Scalier Lord of the Jungle: Tarzan the Chameleon.

The Treasure from Madagascar

(Photograph: Frank Glaw/National Geographic)

     Five-inch-long (13-centimeter-long) Calumma tarzan was found recently in a tiny patch of forest on the vast Indian Ocean island of Madagascar, a new study says.
     The new species' name,  Calumma tarzan, has multiple roots. For one thing, the chameleon's habitat—in what locals call the Tarzan Forest—is near the village formerly known as Tarzanville
(recently renamed Ambodimeloka).

Unique Flat Snout

     The Tarzan chameleon was found on a 2009 night survey in eastern Madgascar, which lies off the east coast of mainland Africa.
     Scientists immediately recognized the reptile as unique from other chameleons, due to its flat, spadelike snout, Gehring said.
     Though the species' numbers are unknown, Gehring and colleagues suspect the Tarzan chameleon will be added to the ranks of critically endangered species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species.
(See related pictures: "Over 200 New Amphibians Found in Madagascar.")

Tarzan Forest Fragmented

     Large scale of deforestation, which has accelerated throughout Madagascar since a 2009 political coup, has turned the chameleon's habitat into a patchwork of isolated forest fragments, some no bigger than a soccer field.
     Combined, the fragments account for just about four square miles (ten square kilometers), Gehring said.
     Even though the habitat is broken into pieces, the team found up to 60 chameleons in one fragment alone, suggesting the new species can survive in the remaining pockets—and that the Tarzan chameleon could still come out swinging.