Rate My Professor Krystal Tolley

Professor Krystal Tolley is a Professor in the Department of Zoology at the University of Johannesburg. She is a herpetologist who uses genetics and ecology to study African reptiles and amphibians. Her research focuses on the biogeography and phylogenetics of African herpetofauna, particularly chameleons and snakes. As a field biologist, she conducts biodiversity surveys to improve foundational knowledge on reptiles and amphibians and contributes to species conservation through several IUCN Red Listing specialist groups.

Ongoing research projects include adaptation of chameleons to transformed habitats at the macro and micro evolutionary levels, phylogenetics and biogeography of vipers and elapids, assessing phylogenetic diversity and EDGE indicators for South African reptiles and amphibians, and long-term monitoring of threatened amphibians. She teaches Conservation Genetics. Key publications include the book The Biology of the Chameleons (University of California Press, 2013, co-edited with A. Herrel), Chameleons of Southern Africa (Struik Publishers, 2007, with M. Burger), and The conservation status of the reptiles of South Africa, Eswatini and Lesotho (South African National Biodiversity Institute, 2023, with multiple co-authors). Recent peer-reviewed articles address topics such as anthropogenic effects on the gut microbiome of dwarf chameleons (2025), body size and ultraviolet fluorescence in African dwarf chameleons (2025), and the phylogeny and species delimitation in African mambas (in press). She maintains an active research profile with extensive publications in journals including PeerJ, Journal of Zoology, and Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.