The Mlanje Mountain Chameleon, Nadzikambia mlanjensis, is presently one of two species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 in the recently established genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 Nadzikambia

Nadzikambia

There are currently two species in the recently established genus Nadzikambia . They are plesiomorphic, small chameleons from the Ruo Gorge forest on Mount Mulanje in Malawi and Mount Mabu in Mozambique....

(derived from the species' name in Chichewa

Chichewa language

Chewa, also known as Nyanja, is a language of the Bantu language family. The gender prefix chi- is used for languages, so the language is also known as Chichewa and Chinyanja.-Distribution:...

). It is a plesiomorphic, small chamaeleon

Chamaeleon

Chamaeleon is a small constellation in the southern sky. It is named after the chameleon, a form of lizard. It was first defined in the sixteenth century.-History:...

 from the Ruo Gorge forest on Mount Mulanje in Malawi

Malawi

The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...

.

Initially placed into Chamaeleo

Chamaeleo

Chamaeleo is a genus of chameleons found primarily in the mainland of sub-saharan Africa, but a few species are also present in northern Africa, southern Europe and southern Asia east to India and Sri Lanka. They are slow moving with independently movable eyes, the ability to change skin...

, it was for some time moved to the South African dwarf chameleons (Bradypodion

Bradypodion

Bradypodion is one of six genera of chameleons within the "true" or "typical" chameleons . They are native to southern Africa, and are sometimes collectively called South African dwarf chameleons...

) by some (Klaver & Böhme, 1986). This was criticized because plesiomorphies cannot be used to define clade

Clade

A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...

s, and eventually turned out to be in error (Tolley et al. 2004).