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| A adult male Nadzikambia mlanjensis (Broadley, 1965), B adult male N. baylissi Branch & Tolley, 2010, C adult male Nadzikambia franklinae sp. nov., D adult male N. goodallae sp. nov. , E adult male N. evanescens sp. nov., F adult female N. nubila sp. nov. Tolley & Conradie, 2026 |
Abstract
Several populations of forest-living chameleons in the genus Nadzikambia have been recorded from the montane sky island forests in northern Mozambique. These populations have not been evaluated for their species status, despite the potential for these allopatric populations having diverged at the species level due to vicariance of forest since the mid-Miocene. With only two described species of Nadzikambia, we hypothesised that candidate (new) species occur on each of four additional montane sky islands surveyed. We applied an integrative taxonomic approach to evaluate this, using morphological and genetic data collected from each population. Their distributions were mapped, the morphological dataset was quantitatively analysed using a multivariate analysis, and one nuclear and three mitochondrial genes were sequenced to generate a phylogeny and allele networks. Independent species delimitation analyses were applied to the genetic dataset (mPTP, SpeciesIdentifier, p distances) as supporting evidence for candidate species. By applying integrative taxonomy under the General Lineage Species Concept, we find support for four new species of Nadzikambia. The montane forests where they occur have declined in extent due to slash and burn agriculture and these forest endemics are presumed to be in a proportional decline as their habitat contracts. By examining historical and present-day satellite imagery, we show that all Nadzikambia species have lost significant proportions of their range. Given they do not occur outside these forests, these species are in imminent danger of extinction.
Keywords: Africa, Chamaeleonidae, conservation priority, Critically Endangered, habitat loss, morphological conservatism, reptiles, species declines, species delimitation, taxonomy
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| Life photos of Nadzikambia: A adult male N. mlanjensis (PEM R18445), B adult male N. baylissi (unvouchered specimen), C adult holotype male N. franklinae sp. nov. (PEM R21165), D adult holotype male N. goodallae sp. nov. (PEM R24394), E adult holotype male N. evanescens sp. nov. (PEM R24372), F adult paratype female N. nubila sp. nov. (NHMUK 2025.3278). |
Nadzikambia franklinae sp. nov.
Namuli sylvan chameleon
Etymology. The new species is named after the British chemist Rosalind Franklin (1920–1958) whose work on X-Ray crystallography, particularly her legendary “photo 51”, revealed the structure of DNA (Franklin and Gosling 1953). Her ground-breaking work subsequently allowed for the field of phylogenetics to develop, decades later. Today, nearly all modern taxonomy is phylogenetically informed, including the description of N. franklinae sp. nov.
Nadzikambia goodallae sp. nov.
Ribáuè sylvan chameleon
Etymology. This species is named after Jane Goodall (1934–2025), an inspirational scientist who lived and worked in Africa throughout her lengthy career. Although her work was dedicated to the study of Pan troglodytes, the Chimpanzee, she spent much of her life living and working in tropical forest, in particular at Gombe National Park, Tanzania. Like her own study species, this chameleon is a forest endemic and the destruction of forest, and other habitats, both at Mount Ribáuè as well as within the home range of P. troglodytes in Central and West Africa is causing forest-living species to decline to the brink of extinction.
Nadzikambia evanescens sp. nov.
Inago sylvan chameleon
Etymology. This species is named Nadzikambia evanescens with the specific epithet from the Latin ‘evanescens’ meaning ‘vanishing’. The name is a present participle that can be used as an adjective or a noun in apposition, and the specific epithet is the same for all genders. The etymology is to highlight the rapidly vanishing forest on Mount Inago and the peril that this species is currently under. The forest has already been reduced to a few small patches, and the uncontrolled conversion of forest to agriculture is continuing. The consequence could be the demise of this endemic forest species, if action is not taken to stop the forest destruction.
Nadzikambia nubila sp. nov.
Chiperone sylvan chameleon
Etymology. This species is named after the “Ciperoni” – the term used locally for the weather that brings heavy clouds and orographic rainfall to the area. The cloud sustains the mid-elevation wet forest on this mountain. The epithet ‘nubila’ is derived from the Latin ‘nubilus’ meaning “cloudy,” and is modified to the feminine form to agree with the feminine gender of the genus Nadzikambia.
Krystal Tolley and Werner Conradie. 2026. Sky Islands of Mozambique harbour Cryptic Species of Chameleons: Description of Four New Species of Sylvan Chameleons (Squamata: Chamaeleonidae: Nadzikambia Tilbury, Tolley & Branch, 2006). Vertebrate Zoology. 76: 207-246. DOI: doi.org/10.3897/vz.76.e178403 [21 Apr 2026]
