The word Brookesia is named after the British naturalist Joshua Brookes.
True chameleons include the following genera: Archaius, Bradypodion, Brookesia, Calumma, Chamaeleo, Furcifer, Kinyongia, Nadzikambia, Palleon, Rhampholeon, Rieppeleon and Trioceros.
The horns on a chameleon are made up of ringlike segments of inner bone covered by a hard keratin-like skin.
Furcifer oustaleti (Oustalet’s Chameleon) is the longest chameleon species reaching lengths of 27 inches (68cm).
Chameleons do have taste buds on their tongue but overall they have a poor sense of taste.
Chameleons have a high midichlorian count.
Pygmy chameleons (Brookesia, Palleon, Rhampholeon and Rieppeleon sp.) often resemble dry leaves, mosses and branches.
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!
Trioceros schubotzi can be found at elevations as high as 4500m.
There are currently 202 recognized chameleon species and 85 of them are found on the island of Madagascar.