Furcifer verrucosus
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days >90%
Furcifer verrucosus, also known as the warty chameleon, spiny chameleon or crocodile chameleon, is a species of reptile endemic to Madagascar. It was first described by Georges Cuvier in 1829. There are two subspecies, Furcifer v. verrucosus and Furcifer v. semicristatus, the latter being found mainly in the southernmost part of the island. This chameleon is closely related to Oustalet's chameleon Furcifer oustaleti (Malagasy giant chameleon), the pair forming a species complex, but each member of the group may be a cryptic species (two species indistinguishable in the field and currently believed to be a single species) and the exact taxonomical relationship between members of the group is unclear. New evidence has come to light that suggest that the two species are sister species and have differentiated as early as the Plio-Pleistocene Era. The species used to be only known as Furcifer oustaleti, but Jean-Francois Mocquard in 1894 noticed some morphological differences in the crests of the two chameleons.
The warty chameleon is a large species with males growing to a total length of 56 centimetres (22 in) and females reaching 21 cm (8 in). On its... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Berenty Reserve | 🇲🇬 Madagascar |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moscow Zoo | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 2 | Mandraka Reptile Farm | 🇲🇬 Madagascar |
No species of the same family or order lives in Berenty Reserve, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
Very likely
About 90% of wildlife watchers report a Spiny Chameleon sighting in Berenty Reserve on a given day, based on 34 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the most-seen of the 5 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August and October–November
In those months about 90% of wildlife watchers report a Spiny Chameleon in Berenty Reserve on a given day, against about 40% in July, the lowest month. June, September and December–March have too few records to rate.
Between 5 and 8 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Spiny Chameleon sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Only Berenty Reserve, in our data
Berenty Reserve is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Spiny Chameleon sightings: about 90% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Spiny Chameleon is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Berenty Reserve (34 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
