There are currently 202 recognized chameleon species and 85 of them are found on the island of Madagascar.
The word Furcifer is derived from the Latin word “furci” or forked.
Chameleons have a very poor sense of smell.
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 word Brookesia is named after the British naturalist Joshua Brookes.
Furcifer labordi (Labord’s Chameleon) has the shortest lifespan of only 4-5 months. It also has the shortest lifespan of any tetrapod!
Furcifer oustaleti (Oustalet’s Chameleon) is the longest chameleon species reaching lengths of 27 inches (68cm).
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 chameleon tongue accelerates towards its target at over 1642m per second. Chameleons rarely miss their intended food item.
Pygmy chameleons have bicuspid claws where each claw has two points like a crescent moon.