Pygmy chameleons have bicuspid claws where each claw has two points like a crescent moon.
Chameleon fossils have been found in central Europe and China, indicating they were once much more widespread than they are now.
The horns on a chameleon are made up of ringlike segments of inner bone covered by a hard keratin-like skin.
True chameleons include the following genera: Archaius, Bradypodion, Brookesia, Calumma, Chamaeleo, Furcifer, Kinyongia, Nadzikambia, Palleon, Rhampholeon, Rieppeleon and Trioceros.
The largest chameleon species by weight is Calumma parsonii (Parson’s Chameleon).
The process of shedding is called ecdysis.
Trioceros schubotzi can be found at elevations as high as 4500m.
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.
The word Rieppeleon is named after the scientist Olivier Rieppel.
Pygmy chameleons (Brookesia, Palleon, Rhampholeon and Rieppeleon sp.) often resemble dry leaves, mosses and branches.