Furcifer

Furcifer is a genus of chameleons whose member species are mostly endemic to Madagascar, but F. cephalolepis and F. polleni are endemic to the Comoros. Additionally, F. pardalis has been introduced to Réunion and Mauritius, while F. oustaleti has been introduced to near Nairobi in Kenya.

Furcifer
Furcifer pardalis, panther chameleon
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Iguania
Family: Chamaeleonidae
Subfamily: Chamaeleoninae
Genus: Furcifer
Fitzinger, 1843
Type species
Chamaeleo bifidus
Brongniart, 1800
Diversity
24 species

Taxonomy

The generic name (Furcifer) is derived from the Latin root furci- meaning "forked" and refers to the shape of the animal's feet.[1]

The genus contains 24 species.[2]

Species

The following species are recognized as being valid.[3]

ImageScientific nameCommon NameDistribution
Furcifer angeli (Brygoo & Domergue, 1968)Angel's chameleonnorthwest Madagascar
Furcifer antimena (Grandidier, 1872)Antimena chameleonsouthwest Madagascar
Furcifer balteatus (A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1851)two-banded chameleonMadagascar
Furcifer belalandaensis (Brygoo & Domergue, 1970)Belalanda chameleonMadagascar.
Furcifer bifidus (Brongniart, 1900)two-horned chameleonMadagascar
Furcifer campani (Grandidier, 1872)jewelled chameleoncentral highlands of Madagascar
Furcifer cephalolepis (Günther, 1880)Comoro Islands chameleonMadagascar.
Furcifer labordi (Grandidier, 1872)Labord's chameleonMadagascar.
Furcifer lateralis (Gray, 1831)carpet chameleonMadagascar.
Furcifer major (Brygoo, 1971)Southern Carpet ChameleonTanandava, Madagascar
Furcifer minor (Günther, 1879)lesser chameleonCentral Madagascar.
Furcifer monoceras (Boettger, 1913)Madagascar.
Furcifer nicosiai Jesu, Mattioli & Schimmenti, 1999western Madagascar.
Furcifer oustaleti (Mocquard, 1894)Malagasy giant chameleonMadagascar
Furcifer pardalis (Cuvier, 1829)panther chameleoneastern and northern parts of Madagascar
Furcifer petteri (Brygoo & Domergue, 1966)Petter's chameleonnorthern Madagascar
Furcifer polleni (W. Peters, 1874)Mayotte chameleonthe Comoros Islands.
Furcifer rhinoceratus (Gray, 1845)rhinoceros chameleondry forests in Madagascar.
Furcifer timoni Glaw, Köhler & Vences, 2009 [2]Ambiky chameleonMadagascar.
Furcifer tuzetae (Brygoo, Bourgat & Domergue, 1972)Ambiky chameleonMadagascar.
Furcifer verrucosus (Cuvier, 1829)warty chameleonMadagascar.
Furcifer viridis Florio et al., 2012northwest Madagascar, from the central highlands and Maevatanana to Ambanja
Furcifer voeltzkowi (Boettger, 1893)Voeltzkow's chameleonMadagascar.
Furcifer willsii (Günther, 1890)canopy chameleoneastern Madagascar

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

References

  1. Le Berre, François; Bartlett, Richard D. (2009). The Chameleon Handbook. Barron's Educational Series. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-7641-4142-3.
  2. Glaw F et al. (2009). A distinctive new species of chameleon of the genus Furcifer (Squamata: Chameleonidae) from the Montagne d'Ambre rainforest of northern Madagascar. Zootaxa 2269: 32-42.
  3. "Furcifer ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.

Further reading

  • Fitzinger L. 1843. Systema Reptilium, Fasciculus Primus, Amblyglossae. Vienna: Braumüller & Seidel. 106 pp. + indices. (Furcifer, new genus, p. 42). (in Latin).
  • Glaw, Frank; Vences, Miguel. (1994). A Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar, 2nd edition. Köln: M. Vences & F. Glaw Verlags GbR. ISBN 3-929449-01-3.
  • Spawls S; Drewes R; Ashe J. (2002). A Field Guide to the Reptiles of East Africa. Köln: Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-656470-1.
  • Anderson CV. (2006). Captive Chameleon Populations. Accessed 23-01-2009
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