Currently, two
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
are placed in the recently established
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
''Nadzikambia'' (derived from the species' name in
Chichewa). They are
plesiomorph
In phylogenetics, a plesiomorphy ("near form") and symplesiomorphy are synonyms for an ancestral character shared by all members of a clade, which does not distinguish the clade from other clades.
Plesiomorphy, symplesiomorphy, apomorphy, and ...
ic, small
chameleons
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 ...
from the Ruo Gorge forest on
Mount Mulanje
Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest.
Mount or Mounts may also refer to:
Places
* Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England
* Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, Co ...
in
Malawi
Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...
and
Mount Mabu
Mount Mabu is a mountain in northern Mozambique, famous for its old-growth rain forest. Mount Mabu is approximately high and the forest covers about . While well known locally, the Mount Mabu forest and its extremely diverse wildlife were unkn ...
in
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
.
Initially placed into ''
Chamaeleo
''Chamaeleo'' is a genus of chameleons in the family Chamaeleonidae. Most species of the genus ''Chamaeleo'' are found in sub-Saharan Africa, but a few species are also present in northern Africa, southern Europe, and southern Asia east to Indi ...
'', it was for some time moved to the
South African dwarf chameleon
''Bradypodion'' (meaning "slow-footed" in Greek) is one of six genera of chameleons within the "true" or "typical" chameleons (Family Chamaeleonidae). They are native to southern Africa, and are sometimes collectively called South African dwar ...
s (''Bradypodion'') by some (Klaver & Böhme, 1986). This was criticized because plesiomorphies cannot be used to define
clade
A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...
s, and eventually turned out to be in error.
[Tolley, Krystal A.; Tilbury, Colin R. & Branch, William R. (2004): Phylogenetics of the southern African dwarf chameleons, ''Bradypodion'' (Squamata: Chamaeleonidae). ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' 30: 354–365.]
PDF fulltext
Species
References
* (1986): Phylogeny and classification of the Chamaeleonidae (Sauria) with special reference to hemipenis morphology. ''Bonner Zoologische Monographien'' 22: 1–64.
* (2007): Corrections to species names recently placed in ''Kinyongia'' and ''Nadzikambia'' (Reptilia: Chamaeleonidae). ''Zootaxa'' 1426: 68.
Lizard genera
Taxa named by Colin R. Tilbury
Taxa named by Krystal A. Tolley
Taxa named by William Roy Branch
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