Many chameleon species have a bright red, orange or yellow mouth. This conspicuous interior when displayed is used as a defense against predators.
The word Kinyongia is from the Swahili word for chameleons: Kinyonga.
The largest chameleon species by weight is Calumma parsonii (Parson’s Chameleon).
Furcifer labordi (Labord’s Chameleon) has the shortest lifespan of only 4-5 months. It also has the shortest lifespan of any tetrapod!
Chameleons do have taste buds on their tongue but overall they have a poor sense of taste.
Chameleons have a very poor sense of smell.
There are currently 202 recognized chameleon species and 85 of them are found on the island of Madagascar.
The chameleon tongue accelerates towards its target at over 1642m per second. Chameleons rarely miss their intended food item.
Chameleons can project their tongue up to 2.2 times their body length.
True chameleons include the following genera: Archaius, Bradypodion, Brookesia, Calumma, Chamaeleo, Furcifer, Kinyongia, Nadzikambia, Palleon, Rhampholeon, Rieppeleon and Trioceros.