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NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

Circular-scaled Chameleon

Kinyongia gyrolepis Greenbaum, Tolley, Joma & Kusamba, 2012

Source-backed taxonomic record

Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

Open encyclopedia reference

Kinyongia gyrolepis is a species of Kinyongia chameleons first described in 2012, and the sister species to the Kinyongia adolfifriderici chameleon. It is more commonly known as the circular-scaled chameleon.

Wikipedia contributors, Kinyongia gyrolepis; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:03:03.902032+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Kinyongia gyrolepis Greenbaum, Tolley, Joma & Kusamba, 2012
Name authority
Greenbaum, Tolley, Joma & Kusamba, 2012
Common name
Circular-scaled Chameleon
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Reptilia
Order
Squamata
Family
Chamaeleonidae
Genus
Kinyongia
Extinction status
Not supplied by this source

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

  1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
  2. kingdomAnimalia
  3. phylumChordata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. infraphylumGnathostomata
  6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
  7. megaclassTetrapoda
  8. classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
  9. orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
  10. suborderIguania
  11. familyChamaeleonidae
  12. genusKinyongia
  13. speciesKinyongia gyrolepis Greenbaum, Tolley, Joma & Kusamba, 2012

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Kinyongia. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

SpeciesClassificationSource status
Fischer’s chameleonKinyongia fischeri (Reichenow, 1887)ChamaeleonidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Magombera chameleonKinyongia magomberae Menegon, Tolley, Jones, Rovero, Marshall & Tilbury, 2009ChamaeleonidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
West Usambara two-horned chamaeleonKinyongia multituberculata (Nieden, 1913)ChamaeleonidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Kilimanjaro two-horned chamaeleonKinyongia tavetana (Steindachner, 1891)ChamaeleonidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Matschie's Dwarf ChameleonKinyongia tenuis (Matschie, 1892)ChamaeleonidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Uluguru two-horned chamaeleonKinyongia uluguruensis (Loveridge, 1957)ChamaeleonidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Carpenter’s chameleonKinyongia carpenteri (Parker, 1929)ChamaeleonidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Ituri chameleonKinyongia adolfifriderici (Sternfeld, 1912)ChamaeleonidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Mount-Nyiro Bearded ChameleonKinyongia asheorum Nečas, Sindaco, Korený, Kopecná, Malonza & Modrý, 2009ChamaeleonidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Böhme’s two-horned chamaeleonKinyongia boehmei (Lutzmann & Nečas, 2002)ChamaeleonidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Mt Kenya hornless chameleonKinyongia excubitor (Barbour, 1911)ChamaeleonidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Matschie’s two-horned chamaeleonKinyongia matschiei (Werner, 1895)ChamaeleonidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied

Browse 170 records assigned to Chamaeleonidae.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Democractic Republic of the Congo (Zaire: Lendu Plateau, west of Lake Albert)

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

  1. https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Kinyongia&species=gyrolepis Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:3R87Y. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.