The chameleon tongue accelerates towards its target at over 1642m per second. Chameleons rarely miss their intended food item.
Chameleons can project their tongue up to 2.2 times their body length.
Chameleons have laterally compressed bodies. This enables them to warm up quickly by presenting a larger surface area to the sun. It also helps some chameleon species blend in among the similarly shaped leaves in their environment.
Chameleon fossils have been found in central Europe and China, indicating they were once much more widespread than they are now.
The word Furcifer is derived from the Latin word “furci” or forked.
The word Rhampholeon is taken from the Latinized Greek “rhamphos leon” meaning crawling lion.
Some chameleons play dead to avoid predation; this is called thanatosis.
Chameleons have a high midichlorian count.
The word Brookesia is named after the British naturalist Joshua Brookes.
The word Bradypodion comes from the latin “bradus podos” or slow foot.