Rhampholeon

Rhampholeon
Rhampholeon temporalis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Iguania
Family:	Chamaeleonidae
Subfamily:	Chamaeleoninae
Genus:	Rhampholeon Günther, 1874

Rhampholeon is a genus of small chameleons, commonly known as pygmy chameleons or African leaf chameleons, found in central East Africa (extending slightly into adjacent DR Congo). They are found in forests, woodlands, thickets, and savanna, and most species are restricted to highlands. They are brown, grey, or green, and typically seen at low levels in bushes, or on the ground among grasses or leaf litter.

Taxonomy

Until recently, the members of the genus Rieppeleon were commonly included in Rhampholeon, instead.

Species

The following 19 species are recognized as being valid.

• Rhampholeon acuminatus Mariaux & Tilbury, 2006
• Rhampholeon beraduccii Mariaux & Tilbury, 2006
• Rhampholeon boulengeri Steindachner, 1911 – Boulenger's pygmy chameleon
• Rhampholeon bruessoworum Branch, Bayliss & Tolley, 2014
• Rhampholeon chapmanorum Tilbury, 1992
• Rhampholeon gorongosae Broadley 1971 – Gorongosa pygmy chameleon
• Rhampholeon hattinghi Tilbury & Tolley, 2015
• Rhampholeon marshalli Boulenger, 1906 – Marshall's pygmy chameleon
• Rhampholeon maspictus Branch, Bayliss & Tolley, 2014
• Rhampholeon moyeri Menegon, Salvidio & Tilbury, 2002
• Rhampholeon nchisiensis (Loveridge, 1953) – pitless pygmy chameleon
• Rhampholeon nebulauctor Branch, Bayliss & Tolley, 2014
• Rhampholeon platyceps Günther, 1893
• Rhampholeon spectrum (Buchholz, 1874) – spectral pygmy chameleon
• Rhampholeon spinosus (Matschie, 1892) – rosette-nosed chameleon
• Rhampholeon temporalis (Matschie, 1892) – Usambara pitted pygmy chameleon
• Rhampholeon tilburyi Branch, Bayliss & Tolley, 2014
• Rhampholeon uluguruensis Tilbury & Emmrich, 1996 – Uluguru pygmy chameleon
• Rhampholeon viridis Mariaux & Tilbury, 2006

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Rhampholeon.

Further reading

• Boulenger GA (1887). Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume III. ... Chamæleontidæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 575 pp. + Plates I-XL. (Genus Rhampholeon, p. 475).
• Branch WR (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. ISBN 0-88359-042-5. (Genus Rhampholeon, p. 228).
• Branch WR, Bayliss J, Tolley KA (2014). "Pygmy chameleons of the Rhampholeon platyceps compex (Squamata: Chamaeleonidae): Description of four new species from isolated 'sky islands' of northern Mozambique". Zootaxa. 3814: 1–36. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3814.1.1.
• Goin CJ, Goin OB, Zug GR (1978). Introduction to Herpetology: Third Edition. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman and Company. xi + 378 pp. ISBN 0-7167-0020-4. (Genus Rhampholeon, p. 289).
• Günther A (1874). "Descriptions of some new or imperfectly known Species of Reptiles from the Camaroon [sic] Mountains". Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1874: 442-445. (Rhampholeon, new genus, p. 444).
• Spawls S, Drewes R, Ashe J (2002). A Field Guide to the Reptiles of East Africa. Köln: Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-656470-1.
• Tilbury, Colin (2010). Chameleons of Africa, An Atlas including the chameleons of Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Frankfurt: Edition Chimaira.