Calumma

Calumma is a genus of chameleon (a type of highly adapted and specialised lizard) endemic to the island of Madagascar. One species, formerly known as Calumma tigris (the Seychelles tiger chameleon), was transferred to the genus Archaius in 2010, upon the discovery of its closer relation to Rieppeleon—one of several genera referred to collectively as "leaf" or "pygmy" chameleons—rather than to Calumma. The earliest known fossil of the genus is of Calumma benovskyi, from early Miocene Kenya, showing that the genus likely originated on mainland East Africa. The genus includes one of the heaviest and longest chameleon species, the Parson's chameleon (Calumma parsonii).
Species groups
Four species groups are recognised within the genus Calumma (originally proposed by Glaw & Vences in 1994), some of which may be only phenetic, while others are phylogenetically supported:
Calumma furcifer species group
Contents: Calumma furcifer, C. gastrotaenia, C. marojezense, C. guillaumeti, C. andringitraense, C. glawi, C. vencesi
Species characterised by typically green body colouration, sleek body form, and generally no occipital lobes (flaps of skin posterior to the head; present only in C. glawi) and no rostral appendage (present only in males of C. furcifer).
Calumma cucullatum species group
Contents: Calumma cucullatum, C. crypticum, C. amber, C. tsaratananense, C. hafahafa, C. hilleniusi, C. peltierorum, C. malthe, C. brevicorne, C. jejy, C. tsycorne
Species characterised by distinct occipital lobes and generally a single bony rostral appendage that is larger in males than females.
Calumma nasutum species group
Contents: Calumma nasutum, C. fallax, C. gallus, C. guibei, C. boettgeri, C. linotum, C. gehringi, C. uetzi, C. lefona, C. juliae, C. vatosoa, C. vohibola, C. peyrierasi, C. roaloko
Species characterised by a soft dermal rostral appendage (generally present in males and absent in females). The following members possess occipital lobes: C. guibei, C. boettgeri, C. linotum, C. gehringi, C. uetzi, C. lefona, C. roaloko, and C. juliae. These taxa are collectively referred to as the C. guibei species complex. Occipital lobes are absent from all other species. The assignment of C. peyrierasi to this group remains a subject of uncertainty.
Calumma parsonii species group
Contents: Calumma globifer, C. ambreense, C. oshaughnessyi, C. parsonii, C. capuroni
Species characterised by large body size, males with paired rostral appendages, and some species with small occipital lobes.
Species
The following 41 species are recognized as being valid as of October 2020:
Calumma amber & Nussbaum, 2006 – Amber Mountain chameleon
Calumma ambreense (Ramanantsoa, 1974)
Calumma andringitraense (C. Blanc & Domergue, 1972)
Calumma boettgeri (Boulenger, 1888) – Boettger's chameleon
Calumma brevicorne (Günther, 1879) – short-horned chameleon
Calumma capuroni (Brygoo, C. Blanc & Domergue, 1972) – Madagascar chameleon
Calumma crypticum Raxworthy & Nussbaum, 2006 – blue-legged chameleon
Calumma cucullatum (Gray, 1831) – hooded chameleon
Calumma emelinae Prötzel, Scherz, Ratsoavina, Vences, & Glaw, 2020
Calumma fallax (Mocquard, 1900) – deceptive chameleon
Calumma furcifer (Vaillant & Grandidier, 1880) – forked chameleon
Calumma gallus (Günther, 1877) – blade chameleon
Calumma gastrotaenia (Boulenger, 1888) – Perinet chameleon
Calumma gehringi Prötzel, Vences, Scherz, Vieites & Glaw, 2017
Calumma glawi 1997 – Glaw's chameleon
Calumma globifer (Günther, 1879) – globe-horned chameleon or flat-casqued chameleon
Calumma guibei (Hillenius, 1959) – Guibe's chameleon
Calumma guillaumeti (Brygoo, C. Blanc & Domergue, 1974)
Calumma hafahafa Raxworthy & Nussbaum, 2006 – bizarre-nosed chameleon
Calumma hilleniusi (Brygoo, C. Blanc & Domergue, 1973)
Calumma jejy Raxworthy & Nussbaum, 2006 – Marojejy Peak chameleon
Calumma juliae Prötzel, Vences, Hawlitschek, Scherz, Ratsoavina & Glaw, 2018
Calumma lefona Prötzel, Vences, Hawlitschek, Scherz, Ratsoavina & Glaw, 2018
Calumma linotum (L. Müller, 1924) – Amber Mountain blue-nosed chameleon
Calumma malthe (Günther, 1879) – yellow-green chameleon
Calumma marojezense (Brygoo, C. Blanc & Domergue, 1970)
Calumma nasutum (A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1836) – big-nosed chameleon, pimple-nose chameleon
Calumma oshaughnessyi (Günther, 1881) – O'Shaughnessy's chameleon
Calumma parsonii (Cuvier, 1824) – Parsons's chameleon
Calumma peltierorum Raxworthy & Nussbaum, 2006 – Peltier's chameleon
Calumma peyrierasi (Brygoo, C. Blanc & Domergue, 1974) – chameleon, Peyriéras's chameleon
Calumma radamanus (Mertens, 1933)
Calumma ratnasariae Prötzel, Scherz, Ratsoavina, Vences & Glaw, 2020
Calumma roaloko Prötzel, Lambert, Andrianasolo, Hutter, Cobb, Scherz & Glaw, 2018 – Two-toned soft-nosed chameleon
Calumma tarzan Gehring, Pabijan, Ratsoavina, J. Köhler, Vences & Glaw, 2010 – Tarzan chameleon, Tarzan's chameleon
Calumma tjiasmantoi Prötzel, Scherz, Ratsoavina, Vences, & Glaw, 2020
Calumma tsaratananense (Brygoo & Domergue, 1967) – Tsaratanana chameleon
Calumma tsycorne Raxworthy & Nussbaum, 2006 – blunt-nosed chameleon
Calumma uetzi Prötzel, Vences, Hawlitschek, Scherz, Ratsoavina & Glaw, 2018 – Uetz's soft-nosed chameleon
Calumma vatosoa Mattioli, Jesu & Randrianirina, 2001
Calumma vencesi Andreone, Mattioli, Jesu & Randrianirina, 2001 – Vences's chameleon
Calumma vohibola Gehring, Ratsoavina, Vences & Glaw, 2011
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Calumma.
References
Further reading
Gray JE (1865). "Revision of the Genera and Species of Chamæleonidæ, with the Descriptions of some New Species". Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1864: 465–479. (Calumma, new genus, p. 476).
External links
Anderson CV (2006). Captive Chameleon Populations. Accessed 23-01-2009
Lizard genera
Taxa named by John Edward Gray