Stub tail chameleons

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Stub tail chameleons
Rieppeleon brevicaudatus, ♂

Rieppeleon brevicaudatus , ♂

Systematics
Superordinate : Scale lizards (Lepidosauria)
Order : Scale reptiles (Squamata)
without rank: Toxicofera
without rank: Iguana (Iguania)
Family : Chameleons (Chamaeleonidae)
Subfamily : Stub tail chameleons
Scientific name
Brookesiinae
Angel , 1942

The stump tail chameleons (Brookesiinae), sometimes also called dwarf chameleons , earth chameleons or loggerhead chameleons , are a subfamily of the chameleons (Chamaeleonidae). About 40 species are currently assigned to it.

Their size ranges from 23 to 29 mm ( Brookesia micra ) up to 16 cm ( Rhampholeon spinosum ), but most animals only reach around 9 cm. They owe their name to their rudimentary tail, which, in contrast to real chameleons (Chamaeleoninae), is usually only a few millimeters long. In contrast to the real chameleons, stump tail chameleons are characterized by inconspicuous colors, mostly brown and green dominate. Although the animals are also capable of color changes, these remain comparatively unspectacular due to the small color palette. Stubby-tailed chameleons, unlike real chameleons, are not yet under species protection, but due to the enormous exports from their home countries, it is already being discussed (as of autumn 2005).

distribution

Species of the genus Rhampholeon and Rieppeleon are native to Africa and inhabit tiny habitats there , which, however, extend over almost the entire continent . The animals occur in wet and rainforests up to heights of 1000 m. A few species inhabit dry forests or the savannah. Brookesia is a genus endemic to Madagascar , where the origin of the subfamily is suspected. Common to all species is their habitat, which is rarely more than 1 m above the ground. Many animals spend most of the day in the leafy layer.

Multiplication

After a gestation of 25-60 days, female animals lay between 1 and 15 eggs in self-dug burrows. The eggs have a size of 2 × 1 mm to 17 × 8 mm, depending on the species. Rieppeleon brevicaudatus reproduces regularly in captivity under the right conditions.

Keeping in the terrarium

Stubby-tailed chameleons, like all chameleons, are delicate pets and are not suitable as entry-level animals. Because of their montane habitat, many species require low temperatures, which are often difficult to achieve in summer. Rieppeleon brevicaudatus are still often caught in the wild , but they rarely have a long life expectancy due to their mostly poor health.

Systematics

In an article published in 2004, Conrad A. Matthee, Colin R. Tilbury and Ted Townsend come to the conclusion, after detailed molecular biological analyzes of samples from 83 individuals of the genus Rhampholeon and their comparison, that the previous systematics of the Brookesiinae in general and the genus Rhampholeon in Require a fundamental revision, especially due to the established relationships. The consequences of the studies by Matthee et al. can essentially be summarized in three points:

  • The species R. brevicaudatus , R. kerstenii and R. brachyurus are to be separated from the other species of the genus from Rhampholeon due to morphological and genetic differences and transferred to the new genus Rieppeleon .
  • The genus Rhampholeon with the remaining species should be further subdivided into the subgenus Rhampholeon , Rhinodigitum and Bicuspis .
  • The position of the genera Rhampholeon and Rieppeleon within the Chamaeleonidae is to be changed, since the investigations have shown an assignment to the subfamily of the Chamaeleoninae. As a further consequence, the Brookesiinae subfamily would only include the genus Brookesia .

The following overview is based on the systematics published by Arbeitsgemeinschaft Chamäleons (AG-Chamäleons) of the German Society for Herpetology and Terrarium Studies (as of March 2007) or on the taxonomy of the ITIS Standard Report. Both implemented the first two points of the requested changes, but still include the species of the genus Rhampholeon and those of the new genus Rieppeleon to the subfamily Brookesiinae.

Brookesia spec.
Brookesia nasus
Brookesia superciliaris
Rhampholeon temporalis , during moult

Web links

Commons : Stubby-tailed chameleons (Brookesiinae)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Conrad A. Matthee, Colin R. Tilbury, Ted Townsend: A phylogenetic review of the African leaf chameleons: genus Rhampholeon (Chamaeleonidae): the role of vicariance and climate change in speciation. In: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences. Vol. 271, No. 1551, 2004, pp. 1967–1975, doi : 10.1098 / rspb.2004.2806 , digital version (PDF; 269 kB) .
  2. ↑ Systematics of the chameleons according to the German Society for Herpetology and Terrarium Studies (status: 2007) ( Memento from October 22, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ www.itis.gov - ITIS Standard Report