Rhampholeon

Rhampholeon
Rhampholeon temporalis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Iguania
Family: Chamaeleonidae
Subfamily: Chamaeleoninae
Genus: Rhampholeon
Günther, 1874

Rhampholeon (from Greek: ῥάμφος rhamphos, 'bird's bill' and Greek: λέον leōn, 'lion')[1] is a genus of small chameleons, commonly known as pygmy chameleons or African leaf chameleons, found in East Africa and Central Africa. They are found in forests, woodlands, thickets, and savanna, and most species are restricted to highlands. They are brown, grey, or green, and typically seen at low levels in bushes, or on the ground among grasses or leaf litter.

Species

The following 25 species are recognized as being valid:[2]

Image Scientific name Common name Distribution
Rhampholeon acuminatus Mariaux & Tilbury, 2006 Nguru pygmy chameleon Tanzania.
Rhampholeon beraduccii Mariaux & Tilbury, 2006 Beraducci’s pygmy chameleon, Mahenge pygmy chameleon Tanzania.
Rhampholeon boulengeri Steindachner, 1911 Boulenger's pygmy chameleon Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda
Rhampholeon bruessoworum Branch, Bayliss & Tolley, 2014 Mount Inago pygmy chameleon Mozambique
Rhampholeon chapmanorum Tilbury, 1992 Chapmans's pygmy chameleon Malawi.
Rhampholeon colemani Menegon, Lyakurwa, Loader, & Tolley, 2022 Tanzania.
Rhampholeon gorongosae Broadley 1971 Mount Gorongosa pygmy chameleon Mozambique.
Rhampholeon hattinghi Tilbury & Tolley, 2015 Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Rhampholeon marshalli Boulenger, 1906 Marshall's pygmy chameleon, Marshall's leaf chameleon, Marshall's dwarf chameleon, Marshall's stumptail chameleon Zimbabwe and Mozambique
Rhampholeon maspictus Branch, Bayliss & Tolley, 2014 Mount Mabu pygmy chameleon Mozambique
Rhampholeon moyeri Menegon, Salvidio & Tilbury, 2002 Moyer’s pygmy chameleon, Udzungwa pygmy chameleon Tanzania.
Rhampholeon nchisiensis (Loveridge, 1953) South African stumptail chameleon, Nchisi pygmy chameleon Malawi and Tanzania
Rhampholeon nebulauctor Branch, Bayliss & Tolley, 2014 Mount Chiperone pygmy chameleon Mozambique.
Rhampholeon nicolai Menegon, Lyakurwa, Loader, & Tolley, 2022 Nicola’s pygmy chameleon Tanzania.
Rhampholeon platyceps Günther, 1893 Mount Mulanje pygmy chameleon, Malawi stumptail chameleon Malawi and Mozambique
Rhampholeon princeeai Menegon, Lyakurwa, Loader, & Tolley, 2022 Princeeai’s pygmy chameleon Tanzania.
Rhampholeon rubeho Menegon, Lyakurwa, Loader, & Tolley, 2022 Rubeho’s pygmy chameleon Tanzania.
Rhampholeon sabini Menegon, Lyakurwa, Loader, & Tolley, 2022 Nguu North pygmy chameleon Tanzania.
Rhampholeon spectrum (Buchholz, 1874) spectral pygmy chameleon, western pygmy chameleon, Cameroon stumptail chameleon Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea,Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, and Gabon,
Rhampholeon spinosus (Matschie, 1892) rosette-nosed pygmy chameleon Tanzania
Rhampholeon temporalis (Matschie, 1892) Usambara stumptail chameleon, East Usambara pygmy chameleon Tanzania.
Rhampholeon tilburyi Branch, Bayliss & Tolley, 2014 Mount Namuli pygmy chameleon Mozambique.
Rhampholeon uluguruensis Tilbury & Emmrich, 1996 Uluguru pygmy chameleon Tanzania.
Rhampholeon viridis Mariaux & Tilbury, 2006 green pygmy chameleon Tanzania.
Rhampholeon waynelotteri Menegon, Lyakurwa, Loader, & Tolley, 2022 Tanzania.

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Rhampholeon.

References

  1. ^ Hunter, Robert; Morris, Charles (1906). The Modern world dictionary of the English language ... to which is added a compendium of historical, biographical, geographical, scientific, religious, and sociological names, and a complete summary of human achievement in the nineteenth & twentieth centuries . New York : P.F. Collier & Son. p. 3999.
  2. ^ "Rhampholeon ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.

Further reading

  • Boulenger GA (1887). Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume III. ... Chamæleontidæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 575 pp. + Plates I-XL. (Genus Rhampholeon, p. 475).
  • Branch WR (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. ISBN 0-88359-042-5. (Genus Rhampholeon, p. 228).
  • Branch WR, Bayliss J, Tolley KA (2014). "Pygmy chameleons of the Rhampholeon platyceps compex (Squamata: Chamaeleonidae): Description of four new species from isolated 'sky islands' of northern Mozambique". Zootaxa. 3814 (3814): 1–36. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3814.1.1. PMID 24943411.
  • Goin CJ, Goin OB, Zug GR (1978). Introduction to Herpetology: Third Edition. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman and Company. xi + 378 pp. ISBN 0-7167-0020-4. (Genus Rhampholeon, p. 289).
  • Günther A (1874). "Descriptions of some new or imperfectly known Species of Reptiles from the Camaroon [sic] Mountains". Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1874: 442-445. (Rhampholeon, new genus, p. 444).
  • Spawls S, Drewes R, Ashe J (2002). A Field Guide to the Reptiles of East Africa. Köln: Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-656470-1.
  • Tilbury, Colin (2010). Chameleons of Africa, An Atlas including the chameleons of Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Frankfurt: Edition Chimaira.


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