Chameleons do have taste buds on their tongue but overall they have a poor sense of taste.
There are currently 202 recognized chameleon species and 85 of them are found on the island of Madagascar.
The word Calumma comes from the Latin word for covering. This genus consists of chameleons from Madagascar with occipital lobes.
The word Rhampholeon is taken from the Latinized Greek “rhamphos leon” meaning crawling lion.
Chameleons have a high midichlorian count.
The word Furcifer is derived from the Latin word “furci” or forked.
The word Bradypodion comes from the latin “bradus podos” or slow foot.
The oldest known chameleon fossil is from the extinct species Chamaeleo caroliquarti. It was found in Europe and is 26 million years old.
Chameleons do not have external ears or a tympanic membrane, but they do have internal ears as well as degenerated middle ears. They do not hear well but they can detect low frequency sounds.
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.