Chameleons are one of the most fascinating groups of scaly reptiles, among other things, because of their extraordinary diversity and distribution of species. There are more than 215 described species of the Chamaeleonidae family and now we add this recently discovered by a team of zoologists from Germany and the Czech Republic that belongs to the genus Trioceros.
“The Bale Mountains in south-central Ethiopia are considered one of the most unique centers of endemism, with an extraordinary number of plants and animals that can only be found there,” explains Thore Koppetsch of the Alexander Koenig Research Museum and leader of the work published in the journal Zoosystematics and Evolution.
“There were already two species of the chameleon genus Trioceros that were known to be restricted to the Bale region when we discovered another unique representative of this group on the northern slopes of the Bale Mountains. Interestingly, this new chameleon is considered to be part of a very widespread complex of species of the Ethiopian chameleon ( Trioceros affinis ) “.
Christened Trioceros wolfgangboehmei, the new species is a small chameleon with a total length of 15.6 cm with a relatively short head 1.9 cm long.
The body color is yellowish, brownish or even bright green and varies in different individuals.
“It generally lives in small trees and shrubs at an altitude of more than 2,500 meters above sea level.”
According to experts, “a part of the population is well protected within the Bale Mountains National Park,” the authors said. “But another part lives in the open air, in the areas of agricultural use and even in gardens and vegetation in local villages.”
Referencia: T. Koppetsch et al. 2021. A new chameleon of the Trioceros affinis species complex (Squamata, Chamaeleonidae) from Ethiopia. Zoosystematics and Evolution 97 (1): 161-179; doi: 10.3897/zse.97.57297
