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.
The word Calumma comes from the Latin word for covering. This genus consists of chameleons from Madagascar with occipital lobes.
The horns on a chameleon are made up of ringlike segments of inner bone covered by a hard keratin-like skin.
Chameleon fossils have been found in central Europe and China, indicating they were once much more widespread than they are now.
True chameleons include the following genera: Archaius, Bradypodion, Brookesia, Calumma, Chamaeleo, Furcifer, Kinyongia, Nadzikambia, Palleon, Rhampholeon, Rieppeleon and Trioceros.
The word Bradypodion comes from the latin “bradus podos” or slow foot.
The largest chameleon species by weight is Calumma parsonii (Parson’s Chameleon).
Some chameleons play dead to avoid predation; this is called thanatosis.
The word Rieppeleon is named after the scientist Olivier Rieppel.
There are currently 202 recognized chameleon species and 85 of them are found on the island of Madagascar.