The long‑nosed "Pinocchio" chameleons long considered a single species (Calumma gallus) are actually several distinct species, according to new research in Salamandra. Using museomics — DNA sequencing of historical museum specimens, including one from 1836 — researchers found that elongated nasal appendages evolved in separate lineages that were previously lumped together. Some former C. gallus individuals are now placed in Calumma pinocchio, a new species Calumma hofreitieri is described, and Madagascar's described chameleon total now stands at 100 species. The Pinocchio group remains listed as endangered by the IUCN.
Long‑Nosed 'Pinocchio' Chameleons Are Several Species, Not One
The long‑nosed "Pinocchio" chameleons long considered a single species (Calumma gallus) are actually several distinct species, according to new research in Salamandra. Using museomics — DNA sequencing of historical museum specimens, including one from 1836 — researchers found that elongated nasal appendages evolved in separate lineages that were previously lumped together. Some former C. gallus individuals are now placed in Calumma pinocchio, a new species Calumma hofreitieri is described, and Madagascar's described chameleon total now stands at 100 species. The Pinocchio group remains listed as endangered by the IUCN.
05:15 AM, 11/18/2025Science
Long‑Nosed 'Pinocchio' Chameleons Are Several Species, Not One
For nearly 150 years scientists treated the so‑called Pinocchio chameleon as a single species, Calumma gallus. A new genetic reassessment published in Salamandra, the German Journal of Herpetology, shows that the long‑nosed forms actually represent multiple distinct species.
Madagascar — the large island off East Africa — is a global hotspot for chameleons: more than 40% of the world's 236 described species live there. These reptiles are famous for features such as a ballistic tongue for capturing prey, rapid color changes, and independently mobile eyes. Male members of the Pinocchio group are particularly notable for a textured, often very elongated nasal appendage that earned them their nickname.
Originally described in 1877 and sometimes called the lance‑nosed or blade chameleon, C. gallus takes its name from the Latin for rooster. Researchers long assumed the wide variation in nose shape and size among individuals was intraspecific variation — a quirk within a single species — rather than evidence of several distinct lineages.
Scientists at the Bavarian State Collection of Natural Histories applied "museomics" — DNA sequencing of historical museum specimens — to resolve the puzzle. By extracting genetic data from preserved specimens, including one collected as early as 1836, the team reconstructed evolutionary relationships and discovered that multiple long‑nosed lineages had been mistakenly lumped together for nearly a century and a half.
"The genetic analyses are conclusive: the nose chameleons have virtually fooled previous research," said study coauthor Frank Glaw.
The researchers also documented that the nasal appendage can change rapidly in color, shape, and length, and they suggest that sexual selection — female mating preferences — may have driven much of this evolutionary diversity.
As a result of the study, some individuals formerly assigned to C. gallus are now placed in Calumma pinocchio, and a newly described species, Calumma hofreitieri, has been recognized as distinct from Calumma nasutum. Miguel Vences, a coauthor and zoologist at the Technical University of Braunschweig, noted the power of museomics to correctly identify historically collected specimens and to clarify species complexes.
Madagascar's count of described chameleons now stands at exactly 100 species, but many populations are in decline. Regardless of the taxonomic revisions, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) continues to list members of the Pinocchio group as endangered — underscoring that formal recognition of distinct species must be paired with conservation action.