''Palleon lolontany'' 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 ...

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 ...

. It was first described by Raxworthy and Nussbaum in 1995 as ''

Brookesia ''Brookesia'' is a genus of chameleons, endemic to Madagascar, that range from small to very small in size, and are known collectively as leaf chameleons (though this name also commonly is used for species in the genera ''Rieppeleon'' and ''Rham ...

lolontany''. It was since placed in the genus ''

Palleon ''Palleon'' is a genus of small chameleons erected in 2013 for a small clade formerly assigned to the genus ''Brookesia''. The species of ''Palleon ''are endemic to Madagascar. Species * ''Palleon lolontany'' Raxworthy & Nussbaum, 1995 * ''Pa ...

'' when that genus was erected in 2013. 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) rated the species as

Near Threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

Distribution and habitat

''Palleon lolontany'' is endemic to Mount Tsaratanana (Maromokotro), Madagascar's highest mountain, on the

Tsaratanana Massif Madagascar is a large island in the Indian Ocean off the eastern coast of southern Africa, east of Mozambique. It has a total area of with of land and of water. Madagascar is the fourth largest island and the 2nd largest island country in th ...

. Its type locality is Matsabory Lake and Mount Tsaratanana at

above mean 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 ...

. Currently, ''P. lolontany'' specimens can be found between in one humid Tsaratanana forest, over an area of , the estimated size of suitable habitat in Tsaratanana for the species. At the most, the species can be found over an area of . It is listed as

because it is only found at most in 468 square km, and if 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 of agriculture were used, the species would continue to decline in number, making the list of an

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

. The species is also at risk from

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 ...

, although it is up to 2100 m above sea level. Currently, the population is stable.

Taxonomy

''Palleon lolontany'' was described in 1995 by Raxworthy and Nussbaum, but was reclassified as a species in the genus ''

'' in 2013.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2926145 Reptiles described in 1995 Palleon Fauna of the Madagascar subhumid forests