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]

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

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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