THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY


Reptilia    Squamata (part-other lizards)    Chamaeleonidae  

Jackson's Chameleon
Trioceros jacksonii Boulenger, 1896
tree-OH-ser-oss — JAK-soh-nee-eye

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
Native to eastern Africa. It was introduced via the pet trade and established in California in 1981 (Kraus, 2009, Alien Reptiles and Amphibians: A Scientific Compendium and Analysis. SpringerVerlag, Heidelberg, Germany) and in Hawai'i on Oah’u, Hawai’i, Kaua’i, Lana’i and Maui as early as 1972 (McKeown, 1996, Diamond Head Publishing, Incorporated, Los Osos, California; Kraus, 2009, op. cit.). (Krysko, Kenneth and Travis W. Taggart. 2025. Established Exotic Species. Pages 64-87 in Kirsten E. Nicholson (Editor), Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, 9th Edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Lawrence, Kansas. 87 pp.)
Errata/Changes: Page 84: The (Kraus, 2009) reference should be "Kraus, 2009, Alien Reptiles and Amphibians: A Scientific Compendium and Analysis. Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands".  — (06/11/2025)

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Occurrences:; 993 Total; 454 Museum; 539 Other
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Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH. - (Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2025.03.31.07.46.18)
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Province/State Distribution:
United States: California Hawaii

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named after a colonial naturalist.
Trioceros — From Greek trio- (“three”) and keras (κέρας), “horn.” Refers to the three prominent horns on the heads of males.
jacksonii — A patronym honoring Frederick John Jackson (1860–1929), a British explorer and colonial administrator in East Africa, who collected the type specimen.

First instance(s) of published English names:
No historic English names have been assigned to this taxon yet.

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
The Reptile Database
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Selected References:
1896 Boulenger, George A. Description of a new chameleon from Uganda. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 6(17):376
1996 McKeown, Sean. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians in the Hawaiian Islands. Diamond Head Publishing, Inc., Los Osos, California. pp.
2009 Kraus, Fred. Alien Reptiles and Amphibians: A Scientific Compendium and Analysis. Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands. 563pp.

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Sunday 19 July 2026 07:19 CT