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, Mauritius and Florida, while F. oustaleti has been introduced to Kenya and Florida.
| Furcifer | |
|---|---|
| |
| Furcifer pardalis, panther chameleon | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| 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
editThe 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
editThe following species are recognized as being valid.[3]
| Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) |
Furcifer angeli (Brygoo & Domergue, 1968) | Angel's chameleon | northwest Madagascar |
 |
Furcifer antimena (Grandidier, 1872) | Antimena chameleon | southwest Madagascar |
 |
Furcifer balteatus (A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1851) | two-banded chameleon | Madagascar |
| Furcifer belalandaensis (Brygoo & Domergue, 1970) | Belalanda chameleon | Madagascar. | |
| Furcifer bifidus (Brongniart, 1900) | two-horned chameleon | Madagascar | |
 |
Furcifer campani (Grandidier, 1872) | jewelled chameleon | central highlands of Madagascar |
| Furcifer cephalolepis (Günther, 1880) | Comoro Islands chameleon | Grande Comore. | |
 |
Furcifer labordi (Grandidier, 1872) | Labord's chameleon | Madagascar. |
_female_(7636716522).jpg) |
Furcifer lateralis (Gray, 1831) | carpet chameleon | Madagascar. |
 |
Furcifer major (Brygoo, 1971) | Southern Carpet Chameleon | Tanandava, Madagascar |
_female_(captive_specimen)_(10328597434).jpg) |
Furcifer minor (Günther, 1879) | lesser chameleon | Central Madagascar. |
| Furcifer monoceras (Boettger, 1913) | Madagascar. | ||
,_Kirindy_Forest,_Madagascar.jpg) |
Furcifer nicosiai Jesu, Mattioli & Schimmenti, 1999 | western Madagascar. | |
_male_Anja_Community_Reserve.jpg) |
Furcifer oustaleti (Mocquard, 1894) | Malagasy giant chameleon | Madagascar |
_male_Nosy_Be.jpg) |
Furcifer pardalis (Cuvier, 1829) | panther chameleon | eastern and northern parts of Madagascar |
_male_Montagne_d%E2%80%99Ambre.jpg) |
Furcifer petteri (Brygoo & Domergue, 1966) | Petter's chameleon | northern Madagascar |
 |
Furcifer polleni (W. Peters, 1874) | Mayotte chameleon | Mayotte. |
 |
Furcifer rhinoceratus (Gray, 1845) | rhinoceros chameleon | dry forests in Madagascar. |
| Furcifer timoni Glaw, Köhler & Vences, 2009[2] | Timon's chameleon | Madagascar. | |
| Furcifer tuzetae (Brygoo, Bourgat & Domergue, 1972) | Ambiky chameleon | Madagascar. | |
_male_Arboretum_d%27Antsokay.jpg) |
Furcifer verrucosus (Cuvier, 1829) | warty chameleon | Madagascar. |
 |
Furcifer viridis Florio et al., 2012 | green chameleon | northwest Madagascar, from the central highlands and Maevatanana to Ambanja |
| Furcifer voeltzkowi (Boettger, 1893) | Voeltzkow's chameleon | Madagascar. | |
_(9648245322).jpg) |
Furcifer willsii (Günther, 1890) | canopy chameleon | eastern Madagascar |
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Furcifer.
References
edit- ^ Le Berre, François; Bartlett, Richard D. (2009). The Chameleon Handbook. Barron's Educational Series. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-7641-4142-3.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ "Furcifer ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
Further reading
edit- 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. [in German] (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