Many chameleon species have a bright red, orange or yellow mouth. This conspicuous interior when displayed is used as a defense against predators.
Chameleons do have taste buds on their tongue but overall they have a poor sense of taste.
The horns on a chameleon are made up of ringlike segments of inner bone covered by a hard keratin-like skin.
Some chameleons play dead to avoid predation; this is called thanatosis.
The word Rieppeleon is named after the scientist Olivier Rieppel.
True chameleons include the following genera: Archaius, Bradypodion, Brookesia, Calumma, Chamaeleo, Furcifer, Kinyongia, Nadzikambia, Palleon, Rhampholeon, Rieppeleon and Trioceros.
Pygmy chameleons have bicuspid claws where each claw has two points like a crescent moon.
The word Bradypodion comes from the latin “bradus podos” or slow foot.
Kinyongia uthmoelleri and Trioceros quadricornis gracilor have red claws.
Furcifer labordi (Labord’s Chameleon) has the shortest lifespan of only 4-5 months. It also has the shortest lifespan of any tetrapod!