Nadzikambia franklinae TOLLEY & CONRADIE, 2026
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Nadzikambia franklinae?
Nadzikambia franklinae
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| Higher Taxa | Chamaeleonidae, Sauria, Iguania, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Namuli sylvan chameleon |
| Synonym | Nadzikambia franklinae TOLLEY & CONRADIE 2026: 223 Nadzikambia baylissi – CONRADIE et al. 2016: 171 (in part) Nadzikambia aff. baylissi – BAYLISS et al. 2024: table SI1 |
| Distribution | Mozambique (Zambézia Province) Type locality: below the Mahno Forest satellite camp, Mount Namuli (–15.3987; 37.0183, 1632 m a.s.l.), Zambézia Province, Mozambique by S. Loader, M. Menego and K.A. Tolley on 27 November 2014. |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype. PEM R21165, an adult male, collected downstream Paratypes. 6 specimens: PEM R21164 and PEM R21667, gravid females, same collection details as holotype. PEM R21188, PEM R21189 and PEM R21190, gravid females, collected from near the stream of Ukalini Forest, Mount Namuli (–15.3694; 37.0614, 1618 m a.s.l.), Zambézia Province, Mozambique by G. Bittencourt-Silva, S. Loader and M. Menegon on 29 November 2014. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: The new species is assigned to the genus Nadzikambia based on several distinctive characteristics, including a short stout hemipenis with no apical rotulae, the absence of gular and ventral crests, a weakly developed dorsal crest, a low casque, and heterogeneous body scales that form rosettes of tubercles on the lower flanks (Tilbury et al. 2006). This assignment is further supported by monophyly observed in both mitochondrial and nuclear genes (Tilbury et al. 2006; Branch and Tolley 2010). The new species can be distinguished from other species of Nadzikambia by a combination of the following characters: lower average number upper labials (15.5 versus 16.3–17.3 in other populations, except from N. mlanjensis which have 15.2), lower average number of lower labials (16.4 versus 17.0–18.1); casque in adult males higher and rounder – similar to N. evanescens sp. nov. (versus flat and extending laterally in N. mlanjensis and N. goodallae sp. nov. and marginally raised and rounded in N. baylissi); scales on posterior and lateral crown of head smooth – similar to N. evanescens sp. nov. and N. baylissi (versus rugose in N. mlanjensis and N. goodallae sp. nov.). Additionally, the new species occurs in allopatry from all congeneric species, with the closest geographical relative being N. evanescens sp. nov. (approx. 45 km away) and differs genetically from other Nadzikambia species by: 0.4–4.5% 16S, 3.2–12.3% ND2, and 4.2–13.6% ND4 uncorrected net p distances (Table 2). (Tolley & Conradie 2026) Unfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data. However, these details, e.g. detailed descriptions (about between half a page and a page) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us if you need any of this material. |
| Comment | |
| Etymology | Named after Rosalind Franklin (1920–1958) whose work on X-Ray crystallography, particularly her legendary “photo 51”, revealed the structure of DNA (Franklin and Gosling 1953). Her ground-breaking work subsequently allowed for the field of phylogenetics to develop, decades later. |
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