Fynbos is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. This area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean climate and rainy winters. The fynbos ecoregion is within the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome. In fields related to biogeography, fynbos is known for its exceptional degree of biodiversity and endemism, consisting of about 80% species of the Cape floral kingdom, where nearly 6,000 of them are endemic. This land continues to face severe human-caused threats, but due to the many economic uses of the fynbos, conservation efforts are being made to help restore it.
Bradypodion is a genus of chameleons in the family Chamaeleonidae, collectively called South African dwarf chameleons. All species are found in South Africa and most are endemic to this country, but a few can also be found in Eswatini, Lesotho, southernmost Namibia and possibly southernmost Mozambique. They are quite small chameleons where the different species often can be difficult to separate by appearance, although exact location and the intense breeding colours of males are useful for their identification. They are arboreal, but some species are mostly found low in the vegetation.
The Cape dwarf chameleon is a chameleon native to the South African province of the Western Cape, where it is restricted to the region around Cape Town.
Kinyongia is a genus of chameleons found in montane and sub-montane areas in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and far eastern DR Congo. They are restricted to forests, woodlands and other wooded habitats, and many species have very small geographic ranges. In most species, at least the males have horns or knobs on their noses. As typical of most chameleons, Kinyongia are oviparous.
Currently, two species are placed in the recently established genus Nadzikambia. They are plesiomorphic, small chameleons from the Ruo Gorge forest on Mount Mulanje in Malawi and Mount Mabu in Mozambique.
The wildlife of South Africa consists of the flora and fauna of this country in southern Africa. The country has a range of different habitat types and an ecologically rich and diverse wildlife, vascular plants being particularly abundant, many of them endemic to the country. There are few forested areas, much savanna grassland, semi-arid Karoo vegetation and the fynbos of the Cape Floristic Region. Famed for its national parks and big game, 297 species of mammal have been recorded in South Africa, as well as 849 species of bird and over 20,000 species of vascular plants.
Smith's dwarf chameleon, also known as the Elandsberg dwarf chameleon, is a species of lizard in the family Chamaeleonidae endemic to Fynbos in South Africa's Eastern Cape. As in several species of chameleons in the genus Bradypodion, the Smith's dwarf chameleon can use its color-changing ability to actively camouflage itself depending on the vision of the specific predator species by which it is being threatened.
The Transkei dwarf chameleon or Pondo dwarf chameleon is a chameleon endemic to the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.
The Swartberg dwarf chameleon is a species of chameleon endemic to South Africa.
The Knysna dwarf chameleon is a species of dwarf chameleon in the Bradypodion genus that is endemic to South Africa. It is a forest dweller, found only in a limited range in the afromontane forests near Knysna, South Africa, and in certain surrounding areas.
The black-headed dwarf chameleon is a lizard of the family Chamaeleonidae endemic to KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is also known as the KwaZulu dwarf chamaeleon and Durban dwarf chameleon.
Bradypodion ventrale, the southern dwarf chameleon, occurs in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It is also known as the eastern Cape dwarf chameleon. It is a relatively large species of dwarf chameleon, reaching lengths of 14 cm (5.5 in). It has a very prominent casque on the back of its head and a long, beard-like throat crest. It lives in dense thickets and shrub, and is usually very difficult to spot because of its colouring. It adapts very well to living in suburban gardens, but domestic cats – being introduced predators – will usually kill all chameleons in the immediate area. Consequently, one should not bring chameleons into a garden which is frequented by cats. It gives birth to litters of between 10 and 20 babies in the summer.
The Drakensberg dwarf chameleon occurs in the Drakensberg, South Africa, between the latitudes of 27°45′ and 29°15′. Bright green dwarf chameleons found in the Drakensberg south of 29°15′ are now known to be more closely related to the Natal Midlands dwarf chameleon and may yet be described as a separate species.
The Namaqua dwarf chameleon or the western dwarf chameleon occurs in beach vegetation, along the west coast of South Africa and Namibia.
The Karoo dwarf chameleon is a chameleon native to South Africa. It is about 14 cm (6 in) long, mostly colored grey and brown, sometimes olive. The thin skin around the throat is yellow, and it has conical scales along the spine.
The Natal Midlands dwarf chameleon is a chameleon native to woodland habitat in the inland Midlands area of the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal.
Kinyongia carpenteri, commonly called Carpenter's chameleon or the helmeted chameleon, is a species of chameleon, a lizard in the family Chamaeleonidae. The species is native to central Africa.
Chamaeleoninae is the nominotypical subfamily of chameleons. The Family Chamaeleonidae was divided into two subfamilies, Brookesiinae and Chamaeleoninae, by Klaver and Böhme in 1986. Since its erection in 1986, however, the validity of this subfamily designation has been the subject of much debate, although most phylogenetic studies support the notion that the pygmy chameleons of the subfamily Brookesiinae are not a monophyletic group. While some authorities have previously preferred to use the subfamilial classification on the basis of the absence of evidence principal, these authorities later abandoned this subfamilial division, no longer recognizing any subfamilies with the family Chamaeleonidae. In 2015, however, Glaw reworked the subfamilial division by placing only the genera Brookesia and Palleon within the Brookesiinae subfamily, with all other genera being placed in Chamaeleoninae.
The Mlanje Mountain chameleon is one of two species in the genus Nadzikambia. It is a plesiomorphic, small chameleon from the Ruo Gorge forest on Mount Mulanje in Malawi.
