{"id":14979,"date":"2025-04-30T17:26:09","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T15:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.madcham.de\/?p=14979"},"modified":"2025-11-08T16:24:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T15:24:13","slug":"palleon-lolontany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.madcham.de\/en\/palleon-lolontany\/","title":{"rendered":"Palleon lolontany"},"content":{"rendered":"
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First description: \"IUCN<\/a><\/h4>\n

(Raxworthy & Nussbaum, 1995)\u00a0 \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Origin of the species name:<\/h4>\n

Christopher J. Raxworthy from the American Museum of Natural History, New York (USA) and Ronald A. Nussbaum from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (USA) named the species after a local belief on the edge of the Tsaratanana Mountains, which mainly concerns the forest where the first specimens of the species were found. The people there believe in the existence of so-called lolontany<\/em>, spirits of the ancestors. They can guide and direct the destinies of the living, but are usually peaceful and harmless. Lolo<\/em> is the Malagasy word for spirit, tany<\/em> is the Malagasy word for earth. The exact translation therefore means \u2018earth spirits\u2019. Similar traditional beliefs in ancestral spirits exist almost everywhere in Madagascar, and in many places these spirits have different names.<\/p>\n

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Distribution:<\/h4>\n

This species only occurs in rainforests that are difficult to access from 1200 m and up to over 2050 m above sea level. They were originally only described from the vicinity of Lake Matsabory and along the Befosa River at 2050 m and 1600 m altitude. Both locations are in the rainforest on the edge of the Tsaratanana Mountains in northern Madagascar. It has been known since 2013<\/a> that the species also lives in the cloud forest of Sorata. And in 2025, we were able to prove for ourselves that Palleon lolontany<\/em> also inhabits the rainforest of Marojejy in north-east Madagascar. They are very rare to find there and you really need some luck to spot them. In Marojejy, the species occurs somewhat lower, but always above 1200 metres above sea level. It inhabits the deciduous layer of the uppermost part of the rainforest, just before the heath-like landscape at the very top. At night it can be found sleeping on thin branches or grasses up to a metre above the ground, but usually at knee height.<\/p>\n

Appearance & size:<\/h4>\n

The females of Palleon lolontany grow up to 5 cm in size, while the males remain significantly smaller at up to 4.3 cm. The females are naturally somewhat plumper or larger than the males. In contrast to Palleon nasus<\/em>, Palleon lolontany<\/em> has a single, small nasal process consisting of scaly skin. The nasal process is slightly longer in males than in females and can be up to 8 mm long. The dorsal crest of the male is wavy, while that of the female is fairly smooth. The casques of both sexes are very flat and clearly pointed towards the back. Palleon lolontany<\/em> are rather inconspicuously brown to beige in colour. The throat area is often lighter in colour in both sexes. Some animals have a narrow dark line on the sides of the body. Legs and arms are often darker in colour than the rest of the body.<\/p>\n

Particularities:<\/h4>\n

In 2013, the species was taxonomically placed in the genus Palleon<\/em> by Glaw, Hawlitschek and Ruthensteiner. Until then, Palleon lolontany<\/em> had been classified as Brookesia<\/em>. The investigations suggest that it is a sister genus of Brookesia<\/em>, which developed much earlier than previously thought and is possibly one of the most \u2018original\u2019 chameleon species. Although they look relatively similar to the African Rhampholeon<\/em> species, they are genetically very different and definitely not closely related.<\/p>\n

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