The word Furcifer is derived from the Latin word “furci” or forked.
The word Brookesia is named after the British naturalist Joshua Brookes.
There are currently 202 recognized chameleon species and 85 of them are found on the island of Madagascar.
Chamaeleo namaquensis is found in the desert of Namibia. To cool off it will sometimes bury itself in the sand.
Chameleons have acrodont teeth meaning they are an extension of the jawbone. They are not set in sockets nor are they replaced.
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.
Trioceros schubotzi can be found at elevations as high as 4500m.
Pygmy chameleons (Brookesia, Palleon, Rhampholeon and Rieppeleon sp.) often resemble dry leaves, mosses and branches.
The process of shedding is called ecdysis.
The horns on a chameleon are made up of ringlike segments of inner bone covered by a hard keratin-like skin.