A new chameleon species from Madagascar on the brink of extinction - “A tarzan yell for conservation”

30.08.2010

A team of German and Malagasy biologists from the Technische Universität Braunschweig, the University of Antananarivo, the Zoological State Collection of Munich and of the hesssiche Landesmusem Darmstadt discovered a new chameleon species in the rainforests of Madagascar’s east coast.

The species was discovered in a small rainforest fragment very close to the village formerly known as Tarzanville. “Therefore, we dedicated the new species to the fictional forest man "Tarzan" in the hope that this famous name will promote awareness and conservation activities for this apparently highly threatened new species and its habitats, Madagascar's mid-altitude rainforest”, says PhD student Philip – Sebastian Gehring, first author of the description of this new species.

The Tarzan - chameleon should be considered as "Critically Endangered" because its recent distribution area covers probably less than 10 km2, there is continuing decline in the extent and quality of much of its habitat, and none of the habitats are included in the network of protected areas yet. The known habitats of this new chameleon should be protected as soon as possible in order to ensure the survival of this splendid species and other locally endemic endangered amphibian and reptile species occurring in these forest remnants, thereby using the Tarzan chameleon as a flagship species.

Source:

Gehring, P.-S., M. Pabijan,, F. Ratsoavina, J. Köhler, M. Vences & F. Glaw:
A Tarzan yell for conservation: a new chameleon, Calumma tarzan sp. n., proposed as flagship species for the creation of new nature reserves in Madagascar.- Salamandra 46(3) 151–163

http://www.innovations-report.de/html/berichte/biowissenschaften_chemie/a_chameleon_species_madagascar_brink_extinction_a_160554.html

A new chameleon species from Madagascar on the brink of extinction - “A tarzan yell for conservation”

30.08.2010

A team of German and Malagasy biologists from the Technische Universität Braunschweig, the University of Antananarivo, the Zoological State Collection of Munich and of the hesssiche Landesmusem Darmstadt discovered a new chameleon species in the rainforests of Madagascar’s east coast.

The species was discovered in a small rainforest fragment very close to the village formerly known as Tarzanville. “Therefore, we dedicated the new species to the fictional forest man "Tarzan" in the hope that this famous name will promote awareness and conservation activities for this apparently highly threatened new species and its habitats, Madagascar's mid-altitude rainforest”, says PhD student Philip – Sebastian Gehring, first author of the description of this new species.

The Tarzan - chameleon should be considered as "Critically Endangered" because its recent distribution area covers probably less than 10 km2, there is continuing decline in the extent and quality of much of its habitat, and none of the habitats are included in the network of protected areas yet. The known habitats of this new chameleon should be protected as soon as possible in order to ensure the survival of this splendid species and other locally endemic endangered amphibian and reptile species occurring in these forest remnants, thereby using the Tarzan chameleon as a flagship species.

Source:

Gehring, P.-S., M. Pabijan,, F. Ratsoavina, J. Köhler, M. Vences & F. Glaw:
A Tarzan yell for conservation: a new chameleon, Calumma tarzan sp. n., proposed as flagship species for the creation of new nature reserves in Madagascar.- Salamandra 46(3) 151–163

http://www.innovations-report.de/html/berichte/biowissenschaften_chemie/a_chameleon_species_madagascar_brink_extinction_a_160554.html

Cambridge role in chameleon discovery

The newly discovered chameleon (Kinyongia magomberae), found by conservation zoologist Trevor Jones in the Udzungwa Mountains of Tanzania.

News - Academia/Research
Written by News Desk
Tuesday, 05 January 2010 10:32

A new species of chameleon discovered in Tanzania has been identified and named by a team of life science experts including Anglia Ruskin University Research Fellow Trevor Jones.

Conservation zoologist Trevor was the first to photograph the newly-named ‘Magombera’ chameleon when he spotted it walking on the inside of his tent.

He was camped in the Mwanihana forest, in the Udzungwa Mountains of south-central Tanzania, studying endangered monkeys, and knew that there was no species of its kind reported from that site.

One year later, Dr Andrew Marshall, from the University of York, also spotted the reptile while surveying monkeys in another forest, the Magombera Forest, when he disturbed a tree snake eating one. The specimen was collected and tested and compared to others found in East Africa.

The study that followed included Dr Marshall and researchers from the Meseo Tridentino di Scienze Naturali, the South African National Biodiversity Institute, Anglia Ruskin University and the University of Stellenbosch.

Anglia Ruskin University’s Faculty of Science & Technology’s life sciences team has also been instrumental in the discovery of a new species of monkey and elephant-shrew, both in Tanzania.

The chameleon has been named Kinyongia magomberae (the Magombera chameleon). It was named after the second forest it was discovered in, to highlight this unprotected and highly threatened site. It is hoped that the naming of the chameleon will help to convince the government to give further protection to the area.

The Magombera discovery brings the total of known chameleon species to 161. Chameleons are a specialised group of lizards that often have the ability to change colours and are known for their dinosaur-like heads and parrot-like feet. The new species is most easily distinguished from its closest relatives by a very small and immobile horn-like appendage on the end of its nose.

Trevor Jones is a conservation zoologist who has worked on a wide range of mammals and birds in East Africa and Europe. Since 2002, he has carried out ecological research, monitoring and training in the biodiverse forests of the Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania.

From 2002-2004, he habituated a group of endemic Sanje mangabeys, and completed the first systematic study of their ecology and behaviour. In 2004, during an exhibition searching for unconfirmed populations of mangabeys, he instead discovered one of the two known populations of ‘kipunji’, Africa’s first new monkey species for 20 years.

http://www.businessweekly.co.uk/2010010536020/academia/research/cambridge-role-in-chameleon-discovery.html