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A tiny Bruno's Dwarf Chameleon (Brookesia brunoi) eyes the photographer warily
Our 2007 Madagascar itinerary included Anja Community Reserve due to its easily approachable population of ring-tailed lemurs, which everyone loves to see. While there, one of the local guides found this tiny chameleon and showed it to us. I had a heck of a time identifying the species; the ones in the Glaw & Vences field guide that looked most similar were only known from distant parts of Madagascar. It turns out that the field guide didn't include this species, because the species had not yet been described: it was not described until 2012, five years after I photographed it.
B. brunoi is a medium-sized Brookesia, reaching a maximum length of 68mm. It lacks a dorsal ridge, but has a set of 9 pairs of pointed structures (tubercles) along its back, the last of which is modified into a diamond-shaped pelvic shield. The tubercles continue with less definition down the length of the tail.
This chameleon is known only from the Anja Reserve in south-central Madagascar.
comments (11)
I have a suspicion that the same is true for a few other categories of wildlife in Madagascar. And there's also the sad realization that probably thousands of species that have never been discovered will never be discovered because their habitat was burned to the ground. Posted 9 years ago
From my recent experience with Taxanomy, it really takes years for research before the description can be published. And that is provided there are Taxanomists who has interest in the subject and willing to spend lots of personal time to dwell into it.
In the field I am more familiar with i.e. Phasmids, a recently published book by a Taxanomist from Singapore newly described 15 new genera and 52 new species of Phasmids, all from the Borneo, particularly the Malaysian part. And this 52 new species were discovered over a period of 25 years! Of course not all were discovered so long time ago, some were more recent like 2-3 years ago. Its partly also the timing, whereby more recent discoveries were able to be included in the book for description.
Other descriptions may take shorter period i.e. within 2 years if the description paper focused on either one or a small group of new discovery.
Other considerations includes the category of animals. For example, on Lepidopteras, there are Taxanomists willing to look into sub-species but when it comes to Phasmids, there are hardly any interest even if its a new species, especially if it doesn't looks exciting! Posted 8 years ago
I think reptiles get more attention from taxonomists than insects as a rule, both because reptiles are a so-called "higher" life form, and because there are so many more insect species. But certainly it can take years to gather the information needed to formally describe a new species. In the case of Madagascar reptiles, there are a few very active biologists working hard on describing and clarifying new herp species, including Frank Glaw and Miguel Vences, who are also the authors of the field guide for reptiles and amphibians of Madagascar. Their field guide is as complete and up-to-date as it is possible to be when they publish it. It even includes discussion and photos of species that were known to exist but not formally described at the time of publication. The most recent update (3rd edition) was being prepared for printing in 2007 when I saw this chameleon, but there's no mention of a dwarf chameleon like this one in this part of Madagascar. So it seems likely that they were either unaware of its existence at the time or had only recently learned of it. Otherwise I would have expected them to mention it, even if it had not yet been formally described.
I am guessing that the book of Borneo phasmids that you mentioned is the one at https://www.nhpborneo.com/book/taxonomic-guide-stick-insects-borneo/ I will be visiting Borneo in January and I love phasmids, though I am not very knowledgeable about them. I hope that I can find a copy of this book while I am there. (I considered having it sent to California where I live but the shipping cost is as much as the book itself.) I hope that I see many phasmid species as well as many lizards, snakes, and frogs! Posted 8 years ago
Yes, that was the book by Dr. Francis Seow. The print is limited edition, I think 500 copies only as not many people will buy the Book except for those who are into Phasmids. He had to publish the Book because he is describing the new species in the Book.
Let me know if you need some info of places to visit when in Borneo and if you don't mind, I could possibly join you too in part of the trip.
I would highly recommend Mulu National Park in Sarawak, not only for Phasmids but lots of other stuff and the caves are quite spectacular. If you are into more remote places, then Maliau Basin and Danum Valley in Sabah is the place to go although it can be costly to go there, in term of transportation.
And since you like Frogs too, you can consider Kubah National Park, Sarawak. Very easy to get there, just one hour from the Kuching airport. There are easily 30 species of Frogs to be seen in the Park, including Microhyla borneensis and Rhacophorus nigropalmatus.
Cheers! Posted 8 years ago, modified 8 years ago