Rare chameleon, lost to science, found clinging to life in Malawi forest patch zmescience.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from zmescience.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A species of tiny chameleons presumed to be extinct due to deforestation has been found, but it is clinging to survival.
Up to only 5.5 centimeters (2.2 inches) long, the critically endangered Chapmanâs pygmy chameleon (Rhampholeon chapmanorum) is native to the low-elevation rainforest of the Malawi Hills in southern Malawi, a country in southeastern Africa, according to a study published Monday in OryxâThe International Journal of Conservation.
First described by herpetologist and author Colin Tilbury in 1992, Chapmanâs pygmy chameleon is one of the worldâs rarest chameleons.
âThey are mostly brown but they can change to quite beautiful blues and greens with little dots all over them and thatâs probably a way of communicating with each other,â said the studyâs lead author Krystal Tolley, a professor and research leader in the Leslie Hill Molecular Ecology Laboratory at the South African National Biodiversity Institute, in a statement. â�
A rare species thought to be extinct is clinging to survival, study finds localnews8.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from localnews8.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.