Three new species of Calumma chameleons discovered in Madagascar

https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlx112/4965272?redirectedFrom=fulltext

Three new species of Calumma have been discovered in Madagascar; Calumma uetzi, Calumma lefona, and Calumma juliae, of which all are threatened and poorly known.

Calumma uetzi (shown above), is "one of the most beautiful of Madagascar’s chameleons. Displaying males go bright yellow along their sides with stripes of pink and purple, with a variety of colours on the head from teal to aquamarine, yellow, salmon, and purple, with a black stripe running through the eye. Meanwhile, the female can turn a dark brown, almost black, with bright yellow spots on her head that convey her vexation with his attentions."

As for Calumma lefona, "only one specimen of the new species C. lefona has ever been found, and it was necessary to describe the species without any other material. This species sets itself apart in two ways: firstly, it has an exceptionally long, spear-shaped flap of skin at the front end of its head, known as the ‘rostral appendage’. Having a nose like this is the feature that unites all members of the C. nasutum species group (though some species have apparently lost it again), but that of C. lefona is exceptionally large, and recognizable by its unique shape. It is somewhat reminiscent of the nose of the bizarre C. gallus (see right), but is much less pointed and probably not as brightly coloured."

Calumma juliae, shown above, was discovered "in a tiny, isolated forest fragment outside the town of Moramanga, east of Antananarivo".

Prötzel, D., Vences, M., Hawlitschek, O., Scherz, M.D., Ratsoavina, F.M. & Glaw, F. (2018) Endangered beauties: three new species of chameleons in the Calumma boettgeri complex (Squamata: Chamaeleonidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, advanced access, 1–28.

Posted on April 21, 2018 10:29 PM by