Kinyongia


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.
They were initially placed in the genus Chamaeleo and by some authorities subsequently transferred into Bradypodion, but in 2006 they were moved to their own genus, Kinyongia.

Species

The following 23 species are recognized as being valid.
ImageScientific nameCommon nameDistribution
Kinyongia adolfifriderici Ituri chameleonBurundi, northern and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda.
Kinyongia asheorum Mount Nyiro bearded chameleonKenya
Kinyongia boehmei Taita blade-horned chameleon, Böhme's two-horned chameleonKenya
Kinyongia carpenteri Carpenter's chameleonUganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Kinyongia excubitor Mt. Kenya hornless chameleonKenya
Kinyongia fischeri Fischer's chameleon, Nguru blade-horned chameleon, Nguru two-horned chameleonTanzania.
Kinyongia gyrolepis Lendu chameleonDemocratic Republic of the Congo
Kinyongia itombwensis Hughes et al., 2017Itombwe forest chameleonDemocratic Republic of the Congo
Kinyongia magomberae Menegon et al., 2009Magombera chameleonTanzania
Kinyongia matschiei giant monkey-tailed East Usambara two-horned chameleonTanzania.
Kinyongia msuyae Menegon et al., 2015Tanzania.
Kinyongia multituberculata West Usambara two-horned chameleonTanzania
Kinyongia mulyai Tilbury & Tolley, 2015Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Kinyongia oxyrhina sharp-nosed chameleonTanzania.
Kinyongia rugegensis Hughes et al., 2017Rugege highlands forest chameleonBurundi
Kinyongia tavetana Kilimanjaro blade-horned chameleon, Kilimanjaro two-horned chameleonsouthern Kenya and northern Tanzania.
Kinyongia tenuis Usambara soft-horned chameleonKenya and Tanzania
Kinyongia tolleyae Hughes et al., 2017Tolley's forest chameleonUganda.
Kinyongia uluguruensis Uluguru two-horned chameleonTanzania
Kinyongia uthmoelleri Hanang hornless chameleonTanzania.
Kinyongia vanheygeni Nečas, 2009Van Heygen's chameleonTanzania.
Kinyongia vosseleri East Usambara two-horned chameleonTanzania.
Kinyongia xenorhina strange-nosed chameleonwestern Uganda and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Kinyongia.