleon, Calumma tarzan sp. n., proposed as a flagship species for the creation of new nature reserves in Madagascar. Salamandra 46, 167-179.
Chris
