Home Page

Did You Know?
True chameleons include the following genera: Archaius, Bradypodion, Brookesia, Calumma, Chamaeleo, Furcifer, Kinyongia, Nadzikambia, Palleon, Rhampholeon, Rieppeleon and Trioceros.
The word Furcifer is derived from the Latin word “furci” or forked.
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.
Furcifer labordi (Labord’s Chameleon) has the shortest lifespan of only 4-5 months. It also has the shortest lifespan of any tetrapod!
Chameleon fossils have been found in central Europe and China, indicating they were once much more widespread than they are now.
Chameleons have laterally compressed bodies. This enables them to warm up quickly by presenting a larger surface area to the sun. It also helps some chameleon species blend in among the similarly shaped leaves in their environment.
Some chameleons play dead to avoid predation; this is called thanatosis.
The oldest known chameleon fossil is from the extinct species Chamaeleo caroliquarti. It was found in Europe and is 26 million years old.
The word Rhampholeon is taken from the Latinized Greek “rhamphos leon” meaning crawling lion.
Many chameleon species have a bright red, orange or yellow mouth. This conspicuous interior when displayed is used as a defense against predators.

July

Enter Now   Vote Now

Featured Blog Entries

Members Online Now

No members online now.
Chameleon Care Resources

Forum statistics

Threads
178,680
Messages
1,818,778
Members
61,969
Latest member
Cham_Mami_Gatti92
Back
Top Bottom