A new species of chameleon has been described from a tiny patch of forest in Madagascar. That in itself is not big news, as the island's herpetofauna is a long way from complete (one authority reports he has an estimated 100 new species of frogs awaiting formal description.) But its German discoverers hope the name Calumma tarzan will help make this lizard a "poster species" drawing attention to the island's diversity and the need for better habitat conservation. Lead author of the formal descriptive paper, Philip-Sebastian Gehring, said, "The Tarzan chameleon is going to use his celebrity name to promote protection for this last patch of forest."
THANKS TO Beth Buczinsky, author of a cool nature blog I had not known about until now (see title link), for posting this on the Web.
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