The Strange-nosed Chameleon (Kinyongia xenorhina) is a chameleon

Chameleon

Chameleons are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of lizards. They are distinguished by their parrot-like zygodactylous feet, their separately mobile and stereoscopic eyes, their very long, highly modified, and rapidly extrudable tongues, their swaying gait, the possession by many of a...

 native to the rainforest

Rainforest

Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...

s of the Ruwenzori Mountains

Ruwenzori Range

The Rwenzori Mountains, previously called the Ruwenzori Range , and sometimes the Mountains of the Moon, is a mountain range of central Africa, often referred to as Mt...

 of western Uganda

Uganda

Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...

 and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Strange-nosed Chameleons are named for the large protuberance extending from the top of the snout, particularly prominent on the males of the species. This feature is composed of two separate plates extending outwards from either side of the snout and merging at the end. This feature has also earned them the alternate common name, Single Welded-horn Chameleon. They also have a very high casque (a helmet-like structure towards the back of the skull). The head and casque are covered with enlarged, plate-like scales.

Strange-nosed Chameleons are olive to brown in color, sometimes with lateral orange or blue coloration. Males range more towards olive and females more towards brown. They can reach a length of 11 in (280 mm), making them one of the larger members of the Kinyongia

Kinyongia

Kinyongia is a chameleon genus that recently was established for several plesiomorphic species found in forest and woodland in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and far eastern DR Congo. All except K. adolfifriderici and K. tavetana are restricted to highlands and many have very small distributions....

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...

. They have among the sharpest "teeth" and longest claws of any chameleon species.

The Strange-nosed Chameleon has rarely been bred in captivity, and is, due to its restricted distribution which places it at risk from habitat destruction

Habitat destruction

Habitat destruction is the process in which natural habitat is rendered functionally unable to support the species present. In this process, the organisms that previously used the site are displaced or destroyed, reducing biodiversity. Habitat destruction by human activity mainly for the purpose of...

 and over-collecting for the live animal trade, considered threatened (Spawls et al., 2002).