Furcifer verrucosus discovered in the stomach of a snake

Furcifer verrucosus discovered in the stomach of a snake

by Alex Negro Beobachtungen Science

Biologists from the University of Michigan (USA) recently made a curious discovery: they analysed a snake of the species Langaha madagascariensis that had been prepared 31 years ago using dissection and microCT. The specimen had been largely untouched in the Zoological Museum of the University of Michigan since 1994. The snake was originally collected by R.A. Nussbaum in the extreme south of Madagascar, not far from Tolagnaro. Little is known about the diet of the leaf-nosed snake, only anecdotal case reports are known. Chameleons have now been added to the list of potential prey: An adult Furcifer verrucosus was found in the stomach of the female leaf-nosed snake examined.

Natural history notes: Langaha madagascariensis (Malagasy leaf-nosed snake)
Andressa L. Viol, Hayley L. Crowell, Justin L. Lee, Tristan D. Schramer
Herpetological Review 55 (2), 2025: 223-226.
DOI: not available

Photo: Furcifer verrucosus, photographed by Nick Newberry, CC BY 4.0

The new CHAMAELEO is out now!

The new CHAMAELEO is out now!

by Alex Negro AG Interna Beobachtungen CHAMAELEO Haltungsberichte Science

Good things come to those who wait: we have just received the latest issues of CHAMAELEO 49. They will now go into the mail as soon as possible and will then be on their way to all AG members. The current contents can be found here. And if you are not yet a member of the AG Chameleons, you might want to become one soon! How do you like the current issue? Do you have any comments, wishes or criticism? Too thick, too thin, too much English, too little? ;) We look forward to your feedback!

Impact of agriculture on chameleons in Madagascar

Impact of agriculture on chameleons in Madagascar

by Alex Negro Science

In Madagascar’s eastern highlands, farmland for rice fields is mainly obtained by slashing and burning primary forests or secondary vegetation. The rice fields are only used for one season. The following year the field is used for root vegetables. After just one harvest, the land lies fallow for up to five years before it is slash-and-burned again to grow rice again. Just five of these cycles can turn fertile land into degraded. In recent decades, fallow land has been cleared at ever shorter intervals. This practice has allowed invasive, non-native plant species to spread, while Malagasy plants that depend on primary forest have disappeared. Malagasy scientists have now investigated the impact of this form of agriculture on chameleons on the east coast of Madagascar.

The Ankeniheny-Zahamena rainforest corridor in the eastern highlands was used as the object of study. It runs along the east coast of Madagascar over an area of around 5000 km², some of which are only connected by very narrow forest fragments. A total of 44 sites were investigated during the rainy season, which were categorised into five habitat types: Ten sites with closed canopy rainforests, eight with tree fallows, eleven with shrub fallows, ten sites after at least five slash-and-burn cycles (degraded land) and five sites where reforestation was practised. The majority of chameleons were searched for, identified and measured at night along predefined transects (three to four parallel lines each 50 metres long).

A total of 15 chameleon species of the genera Brookesia, Furcifer and Calumma were found, although three species could not be precisely identified (as far as recognisable, these are animals from the Calumma nasutum/emelinae complex). Most chameleons favoured closed rainforest, whereas significantly fewer animals and species were found after slash-and-burn clearing. In forest areas with reforestation efforts, the number of chameleons was significantly higher than in degraded areas. Both emphasise the need to protect remaining rainforests as well as the relevance of reforestation in Madagascar.

Six species (including Calumma cf. vencesi, Brookesia superciliaris, Brookesia therezieni, Calumma parsonii) were clearly more sensitive to agriculture and can probably only survive to a very limited extent outside primary forest. Only three species were found on intensively farmed land, of which only Furcifer lateralis was most frequently found there.

Effects of shwidden agriculture on chameleon diversity and abundance in eastern tropical rainforest in Madagascar
Rodlis Raphali Andriantsimanarilafy, Joseph Christian Randrianantoandro, Josué Rakotoarioa, Alain Jean Victorien Rakotondrina, Ruth Kelly, Alison Cameron
Sustainability and biodiversity conservation 3(2): 99-118.
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.13861065

Photo: Carpet chameleon at the edge of a rice field in Madagascar, photographed by Alex Negro

Communal egglaying in Furcifer minor

Communal egglaying in Furcifer minor

by Alex Negro Science

In chameleons, there are only a few reports of females laying eggs in very close proximity to each other. Archaius tigris is even known to lay eggs together. Such an observation has now also been made in Madagascar, more precisely in the Itremo Massif in the southern highlands of the island.

In January this year, a female Furcifer minor was observed laying eggs in the forest of Antsirankambiaty. Shortly after the first female had finished laying her eggs, a second female only 30 cm away also started to lay eggs (see a video here). Two days later, a third Furcifer minor female laid her eggs between the two existing nests.

