Bale two-horned chameleon

Appearance

It has a prominent crest of long blade-like scales along midline of the throat, has pair of horns on snout which project well forward past upper lip. Colour varies from bright green to pale grey-green, often with vague and irregular dark patches on flanks. Underside paler. Length up to 160 mm.

Naming

Tilbury 1998

Distribution

This species has only been recorded from the southern slopes of the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia (Largen and Spawls 2006, Largen and Spawls 2010), between 1,500 and 2,400 m asl. (Tilbury 1998, Largen and Spawls 2010), entirely within the Harenna Forest in Bale Mountains National Park.

Status

near threatened (IUCN Red List)

Habitat

This species is found in broadleaf undifferentiated Afromontane rainforest at mid-elevations. It occurs in forest dominated by Aningeria adolfifrederici and Podocarpus latifolius at lower elevations, and by Hagenia abyssinia and Schefflera abyssinia at higher altitudes (Tilbury 1998, Largen and Spawls 2010). Some individuals have been found perching in the lower shrub layer at heights of 1.5-5 m above ground (Largen and Spawls 2010). Surveys of disturbed and altered habitats in the Bale Mountains, which have recorded the related species T. harennae (Largen and Spawls 2010, 2011), have never recorded this species outside forest, and it is not thought to be likely to tolerate altered habitats or disturbance to the forest (S. Loader pers. comm. 2014). One female was found to contain 16 eggs (Tilbury 1998, Largen and Spawls 2010). Other observations, however, indicate that this species is in fact viviparous (Tilbury 2010).

Food

Insects

Defense

Camouflage