Tiger chameleon (Archaius tigris)

Tiger chameleon with yellow camouflage
Tiger chameleon with yellow camouflage

Tiger chameleon fact file

Tiger chameleon description

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassReptilia
OrderSquamata
FamilyChamaeleonidae
GenusArchaius (1)

With a length of just 16 centimetres, this enchanting species is relatively small for a chameleon (2) (5). Body colour varies from inconspicuous light-grey to a bold yellow-orange, or even green or dark brown, usually with scattered black spots and a pale grey chin and throat (2). One of the tiger chameleon’s most distinctive features, however, is the pointed projection on its chin, which can be up to 3 millimetres long and sits amongst a comb of smaller, spiky outgrowths that border the underside of the chin (2) (5).

Synonyms
Calumma tigris, Chamaeleo seychellensis, Chamaeleo tigris.
Size
Length: up to 16 cm (2)
Top

Tiger chameleon biology

After a short warming up phase in the morning, this chameleon goes in search of insects and other small animals on which to feed (2). Like all chameleons, this species hunts by firing its elongated sticky tongue at prey with incredible speed. The tongue is tipped in a deadly suction pad capable of ensnaring prey that an ordinary reptile would never hope to hold (2) (6).

Reproduction on the island of Mahé is associated with introduced pineapple plants, in which the tiger chameleon lays its eggs. These plants are not used on Silhouette or Praslin, and the natural nesting sites remain unknown, although the endemic Pandanus and palms are thought to be used (3). In captivity, clutches contain between five and twelve eggs (2).

Top

Tiger chameleon range

Endemic to the Seychelles, occurring only on the islands of Mahé, Silhouette and Praslin (3).

Top

Tiger chameleon habitat

This arboreal species is found in primary tropical forest, secondary forest where there is high plant diversity, and upland rural gardens, from sea level to 550 metres (3).

Top

Tiger chameleon status

Classified as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List (3) and listed on Appendix II of CITES (4).

IUCN Red List species status – Endangered

Top

Tiger chameleon threats

The tiger chameleon is threatened by habitat degradation caused by introduced alien plants, such as cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum), especially on Mahé and Praslin (3) (7). As an island endemic with a restricted range of just three small islands, and a population thought to number only 2,000 individuals, the tiger chameleon is particularly vulnerable to changes within its habitat (7).

Top

Tiger chameleon conservation

The tiger chameleon and its habitat are protected within the Morne Seychelles (Mahé) and Praslin National Parks (3), and alien plant control on Praslin (7) and habitat restoration programmes on Silhouette are being undertaken to help this species (8). The main population occurs on Silhouette, where it has been suggested that forested areas containing populations should be given legal protection by being included in a new protected area (3).

View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

Top

Authentication

Authenticated (20/11/2006) by Justin Gerlach, Scientific Co-ordinator, The Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles.
http://islandbiodiversity.com

Top

Glossary

Arboreal
An animal which lives or spends a large amount of time in trees.
Endemic
A species or taxonomic group that is only found in one particular country or geographic area.
Top

References

  1. Townsend, T.M., Tolley, K.A., Glaw, F., Böhme, W. and Vences, M. (2010) Eastward from Africa: palaeocurrent-mediated chameleon dispersal to the Seychelles islands. Biology Letters, published online 8 September 2010.
  2. Terra Inspira (September, 2006)
    http://www.terrainspira.ch/berichte/chamaeleon/calumma_tigris.html
  3. IUCN Red List (July, 2006)
    http://www.iucnredlist.org/
  4. CITES (July, 2006)
    http://www.cites.org/
  5. Calumma Arten (September, 2006)
    http://www.chamaeleons.com/index.php?mode=calumma&site=calummatigris
  6. Lasher, A. (2001) Chameleons disclose talent for weightlifting: hunting other lizards: changing color in 10 seconds is not their only trick. The Cold Blooded News, 28(6). Available at:
    http://webspinners.com/coloherp/cb-news/Vol-28/cbn-0106/Chameleons.html
  7. Seychelles Islands Foundation (December, 2008)
    http://www.sif.sc/index.php?langue=eng&rub=32
  8. The Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles (December, 2008)
    http://www.islandbiodiversity.com/npts.htm

More »Related species

Brookesia (Brookesia vadoni)Cape dwarf chameleon (Bradypodion pumilum)Natal midland dwarf chameleon (Bradypodion thamnobates)Northern leaf chameleon (Brookesia ebenaui)O'shaughnessy's chameleon (Calumma oshaughnessyi)Vences' chameleon (Calumma vencesi)Oustalet's chameleon (Furcifer oustaleti)High-casqued chameleon (Trioceros hoehnelii)

This species is featured in:

This species is endangered. Visit our endangered species page to learn more.

Please donate to ARKive today

Help us share the wonders of the natural world. Donate today!

Sign up to our newsletter

Get the latest wild news direct to your inbox.

Get involved

ARKive relies on its media donors to donate photos and videos. Can you help? There are plenty of other ways you can get involved too!

X
Close

Image credit

Tiger chameleon with yellow camouflage  
Tiger chameleon with yellow camouflage

© Henrik Bringsøe / www.natureswindow.dk

Henrik Bringsoe
Irisvej 8
DK-4600 Køge
Denmark
Tel: +45 (5666) 3023
bringsoe@email.dk
http://www.natureswindow.dk

X
Close

Link to this photo

ARKive species - Tiger chameleon (Archaius tigris) Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.

Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.

Read more about

X
Close

MyARKive

MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.

X
Close

Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials

Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.

Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:

  • view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
  • download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
  • teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.

End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.

Additional use of flagged material

Green flagged material 

Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.

Creative commons material

Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.

Any other use

Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.

Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.