54 DISCOVERMAGAZINE.COM
TARZAN’S CHAMELEON
Calumma tarzan
Why is this called Tarzan’s chameleon? Did Tarzan discover
it? No, it is so named because it was discovered in Tarzan’s
Forest just outside the village of Tarzanville (now renamed
Ambodimeloka) in Madagascar in 2009. It was immediately
categorized as critically endangered because slash-and-burn
agriculture and illegal logging have fragmented its habitat.ANGELSHARK Squatina squatina
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the
angelshark was common from Scandinavia to
Africa and all points in between. But what a
difference a hundred years or so can make. It has
lost an estimated 80 percent of its population over
three generations, and its range has shrunk to
a small area around the Canary Islands. Because
the angelshark lives on the bottom of the sea,
it is more prone to being accidentally caught by
fishing trawlers.
In 2016, the Angel Shark Project developed a
plan to steer the next 10 years of conservation
work to ensure the future of the angelshark and
its relatives, collectively (if slightly confusingly)
known as the angel sharks. The project’s vision is to
safeguard the angelshark’s last stronghold in the
Canaries, stabilize the population and eventually
increase angelshark numbers.Illustrations by Ralph Steadman, from
CRITICAL CRITTERS by Ralph Steadman
and Ceri Levy. Copyright © illustrations
by Ralph Steadman, 2017. Copyright
© by Ceri Levy, 2017. Published by
Bloomsbury Natural History. Used with
permission.