In the rainforests in the highlands of Cameroon lives the enigmatic Cameroon sailfin chameleon (Trioceros montium). It is kin to the more familiar Jackson’s chameleon. It occurs primarily in rainforests around Mount Cameroon between 700 and 1900 meters above sea level, although it has been known to make its way into farms and gardens. In 2017, CollectA made this species for their Little World collection; if I remember correctly, it was commissioned by a zoo or maybe a museum, but I can’t remember which one.
The total length of the figure is 11.8 cm. The snout-to-vent length is 7.0 cm which puts it at a scale of 1:1.2-1:1.5 (slightly under 1:1). The species is sexually dimorphic, and our figure today is clearly a male as indicated by the anteriorly-directed paired horns.
The sculpt is amazing, with even the smallest scales accounted for. It is painted in the natural green and yellow hues of the actual animals (although when males are displaying, they can be more blue than green). CollectA got the toe arrangement correct (two exterior and three interior on the front legs, and three exterior and two anterior on the hind legs), something companies sometimes get wrong (just checkout the adult veiled chameleon by Safari Ltd. in their Incredible Creatures line!). Really, the pics speak for themselves with this guy!
This lizard really is a masterpiece and comes highly recommended to people who collect interesting taxa. If it is too big for you, CollectA will be releasing ‘mini’ version later this year in their Mini Reptiles and Amphibians box set. Otherwise, at the time of this writing, there are no other figures available of this species.
It’s a shame how there aren’t that many more chameleon figures.
Indeed, there are such obscure and interesting species amongst them. This Sailfin I kept one once, CollectA really hit the nail with that one.