Rieppeleon
Genus of lizards
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rieppeleon is a genus of small, typically brown chameleons found in forests and savannas in East Africa. Member species are found at low levels in bushes, or on the ground among grass or leaf litter.[1]
| Rieppeleon | |
|---|---|
| |
| Male R. brevicaudatus | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Iguania |
| Family: | Chamaeleonidae |
| Subfamily: | Chamaeleoninae |
| Genus: | Rieppeleon Matthee, Tilbury & Townsend, 2004 |
Etymology
The genus Rieppeleon was named after Swiss-born American herpetologist Olivier Rieppel (born 1951).[2][3]
Taxonomy
Until recently, the species in the genus Rieppeleon were commonly included in the genus Rhampholeon instead.
Species
The following species are recognized as being valid.[4]
| Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rieppeleon brachyurus (Günther, 1893) | beardless pygmy chameleon | Malawi, Mozambique, and southeastern Tanzania. | |
 | Rieppeleon brevicaudatus (Matschie, 1892) | bearded pygmy chameleon | eastern Usambara and Uluguru Mountains in northeastern Tanzania and Kenya |
 | Rieppeleon kerstenii (W. Peters, 1868) | Kenya pygmy chameleon | eastern Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and northeastern Tanzania |
Nota bene: A binomial authority, or trinomial authority, in parentheses indicates that the species, or subspecies, was originally described in a genus other than Rieppeleon.
