''Brookesia desperata'' 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 ...

s. It is endemic to Foret d'Ambre Special Reserve in north

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 ...

, and is a critically endangered species due to the decline of its habitat. This decline is attributed to clearance of forest for crops, charcoal production, timber extraction, small-scale quarrying and cattle grazing. It was named ''desperata'' to provoke thought regarding the desperately threatened habitat of Madagascar's micro-endemic species. They can be found roosting above ground on small branches or leaves 5–100 cm above ground at night. ''B. desperata'' was described in 2012 by a research team led by Dr. Frank Glaw from the

Zoologische Staatssammlung München The Bavarian State Collection of Zoology (german: Zoologische Staatssammlung München) or ZSM is a major German research institution for zoological systematics in Munich. It has over 20 million zoological specimens. It is one of the largest natur ...

References

desperata Critically endangered fauna of Africa Endemic fauna of Madagascar Reptiles of Madagascar Reptiles described in 2012 Taxa named by Frank Glaw Taxa named by Jörn Köhler Taxa named by Miguel Vences {{chameleon-stub