The word Calumma comes from the Latin word for covering. This genus consists of chameleons from Madagascar with occipital lobes.
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!
Pygmy chameleons have bicuspid claws where each claw has two points like a crescent moon.
Trioceros goetzei (Goetze’s Chameleon) emits an audible, high pitched whistle when threatened.
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 chameleon tongue accelerates towards its target at over 1642m per second. Chameleons rarely miss their intended food item.
Pygmy chameleons (Brookesia, Palleon, Rhampholeon and Rieppeleon sp.) often resemble dry leaves, mosses and branches.
The process of shedding is called ecdysis.
There are currently 202 recognized chameleon species and 85 of them are found on the island of Madagascar.