Chameleons have a very poor sense of smell.
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.
Pygmy chameleons have bicuspid claws where each claw has two points like a crescent moon.
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.
Furcifer oustaleti (Oustalet’s Chameleon) is the longest chameleon species reaching lengths of 27 inches (68cm).
Chamaeleo namaquensis is found in the desert of Namibia. To cool off it will sometimes bury itself in the sand.
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.