All three nests were dug into the sand of a riverbank about 2-3 metres from the water. The site was a rather sunny place with more than 5 hours of sunshine a day, so it might have been better suited for oviposition than the ground in the neighbouring forest fragment. However, it is also possible that the ongoing deforestation and thus the decreasing habitat is causing female Furcifer minor to look for oviposition sites outside their actual habitat. It is unclear whether the third female is one of the first two that returned – unfortunately it was not possible to differentiate between them.

Communal egg-laying in the Lesser Chameleon, Furcifer minor (Günther, 1879), at Itremo Massif Amoron’i Mania Region, Madagascar
Devin Edmonds
Herpetology Notes 17, 2024: 579-581
DOI: nicht vorhanden

Foto: Eines der Furcifer minor bei der Eiablage, fotografiert von Devin Edmonds

New leaf chameleon in Madagascar

New leaf chameleon in Madagascar

by Alex Negro Neubeschreibungen

There are tiny chameleons in many places in Madagascar, including the smallest in the world. Now another tiny terrestrial chameleon has been described by Malagasy and German scientists: Brookesia nofy.

Brookesia nofy lives in a small remnant of lowland rainforest on the central east coast of Madagascar, in the Akanin’ny Nofy reserve. It probably also occurs in the neighbouring Vohibola reserve. The new species is related to Brookesia ramanantsoai, which occurs in the eastern highlands and not quite as close to the coast. Madagascar’s lowland rainforests are extremely threatened by deforestation. It is therefore all the better that this small chameleon already lives in two protected areas. Incidentally, the name nofy is the Malagasy word for dream and is therefore appropriate in two respects: firstly, because it was found in the ‘nest of dreams’ and secondly, because it lives in its own protected area, thus ensuring its survival for the time being.

A new miniaturized species of leaf chameleon, genus Brookesia, from a littoral forest fragment in eastern Madagascar
Andolalao Rakotoarison, Alida Frankline Hasiniaina, Frank Glaw, Miguel Vences
Zootaxa Vol. 5506(4):533-547
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5506.4.3

Picture: Brookesia nofy in Akanin’ny Nofy, photographed by Alex Negro

New modelling of species loss in Madagascar

New modelling of species loss in Madagascar

by Alex Negro Verbreitung Science

For some time now, there have been various programmes and algorithms that can make various predictions about how many species in a country or region could be threatened with extinction in the future based on given data. Until now, this has always required a whole series of locations and data for the respective animal species as a basis. However, these are often not available for rare species.

Italian scientists have now developed an algorithm called ENphylo, which can make predictions from just two observations per species. It was tested in parallel to conventional algorithms on a model with 56 chameleon species from Madagascar. The occurrence and locations of the chameleons were taken from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Various scenarios of climate change and progressive changes in land use were modelled using CHELSA and other databases for the period between 2071 and 2100. For each of the chameleon species, 45 modelled predictions were calculated in the study.hnet.

As a result, the scientists predict a habitat loss of over 90% for the species Brookesia decaryi, Brookesia brunoi, Calumma globifer, Brookesia desperata, Brookesia karchei, Brookesia micra, Brookesia tristis, Calumma amber, Calumma guibei, Calumma ambreense, Calumma nasutum, Calumma fallax, Calumma peltierorum, Calumma boettgeri, Furcifer petteri and Furcifer willsii. As a result, these species would be directly threatened with extinction by 2100 due to climate change and changes in land use in Madagascar. The greatest area losses in potential habitats are expected in the dry forests of the west and north-west and the lowland rainforests of the east coast. The potential habitat loss is also expected to affect species that only occur in a very small distribution area but are very common there, such as Brookesia tuberculata.

An increasing development of the habitat is only assumed for Furcifer oustaleti, Furcifer rhinoceratus, Calumma parsonii (unfortunately without indication of the subspecies), Calumma oshaughnessyi, Calumma crypticum, Calumma brevicorne and Brookesia supericilaris. According to the various calculation models, Madagascar could lose between eight and eleven chameleon species by the year 2100.

Modelling reveals the effect of climate and land use change on Madagascar’s chameleons fauna
Alessandro Mondanaro, Mirko di Febbraro, Silvia Castiglione, Arianna Morena Belfiore, Girogia Girardi, Marina Melchionna, Carmela Serio, Antonella Esposito, Pasquale Raia
Communications Biology 7, 2024: 889
DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-06597-5

 

Photo: Calumma crypticum in Ranomafana, Madagascar, photographed by Alex Laube

The population of Furcifer labordi in Andranomena (Madagascar)

The population of Furcifer labordi in Andranomena (Madagascar)

by Alex Negro Science

After we already discussed a preprint on the habitat of the Labordes chameleon (Furcifer labordi) in Andranomena, Madagascar, last year, the final publication now followed after a long peer review. In fact, the focus of the paper was reconsidered and adapted.

