<strong>The “<em>Rhampholeon</em> <em>uluguruensis</em> complex” (Squamata: Chamaeleonidae) and the taxonomic status of the pygmy chameleons in Tanzania</strong>

Abstract

The specific status of several pygmy chameleons endemic to mountain massifs in the Eastern Arc Mountains, Tanzania has long been controversial due to their lack of distinctive morphological characters. In this work we extend our previous sampling of Rieppeleon and Rhampholeon species, especially from the Rhampoleon moyeri/Rhampholeon uluguruensis complex, and add data from a new mitochondrial marker to address this problem. Our results show that there is geographical structure between populations of pygmy chameleons from different mountains. This structure is especially well defined for Rhampholeon (Rhinodigitum). Phylogenetic analyses confirm that both Rh. uluguruensis Tilbury and Emmrich, 1995 and Rh. moyeri Menegon, Salvidio and Tilbury, 2002 are distinct lineages, the former from the Uluguru Mountains and the latter from the Udzungwa Mountains. However, the paratype material used to erect Rh. moyeri belongs to a separate lineage from the holotype. Similarly, a number of additional lineages within the Rh. moyeri/Rh. uluguruensis complex recovered in the analysis may deserve specific status. At present, there is a lack of morphological characters that can be used to distinguish these lineages, suggesting that there are multiple cryptic taxa in this complex.

Cryptic diversity in Rhampholeon boulengeri (Sauria: Chamaeleonidae), a pygmy chameleon from the Albertine Rift biodiversity hotspot

“…While our phylogenetic analyses are consistent with the evolutionary relationships across the genus Rhampholeon recovered in previous studies (Matthee et al, 2004; Mariaux and Tilbury 2006; Fisseha et al, 2013; Tolley et al, 2013; Branch et al, 2014; Tilbury and Tolley, 2015), the additional populations sampled from diverse forest environments of the Albertine Rift (AR) represent five previously unrecognized species. All of the AR species were recovered in the same clade, and importantly, none of the new species were conspecific with described Rhampholeon from the AR (i.e., R. hattinghi ).…”

“…Two additional samples were collected from the Yala Nature Reserve, Kakamega Forest, western Kenya. We also included additional sequences in our analyses that were not generated for this study: ND2 fragments and one RAG1 fragment for two individuals from Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda (CAS 2016 81–82); a 16S fragment for an individual from Irangi (near Kahuzi-Biega National Park), DRC (ZFMK 47571); and a 16S fragment for an individual from Cyamudongo Forest, Rwanda (ZFMK 55104) (Fisseha et al, 2013). For phylogenetic analyses, we included 18 of the 19 currently recognized Rhampholeon species and three species of Rieppeleon as outgroups (Branch et al, 2014).…”

“…We excluded the species R. beraduccii from phylogenetic analyses because only a single sequence for the mitochondrial fragment 16S is available on GenBank. Rhampholeon beraduccii , from the Mahenge Mountains in southern Tanzania, is a member of the subgenus Rhinodigitum with close affinities to R. acuminatus ; however, this phylogenetic placement was based on analyses of the 16S gene only (Mariaux and Tilbury, 2006; Fisseha et al, 2013).…”

Diversification and historical demography of Rhampholeon spectrum in West-Central Africa

“…Species tree inferred from ddRAD datasets. The loci obtained from the RADset2 were used to infer a maximum likelihood tree using IQ-TREE (S2 Fig) and a species tree using SVDQuartets (S3 Fig) . High bootstrap supports (>90) were observed for most nodes in the SVDQuartets species tree, except for the nodes Korup+Gabon (60) and Gabon (66). The monophyly of the montane clade (Bioko + CCVL) is strongly supported by both trees.…”

Conservation Education, Alternative Livelihood and Habitat Restoration: The Best Strategies for Conservation of Magombera Forest Reserve

“…It harbors endemic and endangered species of plants and animals like Leopards, Elephants, Buffaloes, Iringa red Colobus monkey, Magombera chameleon, Polyalthia verdcourtii (Huberantha verdcourtii) tree, the large-leaved Memecylon tree as well as internationally threatened species such as Udzungwa dwarf galago, and hippopotamus [2,7]. It is an important resource for local communities who depend on the adjacent land for rice and sugarcane farming by providing invaluable ecological services including protection from floods and soil erosion.…”