{"id":2442,"date":"2015-04-23T17:13:09","date_gmt":"2015-04-23T15:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madcham.com\/?p=2442"},"modified":"2023-04-09T14:55:13","modified_gmt":"2023-04-09T12:55:13","slug":"farbvariante-green-giant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.madcham.de\/en\/farbvariante-green-giant\/","title":{"rendered":"Color variation “green giant”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Distribution:<\/h4>\n
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Masoala National Park is located on the peninsula of the same name in north-eastern Madagascar. At the northern end of Antongil Bay, also known as the “Cradle of Whales”, lies the small coastal town of Maroansetra. The area is only accessible by plane from Madagascar’s capital, Tana, to Maroantsetra. The road along the east coast from Toamasina (Tamatave) upwards, although still in existence, is still officially designated as a route nationale, but it is in such a catastrophic condition that no one drives it voluntarily. Masoala itself consists mainly of primary forest and is only accessible by boat; the area around Maroantsetra has long since given way to secondary vegetation. Calumma parsonii parsonii<\/em>, however, can be found not only in Masoala but in various places around Antongil Bay.<\/p>\n

The colour variety “green giant” was for a long time a bit of a mystique, because for years there were hardly any photos of Calumma parsonii parsonii<\/em> from the region around Maroantsetra. One reason for this is that the chameleons are very difficult to find here. In our experience, they prefer trees with a height of more than 15 m and only rarely come down much lower, for example, to lay eggs. In fact, the rarer finds may also have to do with the fact that there are no local guides specialising in reptiles in Masoala.<\/p>\n

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Juvenile “green giant” in Masoala<\/p><\/div>\n

Appearance and size:<\/h4>\n

As the name suggests, the males of this colour variety are bright turquoise-green, just like the females. The eyelids are also green. Some of the males have a discreet, lightened lateral stripe on their body. In all animals of this colour variation we have noticed so far that the head shape seems to be somewhat more elongated than in the other colour variations of Calumma parsonii parsonii<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Table of weights<\/h4>\n

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Weibchen = female, M\u00e4nnchen = male, Jungtier = juvenile, Gewicht = weight, Kopf-Rumpf-L\u00e4nge = snout-vent-length<\/p>\n

Since 2015, we have been measuring the weights of the Parsons chameleons we found in Madagascar, as far as the animals (and our scales) are able to do so. In 2023, we were able to measure the first “green giants”. So far, there are only a few weights, but in the long run, an average weight in relation to the head-torso length (measured from the tip of the nose to the cloaca) should be possible for each species from as many measurements as possible. It is important to know that all weights were measured towards the end of the rainy season (= best food supply), so these are probably maximum weights in Madagascar<\/strong>. Triangular symbols on females mean not pregnant, round symbols mean pregnant. In the case of Calumma parsonii parsonii<\/em> we have so far a common table for all colour variants, as all four are the same species.<\/p>\n

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