Ankarana

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Ankarana, Madagaskar (Directions)

Ankarana -13.116930, 48.938599 Ankarana, Madagaskar (Directions)

Distribution of the local form Ankarana East

Ankarana national park is in northwest Madagascar in region Diana. It is separated into two large areas by the Tsingys, an impressive needlestone formation. One side is the east, and the other is the west with its extensive dry forests. The entry to the eastern part of the national park is located directly at RN6. In the dry forest close to Meva Tsingys, you can finde panther chameleons with males wearing a green colour with yellow belly. These colours differ spectacularly from the same species occuring west of the Tsingys.

Appearance of the local form:

Male panther chameleons here wear green colours with yellow belly. This is a quite different color than the color of males on the other side of the Tsingys.

Weight table

Gewicht = weight in grams, Kopf-Rumpf-Länge = snout-vent-length in cm, Weibchen = females, Männchen = males

Since 2015 we have been measuring the weights of chameleons we have found in Madagascar, as far as the animals (and our scales) are participating. So far there are only a few weights, in the long term an average weight in relation to the snout-vent-length It is important to know that all weights were measured towards the end of the rainy season (= best food supply), so they are probably maximum weights in Madagascar. Triangular symbols in females do not mean pregnant, round symbols mean pregnant. In the case of Furcifer pardalis, contrary to our original assumption, there have been no serious differences in the ratio of SVL to the weight of the individual local forms.

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

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Average temperature	25	25	24	23	20	19	18	19	20	22	23	24
Minimum temperature	21	20	20	19	16	14	14	14	15	17	19	20
Maximum temperature	30	29	28	27	26	24	23	24	25	27	28	29
Rain days	26	24	21	12	8	7	9	9	7	9	13	20

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.

Ankarana is a dry forest divided in two halfs by the famous Tsingys, needle stone rocks. Inside the dry forest, it is very warm during daytime all year long. During rainy season from October to April, temperatures above 30°C are rather usual and it often rains.

During dry season from May to September days are a little cooler, but still very warm. At night, temperatures don't really drop in rainy season, but in dry season temperatures drop to 15°C at night. Dry season, by the way, means really dry in Ankarana: The major part of the trees looses its leaves and there is few precipitation only every couple of days. The rivers that have been torrentially in rainy season, dry up completely only leaving the bare stony river beds.

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

We have measured UVB data with a Solarmeter 6.5 in spring (beginning of April) 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 Ankarana available yet.

Habitat:

The habitat of panther chameleons here consists of old dry forest with huge trees and very much dense undergrowth. The sandy soil is covered by foliage. Shrubs consist of endless extremely twined plants that make it difficult to catch sight of an animal inside. Sometimes, panther chameleons come close to the edge of the Tsingys.

Hereinafter you can find some 360° pictures from the dry forest of Ankarana. You can move inside these pictures via mouse click in all directions. If you click on the Theta logo, a new window with an enlarged view will open. You will also have the opportunity to look at the pictures in full-screen mode. Enjoy!

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