The word Kinyongia is from the Swahili word for chameleons: Kinyonga.
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 Rhampholeon is taken from the Latinized Greek “rhamphos leon” meaning crawling lion.
Trioceros schubotzi can be found at elevations as high as 4500m.
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.
The horns on a chameleon are made up of ringlike segments of inner bone covered by a hard keratin-like skin.
Chameleons can project their tongue up to 2.2 times their body length.
The word Calumma comes from the Latin word for covering. This genus consists of chameleons from Madagascar with occipital lobes.
Pygmy chameleons have bicuspid claws where each claw has two points like a crescent moon.
Many chameleon species have a bright red, orange or yellow mouth. This conspicuous interior when displayed is used as a defense against predators.