The hooded chameleon (''Calumma cucullatum'') is a Vulnerable species of

chameleon Chameleons or chamaeleons (Family (biology), family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 200 species described as of June 2015. The members of this Family (biology), family are best known for ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

to north-east Madagascar; its geological type locality is Madagascar. It can be found in humid forests over an area of between

above mean sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

Distribution and habitat

''Calumma cucullatum'' can be found in north-eastern Madagascar, and its geological type locality is Madagascar, where it is found in humid forests. The species was once found at

Marojejy National Park Marojejy National Park () is a national park in the Sava region of northeastern Madagascar. It covers and is centered on the Marojejy Massif, a mountain chain that rises to an elevation of . Access to the area around the massif was restricted t ...

, the most northern where it has been recorded, and Marolambo, the southernmost. The species can be found at low elevations between . It has also been found in Tsararano, Anandrivola, and Masoala, and is found over an area of a total of . The

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

(IUCN) has classed ''C. cucullatum'' as s

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 is threatened by many factors such as the

slash-and-burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a form of shifting cultivation that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a Field (agriculture), field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody p ...

method of agriculture.

Taxonomy

The species was first described by Gray in 1831 as the ''Chamaeleon cucullatus''. Duméril and Bibron described it in 1836: 227 as ''Chamaeleo cucullatus'', and Gray described it as ''Bradypodium cucullatum'' in 1865: 351. The same year, Gray also described it as the ''Calumma cucullata''. In 1911: 32, Werner described the species as ''Chamaeleon cucullatus''. In 1986, Klaver and Böhme described it as ''Calumma cucullata'', and the same for Glaw and Vences in 1994: 247 and Necas in 1999: 274. Lutzmann and Lutzmann described it as ''Calumma cucullatum'' in 2004.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q748249 Reptiles described in 1831 Taxa named by John Edward Gray Calumma Fauna of the Madagascar lowland forests