Some chameleons play dead to avoid predation; this is called thanatosis.
Pygmy chameleons (Brookesia, Palleon, Rhampholeon and Rieppeleon sp.) often resemble dry leaves, mosses and branches.
The word Brookesia is named after the British naturalist Joshua Brookes.
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 word Bradypodion comes from the latin “bradus podos” or slow foot.
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 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.
Chameleons change color by rearranging a lattice of nanocrystals in one of their top layers of skin cells called iridophores. Chameleons can then stretch this layer, broadening the nanocrystalline lattice, thereby causing it to reflect a different wavelength of light.