The word Calumma comes from the Latin word for covering. This genus consists of chameleons from Madagascar with occipital lobes.
The word Brookesia is named after the British naturalist Joshua Brookes.
Furcifer oustaleti (Oustalet’s Chameleon) is the longest chameleon species reaching lengths of 27 inches (68cm).
The word Furcifer is derived from the Latin word “furci” or forked.
The word Rhampholeon is taken from the Latinized Greek “rhamphos leon” meaning crawling lion.
Trioceros schubotzi can be found at elevations as high as 4500m.
Furcifer labordi (Labord’s Chameleon) has the shortest lifespan of only 4-5 months. It also has the shortest lifespan of any tetrapod!
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.
Chameleon fossils have been found in central Europe and China, indicating they were once much more widespread than they are now.