Blue-legged chameleon

Appearance

This species has been confused with C. brevicorne.

Diagnosis: A Calumma chameleon from Madagascar that differs from all congeners by the combination of a male single ossified rostral appendage projecting up to 2.4 mm (anterior to the mouth), which is dorso-ventrally flattened, with two longitudinal scale rows at base in lateral view; adult SVL , 116 mm; a pair of large occipital lobes that are dorsally united to each other by up to 3 mm in adult; and in life a reddish brown head coloration in adult males. Calumma crypticum is most similar to C. amber, but can be distinguished by the form of the female dorsal crest (periodicity in tubercle size vs. no periodicity in tubercle size), the head and body color in life of the adult male (reddish-brown head and body vs. yellow head and green body), and the projection length of the adult male rostral appendage (0. 5–2. 4 mm vs . up t o 0.7 mm) [from RAXWORTHY & NUSSBAUM 2006].

Distribution

This species is endemic to Madagascar and has a broad latitudinal distribution between the Anosy Mountains in the south and the Tsaratanana Massif in the north, where it is present in a number of localities in the central highlands (Raxworthy and Nussbaum 2006, Randrianantoandro et al. 2010). A subpopulation around Ambohitantely (Raxworthy and Nussbaum 2006) is presumably isolated, as there is no forest remaining between this area and the lizard's core distribution (R. Jenkins pers. comm. June 2011). Its elevational range is from 1,050 to 1,850 m. The chameleon's estimated extent of occurrence is 101,786 km²; however, voucher collections need to be re-assessed to update its geographic range information because of historical confusion between this species and C. brevicorne.

Habitat

This is a forest chameleon that occurs in mid-altitudes between 1,050 and 1,850 m elevation, where it appears to be more abundant in semi-open areas associated with trails, gaps and rivers (Jenkins et al. 1999).

History and timeline

This species was previously included within Calumma brevicorne (Raxworthy and Nussbaum 2006). Boumans et al. (2007) confirmed the genetic distinctness of these two species, but noted "remarkably low" genetic differentiation between C. brevicorne from Andasibe and C. crypticum from Mandraka. Additional taxa may remain to be described within this species (Boumans et al. 2007).