''Brookesia bekolosy'' also known as the Bekolosy leaf chameleon is a species of

chameleon Chameleons or chamaeleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 202 species described as of June 2015. The members of this family are best known for their distinct range of colors, bein ...

that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. It was described by Raxworthy and Nussbaum in 1995. The

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

classed the species as

Endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

, and in 1992 the single specimen of it was recorded.

Description and habitat

''Brookesia bekolosy'' has only been collected once, being a single specimen from Bekolosy in the

Manongarivo Special Reserve Manongarivo Reserve is a wildlife reserve in the North-West of Madagascar in the region of Diana. Manongarivo is home to both the Sambirano mouse lemur and the Sambirano woolly lemur. Geography The reserve has a surface of 64,356 ha and is sit ...

(Manongarivo Reserve) in the region of Diana in 1992. The species is believed to only be found at the Bekolosy Plateau, although further information is unknown. Its habitat is posited as between

above mean sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. Despite lack of specifics as to its extent, the

classed ''B. bekolosy'' as an

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

because it is not likely to cover more than , and it is found in an area where

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

is becoming common. If the species turns out to be only found at the Bekolosy Plateau, then the species will be classed as Critically Endangered, as it could only be found over an area of less than , and will decline in this area.

Taxonomy

''Brookesia bekolosy'' was first described by Raxworthy and Nussbaum in 1995. Necas recorded the species as ''Brookesia bekolosy'' in 1999: 276. According to the

ITIS The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) is an American partnership of federal agencies designed to provide consistent and reliable information on the taxonomy of biological species. ITIS was originally formed in 1996 as an interagenc ...

(ITIS), the taxonomic status of the ''Brookesia bekolosy'' is valid, as of 2012.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2926134 Reptiles described in 1995 Brookesia Taxa named by Christopher John Raxworthy Taxa named by Ronald Archie Nussbaum