Furcifer
| 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 | |
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 and Mauritius, while F. oustaleti has been introduced to near Nairobi in Kenya.
Taxonomy
The 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
The following species are recognized as being valid.[3]
- Furcifer angeli (Brygoo & Domergue, 1968) – Angel's chameleon
- Furcifer antimena (Grandidier, 1872) – Antimena chameleon
- Furcifer balteatus (A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1851) – two-banded chameleon
- Furcifer belalandaensis (Brygoo & Domergue, 1970) – Belalanda chameleon
- Furcifer bifidus (Brongniart, 1900) – two-horned chameleon
- Furcifer campani (Grandidier, 1872) – jewelled chameleon
- Furcifer cephalolepis (Günther, 1880) – Comoro Islands chameleon
- Furcifer labordi (Grandidier, 1872) – Labord's chameleon
- Furcifer lateralis (Gray, 1831) – carpet chameleon
- Furcifer major (Brygoo, 1971)
- Furcifer minor (Günther, 1879) – lesser chameleon
- Furcifer monoceras (Boettger, 1913)
- Furcifer nicosiai Jesu, Mattioli & Schimmenti, 1999
- Furcifer oustaleti (Mocquard, 1894) – Malagasy giant chameleon
- Furcifer pardalis (Cuvier, 1829) – panther chameleon
- Furcifer petteri (Brygoo & Domergue, 1966) – Petter's chameleon
- Furcifer polleni (W. Peters, 1874) – Mayotte chameleon
- Furcifer rhinoceratus (Gray, 1845) – rhinoceros chameleon
- Furcifer timoni Glaw, Köhler & Vences, 2009 [2] – Ambiky chameleon
- Furcifer tuzetae (Brygoo, Bourgat & Domergue, 1972) – Ambiky chameleon
- Furcifer verrucosus (Cuvier, 1829) – warty chameleon
- Furcifer verrucosus verrucosus (Cuvier, 1829)
- Furcifer verrucosus semicristatus Boettger, 1894
- Furcifer viridis Florio et al., 2012
- Furcifer voeltzkowi (Boettger, 1893)
- Furcifer willsii (Günther, 1890) – canopy chameleon
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Furcifer.
References
- ^ 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
- 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