''Palleon nasus'', commonly known as the elongate leaf chameleon, 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 initially described by Boulenger in 1887. The species contains two subspecies, ''P. n. nasus'' and ''P. n. pauliani''. It grows no more than 9 cm.

Distribution and habitat

''Palleon nasus nasus'' is endemic to Ekongo, south-eastern Madagascar, and its geological type locality is Ekongo, southeastern Madagascar. ''P. n. pauliani'' is only known from its type locality of Manjarivolo, l’Andringitra, Madagascar. ''P. n. pauliani'' can be found at elevations between

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 ...

. ''P. nasus'' was listed by the

IUCN 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 ...

as a

vulnerable species A vulnerable species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being threatened species, threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threatened species, ...

, as it can be found over an area of , but the quality and extent of the humid forest where the species needs to live is in a continuous decline, mainly due to mining,

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

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...

), 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. ''P. n. nasus'' is found in some strictly protected areas and reserves, meaning it should not be harmed too much.

Taxonomy

''Palleon nasus nasus'' was initially described as ''Brookesia nasus'' in 1887 by Boulenger and reclassified as a

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 ...

species in 2013. In 1972, the subspecies ''P. n. pauliani'' was described and recorded by Brygoo, Blanc, and Domergue in 1972. ''Palleon nasus'' is commonly known as the elongate leaf chameleon.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1954381 Reptiles described in 1887 Palleon