''Rhampholeon bruessoworum'', the Mount Inago pygmy chameleon, is a small 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 ...

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 ...

. It was described in 2014. It has been found in small patches of wet forest at the base of the

Mount Inago Mount Inago, also known as Serra Inago, is a mountain in northern Mozambique. It is located in Nampula Province, 50 km northeast of Mount Namuli. The plant communities on the mountain include woodlands, generally below 1000 meters elevation, riv ...

granitic A granitoid is a generic term for a diverse category of coarse-grained igneous rocks that consist predominantly of quartz, plagioclase, and alkali feldspar. Granitoids range from plagioclase-rich tonalites to alkali-rich syenites and from quart ...

inselberg An inselberg or monadnock () is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain. In Southern Africa a similar formation of granite is known as a koppie, a ...

. It is only known from that locality. The wet forests it inhabits are mid-altitude afrotemperate, , with a canopy height primarily tall. The lizard occurs in highly fragmented and threatened portions. Its habitat quality is degrading, with pressures from logging for

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

land and

commercial 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 ...

operations. Because of its reduced and threatened habitat, it is considered Critically Endangered on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

. Males grow to and females to .

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17898972 Rhampholeon Reptiles of Mozambique Endemic fauna of Mozambique Reptiles described in 2014 Taxa named by William Roy Branch Taxa named by Krystal A. Tolley