Common chameleon in Portugal

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Common chameleon in Portugal

Postby Guillaume Gomard » Sat Jul 16, 2011 8:05 pm

Hi all,

I plan to visit Portugal (South) next week and would love to photograph Chamaeleo chamaeleon. I'm currently trying to collect some information about its distribution and found a paper which could be interesting (but I don't have any access):

"Distribution and conservation of the common chameleon, Chamaeleo chamaeleon, in Algarve, southern Portugal" A Miraldo and al, Israel Journal of Ecology & Evolution 51 157-164 (2005)

Could you please post this paper if you have it :?:

I'm also interested in your personal experience if you already visited this region, either in this topic or by PM.

Thank you and have a very nice summer,

Guillaume
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Re: Common chameleon in Portugal

Postby Gabriel Martínez » Sun Jul 17, 2011 1:45 pm

Hi Guillaume! I think you should contact Juan Pablo Gonzalez de la Vega. He knows perfectly the Chamaleo poblations of Huelva and I guess maybe of the closer Algarve...
http://anfibios-reptiles-andalucia.org/ ... inicio.htm

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Re: Common chameleon in Portugal

Postby Guillaume Gomard » Sun Jul 17, 2011 6:54 pm

Thanks for your help Gabri. He has a great collection of chameleon pictures indeed. I contacted him (in english) in the hope he can provide some tips ;)
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Re: Common chameleon in Portugal

Postby Guillaume Gomard » Mon Jul 18, 2011 12:53 pm

Hi again,

Thanks to the help from Juan Pablo, I now have the paper previously mentioned. You can download it here:

"Distribution and conservation of the common chameleon, Chamaeleo chamaeleon, in Algarve, southern Portugal" A Miraldo and al, Israel Journal of Ecology & Evolution 51 157-164 (2005) :arrow: http://www.2shared.com/document/cYmPq_1 ... TION_.html

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Re: Common chameleon in Portugal

Postby Matt Wilson » Mon Jul 18, 2011 2:21 pm

A species which in the Iberian peninsula is highly sort after for the pet trade, and now we have a scientific paper for the conservation of the species listing all of the best localities all over the internet. No wonder they turn up in all of the local pet shops in Andalusia, Murcia and southern Portugal, what a great shame.

I visited the Algarve in the winter, and found Chamaeleo chameleon even during this period, unlike a lot of other lizards that were not too active. But during the summer they are at their most active. Many of them are killed on roads during the summer months, so keep an eye open when driving around for little, green objects, usually moving very slowly! :|

Here are a few shots from my winter amphibian trip to the Algarve: https://picasaweb.google.com/mjwilsonhe ... galAlgarve

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Re: Common chameleon in Portugal

Postby Gabriel Martínez » Mon Jul 18, 2011 2:40 pm

Guillaume Gomard wrote:Thanks to the help from Juan Pablo, I now have the paper previously mentioned


Juan Pablo is great ;) Thanks for uploading the article to the web

Matt Wilson wrote:But during the summer they are at their most active. Many of them are killed on roads during the summer months


This is a true 100%! I´ve found in Andalussia just 1 alive and about 4-5 DOR

Cheers!

Gabri

BTW: nice photos Matt! Interesting to find this african herp even in cold months in Iberian Peninsula ;)
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Re: Common chameleon in Portugal

Postby Guillaume Gomard » Mon Jul 18, 2011 2:48 pm

Hi Matt,

I already saw your gallery this morning (very good one by the way!). Concerning the pet trade, it's indeed a big issue. I remember that 2 years ago in Las Ramblas (Barcelona), someone was selling chameleons and this guy told me proudly that they came from Portugal... :evil:

I found additional information in Amphibians and reptiles of Portugal, Madeira and the Azores-Archipelago (R.Malkamus, 2004) (somes pages are in open access in Google Books):

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Re: Common chameleon in Portugal

Postby Jeroen Speybroeck » Fri Aug 19, 2011 4:03 pm

Matt Wilson wrote:during the summer months


Autum, no?

It's an alien species anyway :twisted:
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Re: Common chameleon in Portugal

Postby Matt Wilson » Fri Aug 19, 2011 4:11 pm

No Jeroen, they seem most active in late July, August and September when they are breeding, at least in the Iberian peninsula.
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Re: Common chameleon in Portugal

Postby Jeroen Speybroeck » Sat Aug 20, 2011 1:43 pm

Hmmm... I always learned that nesting is september-october. I guess mating and gestation (or how do you call that) obviously need to preceed that.
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