Kinyongia Multituberculata
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The West Usambara two-horned chameleon or West Usambara blade-horned chameleon (''Kinyongia multituberculata'') is a
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 the West
Usambara Mountains The Usambara Mountains of northeastern Tanzania in tropical East Africa, comprise the easternmost ranges of the Eastern Arc Mountains. The ranges of approximately long and about half that wide, are situated in the Lushoto District of the Tang ...
of
Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
. Until 2008, it was generally confused with
Fischer's chameleon Fischer's chameleon (''Kinyongia fischeri'' ) is a species of chameleon, a lizard in the family Chamaeleonidae. The species is endemic to Tanzania. Etymology The specific name, ''fischeri'', is in honor of German herpetologist Johann Gustav Fis ...
(''K. fischeri''), which is not found in the Usambara Mountains. Another related species, '' K. vosseleri'', occurs in the same range as ''K. multituberculata'', while '' K. matschiei'' is restricted to the East Usambaras.


Habitat and conservation

This species inhabits Afrotemperate forests of the West Usambara Mountains at elevations of
above 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 ...
. It can also occur in modified vegetation adjacent to forest patches and on shrubs and trees by roadsides. However, it requires structurally complex habitats and does not range across transformed landscapes. The forest patches suffer from timber removal and resource utilization, and habitat is being lost to encroachment and transformation for agriculture. The habitat is highly fragmented, and better protection of forest reserves is needed. This species is estimated to be one of the most heavily exported chameleons from East Africa for international pet trade.


See also

*'' Trioceros deremensis'', the Usambara three-horned chameleon


Gallery

Horned Chameleon in Lushoto, Usambara Mountains.jpg


References

Kinyongia Reptiles of Tanzania Endemic fauna of Tanzania Reptiles described in 1913 Taxa named by Fritz Nieden {{chameleon-stub