Calumma gastrotaenia

First description:

(Boulenger, 1888)

Origin of the species name:

The Belgian zoologist George Alber Boulenger, at that time working at the Natural History Museum in London (Great Britain), probably named this chameleon species after the Latin gastro taenia, which can be translated as “belly band”. This probably refers to the white lateral stripes of the males.

Distribution:

Calumma gastrotaenia belongs to the chameleon species that prefer living in the dense rainforests of the eastern highlands. We could find this chameleon species at elevations of 1200 meters above sea level. Lucky people can find these small chameleons in the rainforests of Analamazaotra in high shrubs as well as along the road to Andasibe at night sleeping on small branches. Over the last years, we have been watching a strong decrease in specimen numbers, and up to date, this species can only rarely be found anymore in Andasibe. The best place to see the animals is Anjozorobe in the northern highlands of Madagascar. In spring you can find whole “kindergartens” of this species in the forest at only a few hundred meters.

Appearance and size:

Calumma gastrotaenia belongs to the small or mid-sized chameleon species. Males reach a length of 14 cm, while females grow up to 13 cm. Scalation is homogenous, with a small dorsal crest in males. The males’ color is bright green with yellow accents and a white lateral stripe from the eye to the tail that may be bright blue above the eyelids. The casque rises in direction to the back, in females, it stays low. The ventral crest has two parallel running white lines. During mating time, Calumma gastrotaenia sometimes also show blue accents. The young specimens are bright green and really tiny.

Reproduction:

Young Calumma gastrotaenia hatch from January to March, they are easier to find because they always sleep at the end of leaves.

• Climate table
• More about climate
• UVB indices
• Ground temperatures
• Air pressure

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Average temperature	23	24	23	23	22	19	19	19	20	21	22	23
Minimum temperature	20	20	20	19	18	15	15	15	15	16	18	19
Maximum temperature	27	27	27	27	25	23	23	23	24	25	26	27
Rain days	27	24	26	19	17	18	21	20	15	16	20	25

We have collected the data given above over several years with thermometers and hygrometers at the finding places of the chameleons. "Average temperature" means that values of a whole month have been calculated to one average value per month. For example all measured minimum temperature values of February have been calculated to one average minimum temperature for February. In plain language, this means single peak values of a day may be a little higher or lower than the average minimum and maximum temperatures. It is possible that a location has an average maximum temperature of 29°C, but one day during that month it had 33°C or even 35°C there.

Three examples of a daily course of temperatures in Andasibe in the rainy season can be found below. Both were recorded with data loggers in 2023.

The region around Andasibe with the associated forests of Mantadia, Mitsinjo and Analamazaotra lie in the eastern highlands of Madagascar at altitudes between 900 and 1250 m above sea level. During the day, the temperature may sometimes exceed 25°C, but the thermometer rarely climbs above 30°C, or only in sunspots. At night, temperatures plummet, especially during the dry season. 10° to 15° degrees are the rule.

Humidity in the rainforests around Andasibe is high all year round. During the rainy season it rains extensively every day, sometimes the rain lasts for days. But the dry season is not massively different either, except that it has slightly cooler temperatures overall and reaches lower temperatures at night. It still rains at least every other day. Rain, high humidity and a drop in temperature at night are therefore the central points of Andasibe's climate. In 2023, we measured relative humidity with data loggers on different days in Andasibe in the rainy season, the data can be found below.

Tageszeit = day time, Sonne = sun, Halbschatten = half shade, Schatten = shade

We have measured UVB data with a Solarmeter 6.5 in spring (March, April) at the peak of activity of chameleons in Madagascar. We always measured the values that a chameleon could maximally reach in its habitat.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Morning	23,2	23,4	22,0	22,1	20,5	16,0	16,3	16,5	17,4	16,7	21,2	-
Midday	25,4	25,3	24,5	22,5	20,2	16,5	16,3	17,7	18,3	18,0	21,4	-
Evening	25,5	25,1	25,0	25,3	20,8	17,2	16,1	17,0	19,6	23,0	22,0	-

Between 21 March 2018 and 05 February 2019, we measured ground temperatures in the rainforest of Andasibe and surrounding areas (Analamazaotra, Andasibe, V.O.I.M.M.A. and Mitsinjo) about every other day - the table is the result of these measurements. Only in December no measurements were taken. detailed review can be found here. In total, we took 418 soil temperature measurements and measured an estimated 70 different locations in Andasibe and the surrounding area at a depth of 20 cm.

In 2023, in addition to other climate data, we also measured the air pressure at the locations we visited in Madagascar. The following data is from different days during the rainy season in Andasibe. On the X-axis is the time of day or night. In Madagascar, the day begins around 6 am, and night falls at 6 pm. The Y-axis shows the atmospheric pressure in hPa.

Habitat:

The following pictures show the habitat of Calumma gastrotaenia in the rainforests of Andasibe and Anjozorobe. Both rainforests are rather dense with small clearings in between. The animals live on slender trees and in high bushes.

Hereinafter you can find some 360° pictures from Andasibe. You can move inside these pictures via mouse click in all directions. If you click on the Theta logo, a new window with an enlarged view will open. You will also have the opportunity to look at the pictures in full-screen mode. Enjoy!