The Mayotte chameleon (''Furcifer polleni'') 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 ...

Mayotte Mayotte (; french: Mayotte, ; Shimaore: ''Maore'', ; Kibushi: ''Maori'', ), officially the Department of Mayotte (french: Département de Mayotte), is an overseas department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is loc ...

in the

Comoros Islands The Comoro Islands or Comoros (Shikomori ''Komori''; ar, جزر القمر , ''Juzur al-qamar''; french: Les Comores) form an archipelago of volcanic islands situated off the southeastern coast of Africa, to the east of Mozambique and northwe ...

. It was first described by

Wilhelm Peters Wilhelm Karl Hartwich (or Hartwig) Peters (22 April 1815 in Koldenbüttel – 20 April 1883) was a German natural history, naturalist and explorer. He was assistant to the anatomist Johannes Peter Müller and later became curator of the Natural ...

in 1874.

Etymology

The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

, ''polleni'', is in honor of Dutch naturalist

François Pollen François Paul Louis Pollen (1842–1886) was a Dutch naturalist and merchant. He made major contributions to the study of the Malagasy fauna. Biography Pollen was born on 8 January 1842 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. He had four siblings. His father ...

Distribution and habitat

''Furcifer polleni'' is endemic to the island of Mayotte, one of the

in the Indian Ocean. It is found over most of the island, an area of . It was introduced by humans onto the Comoran island of

Anjouan Anjouan (; also known as Ndzuwani or Nzwani, and historically as Johanna or Hinzuan) is an autonomous high island in the Indian Ocean that forms part of the Union of the Comoros. Its chief town is Mutsamudu and, , its population is around 277,500. ...

, where it became established in the town of

Hombo Hombo is a town and commune of Angola, located in the province of Huíla. See also * Communes of Angola The Communes of Angola ( pt, comunas) are administrative units in Angola after municipalities. The 163 municipalities of Angola are ...

. This species is ranked as being of

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 ...

by 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 ...

(IUCN), and has been found at between 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 ...

. This species is found in a range of habitats. It is protected by law in Mayotte and is included in Appendix II of the

CITES CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...

treaty. In an integrated field study on Mayotte, 35 specimens of ''Furcifer polleni'' were found in a range of habitats at altitudes of up to . These included (in approximately equal numbers) pristine forests, degraded woodlands, plantations and scrubby dry vegetation. No individuals were found in mangrove forests but several were found in urban areas. During the ten years starting in 2000, the number of Mayotte chameleons exported from the island was 1,562. This does not seem to have had much influence on the population size and was in contrast to the endemic chameleon species on

Grand Comoro Grande Comore () is an island in Comoros off the coast of Africa. It is the largest island in the Comoros nation. Most of its population is of the Comorian ethnic group. Its population is about 316,600. The island's capital is Moroni, which i ...

, ''

Furcifer cephalolepis ''Furcifer cephalolepis'' is a species of chameleon that is endemic to Grande Comore. It was described by Günther in 1880. The International Union for Conservation of Nature ranked the species as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened ...

'', which suffered a much heavier trade. Over 14,000 specimens were exported from there during the same period and this seems to have impacted wild populations. The study concluded that the population of the Mayotte chameleon is stable, and that despite the small area in which it occurs, it is likely to survive due to its ability to live in non-natural habitats.

Description

The Mayotte chameleon is varying shades of light and dark green in colour.

Taxonomy

The species was initially described by

in 1874 as ''Chamaeleon polleni''. In 1986, it was transferred to genus ''Furcifer'' by Charles Klaver & Wolfgang Böhme. It is commonly known as the Mayotte chameleon.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q333274 Furcifer Fauna of Mayotte Reptiles of Africa Reptiles described in 1874 Taxa named by Wilhelm Peters