Labordes chameleon (Furcifer labordi) has been known for several years as the world’s shortest-lived chameleon. Five scientists from Madagascar have recently investigated which factors influence the distribution and population size of the species. The study was carried out in the Andranomena Special Reserve, which is located around 30 kilometres north of the coastal town of Morondava in western Madagascar. The special reserve has various habitats used by the chameleons, such as intact dry forest with parts near and far from water as well as regrowing / heavily modified forest.

Distance sampling was used to estimate the population density of Furcifer labordi. For this purpose, each part of the forest was divided into three 50 metre transects over a width of 150 metres. At night, the chameleons were then searched for with a torch, their location measured and the animals themselves marked in colour with nail varnish. Faecal samples were collected and analysed. The following day, a 5 x 5 metre plot was marked around each site and at least 5 metres away along the transect line. In all plots, the degree of canopy cover in per cent, the thickness of the foliage layer on the ground and ground-covering plants in centimetres, the number of shrubs up to 1 m, the number of trees over 1 m and the number of felled and burnt trees were counted. Five days after the first count, chameleons were again searched for and counted at night. In addition, insects were counted and identified using light traps. Along a 1400 metre transect, observations of six species of birds of prey and four species of snakes were also counted as examples. Unfortunately, the exact species are no longer named.

Statistical analyses showed that more Furcifer labordi were found in forest sections where the canopy was denser, the foliage layer on the ground was thicker and there were more trees overall. In the parts of the forest where no chameleons were found at all, significantly more felled trees were counted. The predators observed or their presence did not appear to have any influence on the population density of the chameleons. Surprisingly, the suspected feeders present, mostly insects, also showed no effect on the distribution of the chameleon population. The height of the branches on which Furcifer labordi were found varied greatly over the observation period. However, no correlation was found between age and sex. Preferences in the choice of plants used could not be observed in the chameleons. Furthermore, the different age groups showed no clear preference in their choice of microhabitat.

The authors conclude that the declining population size is primarily due to habitat loss. Habitat loss in Andanomena is almost exclusively of human origin (deforestation for agriculture and cattle grazing, slash-and-burn).

Analyses spatiales de population de Furcifer labordi (Grandidier, 1972) dans la Réserve Spéciale d’Andranomena, Morondava-Madagascar
Philibertin Honoré Djadagna Ahy Nirindrainiarivony, Achille Philippe Raselimanana, Lily-Arison René de Roland, Willy Nathoo Veriza, Daudet Andriafidison
European Scientific Journal 20 (15), 2024,
DOI: 10.19044/esj.2024.v20n15p48
Informations about the preprint

Chameleons as prey of Compsophis infralineatus

Chameleons as prey of Compsophis infralineatus

by Alex Negro Beobachtungen Science

Some interesting observations were recently made in central eastern Madagascar. Two snakes of the species Compsophis infralineatus were observed trying to devour chameleons as prey. Overall, not much is known about these snakes, but they were long thought to be primarily frog and egg eaters. An observation from 2018 already reports an attempt by another Compsophis species to eat a chameleon, which was regurgitated.

The current observations were made in the private rainforest of Vallombre Natiora near Mandraka. During night walks, an adult Compsophis infralineatus was discovered eating an adult Calumma gastrotaenia. The entire process of consumption was not observed, the snake had disappeared on return to the site, as had the chameleon. The authors assume that the chameleon was successfully devoured. On the same night, another snake of the same species was seen attempting to eat an adult Calumma crypticum. The chameleon was still alive and tried to free itself from the snake’s coils, but seemed unsuccessful first. Later, the same snake was seen again, hanging with its mouth in the back of the chameleon, which was apparently still alive but no with the snake wrapped around it. In the photo, it appears that the chameleon is still alive.

Predation on the chameleons Calummy crypticum Raxworthy and Nussbaum, 2006 and C. gastrotaenia (Boulenger, 1888) by the snake Compsophis infralineatus (Günther 1882) near Mandaka, Madagascar
Devin A. Edmonds and Samina S. Sam-Edmonds
Herpetology Notes (17), 2024: pp. 327-328
DOI:  not available

Picture: from the above-mentioned publication, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Longer in the egg than alive

Longer in the egg than alive

by Alex Negro Internationaler Chamäleontag

A chameleon that’s been in the egg longer than it’s been alive? It does exist! Of course, not every Labord’s chameleon (Furcifer labordi) is like this. But this is probably the shortest-lived chameleon in the world. They live in western Madagascar, where it is very hot and dry most of the year. During the short, intense rainy season, the chameleons hatch, grow to adulthood at record speed, mate immediately and lay eggs quickly before most of them die in the same season. The average Labord’s chameleon therefore only lives for three to five months! In contrast, the eggs lie in the ground for between eight and ten months until the next rainy season. Depending on how a rainy season turns out in western Madagascar, the Labord’s chameleon’s entire population may only exist in eggs in the worst-case scenario. A fascinating, but also somewhat creepy idea.

#showyourcolours #internationalchameleonday #chameleonday #chameleondayMay9 #agchamaeleons

Picture: Furcifer labordi male, photographed by Lennart Hudel, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International