Rieppeleon is a genus of small, typically brown chameleons found in forests and savannas in East Africa. Member species are found at low levels in bushes, or on the ground among grass or leaf litter.[1]
| Rieppeleon | |
|---|---|
| |
| Male R. brevicaudatus | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Iguania |
| Family: | Chamaeleonidae |
| Subfamily: | Chamaeleoninae |
| Genus: | Rieppeleon Matthee, Tilbury & Townsend, 2004 |
Etymology
editThe genus Rieppeleon was named after Swiss-born American herpetologist Olivier Rieppel (born 1951).[2][3]
Taxonomy
editUntil recently, the species in the genus Rieppeleon were commonly included in the genus Rhampholeon instead.
Species
editThe following species are recognized as being valid.[4]
| Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rieppeleon brachyurus (Günther, 1893) | beardless pygmy chameleon | Malawi, Mozambique, and southeastern Tanzania. | |
 |
Rieppeleon brevicaudatus (Matschie, 1892) | bearded pygmy chameleon | eastern Usambara and Uluguru Mountains in northeastern Tanzania and Kenya |
 |
Rieppeleon kerstenii (W. Peters, 1868) | Kenya pygmy chameleon | eastern Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and northeastern Tanzania |
Nota bene: A binomial authority, or trinomial authority, in parentheses indicates that the species, or subspecies, was originally described in a genus other than Rieppeleon.
References
edit- ^ Spawls, S.; Drewes, R.; Ashe, J. (2002). A Field Guide to the Reptiles of East Africa. Cologne, Germany: Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-656470-1.
- ^ Mattison, Chris; Garbutt, Nick (2012). Chameleons. United States: Firefly Books Inc. p. 92. ISBN 978-1-77085-121-4.
- ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Genus Rieppeleon, p. 221).
- ^ Genus Rieppeleon at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
Further reading
edit- Matthee CA, Tilbury CR, Townsend T (2004). "A phylogenetic review of the African leaf chameleons: genus Rhampholeon (Chamaeleonidae): the role of vicariance and climate change in speciation". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 271 (1551): 1967–1975. doi:10.1098/rspb.2004.2806. PMC 1691807. PMID 15347522. (Rieppeleon, new genus, p. 1973).
- Spawls S, Howell K, Hinkel H, Menegon M (2018). A Field Guide to East African Reptiles, Second Edition. London, Oxford, New York, New Delhi, Sydney: Bloomsbury Wildlife. 624 pp. ISBN 978-1-399-40481-5. (Genus Rieppeleon, p. 245).
 | This chameleon article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |