Kinyongia vosseleri
{{Short description|Species of lizard}}
{{speciesbox
| image = Kinyongia vosseleri 101436875.jpg
| image2 = Kinyongia vosseleri 103028830.jpg
| image2_caption = Male above, female below
| range_map = Kinyongia vosseleri distribution.png
| status = EN
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Kinyongia
| species = vosseleri
| authority = (Nieden, 1913)
| synonyms = *Chamaeleon fischeri vosseleri
{{small|Nieden,1913}}
- Bradypodion fischeri
{{small|— Nečas, 1999}} - Kinyongia fischeri
{{small|— Tilbury, Tolley & Branch, 2006}} - Kinyongia vosseleri
{{small|— Tilbury, 2010}}
| synonyms_ref = {{EMBL species|genus=Kinyongia|species=vosseleri}} www.reptile-database.org.
}}
Kinyongia vosseleri, also known commonly as the Usambara two-horned chameleon and Vosseler's blade-horned chameleon, is an endangered species of lizard in the family Chamaeleonidae. The species is endemic to Tanzania.
Taxonomy and etymology
K. vosseleri was already described as a species in 1913 by Fritz Nieden, with the specific name, vosseleri being in honor of German zoologist {{ill|Julius Vosseler|de}}.Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. {{ISBN|978-1-4214-0135-5}}. (Kinyongia vosseleri, p. 277). Subsequently, it was generally considered a synonym of K. fischeri. It was only in 2008 that it was verified that the two are separate species with fully separated distributions.Mariaux J, Lutzmann N, Stipala J (2008). "The two-horned chamaeleons of East Africa". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 152: 367-391.
Geographic range and habitat
K. vosseleri is only found in forests in the East Usambara Mountains of Tanzania, at an altitude of up to {{circa}} {{convert|1,500|m|ft|abbr=on}}. Its range overlaps with the closely related K. matschiei, whereas K. multituberculata is found in the West Usambara Mountains.
Appearance
K. vosseleri is a medium-large species in the genus Kinyongia at up to {{cvt|29.5|cm}} in total length, with the tail making up more than half of that. Females do not grow as large as males. Adult males have a large pair of converging horns on the nose. Uniquely in the "two-horned Usambara group", adult females of K. vosseleri entirely lack horns (in K. matschiei and K. multituberculata, adult females have small horns; however, juveniles are essentially hornless). The only close relatives where the adult female lacks horns are K. boehmei and K. tavetana, but they are not from the Usambaras.
See also
- Trioceros deremensis, the Usambara three-horned chameleon
References
{{reflist}}
Further reading
- Nieden F (1913). "Chamaeleon fischeri Rchw. und seine Unterarten ". Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin 1913 (4): 231–249 + Plates XIV–XVI. (Chamaeleon fischeri vosseleri, new subspecies, pp. 247–248 + Plate XV, figure 5, male; Plate XVI, figure 9, female). (in German).
- Spawls, Stephen; Howell. Kim; Hinkel, Harald; Menegon, Michele (2018). Field Guide to East African Reptiles, Second Edition. London: Bloomsbury Natural History. 624 pp. {{ISBN|978-1472935618}}. (Kinyongia vosseleri, p. 278).
- Tilbury, Colin (2010). Chameleons of Africa, an Atlas, including the chameleons of Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Frankfurt am Main: Edition Chimaira / Serpents Tale. 831 pp. {{ISBN|978-3899734515}}. (Kinyongia vosseleri, p. 418).
{{Taxonbar|from=Q3197245}}
Category:Endemic fauna of Tanzania