Calumma nasutum

First description:

(Duméril & Bibron, 1836)

Origin of the species name:

Zoologist André Marie Constant Duméril, then head of herpetology at the Natural History Museum in Paris (France), named this chameleon species after its striking nose, together with his assistant Gabriel Bibron. From 2020 to 2025, another species was considered to be Calumma nasutum after biologist David Prötzel from the Munich State Zoological Collection (Germany) wrote the first detailed publication on the very complex relationships and species relationships within the nasutum complex. In 2025, it emerged that the species described here is actually the “real” Calumma nasutum as described by Duméril and Bibron in 1836. The former Calumma nasutum was renamed Calumma hofreiteri.

Distribution:

The distribution area of Calumma nasutum lies in the southern highlands of Madagascar around Ranomafana National Park and extends to the east coast of Madagascar at the same latitude, to Mananjary. In the national park itself, however, they are only found in small forest areas. In our experience, the species is much rarer than previously assumed (see also the note under ‘Good to know’ on the current threat status on the IUCN Red List).

Appearance and size:

Calumma nasutum is one of the smaller chameleons, measuring 8.1 to 9.3 cm from the tip of its nose to the tip of its tail. The males have a relatively large, very round and usually bright light green-yellow rostral appendage. The females, on the other hand, only have a kind of red snub nose – their rostral appendage is much smaller than that of the males, measuring just 1 mm in length. Both rostral appendages are serrated, i.e. not smooth when viewed from the side. The rostral scale directly below the nasal protuberance is not integrated into the rostral appendage itself. Neither sex has a dorsal crest. The helmet is relatively high. The scales on the arms, legs, helmet and cheek area are slightly larger than those on the body.

When excited, the males of Calumma nasutum are light grey to white with blue accents on the back, tail, arms and legs, and larger blue scales on the head. The males have two broad, light green-yellow bands on the sides of their bodies. The females of Calumma nasutum are somewhat more inconspicuous, reddish-brown in colour, with a net-like, lighter structure between the scales on their bodies.

Good to know:

Calumma nasutum belongs to the so-called gallus group. This group includes a large number of small chameleons from Madagascar with soft nasal appendages. It was not until 2020 that Prötzel, Scherz et al. defined Calumma nasutum more precisely – the current Calumma hofreiteri was therefore listed as Calumma nasutum between 2020 and 2025. The animals described as Calumma nasutum throughout Madagascar until 2020, on the other hand, now largely belong to Calumma radamanus and the radamanus group. The latter still includes many undescribed species. Due to the long-standing problem of the lack of genetic differentiation between different species, countless chameleons have been exported since 2014 under the name Calumma nasutum, which are not Calumma nasutum at all, but other chameleon species. Even today, confusion between this species and others is still extremely common.

Another ‘special feature’ of Calumma nasutum is its protection status on the IUCN Red List. Currently, as has been the case for many years, the species is still classified as ‘least concern’ and thus has the lowest threat level. However, the 2025 revision paper on the species clearly recommends the threat level ‘endangered’ due to its much smaller habitat than previously assumed. Since then, however, there has been no reassessment by the IUCN, so the old status is still valid.

• Climate table
• More about climate
• UVB indices
• Ground temperatures

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Average temperature	23	24	23	23	21	19	19	19	20	21	22	23
Minimum temperature	20	20	20	19	18	15	15	15	15	16	18	19
Maximum temperature	27	27	27	27	25	23	23	23	24	25	26	27
Rain days	27	24	26	19	17	18	21	20	15	16	20	25

We have collected the data given above over several years with thermometers and hygrometers at the finding places of the chameleons. "Average temperature" means that values of a whole month have been calculated to one average value per month. For example all measured minimum temperature values of February have been calculated to one average minimum temperature for February. In plain language, this means single peak values of a day may be a little higher or lower than the average minimum and maximum temperatures. It is possible that a location has an average maximum temperature of 29°C, but one day during that month it had 33°C or even 35°C there.

The rainforest of Ranomafana is located in Madagascar's southern highlands at elevations around 1000 m above sea level. Thus climate is generally cooler than e.g. on the coast or in the southwestern part of the island. Days reach temperatures around 25°C, rainy season may become a little warmer. Sunny places may get a little above 30°C sometimes. At night, temperature drops down to 20°C in rainy season and even lower to 15°C in dry season.

But "dry" season is very relative in Ranomafana, because the forest does not get dry at all. Never. It may rain less and precipitation is not lasting for days, but it is still rich enough to let ground and trees never dry completely. Key factors of Ranomafana's climate are high humidity and cool nights.

Tageszeit = day time, Sonne = sun, Halbschatten = half shade, Schatten = shade

We have measured UVB data with a Solarmeter 6.5 in spring (March) at the peak of activity of chameleons in Madagascar. We always measured the values that a chameleon could maximally reach in its habitat.

Unfortunately, we have no ground temperatures for Ranomafana available yet.

Habitat:

The following photos show excerpts from the habitat of Calumma nasutum in Ranomafana. The rainforest here stretches across several gorges, making it quite steep in places. The ground is rocky and covered with dense undergrowth and many ferns. Some of the trees are huge and completely overgrown with lichens and mosses in many places. It is usually foggy in the morning and never really dries out. The forest is crossed by a river that feeds several waterfalls and has a large number of smaller streams.

Below you will find some 360° images from the Ranomafana rainforest, which we took during the rainy season. If you click on the respective image, the pictures will open in an enlarged view in a separate window. You can use your mouse to rotate the image in all directions. There is also the option to view the images in full-screen mode. Enjoy!