Calumma malthe

First description:

(Günther, 1879)

Origin of the species name:

The German zoologist Albert Carl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther, then Director of the Zoological Department of the Natural History Museum of London (Great Britain), named Calumma malthe in 1879 in a very short description. How he came to the name malthe is unfortunately unknown.

Distribution:

This fascinating chameleon species inhabits the eastern rainforests and mountain cloud forests of Andasibe, Anjanaharibe-Sud, and Marojejy national park. The places we found them always had very dense vegetation and wide inside evergreen forests. We could not find any of these chameleons outside of very dense vegetation. During the daytime, this species is hardly visible. So if you like to find this species, try it at night.

Appearance and size:

This chameleon species is easy to identify by its large occipital lobes and the characteristic nose appendage in males. Coloration is mostly green-greyish with grass green parts on the flanks and the occipital lobes. Total length in males is 31 cm, and 28 cm in females. During mating season (January to April), females have occipital lobes surrounded by blue color and blue eyelids. The throat of both genders has one or two enlarged scales, the dorsal crest some spines of which each third or fourth is larger than the others.

Good to know:

When stressed or in an aggressive mood, these chameleons spread off their occipital lobes so they look much larger and more impressive. Of course, they also hiss and throw by moving sidewards.

• 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 photos show extracts from the habitat of Calumma malthe in the region around Andasibe. The species prefers to be found near small rivers keeping humidity always high. Calumma malthe lives exclusively in the middle of the rainforest, between epiphytes, ferns, lianas, and mossy branches. It prefers narrower branches of large trees, where the undergrowth is particularly dense and one can hardly see anything because of the confusion of branches.

Hereinafter you can find some 360° pictures from Andasibe region and Vohimana. 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!