Kinyongia (derived from the group's name in Kiswahili language) is a genus of chameleons found in montane and sub-montane areas in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and far eastern DR Congo. They are restricted to forests, woodlands and other wooded habitats, and many species have very small geographic ranges. In most species, at least the males have horns or knobs on their noses.[1][2] As typical of most chameleons, Kinyongia are oviparous.[3]
| Kinyongia | |
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| Kinyongia matschiei | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Iguania |
| Family: | Chamaeleonidae |
| Genus: | Kinyongia Tilbury, Tolley & Branch, 2006 |
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They were initially placed in the genus Chamaeleo and by some authorities subsequently transferred into Bradypodion, but in 2006 they were moved to their own genus, Kinyongia.[1][4][5][6]
Species
editThe following 23 species are recognized as being valid.[7]
| Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kinyongia adolfifriderici (Sternfeld, 1912) | Ituri chameleon | Burundi, northern and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda. | |
| Kinyongia asheorum (Nečas et al., 2009) | Mount Nyiro bearded chameleon | Kenya | |
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Kinyongia boehmei (Lutzmann & Nečas, 2002) | Taita blade-horned chameleon, Böhme's two-horned chameleon | Kenya |
| Kinyongia carpenteri (Parker, 1929) | Carpenter's chameleon | Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. | |
| Kinyongia excubitor (Barbour, 1911) | Mt. Kenya hornless chameleon | Kenya | |
| Kinyongia fischeri (Reichenow, 1887) | Fischer's chameleon, Nguru blade-horned chameleon, Nguru two-horned chameleon | Tanzania. | |
| Kinyongia gyrolepis (Greenbaum et al., 2012) | Lendu chameleon | Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
| Kinyongia itombwensis Hughes et al., 2017 | Itombwe forest chameleon | Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
 |
Kinyongia magomberae Menegon et al., 2009 | Magombera chameleon | Tanzania |
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Kinyongia matschiei (F. Werner, 1895) | giant monkey-tailed East Usambara two-horned chameleon | Tanzania. |
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Kinyongia msuyae Menegon et al., 2015 | Tanzania. | |
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Kinyongia multituberculata (Nieden, 1913) | West Usambara two-horned chameleon | Tanzania |
| Kinyongia mulyai Tilbury & Tolley, 2015 | Democratic Republic of the Congo. | ||
 |
Kinyongia oxyrhina (Klaver & W. Böhme, 1988) | sharp-nosed chameleon | Tanzania. |
| Kinyongia rugegensis Hughes et al., 2017 | Rugege highlands forest chameleon | Burundi | |
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Kinyongia tavetana (Steindachner, 1891) | Kilimanjaro blade-horned chameleon, Kilimanjaro two-horned chameleon | southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. |
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Kinyongia tenuis (Matschie, 1892) | Usambara soft-horned chameleon | Kenya and Tanzania |
| Kinyongia tolleyae Hughes et al., 2017 | Tolley's forest chameleon | Uganda. | |
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Kinyongia uluguruensis (Loveridge, 1957) | Uluguru two-horned chameleon | Tanzania |
| Kinyongia uthmoelleri (L. Müller, 1938) | Hanang hornless chameleon | Tanzania. | |
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Kinyongia vanheygeni Nečas, 2009 | Van Heygen's chameleon | Tanzania. |
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Kinyongia vosseleri (Nieden, 1913) | East Usambara two-horned chameleon | Tanzania. |
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Kinyongia xenorhina (Boulenger, 1901) | strange-nosed chameleon | western Uganda and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. |
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Kinyongia.
References
edit- ^ a b Tilbury CR, Tolley KA, Branch WR (2006). "A review of the genus Bradypodion (Sauria: Chamaeleonidae), with the descriptions of two new genera". Zootaxa 1363: 23–38.
- ^ Lutzmann, Nicolà (2008). "Some important changes in the systematics of Bradypodion Fitzinger, 1843". Chameleons! Online E-Zine, February 2008. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
- ^ Hughes, D.F.; Blackburn, D.G. (2020). "Evolutionary origins of viviparity in Chamaeleonidae". Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research. 58 (1): 284–302. doi:10.1111/jzs.12328.
- ^ Klaver CJ, Böhme W (1986). "Phylogeny and classification of the Chamaeleonidae (Sauria) with special reference to hemipenis morphology". Bonner Zoologische Monographien 22: 1–64.
- ^ Tolley, Krystal A.; Tilbury, Colin R.; Branch, William R. (2004). "Phylogenetics of the southern African dwarf chameleons, Bradypodion (Squamata: Chamaeleonidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 30: 354–365. doi:10.1016/S1055-7903(03)00211-2 PDF fulltext Archived 2007-02-02 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Tolley, Krystal A.; Tilbury, Colin R.; Branch, William R. (2007). "Corrections to species names recently placed in Kinyongia and Nadzikambia (Reptilia: Chamaeleonidae)". Zootaxa 1426: 68.
- ^ Genus Kinyongia at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
Further reading
edit- Nečas P, Sindaco R, Kořený L, Kopečná J, Malonza PK, Modrý D (2009). "Kinyongia asheorum sp. n., a new montane chameleon from the Nyiro Range, northern Kenya (Squamata: Chamaeleonidae)". Zootaxa 2028: 41–50.