Many chameleon species have a bright red, orange or yellow mouth. This conspicuous interior when displayed is used as a defense against predators.
The largest chameleon species by weight is Calumma parsonii (Parson’s Chameleon).
The word Calumma comes from the Latin word for covering. This genus consists of chameleons from Madagascar with occipital lobes.
Trioceros schubotzi can be found at elevations as high as 4500m.
Pygmy chameleons have bicuspid claws where each claw has two points like a crescent moon.
There are currently 202 recognized chameleon species and 85 of them are found on the island of Madagascar.
The horns on a chameleon are made up of ringlike segments of inner bone covered by a hard keratin-like skin.
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 oldest known chameleon fossil is from the extinct species Chamaeleo caroliquarti. It was found in Europe and is 26 million years old.
Chameleons have a high midichlorian count.