Chameleons in Madagascar w/ AMNH's Chris Raxworthy

With Madagascar containing nearly two-third's of the world's chameleon species, Christopher Raxworthy, Associate Curator of Herpetology at the American Museum of Natural History, recently embarked on an expedition to the island in search of these special lizards. His hope was to track down the lined-chameleon in order to further study speciation on Madagascar.

Having recently returned from Madagascar, Raxworthy brought back video footage of his research trip to give everyone a glimpse into his studies and what life is like for scientists in the field, including camping in remote villages, searching for specimens in the jungle and traversing the varied island landscape.

While Raxworthy's recent findings must remain in Madagascar until the end of this current collection season, once he has the chameleon specimens at the Museum his work to classify and study the DNA will begin.

Produced/Edited by James Sims. For more information visit http://www.amnh.org

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• madagascar
• lizards
• reptiles
• expedition
• africa
• french
• camping
• science
• scientist
• research

[sabertooth1980]

Because a small population arrived on or was on this island when it once part of the African continent. Then as life evolved and adapted, new niches were found and exploited. The Chameleons found a great number of these to explore and due to their excellent camouflage ability, thrived and multiplied in numbers.

That's generally how most island species work. A plot of land in an isolated place,life finds it by accident and it takes advantage of what the island gives. Generations pass. Life adapts

[edotuxly]

very very

very

interesting

[pnwgeographer]

madagascar...this time chameleons.... can you see them?...no.. incognito.. but I still wonder.. how did they all get there and how exactly did they multiply into the variety of animals that are there today.. and still being found..

[kmtbcom]

interesting vid !!

[grimwatcher]

I thought he was saying comedians at first!

man that would be one hilarious YT vid... hey shut up I call dibs on that idea. TM.

[mytv80]

he kinda looks a bit like a chameleon. weird???

[Shaunt1]

I wonder why there are so many chameleons there.