Pygmy chameleons have bicuspid claws where each claw has two points like a crescent moon.
The word Rhampholeon is taken from the Latinized Greek “rhamphos leon” meaning crawling lion.
Trioceros goetzei (Goetze’s Chameleon) emits an audible, high pitched whistle when threatened.
The word Chamaeleo is derived via Latin from the Greek word khamaileon. It roughly translates to ground lion. Khamai means on the ground and leon means lion.
The word Rieppeleon is named after the scientist Olivier Rieppel.
The word Brookesia is named after the British naturalist Joshua Brookes.
The word Furcifer is derived from the Latin word “furci” or forked.
True chameleons include the following genera: Archaius, Bradypodion, Brookesia, Calumma, Chamaeleo, Furcifer, Kinyongia, Nadzikambia, Palleon, Rhampholeon, Rieppeleon and Trioceros.
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.
Many chameleon species have a bright red, orange or yellow mouth. This conspicuous interior when displayed is used as a defense against predators.