Systematic revision of the Malagasy chameleons Calumma boettgeri and C. linotum (Squamata: Chamaeleonidae)
Author
Prötzel, David
Author
Ruthensteiner, Bernhard
Author
Scherz, Mark D.
Author
Glaw, Frank
text
Zootaxa
2015
4048
2
211
231
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.4048.2.4
2bc19ab1-a510-408b-8fc3-e526ee3dc59a
1175-5326
233651
2CAB0746-175E-4FE1-B0D0-23DFF395A559
Identity of
Calumma boettgeri
(
Boulenger, 1888
)
Morphological measurements and pholidosis of the
holotype
require the assignment of
Chamaeleo macrorhinus
to the
Nosy
Be form of
Calumma boettgeri
.
The measurements are similar to the mean values of the females from
Nosy
Be (
Tables 1–2
): diameter of the broadest tubercle on the upper arm
0.34 mm
(vs. mean of
Nosy
Be females of
0.32 mm
, SD 0.048), number of enlarged tubercles on the upper arm 8 (vs. 10.6, SD 1.8); ratio of the upper arm diameter to the body size, 0.046 (vs. 0.041, SD 0.0038), total length,
93.1 mm
(vs.
96.3 mm
, SD
8.1 mm
) and length of the rostral appendage,
2.8 mm
(vs.
2.7 mm
, SD
0.5 mm
).
Diagnosis
. A small-sized chameleon (SVL
41.1–55.5 mm
, TL 83.8–108.0 mm) that is characterised by a soft dermal, distally rounded, typically brown rostral appendage, slightly notched occipital lobes, the absence of a parietal crest, a low casque, the absence of axillary pits, small rounded tubercles not bordering each other on the extremities, presence or absence of a dorsal crest in males, low casque, and absence of gular and ventral crests. It differs from
C. guibei
by unnotched or only slightly (max.
0.7 mm
) notched versus completely notched occipital lobes. For a distinction from
C. linotum
, see above.
Colouration in life.
The body and head colouration of males in relaxed state ranges from light brown to yellow without any obvious colour patterns. When stressed, dark colour patterns become prominent and the tail becomes annulated. A dark line runs from the snout tip across the eyes to the occipital lobes. The skin around the mouth and the throat can be white. Remarkable is the inconspicuous brown colour of the rostral appendage. The extremities appear brown also, except for a few green or blue coloured tubercle scales (
Fig. 2
B).
The colouration of the females can vary from beige to a reddish or greenish brown ground colouration in a relaxed state. The rostral appendage and the extremities show the same colour as the body, except for a few green tubercle scales on the legs. In a stressed state, three parallel bright blue spots appear on the upper half of the eyelids.
Distribution.
All confirmed distribution records of
C. boettgeri
are confined to the biogeographic Sambirano region in northwest
Madagascar
. It was found in both primary rainforest (Lokobe) and secondary forests (near Andoany) of
Nosy
Be (
Andreone
et al.
2003
), in Manongarivo (
Rakotomalala 2002
; Gehring
et al.
2012), and on
Nosy
Komba (
Hyde Roberts & Daly 2014
). Additionally
Nagy
et al
. (2012
, suppl.
Fig. 2
) identified a population with similar gene sequences to
C. boettgeri
from a forest fragment locally known as Maromiandra (
13°99’65’’S
,
48°21’77’’E
,
283 m
). According to molecular phylogenetic data,
C. boettgeri
from
Nosy
Be and one individual from Manongarivo (FGMV 2002-813,
13°58’62’’S
,
48°25’32’’E
,
751 m
a.s.l.) form their own clade (Gehring
et al.
2012). The elevations of all these localities range from
0 to 751 m
a.s.l. (
Fig. 6
).
We consider all additional records of
C. boettgeri
, all located in northeastern
Madagascar
, as in need of confirmation: Ambolokopatrika,
810–860 m
a.s.l. (
Andreone
et al.
2000
), Antalaha (
Brygoo 1971
), Andrakaraka forest station ca.
10 km
from Antalaha (
Ramanantsoa 1974
), and Marojejy,
1100–1200 m
a.s.l. (
Raselimanana
et al.
2000
).