''Brookesia brygooi'', commonly known as Brygoo's chameleon, Brygoo's pygmy chameleon, and the leaf chameleon, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 ...

, a lizard in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Chameleonidae. The species, which 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 ...

, was first described in 1995 by Raxworthy and Nussbaum and named in compliment to French herpetologist Édouard-Raoul Brygoo.

Conservation status

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 ''B. brygooi'' as

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

Distribution and habitat

''B. brygooi'' is endemic to southwestern Madagascar, where its type locality is

Analavelona Analavelona, also known as Analavelona Massif, is a mountain in southwestern Madagascar. The massif is home to an enclave of montane subhumid forest, which is considered a sacred forest by the local people and notable for its biodiversity. Geogra ...

Fianarantsoa Province Fianarantsoa Province is a former province of Madagascar. It has an area of 103,272 km2 and population of 3,366,291 (July 2001 estimate). Its capital was Fianarantsoa. The province along with the 5 other was abolished in 2007 in favour of cr ...

, south-central Madagascar. Because it is widespread and commonly found in protected areas, it was listed as Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It can be found at elevations 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 ...

(AMSL), and over an area of . Details about the true population of ''B. brygooi'' are unknown, although it is known to be widespread. It is found in many protected parks/areas/nature reserves, and is also protected under the Madagascar laws.

Description

''B. brygooi'' has an "unusual" shape of body and is earthy in colour.

Diet

The diet of ''B. brygooi'' includes insects.

Behavior

''B. brygooi'' spends the night resting on twigs.

Reproduction

The female of ''B. brygooi'' lays two to five eggs per

clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts). ...

. The eggs measure each.

Taxonomy

This species was initially described by Raxworthy and Nussbaum in 1995 under the name of ''Brookesia brygooi''. The same scientific name was later used by Nečas in 1999, and, most recently by Townsend et al. in 2009. 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 ...

, the taxonomic status of ''B. brygooi'' is valid. It is commonly known as the leaf chameleon.