''Furcifer bifidus'' 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 ...

to Madagascar. It was described by

Alexandre Brongniart Alexandre Brongniart (5 February 17707 October 1847) was a French chemist, mineralogist, geologist, paleontologist, and zoologist, who collaborated with Georges Cuvier on a study of the geology of the region around Paris. Observing fossil content ...

in 1800. 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 ranked this species of chameleon 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

''Furcifer bifidus'' is found in east

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 there is no known type locality. According to the

(IUCN), it can be found over an area of , and is therefore ranked as a

species of animal, although it is exposed to many threats. It can be found on the east of Madagascar north after the

Mangoro River The Mangoro River is the largest river on the east coast of Madagascar by basin size and water volume, and is 300 km in length. Overview The Mangoro begins northeast of the town of Anjozorobe in the Analamanga region, at approximately 1,1 ...

, and as far as

Daraina Daraina is a town and commune ( mg, kaominina) in northern Madagascar. It belongs to the district of Vohemar, which is a part of Sava Region. The city is located at the unpaved part of the Route Nationale 5a between Vohemar and Ambilobe. The pop ...

and

Marojejy National Park Marojejy National Park () is a national park in the Sava region of northeastern Madagascar. It covers and is centered on the Marojejy Massif, a mountain chain that rises to an elevation of . Access to the area around the massif was restricted ...

(Marojejy Massif). It has been found at a highest of above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

. The two major threats to the ''Furcifer bifidus'' are

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 ...

for commercial reasons and 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 ...

method in agriculture. The species has been listed as

protected Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...

Taxonomy

''Furcifer bifidus'' was initially described by French chemist, mineralogist, and zoologist

in 1800.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q601721 Furcifer Endemic fauna of Madagascar Reptiles of Madagascar Reptiles described in 1800 Taxa named by Alexandre Brongniart Fauna of the Madagascar lowland forests