Brookesia minima: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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{{Short description|Species of reptile}}

{{Update|inaccurate=yes|Brookesia micra|date=February 2012}}

{{speciesbox

{{Speciesbox

| status = EN

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite journaliucn | author =Glaw, F. | author2 =Jenkins, R.K.B. | last-author-amp date=yes2014 | title = ''Brookesia minima'' | journal = [[IUCN Red List of Threatened Species]] | volume=2014 | page =e.T67009871A47583723 | publisher doi= [[IUCN]] | year =2014 | url = https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T67009871A47583723.en | accessdate access-date=2219 SeptemberNovember 20162021}}</ref>

| image = Minute leaf chameleon (Brookesia minima) Lokobe.jpg

| image =

| image_caption = Lokobe Strict Reserve

| genus = Brookesia

| species = minima

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}}

'''''Brookesia minima''''', ([[common name]]s of which include the '''dwarf chameleon''', the '''Madagascan dwarf chameleon''',<ref name="camb">{{cite journal|first1=Frank|last1=Glaw|first2=Miguel|last2=Vences|first3=Thomas|last3=Ziegler|first4=Wolfgang|last4=Böhme|first5=Jörn|last5=Köhler|year=1999|title=Specific distinctness and biogeography of the dwarf chameleons Brookesia minima, B. peyrierasi and B. tuberculata (Reptilia: Chamaeleonidae): evidence from hemipenial and external morphology|journal=Journal of Zoology|volume=247|issue=2|pages=225–238|doi=10.1017/s0952836999002101}}</ref> the '''minute leaf chameleon''',<ref name="ark">{{cite web|url=http://www.arkive.org/minute-leaf-chameleon/brookesia-minima/#text=All|publisher=Arkive:Images of Life on Earth|title=Minute leaf chameleon}}</ref> the '''Nosy Be pygmy leaf chameleon''', and the '''tiny ground chameleon''',<ref name|access-date="wild">{{cite web2015-09-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905114735/http://www.wildmadagascararkive.org/wildlifeminute-leaf-chameleon/speciesbrookesia-minima/Brookesia_minima.html#text=All#text=All|publisherarchive-date=Wild Madagascar2015-09-05|titleurl-status=dead}}</ref> and the '''Nosy Be pygmy leaf chameleon}}</ref>'''), is a [[island dwarfism|diminutive]] [[chameleon]] that was regarded as the smallest lizard<ref name=repdb>{{cite web|url=http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Brookesia&species=minima|publisher=Reptile Database|title=Brookesia minima}}</ref> of the [[Family (biology)|Chamaeleonidae]] until a smaller species, ''[[Brookesia micra|B. micranana]]'', was described in 20122021.

==Range==

''B. minima'' is [[Endemism|endemic]] to [[Nosy Be]],<ref name="GnV07">{{cite book|last1=Glaw|first1=Frank|last2=Vences|first2=Miguel|title=A Field Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar|date=2007|publisher=Vences & Glaw Verlags|location=Cologne, Germany|isbn=978-3929449037|edition=3rd}}</ref> an [[island]] located just off the northwest [[coast]] of [[Madagascar]], but has extralimital distribution to [[Manongarivo Reserve]] on Madagascar's northwest coast.<ref name=glaw>{{cite journal|title=Rivaling the World's Smallest Reptiles: Discovery of Miniaturized and Microendemic New Species of Leaf Chameleons (Brookesia) from Northern Madagascar|journal=PLoSPLOS ONE|last1=Glaw|first1=F|last2=Köhler|first2=J|last3=Townsend |first3=TM|last4=Vences|first4=M|year=2012|volume=7|issue=2|pages=e31314|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0031314|pmid=22348069|pmc=3279364|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Description==

[[File:20150510-IMG 0786.jpg|thumb|left]]

''B. minima'' is the secondthird-smallest lizard ever described. The species has the independently rotating eyes and prehensile tail characteristic of all chameleons. It is coloured light grey on the head, back and tail, although the tail becomes orange then yellowish towards the tip. The sides of the body are brown, occasionally interrupted by dark brown spots, and the limbs are almost entirely dark brown. Spotted patterning appears to be a stress colouration, and unstressed individuals have a more or less uniform dark brown body, apart from a beige area in front of the eyes (1). The ''B. minima'' adult has a flattened head and an orbital crest with large [[Scale (zoology)|scales]] forming triangular plates above its [[eye]]s. Along its back are two rows of granular protrusions. ''B. minima'' specimens sometimes have lateral yellow stripes over their basic drab grayish-brown color. The maximum total length is 3.4&nbsp;cm (1.3&nbsp;in) for females and 2.8&nbsp;cm (1.1&nbsp;in) for males. Males are also more slenderslenderer than females, and exhibit a [[hemipenis|hemipenial]] bulge at the base of their [[tail]]s.<ref name=Madagascar>{{cite book | last=Glaw | first=Frank |author2=Vences, Miguel | title='''A Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar''' | edition=2nd | publisher=M. Vences & F. Glaw Verlags GbR | year=1994 | location=Köln | isbn=978-3-929449-01-3 }}</ref>

==Habitat==

''B. minima'' is native to the [[rain forest]]s of its native island. It has a relatively active [[habit (biology)|habit]] for a chameleon and likes moving around in the low [[branch]]es and [[leaf litter]] of its native [[rain forest]]s. Though they are moderately [[aggression|aggressive]] toward one another, [[population]] and densities in the wild may approach one animal per square meter.<ref name=Madagascar/>

==Reproduction==

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==Similar species==

''B. minima'' has been characterized as belonging to a [[species group]] with other Madagascan dwarf chameleons such as ''[[Brookesia dentata|B. dentata]]'', ''[[Brookesia tuberculata|B. tuberculata]]'', ''[[Brookesia peyrierasi|B. peyrierasi]]'' and other new or unidentified species such as a recently described chameleon from [[Tsingy de Bemaraha Strict Nature Reserve]].<ref name=glaw/><ref>Scherz, M. D., Köhler, J., Rakotoarison, A., Glaw, F., & Vences, M. (2019). A new dwarf chameleon, genus brookesia, from the marojejy massif in northern madagascar. Zoosystematics and Evolution, 95(1), 95-106. doi:10.3897/zse.95.32818</ref>

==Photolinks==

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== References ==

{{Reflist}}<br />

{{Taxonbar|from=Q2022984}}

[[Category:Brookesia|M]]

[[Category:Endemic fauna of Madagascar]]

[[Category:Reptiles of Madagascar]]

[[Category:Endangered fauna of Africa]]

[[Category:AnimalsReptiles described in 1893]]

[[Category:Taxa named by Oskar Boettger]]