''Calumma fallax'', the deceptive chameleon or short-nosed deceptive 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 ...

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 eastern Madagascar, where its type locality is the

Ikongo Ikongo (formerly: ''Fort Canot'' ) is a town in the region of Fitovinany eastern Madagascar. It is approximately 90 km south-east of the provincial capital Fianarantsoa. It has a population of 36,684 inhabitants. Rivers The town lies at th ...

forest. It was first described by

François Mocquard François Mocquard (27 October 1834 – 19 March 1917) was a French herpetologist born in Leffond, Haute-Saône. In 1860 he was named ''préparateur du physique'' after receiving his Bachelor of Science degree at the Faculty of Besançon. Subseque ...

in 1900 as ''Chamaeleon fallax'', and it was first recognized as ''Calumma fallax'' in 1986. It is a member of the

Chamaeleoninae Chamaeleoninae is the nominotypical subfamily of chameleons (family Chamaeleonidae). The Family Chamaeleonidae was divided into two subfamilies, Brookesiinae and Chamaeleoninae, by Klaver and Böhme in 1986. Since its erection in 1986, however, ...

nominotypical subfamily of chameleons, and is believed to be found over an area of , although the population is unknown.

Distribution and habitat

''Calumma fallax'' is endemic to eastern Madagascar, and has a type locality of the

forest, Madagascar. It can be found at a mid-altitude over an area of about , although this is not confirmed. 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 ...

have classed this species as "

data deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...

", as not enough information on this species is available to correctly classify it. The population of this species is unknown and no population trend is known. It is found in an area where the habitat is affected by the

slash-and-burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed vegeta ...

agricultural method, bushfires, and

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 ...

. ''Calumma fallax'' is used in the pet industry and is sometimes domesticated.

Taxonomy

It was first described in 1900 by Mocquard as ''Chamaeleon fallax'', and accepted as valid by Werner 11 years later under the same name. In 1986, Klaver and moved it to the genus ''Calumma''. This combination has been accepted in later studies.

Description

''Calumma fallax'' is a medium-sized chameleon, with males measuring and females in

snout–vent length Snout–vent length (SVL) is a morphometric measurement taken in herpetology from the tip of the snout to the most posterior opening of the cloacal slit (vent)."direct line distance from tip of snout to posterior margin of vent" It is the most c ...

; it can reach a total length of .

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2934423 fallax Reptiles of Madagascar Endemic fauna of Madagascar Taxa named by François Mocquard Reptiles described in 1900