Calumma is a genus of chameleons, highly adapted and specialised lizards, in the family Chamaeleonidae. The genus is endemic to the island of Madagascar. One species, formerly known as Calumma tigris (the Seychelles tiger chameleon), was transferred to the genus Archaius in 2010, upon the discovery of its closer relation to Rieppeleon – one of several genera referred to collectively as "leaf" or "pygmy" chameleons – rather than to Calumma. The earliest known fossil of the genus is of Calumma benovskyi, from early Miocene Kenya, showing that the genus likely originated on mainland East Africa. The genus includes one of the heaviest and longest chameleon species, the Parson's chameleon (Calumma parsonii). A number of Calumma species are known as Pinocchio chameleons due to their long noses, which often grow and shrink in length.https://www.popsci.com/environment/pinocchio-chameleon-species/
Species groups Four species groups are recognised within the genus Calumma (originally proposed by Glaw & Vences in 1994), some of which may be only phenetic, while others are phylogenetically supported:
Calumma furcifer species group Contents: Calumma furcifer, C. gastrotaenia, C. marojezense, C. guillaumeti, C. andringitraense, C. glawi, C. vencesi
Species characterised by typically green body colouration, sleek body form, and generally no occipital lobes (flaps of skin posterior to the head; present only in C. glawi) and no rostral appendage (present only in males of C. furcifer).
Calumma cucullatum species group Contents: Calumma cucullatum, C. crypticum, C. amber, C. tsaratananense, C. hafahafa, C. hilleniusi, C. peltierorum, C. malthe, C. brevicorne, C. jejy, C. tsycorne
Species characterised by distinct occipital lobes and generally a single bony rostral appendage that is larger in males than females.
Calumma nasutum species group Contents: Calumma nasutum, C. fallax, C. gallus, C. guibei, C. boettgeri, C. linotum, C. gehringi, C. uetzi, C. lefona, C. juliae, C. vatosoa, C. vohibola, C. peyrierasi, C. roaloko
Species characterised by a soft dermal rostral appendage (generally present in males and absent in females). The following members possess occipital lobes: C. guibei, C. boettgeri, C. linotum, C. gehringi, C. uetzi, C. lefona, C. roaloko, and C. juliae. These taxa are collectively referred to as the C. guibei species complex. Occipital lobes are absent from all other species. The assignment of C. peyrierasi to this group remains a subject of uncertainty.
Calumma parsonii species group Contents: Calumma globifer, C. ambreense, C. oshaughnessyi, C. parsonii, C. capuroni
Species characterised by large body size, males with paired rostral appendages, and some species with small occipital lobes.
Species The following 41 species are recognized as being valid as of October 2020:
Calumma amber Raxworthy & Nussbaum, 2006 – Amber Mountain chameleon Calumma ambreense (Ramanantsoa, 1974) Calumma andringitraense (Brygoo, C. Blanc & Domergue, 1972) Calumma boettgeri (Boulenger, 1888) – Boettger's chameleon Calumma brevicorne (Günther, 1879) – short-horned chameleon Calumma capuroni (Brygoo, C. Blanc & Domergue, 1972) – Madagascar chameleon Calumma crypticum Raxworthy & Nussbaum, 2006 – blue-legged chameleon Calumma cucullatum (Gray, 1831) – hooded chameleon Calumma emelinae Prötzel, Scherz, Ratsoavina, Vences & Glaw, 2020 Calumma fallax (Mocquard, 1900) – deceptive chameleon Calumma furcifer (Vaillant & Grandidier, 1880) – forked chameleon Calumma gallus (Günther, 1877) – blade chameleon Calumma gastrotaenia (Boulenger, 1888) – Perinet chameleon Calumma gehringi Prötzel, Vences, Scherz, Vieites & Glaw, 2017 Calumma glawi Böhme, 1997 – Glaw's chameleon Calumma globifer (Günther, 1879) – globe-horned chameleon or flat-casqued chameleon Calumma guibei (Hillenius, 1959) – Guibe's chameleon Calumma guillaumeti (Brygoo, C. Blanc & Domergue, 1974) Calumma hafahafa Raxworthy & Nussbaum, 2006 – bizarre-nosed chameleon Calumma hilleniusi (Brygoo, C. Blanc & Domergue, 1973) Calumma jejy Raxworthy & Nussbaum, 2006 – Marojejy Peak chameleon Calumma juliae Prötzel, Vences, Hawlitschek, Scherz, Ratsoavina & Glaw, 2018 Calumma lefona Prötzel, Vences, Hawlitschek, Scherz, Ratsoavina & Glaw, 2018 Calumma linotum (L. Müller, 1924) – Amber Mountain blue-nosed chameleon Calumma malthe (Günther, 1879) – yellow-green chameleon Calumma marojezense (Brygoo, C. Blanc & Domergue, 1970) Calumma nasutum (A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1836) – big-nosed chameleon, pimple-nose chameleon Calumma oshaughnessyi (Günther, 1881) – O'Shaughnessy's chameleon Calumma parsonii (Cuvier, 1824) – Parsons's chameleon Calumma peltierorum Raxworthy & Nussbaum, 2006 – Peltier's chameleon Calumma peyrierasi (Brygoo, C. Blanc & Domergue, 1974) – Brygoo's chameleon, Peyriéras's chameleonBeolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Calumma peyrierasi, p. 205). Calumma radamanus (Mertens, 1933) Calumma ratnasariae Prötzel, Scherz, Ratsoavina, Vences & Glaw, 2020 Calumma roaloko Prötzel, Lambert, Andrianasolo, Hutter, Cobb, Scherz & Glaw, 2018 – Two-toned soft-nosed chameleon Calumma tarzan Gehring, Pabijan, Ratsoavina, J. Köhler, Vences & Glaw, 2010 – Tarzan chameleon, Tarzan's chameleon Calumma tjiasmantoi Prötzel, Scherz, Ratsoavina, Vences & Glaw, 2020 Calumma tsaratananense (Brygoo & Domergue, 1967) – Tsaratanana chameleon Calumma tsycorne Raxworthy & Nussbaum, 2006 – blunt-nosed chameleon Calumma uetzi Prötzel, Vences, Hawlitschek, Scherz, Ratsoavina & Glaw, 2018 – Uetz's soft-nosed chameleon Calumma vatosoa Andreone, Mattioli, Jesu & Randrianirina, 2001 Calumma vencesi Andreone, Mattioli, Jesu & Randrianirina, 2001 – Vences's chameleon Calumma vohibola Gehring, Ratsoavina, Vences & Glaw, 2011
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Calumma.
References
Further reading
Gray JE (1865). "Revision of the Genera and Species of Chamæleonidæ, with the Descriptions of some New Species". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1864: 465–479. (Calumma, new genus, p. 476).