The largest chameleon species by weight is Calumma parsonii (Parson’s Chameleon).
The word Rhampholeon is taken from the Latinized Greek “rhamphos leon” meaning crawling lion.
The word Kinyongia is from the Swahili word for chameleons: Kinyonga.
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.
The smallest chameleon species is Brookesia micra with an adult length just over 1 inch (29mm). It hatches from an egg no bigger than a grain of rice!
The horns on a chameleon are made up of ringlike segments of inner bone covered by a hard keratin-like skin.
The word Brookesia is named after the British naturalist Joshua Brookes.
Chameleons do have taste buds on their tongue but overall they have a poor sense of taste.
Furcifer labordi (Labord’s Chameleon) has the shortest lifespan of only 4-5 months. It also has the shortest lifespan of any tetrapod!
The word Bradypodion comes from the latin “bradus podos” or slow foot.