An international team of herpetologists from Germany and Madagascar has described three new species of chameleons from the Calumma nasutum group of species.
“Madagascar is a nature lover’s paradise, as most species of terrestrial vertebrates are only found on this large island off the east coast of Africa,” says Frank Glaw, curator of amphibians and reptiles at the Collection. Bavarian State. Zoology and colleagues and study leader published in the Journal of Vertebrate Zoology.
“Endemic lemurs and chameleons are of particular interest and biologists have been investigating these groups of animals intensively since the 19th century. However, the taxonomy of many species is still unclear, as in the case of one of the earliest species of chameleons from Madagascar, the fin chameleon ( Calumma nasutum ), which was described in 1836 by French zoologists André Marie Constant Duméril and Gabriel Bibron, “the authors explain.
The researchers reviewed the taxonomy of the Calumma nasutum group chameleons using a variety of methods, including micro-computed tomography and DNA analysis. The analysis confirmed that Calumma nasutum is a complex of several species and revealed three new species: Calumma emelinae, C. tjiasmantoi and C. ratnasariae.
Calumma emelinae is known in eastern Madagascar, from an elevation of 750-1,030 meters.
Calumma tjiasmantoi can be found in eastern Madagascar, from an elevation of 267 to 983 meters.
Calumma ratnasariae is only known from the Bealanana district of northern Madagascar. It is distributed from the Analabe forest in the south to Andrevorevo, some 20 km further north, from an elevation of 1,337-1,717 meters.
The authors also revalidated a chameleon species called Calumma radamanus , which lives at low elevations in eastern Madagascar from Tampolo (south) to its type locality Ambatondradama (north).
“Many species are probably in danger and depend on the protection of their habitats”, clarifies David Prötzel, researcher at the Bavarian Institute.
Referencia: D. Prötzel et al. 2019. Untangling the trees: Revision of the Calumma nasutum complex (Squamata: Chamaeleonidae). Vertebrate Zoology 70 (1): 23-59; doi: 10.26049/VZ70-1-2020-3
