Antsingy leaf chameleon
Home: Madagascar. What It’s Doing on a Friday Night: Looking like a tiny armored dragon, not giving a fuck. Likes: Dead leaf litter, where the Antsingy leaf chameleon, the largest of the dwarf chameleons (at a gargantuan four inches), can hide, camouflage itself from predators, and do its thing. Dislikes:Timber extraction, overgrazing, and fossil fuel capitalism. Favorite quote: “The U.S. is responsible for over 25% of historical carbon emissions.” Having broken off from the supercontinent Gondwanaland over 160 million years ago, Madagascar and other Indian Ocean islands are hotspots of independent evolution, with thousands of species that exist nowhere else on the planet. Changing rainfall patterns, fires, increased storms, sea level rise, ocean acidification and shifting ocean currents will lead to the extinction of many brilliant Malagasy species; just how many is up to us.
Art by Daniel Anguilu