The toothed leaf chameleon, ''Brookesia dentata'', 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 ...

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 ...

to northwestern Madagascar. It was first described by Mocquard in 1900: 345, and has been described numerous times since then, most recently by Townsend ''et al.'' in 2009. It is affected by the collection of charcoal, forest fires, and the grazing of cattle. Its holotype provides from

Maevatanana Maevatanana is an urban municipality in Madagascar. The city is in the central-north part of the island, at the Ikopa River, and is connected by the national road RN 4 to Antananarivo and Mahajanga. The altitude is low and as it is located far ...

(Suberbieville).

Distribution and habitat

The toothed leaf chameleon is endemic to northwestern Madagascar, and its type locality is Suberbieville (

). It has been confirmed to be found at Andasibe, Mandraka, and Angavo-Anjozorobe. At the highest, the species can be found at above sea level. 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 ...

has classed ''B. dentata'' 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 ...

on their

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

. It is listed as endangered because it is known only from the Ankarafantsika area, which covers , although it could be found over an area of at the highest. The habitat of ''Brookesia dentata'' is continuing to decline due to

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...

collection, fires, and cattle. The population of ''Brookesia dentata'' is currently decreasing like the habitat. It is currently protected under the Madagascar law, and collection of the species is permitted with permission to do so.

Taxonomy

''Brookesia dentata'' was initially described by Mocquard in 1900: 345, and has later been described many times: Werner (1911: 43), Mertens (1966: 2), Brygoo (1978: 25), Glaw and Vences (1994: 235), Klaver and Böhme (1997), Necas (1999: 277), and most recently Townsend et al. (2009). It is commonly known as the toothed leaf chameleon.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2926137 Reptiles described in 1900 Taxa named by François Mocquard Brookesia