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Rhampholeon nchisiensis (LOVERIDGE, 1953)

IUCN Red List - Rhampholeon nchisiensis - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaChamaeleonidae, Sauria, Iguania, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: South African Stumptail Chameleon 
SynonymBrookesia nchisiensis LOVERIDGE 1953: 190
Rhampholeon nchisiensis — NECAS 1999: 284
Rhampholeon (Rhinodigitum) nchisiensis — MATTHEE et al. 2004
Rhampholeon nschisiensis [sic] — VAN HOOF et al. 2006
Rhampholeon (Rhinodigitum) nchisiensis — TILBURY 2010: 187
Rhampholeon (Rhinodigitum) nchisiensis — GLAW 2015
Rhampholeon nchisiensis — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 253 
DistributionMalawi (above 1500 m elevation), S Tanzania (above 1800 m elevation)

Type locality: Nchisi Mountain, 5000 ft. elevation, Malawi.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: MCZ 50681. 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Twenty years ago when I submitted one of these Tanganyika specimens to Dr. H. W. Parker for comparison with platyceps and brachyura, then unknown outside the scant material in the British Museum, it was thought inadvisable to describe them. Now, having seen all the British Museum and other material for myself, it is realized that nchisiensis differs from all other Nyasaland species by lacking both axillary and inguinal pits. Several additional differences are set forth in the key on page 307 of the present paper. Sections 6 to 8 of this key, embodying two new forms, replace section 6 only of the Key to African Brookesia published in 1951 (Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 106, pp. 181-182). (Loveridge 1953: 190)


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CommentMax. total length 80 mm (females; males: 56 mm) 
EtymologyNamed after its type locality. 
References
  • Broadley, D. G. & HOWELL, K. M. 1991. A check list of the reptiles of Tanzania, with synoptic keys. Syntarsus 1: 1—70
  • FISSEHA, MAKDA; JEAN MARIAUX, MICHELE MENEGON 2013. The “Rhampholeon uluguruensis complex” (Squamata: Chamaeleonidae) and the taxonomic status of the pygmy chameleons in Tanzania. Zootaxa 3746 (3): 439–453 - get paper here
  • Gemel, R.; G. Gassner & S. Schweiger 2019. Katalog der Typen der Herpetologischen Sammlung des Naturhistorischen Museums Wien – 2018. Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien, B 121: 33–248 - get paper here
  • Glaw, F. 2015. Taxonomic checklist of chameleons (Squamata: Chamaeleonidae). [type catalogue] Vertebrate Zoology 65 (2): 167–246 - get paper here
  • Hildenhagen, T. 2005. Zur Biologie und Verbreitung tansanischer Stummeschwanzchamäleons der neuen Untergattung Rhinodigitum MATTHEE, TILBURY & TOWNSEND 2004 mit Bemerkungen zur Haltung und Vemehrung. Elaphe 13 (4): 31-42
  • Loveridge, A. 1953. Herpetological results of the Berner-Carr entomological survey of the Shire Valley, Nyasaland. Quarterly J. Florida Acad. Sci. 16 (3): 139-150. - get paper here
  • Loveridge, A. 1953. Zoological Results of a fifth expedition to East Africa. III. Reptiles from Nyasaland and Tete. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 110 (3): 142-322. - get paper here
  • Matthee, C.; Tilbury, C.R. & Townsend, T. 2004. A phylogenetic review of the African leaf chameleons: genus Rhampholeon (Chamaeleonidae): the role of vicariance and climate change in speciation. Proc. Roy. Soc. (London) B271: 1967-1975 - get paper here
  • Menegon, M.; Salvidio, S. & Tilbury, C. 2002. A new dwarf chamaeleon from the Udzungwa Mountains of Tanzania, East Africa (Squamata: Rhampholeon Günther 1874). Journal of Herpetology 36 (1): 51-57 - get paper here
  • Nečas, P. & Schmidt, W. 2004. Mysterious Mini-Dragons: the stump-tailed chameleons Brookesia and Rhampholeon. Reptilia (GB) (35): 10-21 - get paper here
  • Nečas, P. & Schmidt, W. 2004. Stump-tailed Chameleons. Miniature Dragons of the Rainforest. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, 256 pp. [review in Elaphe 14 (1): 24]
  • Nečas, P. & Schmidt, W. 2004. Geheimnisvolle Mini-Drachen: Die Erd- und Stummelschwanzchamäleons der Gattungen Brookesia und Rhampholeon. Reptilia (Münster) 9 (48): 18-27 - get paper here
  • Nečas, Petr 1999. Chameleons - Nature's Hidden Jewels. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt; 348 pp.; ISBN 3-930612-04-6 (Europe)<br />ISBN 1-57524-137-4 (USA, Canada)
  • Pietersen, Darren, Verburgt, Luke & Davies, John 2021. Snakes and other reptiles of Zambia and Malawi. Struik Nature / Penguin Random House South Africa, 376 pp., ISBN 9781775847373
  • Schmidt, W.; Tamm, K. & Wallikewitz, E. 2010. Chamäleons - Drachen unserer Zeit. Natur und Tier Verlag, 328 pp. [review in Reptilia 101: 64, 2013] - get paper here
  • Spawls, S.; Howell, K.; Drewes, R.C. & Ashe, J. 2002. A field guide to the reptiles of East Africa. Academic Press, 543 pp. [reviews in HR 34: 396 and Afr. J. Herp. 51; 147] - get paper here
  • Spawls, Steve; Kim Howell, Harald Hinkel, Michele Menegon 2018. Field Guide to East African Reptiles. Bloomsbury, 624 pp. - get paper here
  • Tilbury C R; Emmrich D 1996. A new dwarf forest chameleon (Squamata: Rhampholeon Gunther 1874) from Tanzania, East Africa with notes on its infrageneric and zoogeographic relationships. Tropical Zoology 9 (1): 61-71 - get paper here
  • Tilbury, C. 2010. Chameleons of Africa: An Atlas, Including the Chameleons of Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt M., 831 pp.
  • van Hoof, J. et al. 2006. Kameleons, een fascinerende hobby. Lacerta 64 (5-6): 1-96 - get paper here
 
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